The crackdown on fake reviews and fake blog posts has begun: The New York Attorney General has fined a company $300,000 for encouraging fake reviews. It's a good thing. All ethical marketers know that we survive and thrive only through the trust and respect of our customers. Any effort to clean up the the bad […]
Social Media Safety Warning: NY State fines $300,000 for fake reviews. Learn to protect your brand.
July 15, 2009
Newsletter #734: The “Special BlogWell Edition: Social Media for Social Good” Issue
June 4, 2009
{Welcome back to the Damn, I Wish I Thought of That Email Newsletter. This is text of the great issue all of our email subscribers just received. Sign yourself up using the handy form on the left.} The power of social media is phenomenal — and with it, there are opportunities to do some truly […]
Ignore the attackers
May 16, 2009
It's really easy to be an ass online. People will say insanely rude and offensive things to you. They will say things in front of 1,000 readers that they wouldn't dare say to your face. Ignore them. Block them, delete their comments, unsubscribe, stop reading. If someone was rude, loud and insulting, you'd throw them […]
An ethical way to earn a living as a blogger
May 13, 2009
Many people misunderstand my ongoing opposition to spam-shop Izea as opposition to bloggers earning a living. To be clear: Bloggers have every right to have a business, to sell advertising, and make a living — if you follow the basic rules of ethics and disclosure that have existed for decades in all forms of media. […]
You’d be fired if you paid for fake testimonials in your TV ads …
May 13, 2009
… so why would you even consider using a service like Izea to pay bloggers to write about you? Just because it's social media doesn't make it right. This isn't an issue of fine lines and gray areas: Writing an endorsement of a product you have never used is illegal and has always been illegal […]
Aha! #9: Disclosure isn’t complicated
April 23, 2009
We’re gearing up for our next BlogWell: How Big Businesses Use Social Media event on April 29 in New York — and in doing so, we’re sharing a bunch of presentations from our last BlogWell. I’m always amazed at the ideas and stories that are shared by some of the biggest companies in the world […]
On The Media Interview: How to be an ethical marketer. Why it’s wrong to pay for blog coverage.
April 19, 2009
Welcome to all the new readers who heard me on On The Media this morning. I did an interview with host Bob Garfield about the most important issue in the world of blogging: ethics. Specifically, we talked about what happens when marketers pay for placement in blogs. (More here) Paying for blog coverage — what […]
Rhett and Link Perform Live at BlogWell: The Internet Overdose Song
April 18, 2009
Rhett and Link are performing live at BlogWell: 8 Great Case Studies on Corporate Social Media. (So are Coca-Cola, Nokia, Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, GE, Tyson, Turner Broadcasting System, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.) New York | April 29, 1-5pm | http://gaspedal.com/blogwell Watch Rhett and Link perform the Internet Overdose Song: And, just for […]
Characteristics of a true word of mouth marketer
April 18, 2009
This was my post this week over on the SmartBlog on Social Media. If you're looking for some word of mouth insights and the latest news on social media, you should check it out as well as their free newsletter. Andy's Answers: Characteristics of a true word of mouth marketer True word of mouth marketers […]
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