eMarketSouth Central

Well, maybe that’s not completely true, but read a number of blogs and you might start to see the power they hold. In a lunch lecture I attended yesterday, the speaker, who owns her own PR firm, admitted that bloggers are evil creatures, often causing havoc for her clients. In her examples, the content related to bloggers who obtained privileged information and made speculations or started rumors on their blogs. But therein is why she has a job in the first place.

If you are concerned about your company’s information leaking to the public, you should be sure to guard it and have complete trust in those who share such information. On the other hand, using your blog to purposefully share information to the public in a timely manner can be a very proactive measure.

At the recent BlogSavannah UnCon, speaker Josh Hallett spoke about the problem Sony had by creating a fake blog where two of its team members pretended to be game players that started a blog to convince family and friends to give them a new PSP for Christmas. The public quickly caught on and called them out, as did the media. Sony came back with a revamped blog, under Hallett’s direction, which now provides communication directly between Sony and its PlayStation fans.

But what is it about bloggers that make them so evil? Well, maybe evil isn’t the right word… perhaps they simply require that companies be more accountable for their actions. Information via the Internet is viral, and while you may not always see comments on a specific blog, you can bet people have read them. (Feel free to review my post from November about Spirit Airlines - the ultimate “OOPS” case study.)

So what are people saying about you? Make Google your best friend. Type in your company name and take a look. Spend some time on Technorati. If something strikes you, see what you could do that might make the situation better. Then take a look at what people are saying about your competition. Those are probably issues to you as well. Don’t start your blog to be a PR response - it needs to be a conversation with your customers, and they will be able to immediately notice if you have someone else writing or some ulterior purposes behind your posts.

Tags: Blogging, Search Engine Optimization, eMarketSouth by Lisa Scarbrough
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If you have been in the Savannah area for any length of time or on the east coast recently, you know that the fastest growing port is right here in our very own backyard. Savannah is rapidly becoming one of the largest ports on the southeastern seaboard. All this time I have noticed more and more container vessels coming in and lots of news about the ports but until these images came across my desk I didn’t give much thought to the process of loading and unloading container ships. They don’t look that big from here … like Lego blocks! But up close, well you have driven up next to an eighteen wheeler haven’t you? You see what I mean. How can the port grow, the containers increase and the cranes stay the same. They can’t … so just yesterday the cranes came to town. Sent from China in December, the cranes finally made it into Savannah’s port yesterday. The city even made sure the bridge connecting us to the low country of South Carolina was closed to traffic … just in case someone had measured wrong. Crazy! What a mess that would have been for that ship to hit the bridge. Luckily they had about eight feet of breathing room. The port authority and all the employees at the port were well prepared for the arrival of the cranes. They were not prepared for the crowd of onlookers. People covered Riverstreet and strained to watch as the cranes made their way to their new home. With the installation of these great big cranes, it doesn’t appear as though the growth of Savannah’s ports will slow down anytime soon. What an exciting time to be part of the blossoming of our fair city … Savannah. Join us and see what the fuss is all about!

Tags: Key to Savannah, Savannah Home Finder, eMarketSouth by Suzy Buelvas
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I can remember when my mom and dad and their friends would call me for computer help on a regular basis. My favorite story was my junior year of college when my mom called me to come home to Tybee because the sound was broken. I drove over an hour from my apartment in Statesboro just to turn on the speaker. But they have evolved and now each have their own laptop. Mom doesn’t call me as much for help, but I still wish I could get her to give up AOL.

My parents aren’t the only Internet users on Social Security (but let’s hope Mom’s not reading this blog today or I’m in trouble for revealing her age). This afternoon, as I sat down to check out my favorite sites, I found I had a new friend request on my MySpace page, with a message: “Hi Lisa. I know your mom and dad from the Shrine.” Yes, MySpace has managed to rake in other generations into their world. In fact, an article from late 2006 revealed that more than half of MySpace users are over 35, and about 11% were over 55.

But MySpace isn’t the only area of the net attracting Golden Agers. Photosharing websites such as Flickr and Picasa are becoming favorites, allowing travelers to share in the adventures from the road. While my parents were traveling this winter, I received a weekly email to their photo galleries to show off the fun they were having in the Florida Keys and Everglades.

So as more web-based social networking sites develop and evolve, we can expect the 55+ demographics to increase. Now, if I could just get my aunt to add Snopes.com to her favorite sites to visit, maybe I could reduce my inbox waste by 50%.

Tags: Blogging, Search Engine Optimization, eMarketSouth by Lisa Scarbrough
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