Australia: Corporate blogs and AFR

Well golly gosh, The Australian Financial Review has got a crap site. I would’ve probably paid for this article but it’s not clear it’s even on there. I couldn’t find a search button. Went out in the pouring rain to buy the paper instead. I think it’s the last time I’ll do that…

The number of Australian’s using blogs has soared over the past year, but companies are still struggling to find a way use one of the fastest growing parts of the internet as a marketing tool.

– do you think they should do one of my courses, or attend one of my seminars?

According to the research firm comScore Media Matrix, the number of Australian “unique users” aged 15 and over visiting blogs shot from 2.1 million in may 2006 to 3.3 million in May this year, compared with an 8 per cent increase in total online unique users to 10 million during the same period.

It is now my stated goal to teach each and every Australian interested in blogs, wikis, social media and social networks one of my How To Blog computer lab work courses, Creating Corporate Blogs seminars or one of the others maybe – The Business Benefits of Social Media in Australia, Building Vibrant Social Networks Online or YouTube, Blogs and Marketing? How long do you think it will take me to train Australia up, one liddle widdle corporate blogger at a time, hmmm?

realestate.com.au blogs. Big difference from a media company or a web 2.0 pr person doing blogs!
Noelle Waugh spoke with Jennifer Williams from Tribal DDB and Mike Zeederberg from Profero (both such shining examples of Web 2.0 marketing genius. Heh). For the record, Noelle, someone from Hyro would ring truer. Plus, why not talk to some real corporate bloggers. That feller from Realestate.com.au, Rod thingummy from Telstra’s NowWeAreSlagging? The article points out the backlash on antiZeroCoke Movement (zerocoke marketing set up a fake blog by Coke) and Walmart (fake blog by Walmart *fans* who were actually staff).

When I read this sort of thing:

Marketers and marketing services companies know blogging is on the rise: the trick is finding a way to milk it.

I get a bit worried. It’s clear that anyone who tries to “milk” a social network is gonna get a whole lot more than they bargained for and, unfortunately, the more fuckups in blogging and dialogue-with-the-customer, the more companies and marketers that will step back from trying to facilitate these conversations. I have never worked in an area that is so confrontational to the incumbents.

By the way, Enterprise 2.0 or Business 2.0 or Corporate Blogs 2.0 or whatever you want to call the subject matter conference on next month. We need a tipping point in Australia.