It’s 2012. There’s a dizzying new world of possibilities for creating and distributing content. We have the technology - but we also have some bad habits and emotional baggage getting in the way. iCrossing’s Content Director Charlie Peverett takes you on an entertaining journey through the evolution of online content to give you a fresh and inspiring perspective on what really matters. Find out why your first action might be to ban the blog.

1. Ban the Blog
Charlie Peverett

3. Definition of ‘blog’ #1
• A contraction of ‘web log’
• A diary-style way to publish content easily to
the web
• Typically displaying the most recent post first
• Usually enabling
readers to add their
comments

4. Definition of ‘blog’ #2
• A revolutionary democratisation of the
process of publishing content that has the
potential to empower people across the globe
to tell their stories and express their opinions

5. Definition of ‘blog’ #3
• Mainly created by "bald, cauliflower-nosed,
young men sitting in their mothers’
basements and ranting”.
– Andrew Marr, Oct 2010

6. Definition of ‘blog’ #4
• …our main website is still too shit to add
anything to it regularly so we'll dump stuff
here instead and hope someone notices.
– @tamsinbishton

7. Claims made for blogging by marketers
• Blogging will increase your visibility
• Blogging will increase your engagement
• Blogging will increase your authority

8. Claims made for blogging by marketers
• Blogging will improve your sex life
• Blogging will do the washing up for you
• [insert your own]

9. The blog is a bucket

10. Buckets are great

12. Some of us will always be more
interested in the bucket

13. but for most of us….

15. It’s what’s in the bucket that counts

16. How did we get distracted by buckets?

17. How did we get distracted by buckets?
1. Blogs as workarounds

18. How did we get distracted by buckets?
2. My boss heard about blogging…

19. How did we get distracted by buckets?
3. It’s treated as a media buy

20. In short…
• The success of your blog is
increasingly tied to what you
say - not merely the fact that
you’ve chosen to speak

21. In short…
• Alternative platforms may suit
your objectives better

22. In short…
• Thinking hard first saves pain
later

23. In short…
We’re seeking to
avoid the fate of
thousands of
company blogs.

24. Blogs with archives that look
something like this

25. Blogs with archives that look
something like this
• Here’s an exclusive interview with one of our
designers!

26. Blogs with archives that look
something like this
• Here’s an exclusive interview with one of our
designers!
• Here’s our press release about a store opening
in Milton Keynes

27. Blogs with archives that look
something like this
• Here’s an exclusive interview with one of our
designers!
• Here’s our press release about a store opening
in Milton Keynes
• Look! Voucher code!

28. Blogs with archives that look
something like this
• Here’s an exclusive interview with one of our
designers!
• Here’s our press release about a store opening
in Milton Keynes
• Look! Voucher code!
• Pictures of us in the office eating cakes

29. Blogs with archives that look
something like this
• Here’s an exclusive interview with one of our
designers!
• Here’s our press release about a store opening
in Milton Keynes
• Look! Voucher code!
• Pictures of us in the office eating cakes
• Something else, can’t even remember what

30. Blogs with archives that look
something like this
• Here’s an exclusive interview with one of our
designers!
• Here’s our press release about a store opening
in Milton Keynes
• Look! Voucher code!
• Pictures of us in the office eating cakes
• Something else, can’t even remember what
• I posted this to get HR off my back!

31. It’s a place where content goes to
die.
A mishmash of bloggery-pokery
that at iCrossing we like to call:

32. Shitpot.com

33. ♪ ♪ ♪
♪
Shit-pot-dot-com

34. The solution?

36. • In early stages of planning, ban the word
‘blog’

37. • In early stages of planning, ban the word
‘blog’
• Take those questionable claims for ‘blogging’
and replace ‘blogging’ with ‘being interesting
and relevant on a frequent basis’

38. • In early stages of planning, ban the word
‘blog’
• Take those questionable claims for ‘blogging’
and replace ‘blogging’ with ‘being interesting
and relevant on a frequent basis’
• See if the conversation goes somewhere
different

39. Ban the Blog
Reason 1:
You’ll focus more on the purpose,
less on the bucket

40. Ban the Blog
Reason 2:
You’ll consider better options for
publishing and distributing your
content

41. Ban the Blog
Reason 3:
If you do settle on the need for a
blog it will be a positive decision

42. It’s a case of moving from a
reactive model to a strategic one

43. We need to produce
more content / ‘be
social’

44. We need to produce
more content / ‘be
social’
[knee jerk]

45. We need to produce
more content / ‘be
social’
[knee jerk]
I just signed up for
Wordpress!

46. We need to produce We need to
more content / ‘be communicate
social’ smarter!
[knee jerk] vs
I just signed up for
Wordpress!

47. We need to produce We need to
more content / ‘be communicate
social’ smarter!
vs Why? To whom?
[knee jerk] Where? How?
I just signed up for
Wordpress!

48. We need to produce We need to
more content / ‘be communicate
social’ smarter!
vs Why? To whom?
[knee jerk] Where? How?
Main
I just signed up for Off-site Email
site
Wordpress!
Twitter Apps Blog

49. We need to produce We need to
more content / ‘be communicate
social’ smarter!
vs Why? To whom?
[knee jerk] Where? How?
Main
I just signed up for Off-site Email
site
Wordpress!
Twitter Apps Blog

50. We need to produce We need to
more content / ‘be communicate
social’ smarter!
vs Why? To whom?
[knee jerk] Where? How?
Main
I just signed up for Off-site Email
site
Wordpress!
[maybe] Twitter Apps Blog

51. Three great tips for blogging
being frequently relevant
and interesting online

52. 1) Get some perspective
Get everyone thinking like a real person who
likes real stuff!
[interactive workshop activity was here – but
you can try this at home]

53. Exercise: thinking like a real person
• Take a group of people
• Ask one person to talk about something they
love online (doesn’t have to be a blog)
• Bring it up on the screen for everyone to see

54. Exercise: thinking like a real person
• Ask that person to specify the positive
qualities of the site they’ve chosen
• Add each quality (e.g. accurate, funny,
surprising, inspiring) to a post-it note
• Put the post-its on a wall

55. Exercise: thinking like a real person
• Repeat with as many participants as you can
• When finished, have a look at all the post-its
• Consider which qualities have arisen time and
again (it’s usually the same ones…)
• And finally….

56. Exercise: thinking like a real person
• Consider whether the content you’re planning
is likely to have any of these qualities…

57. 2) Relevance
Beware marketers who tell you they can be
interesting on your behalf
[cue deathstar]

58. Stuff you actually do /
what you know about

59. Stuff you actually do /
what you know about
A step away from your
products and services

60. Stuff you actually do /
what you know about
A step away from your
products and services
Way out of
comfort zone

61. Increased time,
effort, investment
to establish
Stuff you actually do / credibility
what you know about
A step away from your
products and services
Way out of
comfort zone

62. Increased time,
effort, investment
to establish
Stuff you actually do / credibility
what you know about
A step away from your
products and services Less relevant to
what your
Way out of customers want
comfort zone from you

63. Increased time,
effort, investment
to establish
Stuff you actually do / credibility
what you know about
A step away from your
products and services Less relevant to
what your
Way out of customers want
comfort zone from you
Risk of brand
erosion

64. Increased time,
effort, investment
to establish
Stuff you actually do / credibility
what you know about
A step away from your
products and services Less relevant to
what your
Way out of customers want
comfort zone from you
Risk of brand
erosion
Risk of looking a
bit desperate

65. 3) *Do* something interesting
• 98% of interesting online content involves
something interesting happening offline*
• The cost of *doing* something interesting (a
project / event / campaign) is rarely factored into
the investment in producing content
• The further from your core business your focus
for content is, the greater the need to commit to
*doing* extra stuff to fuel what you have to say
* I totally made this up but I believe it to be true

66. Bonus tip: Tags are not content
Remember, tag clouds are the mullets of the
internet (Zeldman, 2005, still bears repeating)

67. So in summary
• Purpose before content before platform
• Get some perspective
• Keep it relevant
• Doing something interesting

68. Ban the Blog
Thanks
Charlie Peverett

69. Image credits
Images reproduced under Creative Commons licence:
Roses in a bucket image by Flickr user jenny downing licensed under Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenny-pics/3079485197/sizes/l/
Colourful stacked buckets image by Flickr user tanakawho licensed under Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28481088@N00/670258156/
Buckets on sale in street image by Flickr user nSeika licensed under Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nseika/6376364681/
Tennis court image by Flickr user EEPaul licensed under Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eepaul/6860515636/
Cat in a bucket image by Flickr user nromagna licensed under Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nromagna/5643588854/
Pissed off cat image by Flickr user Mikko Lumtiala licensed under Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikko_luntiala/5068157476/
Please note that the ‘blog as perfume’ image is reproduced under copyright from the supplier.