Archives for August 2009

Ryan Moore ? My New Favourite Sportsman

You may or may not have heard of Ryan Moore. He’s a pro golfer who recently won his first tournament, the Wyndham Championship.

If you haven’t heard of him, you’re not alone – he’s still ranked 120th in the world and isn’t one of the first names you think of when you think “pro golfer”.

Yet despite his relative anonymity, Ryan Moore may just have made himself my new favourite sportsman. All because of $300,000.

Where Ryan differs from most other sportspeople, and certainly every other golfer it would seem, is that he refuses to be endorsed by any of the name brands that adorn other golfers. He buys his own clothes and golfing equipment, and often these are a mish-mash of some of the cheapest brands around.

It’s led to sports marketing companies questioning why Ryan is avoiding their pitches, when pro golfers have at least one brand sponsorship to their name. According to Ryan’s manager (who’s also his brother), it’s simple: “He doesn’t want to be a billboard.”

The $300,000 that I mentioned earlier? The projection of what Ryan could earn from sponsors – $200,000 a year for cap sponsorship, $20,000 for a chest logo, and $50,000 for a branded golf bag. And why is he my new favourite sportsman?

Simple. When mostly everyone around him is signing up for the big bucks, whether they like the brand or not, Ryan Moore is staying true to himself and showing that money isn’t always everything. His decision means that sports marketers may have to reconsider whether tapping up folks to be the face of a brand will continue the way it has or if it has to look at new ways to sell. And anything that helps move marketing and branding forward into new thinking can never be a bad thing.

Of course, this is the now. With Ryan winning his first tournament, his stock will go up and the offers will rise with it. Whether he’ll remain as loyal to non-branding when the million dollar endorsement offers start materializing is another thing. But for now… he’s definitely my new favourite sportsman.

How about you – is Ryan doing it right or will the marketing dollars win out?

photo credit: pga.com

Get Inside Chris Brogan’s Head

PAB2008 For most people in the social media space, Chris Brogan is one of the first names you probably hear about.

The guy has one of the most popular and respected blogs around, is a chatty star on Twitter, pops up on various other platforms and has now written a New York Times bestseller called Trust Agents (co-authored with Julien Smith).

Basically, Chris Brogan is to social media what Frank Oz was to Yoda. So it’s a great delight to be chatting with Chris on my first-ever BlogTalk Radio show tomorrow, Monday August 31 at 2.00pm eastern.

We’ll be chatting (obviously) about Trust Agents, and delving a little deeper into some of the ideas raised. I’ll also be looking at how Trust Agents can be anywhere; how (if) you can use online-specific ideas offline; and looking to build workable ideas and solutions that you can take away with you after the show.

I already have some questions for Chris, but this is where you can have your say as well. There’s a call-in number if you want to speak to Chris directly, or leave a question here in the comments. I’ll try my best to fit a few in.

So, if you’ve ever wanted to get into Chris Brogan’s head, here’s your chance. As I say, the show airs at 2.00pm eastern and you can find all the details on my BlogTalk Radio page. It’d be great to see you there if you can spare half an hour tomorrow.

Cheers!

Note – the Amazon link to Trust Agents uses an affiliate code.

photo credit: Christopher S. Penn

Friday Funk – End of Summer Edition

Futures by Jimmy Eat World
Download now or listen on posterous

01 Futures.mp3 (4628 KB)

Okay, so it’s probably not really the end of summer. But it’s not really started either – so, apples and oranges. 🙂 Anyhoo…

No matter whether it’s sunny or raining in yur neighbourhood, one thing we can all do is keep smiling, right? Make our own weather and to heck with the real stuff!

So, have a great weekend. Stay safe and keep smiling, guys – see you on the next page!

Why Would You Bother to Comment?

This is a guest post following a great chat I had with Valerie Merahn Simon, and is a nice follow-up on my recent post about Twitter and blog comments.

If you?re like me, you read a lot of blog posts. Many of them are good posts. Some you?ll even share via Twitter or email. But only once in a while will you be motivated to comment. Commenting is a contribution. It requires time and effort and thought.

So why are readers willing to invest themselves in someone else?s blog post?

Controversy

Sometimes it?s hard not to ?jump in?. When David Mullen & Lauren Fernandez asked Should Newspaper Have Outed an Intern for Plagerism? on Communications Catalyst, 107 comments ensued. A recent post on the Bad Pitch Blog regarding the controversial outing of the ?reverse bad pitch? of ?Mike Hendricks and the Laws of Shamelessness? resulted in 57 comments.

Another Bad Pitch post entitled ?Simply put, thank you? about the very successful Bad Pitch Blog Night School garnered 0 comments. Of course controversy does not have to mean scandal. One of the most highly commented recent posts on Marketing Profs Daily Fix was Help! I Have Social Media Rejction Syndrome which inspired a spirited debate over whether it is appropriate to connect with those you don?t know on LinkedIn.

Expertise

Do you believe you can offer value and insights to the conversation? That the post needs your expertise? When Jeremy Porter posted The Best Schools for Journalism on Journalistics, his community was well prepared to contribute (28 comments). Whether they agreed with the schools on his list, or they felt he left off a school, his readers know journalism schools and felt compelled to share their opinions.

Similarly when Lauren Ferenandez asked her readers The 1.2 Million Definitions of PR: What?s your take? a discussion including 50 comments emerged. Her community understood the question, had an opinion and felt that were well suited to make a contribution to the conversation.

Questions

Is the blog a conversation with the reader, or simply offering a monologue? Jerimiah Owyang does a fantastic job of integrating questions alongside valuable insights to engage readers. A great example of this is Owyang?s recent post How to Kick Start a Community- An Ongoing List. With 72 comments the list did become a community undertaking.

Chris Brogan offers a similar example with his recent Simple Touch Points of Loyalty post, which offered 9 Simple Touchpoints of Loyalty and asked for help identifying more. Over 112 comments followed. One of his least commented posts Why I Will Promote Teaching Sells (just 8 responses) doesn?t speak to readers, so much as speak at them. In his words, ?I wanted to share that with you clearly, and tell you a bit about the program, what I like about it, and then, I?ll let you go take a look for yourself.?

Does every post demand comments and interaction? Not necessarily.

Many of my favorite bloggers, brilliant thought leaders such as Shel Holtz, rarely receive more than a comment or two per post. These posts may be viewed by hundreds and shared by many, yet fail to evoke the often elusive comment. There is a unique skill, an art even, to crafting posts that elicit a written reaction from readers.

What was the last post you commented on? Why were you compelled to leave a comment?

Valerie Merahn Simon serves as a Senior Vice President at BurrellesLuce media monitoring and measurement, and writes a national public relations column for examiner.com. She is also co-founder and host of #PRStudChat, a monthly twitter chat between PR professionals and students moderated by Deirdre Breakenridge. She can be found on Twitter or LinkedIn and once in a while, if sufficiently motivated, commenting or even guest posting on a blog!