Monthly Archives: March 2008

How Not To Run A Blogger Relations Program

Monday, March 31st, 2008

Quick Summary: Indian public relations firm Good Relations provides me the perfect case study of how not to run a blogger relations program.

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There’s a wealth of good advice available on how to run a blogger relations program — see Guy Kawasaki, Michael Arrington, Lee Odden, Emergence Media (PDF), Brian Solis (PDF), Shift Communications (PDF), Rohit Bhargava (PDF) and Vocus (PDF) to start with — so, I’m wondering why would public relations firm Good Relations send me an e-mail like this –

From: PR-Agent-Name (pr-agent-name@gri.co.in)
Date: Mon, Mar 31, 2008 at 1:25 PM
Subject: Entrepreneur-Name unveils his second entrepreneurial venture Startup-Name.com
To: PR-Agent-Name (pr-agent-name@gri.co.in)

Greetings:

Please find below press release on Startup-Name.com, a second entrepreneurial venture of Entrepreneur-Name. It will be great if you can review the website and write your personal experience.

Should you be interested in interacting with Entrepreneur-Name, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Thank you

Regards,

PR-Agent-Name

Account Manager
Good Relations (India) Pvt Ltd

I typically receive 2-3 pitches for startups every week, but they are usually from someone in the startup team itself, and very different from the pitch above.

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The Best of Indian Business Blogs: A Weekly Digest by Business Bloggers You Trust (Week Two)

Monday, March 31st, 2008

Quick Summary: Check out the second edition of ‘The Best of Indian Business Blogs’, a weekly digest by business bloggers you trust.

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The Best of Indian Business Blogs: A Weekly Digest by Business Bloggers You Trust

The Idea

The basic idea is simple: we form a network of five to ten influential Indian business bloggers to promote link-worthy posts from other Indian business bloggers in the form of a weekly digest published on our respective blogs.

The People

The present members in our network are (in alphabetical order):-

- Gaurav Mishra, that is, yours truly, is a marketer and a social media enthusiast (Blog, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter).

- Gautam Ghosh is an HR professional and a veteran business blogger (Blog, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter).

- Kiruba Shankar is India’s original A-list blogger and podcaster and a regular speaker at technology conferences (Blog, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter).

- Palin Ningthoujam is a public relations professional and the founder of India PR Blog (Blog, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter).

- Rajesh Lalwani is the founder of social media agency Blogworks (Blog, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter).

- Ranjan Varma is the writer of personal finance online weekly Personal Finance 2.01 (e-Book, Blog, Facebook and Twitter).

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Filed in Desi Blogging, Entrepreneurship, Gaming, Internet, Marketing, Noteworthy, Social Media, Weekly Digest | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink | Comments (1)

Interview With Rohit Bhargava, Author of ‘Personality Not Included’

Sunday, March 30th, 2008

Quick Summary: Read my interview with Rohit Bhargava, author of the new marketing book ‘Personality Not Included’.

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Personality Not Included Personality Not Included Personality Not Included

I had earlier promised you that I’ll post an interview with Rohit Bhargava, author of the new marketing book ‘Personality Not Included’.

The interview is part of Rohit’s innovative blogger interview program to promote the book –

If you send me five questions that you want to know about the book or personality, I’ll write you a response on Friday that you can publish on your blog. I will link to all the posted interviews on Friday.

On Monday, I’ll be running a competition on my blog to let readers vote on the Best Interview. The winner will get a signed copy of my book and a gift certificate for $100 from Amazon.

Rohit has spent the last two days doing 57 virtual blogger interviews; that’s 285 questions!

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Update: April 1, 2008

I’m in Rohit’s shortlist of twelve best interviews; now I need your help in the voting.

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Filed in Conversations, Interview, Marketing, Social Media, Trendspotting | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink | Comments (5)

Three Reasons Why You Should Buy ‘The Age of Conversation’ Collaborative Book On Amazon Today

Saturday, March 29th, 2008

Quick Summary: Be a part of social media history: buy the one-of-a-kind ‘The Age of Conversation’ collaborative book on Amazon today and the proceeds will go to Variety, the children’s charity.

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‘The Age of Conversation’ Collaborative Book

Age of Conversation

‘The Age of Conversation’ is a one-of-a-kind collaborative book conceived by Drew Mclellan and Gavin Heaton -

- 100 authors. We’re a few but need more.
- The overriding topic is “The Age of Conversation” — where you take it is up to you.
- The items are short - one 8.5″ x 11″ page — it can be words, diagrams, photos (again up to you) If it is words - about 400, give or take a couple.
- We write it quickly and get it out there. We publish electronically.
- We make it available online for a small fee and we donate 100% of the proceeds to Variety — the children’s charity.

Over 100 of the world’s leading marketers, writers, thinkers and creative innovators responded to their call, resulting in a unique one-of-a-kind project, which first became an e-book, then a self-published book on Lulu, and now a potential best-seller on Amazon.

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Filed in 30 by 30, Events, Internet, Marketing, Noteworthy, Social Media | Tagged , , , , , , | Permalink | Comments (2)

Check It Out: Rohit Bhargava’s New Book ‘Personality Not Included’

Friday, March 28th, 2008

Quick Summary: Check out ‘Personality Not Included’ a new book by one of my favorite marketing bloggers Rohit Bhargava.

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Personality Not Included

I just finished reading the introduction (download PDF here) of Rohit Bhargava’s new book ‘Personality Not Included’ and it totally rocks!

The basic premise of Rohit’s book is that personality is the key element defining what a brand stands for and the story it tells to its customers.

Personality is the unique, authentic, and talkable soul of your brand that people can get passionate about.

…

Personality is not just about what you stand for, but how you choose to communicate it. It is also the way to reconnect your customers, partners, employees, and influencers to the soul of your brand in the new social media era.

…

Personality is the macro trend. The three hottest topics in business today are how to do more with social media, using word-of-mouth marketing, and interacting more authentically with customers. Personality is the theme that incorporates all of these topics.

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Filed in Marketing, Reviews, Social Media, Trendspotting | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Permalink | Comments (1)

My Article on Twitter in Indian Magazine Man’s World

Tuesday, March 25th, 2008

Quick Summary: Check out my article on Twitter in Indian magazine Man’s World.

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My Article on Twitter in Indian Magazine Man's World

I have written an article on Twitter — based on my post on seven reasons you should sign up for Twitter today if you already haven’t — in the March issue of Indian magazine Man’s World.

The issue — and the story — isn’t yet up online, but you can click on the scanned picture above to read the story.

Filed in Internet, Mobile, Noteworthy, Press, Social Media, Twitter Threads | Tagged , | Permalink | Comments (1)

Check It Out: The Marketer Who Went Off Consumption

Tuesday, March 25th, 2008

Quick Summary: Check out my new book-as-a-blog ‘The Marketer Who Went Off Consumption’, a year-long experiment in why we choose to consume, or not.

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The Marketer Who Went Off Consumption

Why would a twenty-something, single, eligible, IIM-educated, upwardly mobile marketer on the corporate fast-track in India’s business capital decide to go ‘off consumption’ for a year?

Will a year off consumption (no eating out, no going out for movies or music or plays, no television or newspapers, no shopping except for necessities) leave him ill-equipped to handle life and work in Mumbai?

Or, will it leave him with invaluable insights into what drives us to consume, or not, into the nature of consumption, into human nature itself?

‘The Marketer Who Went Off Consumption’ is a blog in which I document my year off consumption. It is also a book-in-progress, in search of a publisher with a multi-million dollar advance.

Do spend an hour reading it, do subscribe to it, and don’t forget to tell me that you absolutely adore it. :-)

Filed in 30 by 30, Marketing, Noteworthy, Trendspotting, Twitter Threads | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Best of Indian Business Blogs: A Weekly Digest by Business Bloggers You Trust

Monday, March 24th, 2008

Quick Summary: Check out the first edition of “The Best of Indian Business Blogs”, a weekly digest by business bloggers you trust.

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The Best of Indian Business Blogs: A Weekly Digest by Business Bloggers You Trust

The Idea

For a while now, Rajesh and I have been discussing how business bloggers in India don’t do enough to promote each others’ content. Out of that discussion came the idea of forming a network of influential Indian business bloggers to promote link-worthy posts from Indian business bloggers in the form of a weekly digest published on our respective blogs.

The People

The present members in our network are (in alphabetical order):-

- Gaurav Mishra, that is, yours truly, is a marketer and a social media enthusiast (Blog, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter).

- Palin Ningthoujam is a public relations professional and the founder of India PR Blog (Blog, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter).

- Rajesh Lalwani is the founder of social media agency Blogworks (Blog, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter).

- Ranjan Varma is the writer of personal finance online weekly Personal Finance 2.01 (e-Book, Blog, Facebook and Twitter).

- VeerChand Bothra is at the organizer of Mumbai Mobile Mondays and head of business development at MyToday (Blog, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter).

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Filed in Desi Blogging, Desi Web 2.0, Entrepreneurship, Internet, Marketing, Mobile, Noteworthy, Social Media, Weekly Digest | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Permalink | Comments (6)

Check It Out: My First Podcast on Why Startups Need Workaholics and Why Mobile Will Drive Web 2.0 Usage in India

Saturday, March 22nd, 2008

Quick Summary: Check out my first podcast on Indicast where Aditya Mhatre, Aditya Mishra, VeerChand Bothra and I discuss why startups need workaholics and why mobile will drive web 2.0 usage in India.

My First Podcast on Indicast

I had a great time last Sunday recording my first podcast with Aditya Mhatre, Aditya Mishra, VeerChand Bothra (tweet) on why startups need workaholics and why mobile will drive web 2.0 usage in India (tweet).

All three of them have extremely rich backgrounds, resulting in an extremely vibrant discussion —

- Aditya Mhatre is India’s leading podcaster at Indicast (Blog, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter).

- VeerChand Bothra is at the center of India’s mobile boom, as MobilePundit, as organizer of Mumbai Mobile Mondays and as VP at NetCore Solutions (Blog, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter).

- Aditya Mishra is deeply involved in the startup ecosystem in India through his work (he has the fancy title of Entrepreneur-in-Residence at TCS) and his role as the organizer of BarCamp and Kickstart (Blog, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter).

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Filed in Desi Web 2.0, Internet, Marketing, Mobile, Noteworthy, Social Media, Trendspotting, Twitter Threads, podcasts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink | Comments (3)

Check It Out: I Love Alootechie’s New Magazine-Style Look and Not-Only-News Focus

Tuesday, March 18th, 2008

Quick Summary: With its new magazine style look and not-only-news focus, Alootechie will strengthen its position as the dominant authority on the Indian digital media industry.

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Alootechie, which has established itself as the Indian online industry’s news monitor, has a new look and a new focus.

The New Alootechie Homepage

I have known about the revamp for a few weeks now through conversations with Sidharth, Ravneesh, Saket and Asfaq, so when Ravneesh told me today that the new website was up, I knew what to expect.

Apart from the staple Indian and international digital industry news, the new magazine-style homepage displays a featured news story, an interview of the month, job and event boards and several guest articles. Inside, Alootechie has extended its coverage to include mobile and gaming.

While the present website is still work-in progress (watch out for the newsletter, podcasts and vidcasts), I must congratulate the Alootechie and Webchutney teams for the really cool revamp.

My favorite part of the revamped website are the guest posts, which are basically expert opinion pieces written by industry insiders. While each topic covered in the first set of these guest posts deserves a separate post on this blog, here are my top of the mind thoughts on some of them –

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Filed in Desi Blogging, Desi Web 2.0, Internet, Marketing, Mobile, Reviews, Social Media, Trendspotting | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink | Comments (5)