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Home: Video University Forums: Marketing & Business:
why blogs are a bad idea

Colvin ADTR
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Oct 31, 2006, 2:57 AM

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why blogs are a bad idea	Can't Post

This article covers most of the negatives.
Blogs are a fad, an expensive, time-consuming aimless vanity. You have little control over who reads it and little feedback about why or the effect it has on them. They go against all the principles of effective marketing but many seem to be adopting them as the latest fashion. To me, they are the latest internet bubble. If you want to talk to your clients, do it through your own site. Why have all that traffic going somewhere else? And are you sure you want everyone knowing everything you do?

RustyB
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Oct 31, 2006, 7:32 AM

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Re: [Colvin ADTR] why blogs are a bad idea [In reply to]	Can't Post

That article is about teens & myspace, but I agree with ya on professional blogs. "Time consuming aimless vanity"...couldn't have said it better myself. I think they have more potential to make you look bad, than to bring in $$$.

That myspace article is true to...I can see it becoming passe among teens quickly. When I was a teen, I don't think I'd want to sit around on myspace for hours, when you could be out actually having a real social life. Laugh

I'm not surprised to see how older people have picked up on it....older people have jobs, where they sit around for hours wasting company time on the internet, and have old/new friends scattered about the planet. When I was a teen, I was only concerned with going OUT...not getting fat in front of a computer with no friends. Laugh

the People's Video Collective blog
wedding video and the means of production

Postal Boy
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Nov 2, 2006, 4:12 PM

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Re: [RustyB] why blogs are a bad idea [In reply to]	Can't Post

Problem is, more and more kids aren't able to go out like they used to...it just isn't as safe, so parents, don't allow their kids to go out as much...so, they sit in front of the TV or "interact" over the Internet...Which probably isn't any safer than going out...

-Postal

RustyB
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Nov 2, 2006, 8:21 PM

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In Reply To

That's so sad, with obesity and diabetes at epidemic levels now, while kids sit in front of their PlayStations, and their parents cram them full of fuggin' junk food.

the People's Video Collective blog
wedding video and the means of production

DarrenS
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Nov 3, 2006, 2:44 AM

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Re: [RustyB] why blogs are a bad idea [In reply to]	Can't Post

I was at the 24-hour grocery store tonight because I can't sleep and ran out of food. I saw a mother with her two little kids there at 1am. She weighed at least 300lbs and they were each little porkers too. They got to the cash when I did so I saw what they were buying. Two HUGE tubs of ice cream, five frozen huge pizzas, a massive block of cheese (biggest I've ever seen), not sure how many bags of potato chips but at least five, a bunch of left-over halloween candy bags, pretzels, sour cream chip dip. Man I just about said something. I bet that heffer is the first person to claim she has a genetic reason for being fat. She even burped out loud to top it all off. Disgusting. Poor kids don't have a snowball's chance in hell of having a decent life.

Bob A
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Nov 4, 2006, 11:07 AM

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Re: [DarrenS] why blogs are a bad idea [In reply to]	Can't Post

I have always lamented that you need a license or permit for just about everything you do or own except the most important thing you do in your life - Having and raising kids. When you see crappy parents like that, you know the chance of those kids rising above that are slim. And the beat goes on ........
There really should be manditory education for expecting parents. In addition to some being lazy, there are a bunch that really don't know any better and some instruction in life skills would be a huge benefit.

fr0gm@n
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Jan 1, 2007, 7:24 PM

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Re: [DarrenS] why blogs are a bad idea [In reply to]	Can't Post

And that is the same family that is running the free (to them) medicare system expenses through the roof at our expense. They are too lazy to get healthy to get good jobs so they mooch off us. I would bet their diabetic supplies are free from Medicare and they are constantly at the "clinic" for treatment at our expense.

They get all that free while I barely afford a high deductible health insurance just in case I get really sick. We self-employed are usually too "rich" for government freebies but often too "poor" to afford high quality health coverage.

We had someone in our church recently that was grossly overweight and a real lazy b&&t. He would go in the hospital for a heart attack and never pay a penny yet I have to pay for a simple checkup or regular doctor visit. I work my rear off and the lazy people are kept alive by the "system" just because the technology is there to do so. I am not saying just let them die but part of the problem is we have so many medical miracle treatments that people who are overweight or just lazy don't have to get healthy cause we got drugs that will keep them alive inspite of themselves.

My wife and I changed our lifestyle a few years back to include a healthy diet and regular exercise. Now when I see people in buffet line gorging themselves is makes me sick knowing they are killing themselves early and also inflating the price of health care.

Off my soapbox now.... Wink

Why does a gorilla have big nostrils.......cause it has big fingers.

frog blog

Julie Hill
Enthusiast

Jan 2, 2007, 1:14 AM

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Re: [Colvin ADTR] why blogs are a bad idea [In reply to]	Can't Post

I'm sad you think that. Photographers don't think that way... they are fantastic marketers and that's why they are getting paid way more than most videographers. We need to think outside the box and stop focusing on the latest and greatest equipment, to the latest and greatest buzz creators and marketing tools. Blogs are a great, easy, free, non-time consuming way to accomplish some of this. I think it's great that people are able to post feedback right on the blog.. so what if it allows us to toot our horn without coming out and doing so ourselves? I'm proud of the work we do and want everyone to know about it.

http://customerevangelists.typepad.com/...small_businesse.html

I want our business to thrive and grow, not stay the same. I think many videographers just want to stay in their comfort zone and are happy w/the way things are going for them. Each philosophy is fine... but if you want to move forward, you have to THINK forward and ACT forward, and you have to ADAPT to new situations and ways of doing things.

Now I'll get off MY soap box!

WHAT'S NEXT you ask? http://reframecollective.squarespace.com/blog

Oscar
Enthusiast

Jan 26, 2007, 7:17 PM

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Re: [fr0gm@n] why blogs are a bad idea [In reply to]	Can't Post

Quote

Man, you said it right there. And the rest of your response... totally right on! Freakin' parasites and freakin' tree huggers pushing the socialist society of entitlement! That means, do little to nothing and big brother takes care of you, no matter what. Make more money?... do well for yourself... sorry... you must give it to the gov because they know how better to spend your money.

Sorry, don't want to turn political here. Democrats and Repubs... both are pissing me off lately. But the healthcare thing...that's just common sense stuff. I'm tired of paying for XYorZ to sit back, get fat, and expect the entitlement (that means free stuff) of healthcare that I pay more and more for each year. Oooof, that's a sore spot for me!

Want to really get furious... how about illegals, coming across the border, and being "entitled" to complete healthcare... that means free, people (they pay nothing). Free healthcare, paying not a dime in taxes to help out. I pay my taxes for the past 15-20 years on time, in full, by the book... the first time I have to go into the hospital ER for one afternoon and an overnight observation... $4,347.29.

What freakin' side of the universe have the law makers been on for the last 20 years. This is nuts! Then these clowns have the snarklies to tell me my kids have to recite "their" pledge of allegience in my kid's school, complain about references to God in ANYTHING they read, outlaw revolutionary terms like Christmas and Thanksgiving! That's great. "Yes, I'll take that bag of chips for 75,000 pesos please." Thank you sir, may I have another.

Sorry, this one is a sticker in my side. Mods... fire away. I'm ready. Socialists... let's not go there.

Thanks,
Oscar

MoonLitNite
User

Jan 29, 2007, 12:23 AM

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Re: [Colvin ADTR] why blogs are a bad idea [In reply to]	Can't Post

In Reply To

Hi Colvin,

In one context, you make some valid points about blogs. In fact, 100 years ago the similar arguments were made over misuse of the telephone. People with a similar view believed it was insincere not to meet face-to-face, instead resorting to the new-fangled telephone. In fact, believe it or not, they said that people who resorted to speaking via the telephone were "phony" which is the basis of the word today.

However, blogs need not be on another URL or website. Many of us simply have the blog in a subdirectory on our site - our web hosting service providers do not charge extra to implement a blog, so there's no expense incurred. Anyway, my feeling is anything potentially powerful and easy to use can easily be misused - some blogs can certainly fall in this category. But this doesn't mean a blog is necessarily a bad thing. Many have done an outstanding work designing, development, and maintaining blogs. And due to the inherent nature of blogs, they are INFINITELY better than websites when it comes to quick indexing by major search engines. Finally, the better bloggers use controls to moderate unsolicited user comments (spam, etc).

Blogs aren't a solution to every problem, but they do have many strengths - every tool has its purpose. We could go into considerable details on blogs but this forum may not be the best venue. Personally, I've found them beneficial as both a webmaster and a web-surfer so I thought I'd share my viewpoint.

Warm Regards, Michael
Happy Trails to you... until we meet again

Colvin ADTR
Enthusiast

Jan 29, 2007, 3:12 AM

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Re: [MoonLitNite] why blogs are a bad idea [In reply to]	Can't Post

Valid points. The trouble arises IMO when people don't use them in the best way for them or don't have a plan of using them. If people don't know what they want out of them and instead get sucked into the new fad, all it will be is a drain on time. The USP of a blog is the interaction, which is priceless but how many can say they are getting that and getting any results? Yes, they get seen more and it is nice to be up in the search ratings but Darren is right in saying that a well designed website will do all that and not give away too much. I don't agree that brides are interested in their vendors. They want to check them out but "familiarity breeds contempt". Even the best companies may only have name recognition rather than being known to the brides. When asked who did their video, I bet most of them would have to look it up.
Another bonus point of a blog is that it is expected to be unstructured, which means that it is easy to put up content but that is a two-edged sword and in time the blogs that survive will be a mess and only as good as what is in the first five posts. When it gets to that stage, people will realise that websites are still the best way of holding information

MoonLitNite
User

Jan 29, 2007, 5:08 AM

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Re: [Colvin ADTR] why blogs are a bad idea [In reply to]	Can't Post

Rehi Colin,

All great points - thank you for the follow-up and I definitely agree with the issues you mentioned above. Blogs *seem* seductively easy to establish and maintain, but as you well know, site structure and organization will end up being a real nightmare for those jumping in with wild abandon (hmm, just like filming). And personally, I abhor rework and poorly designed sites that have a poor user interface, bizarre and inconsistent navigation, impossible to find content or pages that punish the viewer, etc...

I also agree with your assertion that our potential customer aren't particularly enamored with our technologies unless it directly helps them. And since they usually have personal experiences with excellent websites that have well thought out designs, we ought not to press our luck before their patience wears thin. The consequence is not only a lost personal opportunities but potentially a poor image for our entire trade. So let me help beat your drum on what you've recently said, Colvin :-)

Warm Regards, Michael
Happy Trails to you... until we meet again

(This post was edited by MoonLitNite on Jan 29, 2007, 5:09 AM)