Those of you who are familiar with my posts around the blogosphere, or my comments at various conferences, know that this has been my mantra for some time now. Well, the good folks at GigaOm have a great post on this very subject.
Hopefully, this is the beginning of a trend where real Web 2.0 businesses with real customers get some of the attention that has, to date, been reserved for W20 sites that are nothing more than fun apps that nobody is willing to pay for.
Best,
George
PayPerPost (PPP) has been the subject of hot debate since it opened for business in 2006. For those of you not familiar with PPP, it is a site that basically acts as a broker between advertisers and bloggers. The twist is that rather than spending one lump sum to buy space on one blog, advertisers can offer 500 different bloggers $5 each (or more) to post a message about their company. Purists argue it is deceptive and ruining the internet. PPP and other capitalists argue it is another smart way of getting a message out, while putting some $$ in the jeans of bloggers who earn pennies from Google.
It shouldn’t surprise you that I’m all for the business side of the debate. A recent webpoll on WebProNews puts the capitalists in the overwhelming majority, with more than 91% saying they would use PPP. Now, only 78 people voted during the week long poll but the poll was placed at the bottom of an article that pitted PPP against one of the biggest blogs in the world – Gizmodo.
Paying bloggers to write about you, as long as it is disclosed, isn’t deceptive and it isn’t ruining the web. Not because I say so but due to the fact no self-respecting blogger would affiliate themselves with products or services harmful to the blogosphere. Do they have to love it? Does Tiger really love Buick? I’m sure he loved them a whole lot more once they dropped cash on the table. Why should bloggers be any different? Power to the free market.
Best,
George
It was bound to come up sooner or later, so here we are. Companies such as Sun Microsystems and General Motors have been operating blogs that contain posts by company officers. I personally believe both companies should be commended for using blogs to further communicate with the investment community. Nonetheless, I’ve debated those who believe blogs do not constitute full disclosure - though none of them have ever been able to tell me how webcasts stay within the guidelines.
Well, the issue is now officially on the table thanks to SEC Chairman Cox dropping in on the blog moderated by Sun CEO, Jonathan Schwartz. I could try to summarize the courteous discourse between the two but nothing beats the real thing.
I’m confident that blogs are going to pass the test due to the fact they are available for all to read just as webcasts are available for all to listen/watch. Nonetheless, you are watching history in the making as Web 2.0 finds its way into investor relations – something we’re already leading the way with in the small-cap / micro-cap world.
Best,
George
                     
The world’s biggest mining conference has now been YouTubed and the results are fantastic, with over 7,700 views of our interviews with Peter Grandich, Paul Van Eeden and Gerri Paxton of Palmarejo.Â
In the process, YouTube awarded our AGORACOMIR “guru” channel with several honors for number of views and new subscribers on both individual days and over the entire week.Â
This small experiment bodes very well for the future of online video in the small-cap world, so look for us to significantly increase coverage beginning the with Calgary Gold Show at the end of this month.
Happy to announce that AIMS Canada graciously asked for my opinion on the best way to build community and deliver viable Web 2.0 applications. Given my stance on the fact that far too many Web 2.0 “companies” are confusing features for companies, I was only happy to do so. The interview can be found at:
http://www.blog.aimscanada.com/aims_canada/2007/01/agoracom_buildi.html
Special thanks to Brian Moran for producing the interview.
David McCarthy, Founder and former CEO of Zanett Inc (ZANE: Nasdaq) launched an online community and a series of podcasts for the purposes of building a permanent community of investors. Kudos to David for recognizing the power of Web 2.0 and becoming a pioneer that all small-cap companies should follow.
Full press release can be viewed at http://biz.yahoo.com/pz/061208/110129.html
Zanett community can be viewed at http://www.agoracom.com/ir/zanett
Regards,
George
Good evening to you all. I recently gave a speech at the PIPEs Conference in New York (October 2006) titled “How To Conduct Investor Relations In a Web 2.0 World”. The conference targets PIPEs issuers, fund managers and analysts from all over North America, as opposed to public companies and individual investors. As such, I’ve made the speech available via webcast for pubco’s to view here.
Have a great night.
Regards,
George