The New Rules of Marketing & PR - David Meerman Scott

I got a nice surprise when David included me in his thanks and sent me a proof copy of his new book: The New Rules of Marketing & PR along with an audio seminar Online News Releases. Sweet Stuff!
I’d like to share juicy tidbits of the book with you, but also talk about some things that I’ve learned as a marketer/blogger that correlates to what David has written. I hope it will be interesting, and be warned: this is a long post ;).
If you liked the Cluetrain Manifesto, you’ll like this book. Message: If you have something to sell–you need to understand, and respect, that consumers are now plugged in and connected like never before. Companies are slowly beginning to realize that building relationships and communicating with consumers is the fast track to manna.
David provides plenty of examples and actionable steps that can help expand your online reach–this book isn’t marketing theory and fluff, it’s all laid out with examples and steps to make. And HELLO! we could all benefit from that info. You don’t have to be big business to benefit from what he’s shared, there’s some great stuff in the book.
If you’re a company and you’re not trying to figure out how to connect with your customers online or how to generate buzz and work with bloggers, ***You Are Late***. Because some of your competitors already are, and the number is growing by the day.
Buyer Persona Profiles
David talks about developing “Buyer Persona Profiles”: Who are you trying to reach? What are their goals? Problems? What’s important to them? What are they doing online? What are they attracted to? and on and on. Flipping this to online marketers and bloggers, I’ve found that I have applied this with great success to one of my blogs.
You have to drill down and figure out who is that person you’re trying to reach–and then create content just for them.*
Although David provides examples and ideas for multi-Buyer Persona Profiles for companies and organizations to use, this is a tricky thing for bloggers because you know the “unsubscribe” notices are going to hit your inbox occasionally. And you know it is probably due to the fact that you are presenting a vibe or two that just isn’t “resonating” with a more/less sophisticated crowd. BUT if you stay focused on the “Buyer Persona” that you’re aiming for, instead of trying to kick it with everyone–you’ll see more chatter, more links, more comments, more subs. More blog stalkers. Guaranteed. It’s called tightly targeting your content.
David even goes so far as to suggest naming the persona and clipping a representative picture of one from a magazine and having it in your face when trying to develop the message to reach them. I found that to be really powerful stuff.
I found a vocal blog fan and focused on her (she commented and linked a lot). Carefully chosen, she seemed to fit what I had in mind of the type of reader I was trying to reach. What would she be interested in reading? What would she like to see on the blog? What would she link to? It’s working to the point that another blogger linked to the blog with a blurb along the lines of: this blog is like a crack addiction, can’t shake it. And that’s TRUE for a lot of readers on that blog.
Is your blog crack to someone? Would they miss it if it disappeared in some black hole? If that’s not the case, read what David suggests about developing Buyer Personas and develop one. Because it really does work.
*The best persona would preferably be one that compliments what you can offer and is true to you (as a blogger). It’s no use being fake and trying to attract vegetarians to your blog if a) you think they’re silly or misled for cutting out meat, and b) you don’t have a clue about the lifestyle, benefits and the choice. Your vibe will be ‘off’ and will have a hard time connecting with that persona–never mind driving yourself crazy trying to be something you’re not.