Jane Writes on Crain's Chicago

We received a head's up from our good friend Kirsten at re:inventioninc this week reporting on Crain's Chicago's list of their "40 under 40."

While the list is impressive -- and Jane sees a few friends noted there -- Kirsten mentions that not one female entrepreneur made the list! We wonder if Crain's cares about entrepreneurs at all, since more women fit that category than men?? We especially want to know why Kirsten, who works tirelessly for the women's market, was not included?

On another note, over at Small Business Trends, Anita Campbell reports on a news article (which she discovered at Law and Entrepreneurship News) dissing entrepreneurs and small business owners. Another area women dominate. Jane sent off a strongly worded email...no reply, yet.

Seems this is the week is fair game for negative reporting. On Tuesday, Robert Bly made the rounds with his article from DM News saying, "Can Blogging Help Market Your Product?" His answer was a resounding: no, for which many bloggers took issue.

My beef is with Debbie Weil who told Bly that "A blog is an online journal," to quote from his article. Debbie say it isn't so! Business blogging is far beyond a journal. We respect those bloggers who journal, in fact, Jane reads many interesting journal blogs.

But, Lip-sticking and Small Business Trends and re:inventioninc and WonderBranding and A Fine Kettle of Fish, and What's Your Brand Mantra (where Jennifer Rice took Bly to task quite nicely!) as well as hundreds of other business blogs ARE NOT journals! They offer educational advice and authentic references, in the voice of their authors, no differently than an ezine or a print magazine.

We must also take issue with our friend, Paul Chaney at Radiant Marketing. He is quoted in the Bly article saying, "I would say that, with few exceptions, blogs are not yet direct income-producing resources in and of themselves." Paul, Jane would so have liked you to show Bly some income producing blogs, and to rephrase your comment to say, "Blogs are up and coming marketing tools that have an excellent chance of producing income generating content for their writers -- if they are informative, useful, and educational." Gee, that would make them a lot like...DM News? (Paul has a good reply on his blog; we only wish he'd been more selective in his quote.)

Jane leaves you, dear readers, with these thoughts: Was email marketing an instant success? Was writing ezines and accepting ads in them, an overnight success? WAS the INTERNET itself considered a useful marketing tool when it was first introduced? Time...that's what it takes. We have promised Mr. Bly, who kindly exchanged a series of emails with us yesterday, that blogs are going to leave their mark faster than any previous marketing effort, and be as effective as any DM campaign.

It's up to you, dear readers, to make that happen. We are speaking specifically to the Janes out there... women control the majority of spending in this country...show Bly we like shopping online...and will buy from blogs.

There is a LOT to like about that!

Comments

[Bob Bly]

Yvonne--

I do not consider all or even the majority of bloggers rude; I specifically said "a small percentage."

David suggested just e-mailing back directly to those specific few who were rude or insulting, but I disagree. Blogging (and I am still trying to get the hang of it, so please be patient) seems to be a public, not private, forum.

Rick Bruner, Steve Hall, and others had no problem being sarcastic with me. Therefore, I believe it is true and valid for me to point out that they are part of a minority in the blogosphere whose standards of polite, acceptable conversation are different than mine.

[Yvonne DiVita]

To all,
This, then, is one of the benefits of a blog. Thank you, Robert, for your comment and for recognizing that trying out blogging might be a good idea. To David, no doubt Robert has received unpleasant emails before... I don't get the sense he considers all of us rude... do you, Robert? Open dialogue is always best...it will now be interesting to watch what happens next.

[David St Lawrence]

Bob, if you have a beef with someone who wrote you a rude email, send him a response. Trying to lump all bloggers together and chastise us for the frankness of a few won't cut it.

If you can't take criticism in an email, how in the world do you expect to publish a blog? As I wrote to you earlier, good blogging is a two-way conversation. You either learn from the feedback you receive or you don't.

I think you have it in you to become an effective blogger as long as you realize this is not the same as copywriting or PR.

It is a new game. Learn what works and all will be well. We all contribute to making the blogosphere what it is, and our efforts cause continuous mutations.

Get your blog going. You will have plenty of visitors with the attention you have generated. I wish you well in your new adventure.

[Bob Bly]

I want to thank everyone in the blogging community who helped educate me on this (to me) new medium through their posts and e-mails. As a result, I will be launching a blog.

One thing that I am dismayed about, however, is the small percentage of people online who believe that disagreeing with someone gives them the right to be rude and insulting -- like everdred@gmail.com who wrote to inform me, "Holy hell. You're a moron."

Behavior like this is not good PR for the blogging world.

[Bob Cargill]

Yvonne,

As I wrote in my comment on Debbie Weil's blog late last night, the respect I've always had for Robert Bly is exceeded only by how surprised I was to learn how little he thinks of -- and knows about -- blogs.

Of all people, such a successful, prolific copywriter and author as he would be one of the first I would expect to run into out here in the blogosphere.

I posed an idea on Debbie's blog which I'll also float here: Who among us could set Robert up with his own blog template? I'm serious! The Bob Bly Blog would be a mega-hit from the get-go. He has the content and the following. And if he would be a willing participant, he would have the publicity, too.

Bob Cargill
Senior Creative Director
Yellowfin Direct Marketing
Boston, MA

[Yvonne DiVita]

Debbie, we knew it! You're way too smart and with it to get caught like that. Thanks for the compliment on our blog...we return it hundredfold! We LOVE your new blog Blogwrite for CEOs. And we think Robert Bly got enough response to his 'misinformation' generated by lack of research and focus, to convince him to give blogging a second look. He needs to understand that we're all in this together and...the power in numbers doesn't come from the numbers, it comes from the discussion. Cheers!

[Debbie Weil]

Jane,

Re your "say it ain't so" comment... of course it wasn't so. Bob quoted me out of context. I know that a blog is much more than an online journal. But it's part of the quickie explanation I use when introducing folks totally new to blogging. BTW, I love your blog and as soon as I can get my "blogrolls" updated I'll add it!

[Paul Chaney]

Yvonne,
I didn't mean to suggest he misquoted me, and I'm sorry if I gave that impression. I actually went back through the email thread of the conversations I had with him (Thank God for GMail) and he did ask if he could use the statements I made in an article. I'll take the rap for leaving the wrong impression.

Thanks again for your reference to my response.

[Yvonne DiVita]

Paul,
I suspected as much after posting. Seems the same thing happened to Debbie Weil. We (bloggers) are all together on this...which I'm happy to report...and I think your response on your blog addressed his misconceptions, and misquoting of you, quite nicely. Thanks for setting us straight here at Lip-sticking. We talked (emailed) with Bly all afternoon and...we think he's re-thinking blogging, in general. Cheers.

[Paul Chaney]

As you mentioned Yvonne, I also rebuffed Bob in a post on my blog. But, there is more to the story.

Sometime ago I had asked him sometime back why he wasn't blogging. He emailed me with much the same response as he included in his article. In fact, let me quote his response, "To be frank, I don't get the whole blogging thing, never read them, so probably won't start one. But if you check my Articles page on www.bly.com and subscribe to my e-zine on the home page, you'll always have new content from me...."

Bob did add he felt he needed to get educated on blogs.

While I hold Bob in highest esteem, I feel he STILL needs to get educated on them.

Oh, and by the way, it was from that email conversation that he gleaned the statements I made which he quoted.