This document provides the table of contents for the book "The New Rules of Marketing & PR" by David Meerman Scott. The contents list the book's chapters and their topics, which discuss how marketing and PR have changed in the digital age. The new rules focus on directly engaging customers through content marketing, social media, blogs, video, and other online strategies rather than traditional advertising and media relations.

1. CONTENTS
Cover
PraiseforTheNewRulesofMarketing&PR
TitlePage
Copyright
Dedication
Foreword
Introduction
TheNewRules
LifewiththeNewRules
What’sNew
WritingLikeonaBlog,ButinaBook
ShowcasingSuccess
PartI:HowtheWebHasChangedtheRulesofMarketingandPR
Chapter1:TheOldRulesofMarketingandPRAreIneffective
inanOnlineWorld
Advertising:AMoneyPitofWastedResources
One-WayInterruptionMarketingIsYesterday’sMessage
TheOldRulesofMarketing
PublicRelationsUsedtoBeExclusivelyabouttheMedia
PublicRelationsandThird-PartyInk
Yes,theMediaAreStillImportant
PressReleasesandtheJournalisticBlackHole
TheOldRulesofPR
LearntoIgnoretheOldRules
Chapter2:TheNewRulesofMarketingandPR

2. TheMostImportantCommunicationRevolutioninHuman
History
OpenforBusiness
TheLongTailofMarketing
TellMeSomethingIDon’tKnow,Please
Bricks-and-MortarNews
TheLongTailofPR
TheNewRulesofMarketingandPR
TheConvergenceofMarketingandPRontheWeb
Chapter3:ReachingYourBuyersDirectly
TheRightMarketinginaWiredWorld
LettheWorldKnowaboutYourExpertise
DevelopInformationYourBuyersWanttoConsume
BigBirgePlumbingCompanyGrowsBusinessina
CompetitiveMarket
BuyerPersonas:TheBasics
ThinkLikeaPublisher
StayingConnectedwithMembersandtheCommunity
KnowtheGoalsandLetContentDriveAction
ContentandThoughtLeadership
PartII:Web-BasedCommunicationstoReachBuyersDirectly
Chapter4:SocialMediaandYourTargetedAudience
WhatIsSocialMedia,Anyway?
SocialMediaIsaCocktailParty
“UpgradetoCanada”SocialProgramNabsTouristsfrom
OtherCountries
SocialNetworkingandAgility
TheNewRulesofJobSearch
HowtoFindaNewJobviaSocialMedia
InsignificantBackwatersorValuablePlacestoConnect?

3. YourBestCustomersParticipateinOnlineForums—So
ShouldYou
YourSpaceintheForums
Wikis,Listservs,andYourAudience
SocialNetworkingDrivesAdagioTeas’Success
Chapter5:Blogs:TappingMillionsofEvangelis tstoTellYour
Story
Blogs,Blogging,andBloggers
ABlog(orNotaBlog)
CaliforniaLawyerBlogstoBuildAuthorityandDriveMore
Business
UnderstandingBlogsintheWorldoftheWeb
TheFourUsesofBlogsforMarketingandPR
MonitorBlogs—YourOrganization’sReputationDependson
It
CommentonBlogstoGetYourViewpointOutThere
WorkwiththeBloggersWhoTalkaboutYou
BloggersLoveInterestingExperiences
HowtoReachBloggersaroundtheWorld
DoYouAllowEmployeestoSendEmail?HowaboutLetting
ThemBlog?
NotAnotherJunkyBlog
ThePowerofBlogs
GetStartedToday
Chapter6:AudioandVideoDriveAction
CreateGoodwillwithCustomers
WhatUniversityShouldIAttend?
TheBestJobintheWorld
HaveFunwithYourVideos
AudioContentDeliverythroughPodcasting

4. HacktheEntrepreneurPodcastDeliversNewCustomersfor
Host’sBusiness
GrammarGirlPodcast
Chapter7:GoingViral:TheWebHelpsAudiencesCatchthe
Fever
Minty-FreshExplosiveMarketing
MonitoringtheBlogosphereforViralEruptions
CreatingaWorldWideRave
RulesoftheRave
FilmProducerCreatesaWorldWideRavebyMaking
SoundtrackFreeforDownload
UsingCreativeCommonstoFacilitateMashupsandSpread
YourIdeas
ViralBuzzforFunandProfit
TheVirginMaryGrilledCheeseSandwichandJerry
Garcia’sToilet
ClipThisCouponfor$1MillionOffFortMyers,Florida,
Home
WhenYouHaveExplosiveNews,MakeItGoViral
Chapter8:TheContent-RichWebsite
PoliticalAdvocacyontheWeb
Content:TheFocusofSuccessfulWebsites
ReachingaGlobalMarketplace
PuttingItAllTogetherwithContent
GreatWebsites:MoreArtThanScience
Chapter9:MarketingandPRinRealTime
Real-TimeMarketingandPR
JohnGreenThumpsTomCruise
DevelopYourReal-TimeMind-Set

5. Real-TimeBlogPostDrives$1MillioninNewBusiness
TheTimeIsNow
ChronicleYourLifeandBusinesswithLiveVideoFeeds
CrowdsourcedSupport
PartIII:ActionPlanforHarnessingthePoweroftheNewRules
Chapter10:YouAreWhatYouPublish:BuildingYourMarketing
andPRPlan
WhatAreYourOrganization’sGoals?
BuyerPersonasandYourOrganization
TheBuyerPersonaProfile
HowBekoDevelopsProductsGlobalConsumersAreEager
toBuy
ReachingSeniorExecutives
TheImportanceofBuyerPersonasinWebMarketing
InYourBuyers’OwnWords
WhatDoYouWantYourBuyerstoBelieve?
DevelopingContenttoReachBuyers
MarketingStrategyPlanningTemplate
TheNewRulesofMeasurement
AskingYourBuyerforaDate
MeasuringthePowerofFree
WhatYouShouldMeasure
StopThinkingofContentCreationasaMarketingExpense
ObamaforAmerica
SticktoYourPlan
Chapter11:GrowingYourBusiness:HowMarketingandPR
DriveSales
It’sTimeforaSalesTransformation
HowWebContentInfluencestheBuyingProcess

6. TipsforCreatingaBuyer-CentricWebsite
Step1:SalesBeginwithInformationalContent
Step2:AFriendlyNudge
Step3:ClosingtheDeal
AnOpen-SourceMarketingModel
SalespeopleasContentCurators
YourCompany’sSalesperson-in-Chief
EducatingYourSalespeopleabouttheNewBuyingProcess
RegistrationorNot?DatafromanE-BookOffer
ClosetheSale—ContinuetheConversation
MeasureandImprove
HowaContentStrategyGrewBusinessby50Percentin
OneYear
Chapter12:OnlineThoughtLeadershiptoBrandYour
OrganizationasaTrustedResource
DevelopingThoughtLeadershipContent
FormsofThoughtLeadershipContent
HowtoCreateThoughtfulContent
HowRaytheonUsesJournaliststoCreateInteresting
Content
ThoughtLeadershipinHighlyRegulatedIndustries
LeveragingThoughtLeadersoutsideYourOrganization
WhoWroteThatAwesomeWhitePaper?
HowMuchMoneyDoesYourBuyerMake?
Chapter13:HowtoWriteforYourBuyers
AnAnalysisofGobbledygook
PoorWriting:HowDidWeGetHere?
EffectiveWritingforMarketingandPR
ThePowerofWritingFeedback(fromYourBlog)
InjectingHumorintoProductDescriptions
BrandJournalismatBoeing

7. Chapter14:MobileMarketing:ReachingBuyersWherever
TheyAre
JointheRevolution
MakeYourSiteMobileFriendly
BuildYourAudienceviaMobile
Geolocation:WhenYourBuyerIsNearby
QRCodestoDrivePeopletoYourContent
TheMobileMediaRoom
AnAppforAnything
CyberGraffitiwithWiFiNetworkNamesasAdvertising
Chapter15:SocialNetworkingasMarketing
Television’sEugeneMirmanIsVeryNiceandLikesSeafood
Facebook:NotJustforStudents
HowtoUseFacebooktoMarketYourProductorService
IncreaseEngagementswithFacebookGroupsandApps
WhyGooglePlusIsImportantforYourBusiness
CheckOutMyLinkedInProfile
TweetYourThoughtstotheWorld
SocialNetworkingandPersonalBranding
TheHorseTwitterer
TheCIAJoinsTwitter
TheSharingMoreThanSellingRule
ConnectingwithFans
HowAmandaPalmerRaisedaMillionDollarsviaSocial
Networking
WhichSocialNetworkingSiteIsRightforYou?
YouCan’tGotoEveryParty,SoWhyEvenTry?
OptimizingSocialNetworkingPages
IntegrateSocialMediaintoanOfflineConferenceorEvent
BuildaPassionateFanBase

8. SocialNetworkingandCrisisCommunications
WhyParticipatinginSocialMediaIsLikeExercise
Chapter16:BloggingtoReachYourBuyers
WhatShouldYouBlogAbout?
BloggingEthicsandEmployeeBloggingGuidelines
BloggingBasics:WhatYouNeedtoKnowtoGetStarted
PimpOutYourBlog
BuildinganAudienceforYourNewBlog
Tag,andYourBuyerIsIt
FunwithSharpies(andSharpieFans)
CitiesThatBlog
BloggingoutsideNorthAmerica
WhatAreYouWaitingFor?
Chapter17:AnImageIsWorthaThousandWords
PhotographsasCompellingContentMarketing
ImagesofRealPeopleWorkBetterThanInaneStock
Photos
HowtoMarketanExpensiveProductwithOriginal
Photographs
WhyILoveInstagram
SharingwithPinterest
ThePowerofSlideShareforShowcasingYourIdeas
Infographics
Chapter18:VideoandPodcastingMade,Well,asEasyas
Possible
VideoandYourBuyers
Business-CasualVideo
StopObsessingoverVideoReleaseForms
YourSmartphoneIsAllYouNeed
VideotoShowcaseYourExpertise

9. GettingStartedwithVideo
VideoCreatedforBuyersGeneratesSalesLeads
Podcasting101
Chapter19:HowtoUseNewsReleasestoRea chBuyers
Directly
NewsReleasesinaWebWorld
TheNewRulesofNewsReleases
IfTheyFindYou,TheyWillCome
DrivingBuyersintotheSalesProcess
DevelopingYourNewsReleaseStrategy
PublishingNewsReleasesthroughaDistributionService
ReachEvenMoreInterestedBuyerswithRSSFeeds
SimultaneouslyPublishYourNewsReleasestoYour
Website
TheImportanceofLinksinYourNewsReleases
FocusontheKeywordsandPhrasesYourBuyersUse
IncludeAppropriateSocialMediaTags
IfIt’sImportantEnoughtoTelltheMedia,TellYourClients
andProspects,Too!
Chapter20:YourNewsroom:AFrontDoorforMuchMoreThan
theMedia
YourNewsroomas(Free)SearchEngineOptimization
ReachingReportersandEditorsandTellingYourStory
BestPracticesforNewsrooms
OntarioUniversityShinesSpotlightonFacultyResearchers
ANewsroomtoReachJournalists,Customers,andBloggers
Chapter21:TheNewRulesforReachingtheMedia
“Re:,”NontargetedPitches,andOtherSleazyTactics
TheNewRulesofMediaRelations
BlogsandMediaRelations

10. HowBlogMentionsDriveMainstreamMediaStories
LaunchingIdeaswiththeU.S.AirForce
HowtoPitchtheMedia
Chapter22:NewsjackingYourWayintotheMedia
JournalistsAreLookingforWhatYouKnow
GetYourTakeontheNewsintotheMarketplaceofIdeas
HowtoFindNewstoJack
WhentheStoryIsAlready(Sortof)aboutYou
TwitterIsYourNewsjackingTool
Beware:NewsjackingCanDamageYourBrand
NewsjackingforFunandProfit
Chapter23:SearchEngineMarketing
MakingtheFirstPageonGoogle
SearchEngineOptimization
TheLongTailofSearch
CarveOutYourOwnSearchEngineRealEstate
WebLandingPagestoDriveAction
OptimizingthePast
SearchEngineMarketinginaFragmentedBusiness
Chapter24:MakeItHappen
YourMind-Set
TheJourneyfromaTraditionalMarketingExecutivetoa
ModernCMO
ManageYourFear
GettingtheHelpYouNeed(andRejectingWhatYouDon’t)
GreatforAnyOrganization
NowIt’sYourTurn
AcknowledgmentsfortheFifthEdition
AbouttheAuthor

11. Preview:TheNewRulesofSalesandService
TheTimeIsNOW
LivinginthePast:TheOldSchoolofSalesandService
FirstMarketingandPR,NowSalesandService
LivingReal-TimeandMobileHasChangedEverythingWeDo
WhySalesandServiceAreExperiencingaRevolutionary
Transformation
RestoringtheHumanTouch:TheCompellingPowerof
Authenticity
TheImportanceofStory
SocialMediaIsAllaboutConnectingandSharing
ContentDrivesSalesandService
We’reAllinSalesandServiceNow
OnlineContentThatInforms,Entertains…andSellsInsurance
LearningfromExamples:HowtheSuccessesofOthersCan
ProvideIdeasandOptionsforYourOwnOrganization
HaveDavidMeermanScottSpeakatYourNextEvent!
Index
EndUserLicenseAgreement
PRAISEFORTHENEWRULESOF
MARKETING&PR
“Thisexcellentlookatthebasicsofnew-millennialmarketingshould
finduseinthehandsofanyseriousPRprofessionalmakingthe
transition.”
—PublishersWeekly(starredreview)
“Davidisinformative,entertainingandinspiring!Nooneknowsmore
aboutnewwaystoreachbuyers.Thegroundbreakingstrategiesinthis

12. bookreinventthewayentrepreneursengagethemarketplaceand
growbusiness.”
—TonyRobbins
“Thisisabsolutelythebestbookonthenewworldofmarketingand
PR.DavidMeermanScottis‘theteacher’steacherintheworldof
socialmedia.’Igetallmybeststufffromhim.Infact,Ibuyeachnew
editionbecause,intheever-changingworldofonlinemarketing,ifyou
don’tstaycurrent,youdieafastdeath.Thiseditionissonewthatit
includestoolsIhadn’tevenheardofyet.You’llloveit.”
—MichaelPort,NewYorkTimesBestsellingAuthorofBook
YourselfSolid
“Mostprofessionalmarketers—andthegroupsinwhichtheywork—
areontheedgeofbecomingobsolete,sothey’dbetterlearnhow
marketingisreallygoingtoworkinthefuture.”
—BNET,“TheBest&WorstBusinessBooks”
“WhenIreadtheNewRulesforthefirsttime,itwasa‘eureka’moment
formeatHubSpot.Davidnailedthefundamentalshiftsgoingoninthe
buyer-sellerrelationshipandwrotetheclassictexttohelp marketers
takeadvantageofthem.”
—BrianHalligan,HubSpotCEOandCo-AuthorofInbound
Marketing
“I’vereliedonTheNewRulesofMarketing&PRasacoretextformy
NewMediaandPublicRelationscourseatBostonUniversityforthe
pasteightyears.David’sbookisabold,crystal-clear,andpractical
guidetowardanew(andbetter)futurefortheprofession.”
—StephenQuigley,BostonUniversity

13. “Whatawake-upcall!Byembracingthestrategiesinthisbook,you
willtotallytransformyourbusiness.DavidMeermanScottshowsyou
a
multitudeofwaystopropelyourcompanytoathoughtleadership
positioninyourmarketanddrivesales —allwithoutahugebudget.I
amahugefanandpractitionerofhisadvice.”
—JillKonrath,AuthorofSnapSelling,andChiefSalesOfficer,
SellingtoBigCompanies.com
“TheNewRulesofMarketing&PRhasinspiredmetodowhatIhave
coachedsomanyyoungartiststodo:‘Findyourauthenticvoice,
becomevulnerable,andthenputyourselfoutthere.’DavidMeerman
Scottexpertlyandclearlylaysouthowtousemanygreatnewtoolsto
helpaccomplishthis.Sincereadingthisbook,Ihavebeenexcited
abouttrulyconnectingwithpeoplewithoutthefilterofallthe‘oldPR’
hype.IthasbeenreallyenergizingformetospeakaboutthingsthatI
reallycareabout,usingmyrealvoice.”
—MeredithBrooks,Multi-PlatinumRecordingArtist,Writer,and
Producer,andFounderofrecordlabelKissingBoothMusic
“Davidisaleadingexpertonhowthedigitalagehasdramatically
changedmarketingandPR.Agreatguideforlargeandsmall
companiesaliketonavigatethe‘newrules.’”
—MartinLindstrom,NewYorkTimesBestsellingAuthorof
Buyology:TheTruthandLiesaboutWhyWeBuy
“TheInternetisnotsomuchabouttechnologyasitisaboutpe ople.
DavidMeermanScott,inhisremarkableTheNewRulesofMarketing
&PR,goesfarbeyondtechnologyandexplorestheramificationsof
thewebasitpertainstopeople.Hesetsdownabodyofrulesthat
showyouhowtonegotiatethoseramificationswithmaximum
effectiveness.Andhedoesitwithreal-lifecasehistoriesandan
engagingstyle.”

14. —JayConradLevinson,FatherofGuerrillaMarketingandAuthor,
GuerrillaMarketingseriesofbooks
“TheNewRulesofMarketing&PRteachesreadershowtolauncha
thoughtleadershipcampaignbyusingthefar-reaching,long-lasting
toolsofsocialmedia.Itisaninvaluableguideforanyonewhowantsto
makeanameforthemselves,theirideas,andtheirorganization.”
—MarkLevy,Co-Author,HowtoPersuadePeopleWhoDon’t
WanttoBePersuaded,andFounderofLevyInnovation:A
MarketingStrategyFirm
http://sellingtobigcompanies.com
“RevolutionmaybeanoverusedwordindescribingwhattheInternet
haswrought,butrevolutionisexactlywhatDavidMeermanScott
embracesandpropelsforwardinthisbook.Heexposesthefutilityof
theoldmediarulesandopenstoallofusaninsiders’game,previously
playedbyafewwell-connectedspecialists.Withthisrulebooktothe
onlinerevolution,youcanlearnhowtowinmindsandmarkets,playing
bythenewrulesofnewmedia.”
—DonDunnington,President,InternationalAssociationofOnline
Communicators(IAOC);DirectorofBusinessCommunications,
K-TronInternational;andGraduateInstructorinOnline
Communication,RowanUniversity,Glassboro,NewJersey
“Thehistoryofmarketingcommunications—about60yearsorso—
has
beenaboutpushingmessagestoconvinceprospectstotakesome
actionweneed.Nowmarketingcommunications,largelybecauseof
theoverwhelmingpowerandinfluenceofthewebandotherelectronic
communications,isaboutengaginginconversationwithprospectsan
d

15. leadingorpersuadingthemtotakeaction.DavidMeermanScott
showshowmarketingisnowaboutparticipationandconnection,and
nolongeraboutstrong-armforce.”
—RoyYoung,ChiefRevenueOfficer,MarketingProfs.com,and
Co-Author,MarketingChampions:PracticalStrategiesfor
ImprovingMarketing’sPower,Influence,andBusinessImpact
“DavidMeermanScottnotonlyoffersgooddescriptionsofdigitaltool
s
availableforpublicrelationsprofessionals,butalsoexplainsstrategy
,
especiallytheimportanceofthinkingaboutPRfromthepublic’s
perspectives,andprovideslotsofhelpfulexamples.Mystudentslove
d
thisbook.”
—KarenMillerRussell,AssociateProfessor,GradyCollegeof
JournalismandMassCommunication,UniversityofGeorgia
“Thisisamust-readbookifyoudon’twanttowastetimeand
resourcesontheoldmethodsofInternetmarketingandPR.David
MeermanScottreviewstheoldrulesforoldtimes’sakewhilebridging
intothenewrulesforInternetmarketingandPRforyourcause.He
doesn’tleaveuswithonlytheories,butofferspracticalandresults-
orientedhow-tos.”
—RonPeck,ExecutiveDirector,NeurologicalDiseaseFoundation
“TheNewRulesofMarketing&PRisallaboutbreakingtherulesand
creatingnewrolesintraditionalfunctionalareas.Usingmaverick,
http://marketingprofs.com
nontraditionalapproachestoaccessandengagingamultiplicityof
audiences,communities,andthoughtleadersonline,PRpeopleare
realizingnewvalue,influence,andoutcomes.We’renowinacontent-

16. rich,Internet-drivenworld,andDavidMeermanScotthaswrittena
valuabletreatiseonhowmarketing-mindedPRprofessionalscan
leveragenewmediachannelsandforumstotaketheirstoriesto
market.NolongerarePRpractitionerslimitedinwhereandhowthey
directtheirknowledge,penmanship,andperceptionmanagement
skills.TheInternethasmultipliedandsegmentedawealthofnew
avenuesfordirectlyreachingandactivatingkeyconstituenciesand
stakeholders.Agoodbookwellworththereadbyallmarketing
mavensandagingPRflacks.”
—DonovanNeale-May,ExecutiveDirector,CMOCouncil
“TheNewRulesofMarketing&PRprovidesaconciseactionplanfor
success.Ratherthanfocusingonasinglesolution,Scottshowshow
tousemultipleonlinetools,alldirectedtowardincreasingyourfirm’s
visibilityandword-of-mouthawareness.”
—RogerC.Parker,AuthorofTheStreetwiseGuideto
RelationshipMarketingontheInternetandDesigntoSell
“Onceagainweareatacriticalinflectionpointonoursociety’s
evolutionarypath,withindividualswrestingawaypowerandcontrol
frominstitutionsandtraditionalgatekeeperswhocontroltheflowof
knowledgeandmaintainthesilowalls.Ascommunications
professionals,thereislittletimetofigureoutwhathaschanged,whyit
changed,andwhatweshouldbedoingaboutit.Ifyoudon’tstartdoing
thingsdifferentlyandstartrightnow,youmayaswellstartlookingfor
yournextcareerpath.Inaworldwheredisruptioniscommonplace
andnewwaysofcommunicatingandcollaboratingareinventedevery
day,whatdoesittakeforahardworking,ethicalcommunications
professionaltobesuccessful?DavidMeermanScott’sbook,TheNew
RulesofMarketing&PR,isaninsightfullookathowthegameis
changingasweplayitandsomeofthekeytacticsyouneedto
succeedintheknowledgeeconomy.”
—ChrisHeuer,Co-Founder,SocialMediaClub

17. ALSOBYDAVIDMEERMANSCOTT
TheNewRulesofSalesandService:HowtoUseAgileSelling,
Real-TimeCustomerEngagement,BigData,Content,and
StorytellingtoGrowYourBusiness
MarketingtheMoon:TheSellingoftheApolloLunarProgram
(withRichardJurek)
Real-TimeMarketing&PR:HowtoInstantlyEngageYourMarket,
ConnectwithCustomers,andCreateProductsThatGrowYour
BusinessNow
MarketingLessonsfromtheGratefulDead:WhatEvery
BusinessCanLearnfromtheMostIconicBandinHistory(with
BrianHalligan)
Newsjacking:HowtoInjectYourIdeasintoaBreakingNewsStory
andGenerateTonsofMediaCoverage
WorldWideRave:CreatingTriggersThatGetMillionsofPeopleto
SpreadYourIdeasandShareYourStories
TunedIn:UncovertheExtraordinaryOpportunitiesThatLeadto
BusinessBreakthroughs(withCraigStullandPhilMyers)
CashingInwithContent:HowInnovativeMarketersUseDigital
InformationtoTurnBrowsersintoBuyers
EyeballWars:ANovelofDot-ComIntrigue
TheNewRulesofMarketing&
PR
HowtouseSocialMedia,OnlineVideo,Mobile
Applications,Blogs,NewsReleases,andViral
MarketingtoReachBuyersDirectly
FifthEdition
DavidMeermanScott

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20. http://booksupport.wiley.com/
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DEDICATION
FortheScottwomen
Mymother,CarolynJ.Scott;
mywife,YukariWatanabeScott;
andmydaughter,AllisonC.R.Scott
FOREWORD
You’renotsupposedtobeabletodowhatDavidMeermanScottis
abouttotellyouinthisbook.You’renotsupposedtobeabletocarry
arounda$250videocamera,recordwhatemployeesareworkingon
andwhattheythinkoftheproductstheyarebuilding,andpublish
thosevideosontheInternet.Butthat’swhatIdidatMicrosoft,building
anaudienceofmorethanfourmillionuniquevisitorsamonth.
You’renotsupposedtobeabletodowhatStormhoekdid.Awineryin
SouthAfrica,itdoubledsalesinayearusingtheprinciplesdiscussed
here.
Somethinghaschangedinthepast10years.Well,forone,wehave
Googlenow,butthat’sonlyapartofthepuzzle.
Whatreallyhashappenedisthattheword-of-mouthnetworkhas
gottenmoreefficient—much,muchmoreefficient.
Wordofmouthhasalwaysbeenimportanttobusiness.WhenIhelped
runaSiliconValleycamerastoreinthe1980s,about80percentofour
salescamefromit.“WhereshouldIbuyacamerathisweekend?”you
mighthaveheardinalunchroombackthen.Toda ythatconversationis
happeningonline.Butinsteadofonlytwopeopletalkingaboutyour
business,nowthousandsandsometimesmillionsareeither
participatingorlisteningin.

21. Whatdoesthismean?Well,nowthere’sanewmediumtodealwith.
YourPRteamshadbetterunderstandwhatdrivesthisnewmedium
(it’sasinfluentialastheNewYorkTimesorCNNnow),andifyou
understandhowtouseit,youcandrivebuzz,newproductfeedback,
sales,andmore.
Butfirstyou’llhavetolearntobreaktherules.
Isyourmarketingdepartmentsayingyouneedtospend$80,000todo
asinglevideo?(That’snotunusual,evenintoday’sworld.Ijust
participatedinsuchavideoforasponsorofmine.)Ifso,tellthat
department,“Thanks,butnothanks.”Orevenbetter,searchGoogle
for“Willitblend?”You’llfindaUtahblendercompanythatgotsix
milliondownloadsinlessthan10days.Oh,and10,000comme ntsin
thesameperiodoftime.Allbyspendingafewhundredbucks,
recordingaone-minutevideo,anduploadingthattoYouTube.
OrstudywhatIdidatMicrosoftwithablogandavideocamera.The
EconomistmagazinesaidIputahumanfaceonMicrosoft.Imagine
that.A60,000-employeeorganization,andIchangeditsimagewith
verylittleexpenseandhardlyacommitteeinsight.
Thisadviceisn’tforeveryone,though.Mostpeopledon’tlikerunning
fastinbusiness.Theyfeelmorecomfortableiftherearelotsofchecks
andbalancesorcommitteestocovertheirasses.Ortheydon’twantto
destroythemoraleofPRandmarketingdepartmentsduetothe
disintermediatingeffectsoftheInternet.
Afterall,youcantype“OneNoteBlog”intoGoogle,Bing,orYahoo!
andyou’llfindtheOneNoteteamatMicrosoft.Youcanleavea
commentandtellthemtheirproductsucksandseewhattheydoin
response.Orevenbetter,tellthemhowtoearnyoursale.Dothey
snapintoplace?
It’sanewworldyou’reabouttoenter,onewhererelationshipswith
influentialsandsearchengineoptimizationstrategyareequally
important,andonewhereyournewswillbepassedaroundtheworld
veryquickly.
Youdon’tbelieveme?

22. LookathowtheworldfoundoutIwasleavingMicrosoftforaSilicon
Valleystart-up.
Itold15peopleatavideobloggingconference—notA-listers,either,
justeverydayvideobloggers.Iaskedthemnottotellanyoneuntil
Tuesday—thiswasonaSaturdayafternoon,andIstillhadn’ttol dmy
boss.
Well,ofcourse,someoneleakedthatinformation.Butitdidn’tpopup
intheNewYorkTimes.Itwasn’tdiscussedonCNN.No,itwasa
bloggerIhadneverevenheardofwhopostedtheinfofirst.
Withinhours,itwasonhundredsofotherblogs.Withintwodays,it
wasintheWallStreetJournal,intheNewYorkTimes,onthefront
pageoftheBBCwebsite,inBusinessWeek,intheEconomist,inmore
than140newspapersaroundtheworld(friendscalledmefrom
Australia,Germany,Israel,andEngland,amongothercountries),and
inotherplaces.WaggenerEdstrom,Microsoft’sPRagency,was
keepingtrackandsaidthatabout50millionmediaimpressions
occurredonmynameinthefirstweek.
Alldueto15conversations.Whoa,what’suphere?Well,ifyouhavea
storyworthrepeating,bloggers,podcasters,andvideobloggers
(amongotherinfluentials)willrepeatyourstoryallovertheworl d,
potentiallybringinghundredsofthousandsormillionsofpeopleyour
way.OnelinkonasitelikeDiggalonecouldbringtensofthousandsof
visitors.
Howdidthathappen?Well,forone,lotsofpeopleknewme,knewmy
phonenumber,knewwhatkindofcarIdrove,knewmywifeandson,
knewmybestfriends,knewwhereIworked,andhadheardmein
about700videosthatIpostedathttp://channel9.msdn.comonbehalf
ofMicrosoft.
TheyalsoknewwhereIwenttocollege(andhighschoolandmiddle
school)andcountlessotherdetailsaboutme.Howdoyouknowthey
knowallthis?Well,theywroteapageonWi kipediaaboutmeat
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Scoble—
notasinglethingonthat

23. pagewaswrittenbyme.
Whatdidallthatknowledgeofmeturninto?Credibilityandauthority.
Translation:Peopleknewme,knewwhereIwascomingfrom,knewI
waspassionateandauthoritativeabouttechnology,andcametotrust
mewheretheywouldn’ttrustmostcorporateauthorities.
Byreadingthisbook,you’llunderstandhowtogainthecredibilityyou
needtobuildyourbusiness.Enjoy!
—RobertScoble
Co-author,NakedConversations
@scobleizer
http://channel9.msdn.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Scoble
https://twitter.com/scobleizer
INTRODUCTION
Inlate2014,Iwasconsideringbuyinganewsurfboard.I’vebeen
mainlyridingan8′0″SpyderWrightoverthepastseveralyears,andI
wantedtogetasmallerboard.InanarticleinSurfermagazine,Iread
aboutatrendbacktowoodensurfboards,soIthoughtI’ddoalittle
researchonwoodasanoptionformynextpurchase.Likebillionsof
otherconsumers,IheadedovertoGoogletostartmyresearch.I
enteredthephrase“woodensurfboard.”ThenIfollowedthelinktothe
topsearchresult:GrainSurfboardsatgrainsurfboards.com.
Iwasnotdisappointed.TheGrainSurfboardssitedrewmein
immediatelywithbeautifulimagesoftheboardsandexcellent
descriptionsofhowthecompanymakesthem.NowonderGrain
Surfboardshadthetopsearchresultsforthemostimportantphrasein
theirbusiness.
Ilearnedthatwhilesurfboardswereoriginallymadeofsolidwooda
hundredormoreyearsagoinHawaii,forthepast60yearsmachine-
madematerialssuchaspolyurethaneorpolystyrenefoamhaveallbut

24. replacedwood.Afterall,woodisheavierandhardertoworkwith.
ButalongcameGrainSurfboards.Thecompanypioneeredtheideaof
applyingboatbuildingtechniquestomakeahollowwoodenboardthat
islight,beautiful,andeco-friendly.TheGrainSurfboardssitewasn’t
justtalkinguptheirproducts;itwaseducatingmeaboutthehistoryof
mysport.
Thelessonsdidn’tstopwithhistory.Infact,thecompanydetailsits
buildingprocessonthewebforalltosee.Theideaofsharingyour
bestideasisforeigntomanymarketersandentrepreneurs,because
peopledon’tliketheircompetitorstounderstandtheirbusiness.Yetth
e
moreyoueducateaconsumer,themorelikelyheorsheistobuy.
IlearnedthatatGrainSurfboards,youcanbuyabuild-it-yourself
woodensurfboardkitthathaseverythingyouneed,includingdetailed
plans.Ialsolearnedthatthecompanyconductsclassesmostmonths
initsMaineworkshopandalsohasatravelingcourse(heldrecentlyin
NewJersey,NorthCarolina,andCalifornia).Ifbuildingyourownboar
d
doesn’tappealtoyou,youcanhavetheartisansatGrainSurfboards
craftoneforyou.
GrainSurfboardsperfectlyillustratesadifferentwayofdoingbusines
s
http://grainsurfboards.com
—theverymethodwewilldiscussinthisbook.GrainSurfboards
understandsthatwhenyoushareyourworkontheweb,youspread
yourideasandgrowyourbusinessasaresult.Throughoutthese
pages,we’lldiscusshowtocreatecontentthateducatesandinforms,
justlikeGrainSurfboardsdoes.
AsIwaspokingaroundonthesite,IfoundmywaytotheGrain
SurfboardsFacebookpage(11,000+likes)andthe@GrainSurfboard
s
Instagramfeed(28,000+followers).GrainSurfboardsengageswith
fansandshareswhat’snew.Becausetheyareexcitedtobeengaged,

25. fansnaturallyhelpspreadthecompany’sideas—withoutevenbeing
asked.OntheInstagramphoto-sharingsite,forexample,Grain
Surfboardspostsgethundredsoflikesandmanycommentsand
shares.Theteamregularlysharesimagesoftheboardstheyare
building,ofcustomer-createdwork,and,ofcourse,imagesofsurfing
enthusiastsshreddingatopbeautifulGrainSurfboards.
Inthisbook,you’lllearnhowtousetoolslikeInstagramandFacebook
inyourbusiness,too.Socialnetworksareeasy,fun,andpowerful!It
justtakesaminuteortwotoshootaphoto,manipulateitwiththe
filters,andshareitwithyournetwork.WithInstagram,theimagesdo
thetalking,soevenwriting-challengedpeoplecancreateawesome
content.
Inabout10minutesofresearchontheGrainSurfboardssite,aswell
astheirFacebookandInstagramfeeds,Imadeupmymindto
purchaseoneoftheirboards.ButIdidmorethanthat.Isignedupfor
thefour-daywoodensurfboardbuildingclassheldatthefactoryin
York,Maine.WhenIreadthisdescription,Ijustcouldn’trefusethis
empoweringopportunity:“Fourdaysin,beautifulboardout!You’llg
et
rightdowntoitinthisfour-dayclass,beginningonDay1withaboard
thathaspre-
installed(byus)frames,chineandonerailstrip.You’llpair
upwithanotherstudenttobuildtherailsofyourboardinthemorning
andyourclassmate’sthatafternoon.Spendtheremainingthreedays
completing,shapingandsandingyourboard.It’sfast,butit’sfunand
inonlyfourdays,you’vegotashapedandsandedboardreadyfor
glass.”Signmeup!
Itwasanamazingexperiencetobuildmyownboard.Manyothers
sharemyenthusiasm,andtheytellthestoryoftheirGrainSurfboards
experienceviathecompany’sFacebookpage.Thisfurtherspreadthe
wordaboutthebrand.Mystory?Fourdaystoabeautiful6′4″Wherry
fishmodelboard,whichIleftbehindtobefi nishedwithafiberglass
coating.WhenIwentbacktopickitup,Isignedupforasecond
http://twitter.com/GrainSurfboards

26. coursetobuildyetanotherboard.
Thecompanyhasmehooked.GrainSurfboardshasbuiltathriving
businessandbecomenumberoneinitsmarketplace.Andtheonline
contentisaprimaryreasonforitssuccess.Thecompanydoesn’t
resorttopayingforexpensiveadsinsurfingmagazines.Itdoesn’t
focusontryingtogetretailerstocarryitsproduct.Instead,itreaches
potentialbuyersdirectly—attheprecisemomentwhenthosebuyers
arelookingforawoodensurfboard.
IdidasearchonGooglefor“woodensurfboard,”andlessthanahalf-
hourlater,Ihadmycreditcardouttobookaclassinanotherstate!
HaditnotbeenforGrainSurfboards’content-richwebsite,beautiful
images,detailedprocessinformation,andhappycustomershowcase,
Iwouldhavequicklyclickedawaytocheckoutothermanufacturers.
Instead,Ispentthousandsofdollars,rewardingacompanythathad
treatedmewithrespectandinvitedmeintothewoodensurfboard
world.
Thewebprovidestremendousopportunitiestoreachbuyersdirectly,
andI’llshowyouhowtoharnessthatpower.I’llalsodiscussthe
pitfalls.
Thereusedtobeonlythreewaystogetnoticed:Buyexpensive
advertising,begthemainstreammediatotellyourstoryforyou,orhire
ahugesalesstafftobugpeopleindividuallyaboutyourproducts.Now
wehaveabetteroption:publishinginterestingcontento ntheweb—
contentthatyourbuyerswanttoconsume.Thetoolsofthemarketing
andPRtradehavechanged.Theskillsthatworkedofflinetohelpyou
buyorbegorbugyourwayintoopportunityaretheskillsof
interruptionandcoercion.Onlinesuccesscomesfromthinkinglikea
journalistandathoughtleader.
TheNewRules
Attheheightofthedot-comboom,Iwasvicepresidentofmarketingat
NewsEdgeCorporation,aNASDAQ-tradedonlinenewsdistributor
withmorethan$70millioninannualrevenue.Mymultimillion-dollar
marketingbudgetincludedtensofthousandsofdollarspermonthfora
publicrelations(PR)agency,hundredsofthousandsperyearforprint

27. advertisingandglossybrochures,andexpensiveparticipationata
dozentradeshowsperyear.Myteamputthesethingsonour
marketingto-dolist,workedlikehelltoexecute,andpaidthebigbucks
becausethat’swhatmarketingandPRpeopledid.Theseeffortsmade
usfeelgoodbecauseweweredoingsomething,buttheprograms
werenotproducingsignificant,measurableresultsbecausewewere
workingbasedontherulesofthepast.
Atthesametime,drawingonexperienceIhadgainedinmyprevious
positionasAsiamarketingdirectorfortheonlinedivisionofKnight-
Ridder(thenoneofthelargestnewspapercompaniesintheworld),
myteamandIquietlycreatedcontent-based,thoughtleadership
marketingandPRprogramsontheweb.AgainsttheadviceofthePR
agencyprofessionalswehadonretainer(whoinsisted thatpress
releaseswereonlyforthepress),wewroteandsentdozensof
releasesourselves.Eachtimewesentarelease,itappearedatonline
servicessuchasYahoo!andresultedinsalesleads.Eventhoughour
advertisingagencytoldusnottoputthevaluableinformation
“somewherewherecompeti torscouldstealit,”wecreatedamonthly
newslettercalledTheEdge,abouttheexplodingworldofdigitalnews.
Wemadeitfreelyavailableonthehomepageofourwebsitebecause
itgeneratedinterestfrombuyers,themedia,andanalysts.Wayback
inthe1990s,whenwebmarketingandPRwereintheiri nfancy,my
teamandIignoredtheoldrules,drawinginsteadonmyexperience
workingatanonlinepublisher,andcreatedamarketingstrategyusing
contenttoreachbuyersdirectlyontheweb.Thehomegrownprograms
wecreatedatvirtuallynocostconsistentlygeneratedmoreinterest
fromqualifiedbuyers,themedia,andanalysts —andresultedinmore
sales—thanthebig-bucksprogramsthatthe“professionals”were
runningforus.Peopleweneverheardofwerefindingusthrough
searchengines.Wehaddiscoveredabetterwaytoreachbuyers.
In2002,afterNewsEdgewassoldtotheThomsonCorp oration(now
ThomsonReuters),Istartedmyownbusinesstorefinemyideasand
teachothersthroughwriting,speakingatconferences,andconducting

28. seminarsforcorporategroups.Theobjectiveinallthisworkwasto
helpothersreachbuyersdirectlywithwebcontent.Sincethen,many
newformsofsocialmediahaveburstontothescene,includingsocial
networkslikeTwitter,Facebook,Instagram,andPinterest,plusblogs
,
podcasts,video,andvirtualcommunities.Butwhatallthenewweb
toolsandtechniqueshaveincommonisthattheyarethebestwayto
communicatedirectlywithyourmar ketplace.
Thisbookactuallystartedaswebmarketingonmyblog.InJanuary
2006,Ipublishedane-bookcalledTheNewRulesofPR,1
immediatelygeneratingremarkableenthusiasm(andmuch
controversy)frommarketersandbusinesspeoplearoundtheworld.
Sincethee-bookwaspublished,ithasbeendownloadedwellover
onemilliontimesandcommentedonbythousandsofreadersonmy
blogandthoseofmanyotherbloggers.Tothoseofyouwhohaveread
andsharedthee-book,thankyou.Butthefirsteditionofthisbookwas
muchmorethanjustanexpansionofthatwork,becauseIhavemade
itssubjectmarketingandPRandbecauseI’veincludedmanydifferent
formsofonlinemedia.I’vealsoconductedyearsofadditional
research.
Thisbookcontainsmuchmorethanjustmyownideas,becauseI
bloggedthebook,sectionbysection,asIwroteit.AndasIhavedone
revisions,includingthisfifthedition,I’vecontinuedtoblogthestorie
s
thatappearhere.Thousandsofyouhavefollowedalong,andmany
havecontributedtothewritingprocessbyofferingsuggestionsthroug
h
commentsonmyblog,Twitter,andbyemail.Thankyoufor
contributingyourideas.AndthankyouforarguingwithmewhenIgot
offtrack.Yourenthusiasmhasmadethebookmuchbetterthanit
wouldhavebeenifIhadwritteninisolation.
ThewebhaschangednotonlytherulesofmarketingandPR,butalso
thebusiness-bookmodel,andTheNewRulesofMarketing&PRisan

29. interestingexample.Myonlinecontent(thee-bookandmyblog)led
medirectlytoaprintbookdeal.Ipublishedearlydraftsofsectionsof
thebookonmyblogandusedtheblogtotestideasforinclusionin
subsequenteditions.Otherpublisherswouldhavefreakedoutifan
authorwantedtoputpartsofhisbookonline(forfree!)tosolicitideas.
ThepeopleatJohnWiley&Sonsencouragedit.Somythanksgoto
themaswell.
LifewiththeNewRules
TheNewRulesofMarketing&PRhassoldremarkablywellsincethe
initialreleaseinJune2007.ThefirsteditionmadetheBusinessWeek
best-sellerlistformultiplemonths.Sincethen,therevisededitions
haveremainedatoptitleformorethaneightyearsamongthousands
ofbooksaboutmarketingandpublicrelations.Wanttoknowthe
amazingthing?Ididn’tspendasinglepennyadvertisingorpromoting
it.
Here’swhatIdiddo:Iofferedadvancecopiesofthefirsteditionto
approximately130importantbloggers,Isentoutnearly20news
releases(you’llreadlaterinthebookaboutnewsreleasesasatoolto
reachbuyersdirectly),andmypublisheralertedcontactsinthemedia.
That’sit.Thousandsofbloggershavewrittenaboutthebookoverthe
years(thankyou!),significantlydrivingitssales.Andthemainstream
mediahavefoundmeasaresultofthisbloggerinterest.TheWall
StreetJournalcalledseveraltimesforinterviewsthatlandedme
quotesinthepaperbecausethejournalistshadreadaboutmyideas
onlinefirst.I’veappearedonnationalandlocaltelevisionandradio,
includingMSNBC,FoxBusiness,andNPR.I’vebeeninterviewedon
hundredsofpodcasts.Magazinesandnewspaperreportersemailme
allthetimetogetquotesfortheirstories.Howdotheyfindme?
Online,ofcourse!Anditdoesn’tcostmeasinglepenny.I’mnottelling
youallthistobragaboutmybooksalesormymediaappearances.I’m
tellingyoutoshowyouhowwelltheseideasworkandtoletyouknow
thatyoucanachieveasimilarresultinyourbusiness.

30. Butthecoolestpartofmylifesincethebookwaspublishedisn’tthatI
tookadvantageofthenewrulesofmarketingandPR,northatthis
bookhasbeensellinglikehotcakesasaresult.No,thecoolestpartof
myliferightnowisthatpeoplecontactmeeverydaytosaythatthe
ideasinthesepageshavetransformedtheirbusinessesandchanged
theirlives.Really!That’sthesortoflanguagepeopleuse.Theywrite
justtothankmeforputtingtheideasintoabooksothattheycouldbe
enlightenedtothenewrealitiesofmarketingandPR.
EverydayIgetexcitingfeedbackfrompeoplewhoarechargedup
aboutthenewrules.TakeJody.Hesentmeanemailtotellmethe
bookhadanunexpectedeffectonhimandhiswife.Jodyexplainsthat,
tothem,thereallyexcitingandhopefulideaisthattheycanactually
usetheirgenuinevoicesonline;they’veleftbehindthehype-inflated,
PR-speaktheiragencieshadusedsotediously.
IvanwroteonFacebook,“ThisbookshowedmethatIcouldbepartof
thisnewreality.AssoonasIfinishedthechapteron‘blogging,’I
createdmyfirstblogonWordPress.Today,hundredsofpostslater,I
amasuccessfulDigitalMarketingconsultant.”
OrAndrew.Heleftacommentonmyblog:“David,yourbookso
inspiredme,Idecidedtostartabrand-newbusiness(launching
shortly)basedaroundtheprinciplesyouespouse.Youcogently
expressedmanyofthethingsthatI’dbeengrapplingwithmyself.So
yourbookhascertainlychangedonelife.”
Mikewrotetosaythathiscompanytakesadvantageofallthetrends
andtechniquesdescribedinthebook.Hepurchasedabunchof
copiestosharewitheveryoneinhisorganization.Larryboughtcopies
forallthemembersofhisprofessionalassociation.Richarddid,too.
Robin,whoworksforacompanythatofferspublicrelationsservices,
purchased300copiesforclients.Len,whorunsastrategicmarketing
agency,sentcopiestohisclientsaswell.Julie,whoisasenior
executiveataPRfirm,handedoutcopiestoall75ofherstaff
members.Peopleapproachmeatconferencesaskingmetosign
wonderfullydog-eared,coffee-stained,Post-it-notedcopiesofthe

31. book.Sometimestheytellmesomefunnysecrets,too.Kathy,who
worksinPR,saidthatifeveryonereadit,she’dbeoutofajob!David
toldmeheusedwhathelearnedtofindanewjob.
Whileallthisincrediblefeedbackispersonallyflattering,Iammost
gratefulthatmyideashaveempoweredpeopletofindtheirownvoices
andtelltheirownstoriesonline.Howcoolisthat?
Nowletmediscloseasecretofmyown.AsIwaswritingthefirst
editionofthisbook,Iwasabitunsureoftheglobalapplicabilityofthe
newrules.Sure,I’dfoundanumberofanecdotalstoriesaboutonline
marketing,blogging,andsocialnetworkingoutsideNorthAmerica.B
ut
Icouldn’thelpbutwonderatthetime:Areorganizationsofallkinds
reachingtheirbuyersdirectly,withwebcontentwritteninlanguages
otherthanEnglishandforculturesotherthanmyown?Iquickly
learnedthattheanswerisaresoundingyes!About25percentofthe
book’sEnglish-languagesaleshavecomefromoutsidetheUnited
States.AndasIwritethis,thebookhasbeenorisbeingtranslated
intomorethan25otherlanguages,includingBulgarian,Finnish,
Korean,Vietnamese,Serbian,andTurkish.I’malsoreceiving
invitationsfromallovertheworldtospeakaboutthenewrules.Inthe
pastfewyears,I’vetraveledtomanycountries,includingBulgaria,
Sweden,SaudiArabia,India,Japan,theUnitedKingdom,Spain,
Estonia,Latvia,Turkey,Egypt,Italy,Croatia,theNetherlands,
Australia,NewZealand,Malaysia,Trinidad,andtheDominican
Republic.SoIcansaywithcertaintythattheideasinthesepagesdo
resonateworldwide.Weareindeedwitnessingaglobalphenomenon.
What’sNew
Thisfiftheditionofthebookbuildsonthecompletelyrevisedfourth
editionwithanotherextensiverewrite.Ihavecheckedeveryfact,
figure,andURL.ButI’vealsolistened.Inthepastfewyears,I’vemet
thousandsofpeoplelikeyou,peoplewhohavesharedtheirstories
withme.Ihavedrawnfromthoseexperiencesandincludedinthese
pagesmanynewexamplesofsuccess.Includingsomanynewstories
andexampleshasresultedinmyremovingmanyoftheoriginals,but

32. I’mconvincedtheseexcitingreplacementsareevenmorevaluabl e.
Andforthoseofyouwhohavereadearliereditions,you’llstillfind
manyfreshideasinthesepages.
I’vemadesomemoresignificantadditionsaswell.Thetoolsof
marketingandpublicrelationsareconstantlyevolving.Considerthis:
WhenIwrotethefirsteditionofthebook,Twitterdidn’te venexistand
Facebookwasavailableonlytostudents.NowTwitterisanessential
toolofmarketing,andFacebookisusedbyaremarkableonebillion
peopleworldwide.Andthosearejusttwoexamples.
Thereal-timewebhassparkedatremendousopportunityforreaching
membersofthemediadirectly—astheyarewritingbreakingnews
stories.SoI’veaddedmuchmoretothechaptersonreal-time
marketingandonnewsjacking,thetechniqueofinjectingyourideas
intoabreakingnewsstorytogeneratetonsofmediacoverage.
Thesinglemostsignificantchangesincethefourtheditionwas
publishedisthatinournewdigitalera,thegreatdividebetweensales
andmarketingisrapidlydisappearing.SoI’veincludedanewchapter
titled“GrowingYourBusiness”whereIcoverhowmarketingandPR
drivesales.AsIseeit,marketinggeneratestheattentionofmany
peoplewhomightpotentiallypurchaseaproductorservice,whereas
salescommunicateswithonepotentialcustomeratatime,puttingthe
buyingprocessintocontext.
Marketingcapturestheattentionofagroupofbuyersanddrivesthose
peopleintoandthroughthesalesprocess.Content—blogs,YouTube
videos,infographics,e-books,webinars,andthelike—caninfluence
largenumbersofpeople.Theroleofsalespeopleiscompletely
differentbecausetheyinfluenceonebuyeratatimewhenthebuyers
aremuchclosertomakingthebuyingdecision.Butsalespeoplealso
usecontenttodriveaction,addingcontexttothecompa ny’sexpertise,
products,andservices.Throughthem,themarketers’contentfulfillsi
ts
potentialattheprecisemomentthebuyerneedsit.We’lldigintothisin
greatdetailinChapter11.

33. WritingLikeonaBlog,ButinaBook
BecausethelinesbetweenmarketingandPRhaveblurredsomuch
astobevirtuallyunrecognizable,thebestonlinemediachoiceisoften
notasobviousasintheolddays.ButIhadtoorganizethebook
somehow,andIchosetocreatechaptersforthevarioustools,
includingblogs,video,socialnetworking,andsoon.Butthetruthis
thatallthesetechniquesintersectandcomplementoneanother.
Theseonlinemediaareevolvingveryrapidly,andbythetimeyouread
thesewords,I’llnodoubthavecomeacrossnewtechniquesthatI’ll
wishIcouldhaveputinthefifthedition.Still,Ibelievethatthe
fundamentalsareimportant,whichiswhyChapter10(whereyou’ll
starttodevelopyourownonlinemarketingandPRplan)issteepedin
practical,commonsensethinking.
Thebookisorganizedintothreeparts.PartIisarigorousoverviewof
howthewebhaschangedtherulesofmarketingandPR.PartII
introducesandprovidesdetailsabouteachofthevariousmedia.Part
IIIcontainsdetailedhow-toinformationandanactionplantohelpyou
putthenewrulestoworkforyourorganization.
WhileIthinkthissequenceisthemostlogicalwaytopresentthese
ideas,there’snoreasonwhyyoushouldn’tflipfromchaptertochapter
inanyorderthatyouplease.Unlikeamysterynovel,youwon’tgetlost
inthestoryifyouskiparound.AndIcertainlydon’twanttowasteyour
time.AsIwaswriting,IfoundmyselfwishingthatIcouldsendyou
fromonechaptertoanotherchapterwithhyperlinks,likeonablog.
Alas,aprintedbookdoesn’tallowthat,soinsteadIhaveincluded
moreold-fashionedreferenceswhereIsuggestyouskipaheadorgo
backforreviewonspecifictopics.
IhaveincludedhundredsofURLsasfootnotes,soyoucanchooseto
visittheblogs,websites,andotheronlinemediathatIdiscuss.
Similarly,whenImentionpeopleandorganizations,Ifrequently
mentiontheirTwitterIDs,whichareprecededbythe“@”sign.SoifI
weretoreferencemynameandTwitterID,you’dseeitlikethis:David
MeermanScott@dmscott.Thatway,youquicklylearnmoreabout

34. thatpersonororganizationbycheckingthemoutonTwitter.
You’llnoticethatIwriteinafamiliarandcasualtone,ratherthanthe
moreformalandstiltedvoiceofmanybusinessbooks.That’sbecause
I’musingmy“blogvoice”tosharethenewruleswithyou.It’showI
liketowrite,andIbelieveitalsomakesthingseasierforyou,the
reader.
WhenIusethewordscompanyandorganizationthroug houtthisbook,
I’mincludingalltypesoforganizationsandindividuals.Feelfreeto
mentallyinsertnonprofit,governmentagency,politicalcandidate,
church,school,sportsteam,legalfirm,orotherentityinplaceof
companyandorganization.Similarly,whenIusethewordbuyers,I
alsomeansubscribers,voters,volunteers,applicants,anddonors,
https://twitter.com/dmscott
becausethenewrulesworkforreachingallthesegroups.Areyoua
leaderofanonprofitorganizationthatneedstoincreasedonations?
Thenewrulesapplytoyouasmuchastoacorporation.Dittofor
politicalcampaignslookingforvotes,schoolsthatwanttoincrease
applicants,consultantshuntingforbusiness,andchurchesseeking
newmembers.
Thisbookwillshowyouthenewrulesandhowtoapplythem.Forthe
peopleallovertheworldinteractingontheweb,theoldrulesof
marketingandPRjustdon’twork.Today,allkindsoforganizations
communicatedirectlywiththeirbuyersonline.Accordingtothe
InternationalTelecommunicationsUnion,2anagencyoftheUnited
Nations,in2014theInternetwasusedbynearlythreebillionofthe
world’sroughlysevenbillionpeople.Evenmoreremarkably,there
were6.8billionmobilesubscriptionsattheendof2013 —that’s96cell
phonesubscriptionsforevery100peopleintheworld,agreater
percentageofpeoplethanhaveaccesstoatoothbrush.Soit’sno
surprisethat,inordertoreachtheindividualswhowouldbeinterested
intheirorganizations,smartmarketerseverywherehavealteredthe
waytheythinkaboutmarketingandPR.

35. ShowcasingSuccess
Themostexcitingaspectofthebookisthat,throughoutthesepages,I
havethehonorofshowcasingsomeofthebestexamplesofbuilding
successfulprogramsontheweb.Therearemorethan50profiles
throughoutthebook,manyoftheminthemarketers’ownwordsfrom
myinterviewswiththem.Theseprofilesbringtheconceptstolife.
You’lllearnfrompeopleatFortune500companiesandatbusinesses
withjustahandfulofemployees.Thesecompaniesmakeproducts
rangingfromracingbicyclestojethelicoptersandfromcomputer
softwaretohamburgers.Someoftheorganizationsarewellknownto
thepublic,whileothersarefamousonlyintheirownmarketniches.I
profilenonprofitorganizations,politicaladvocacygroups,andcitize
ns
supportingpotentialcandidatesforpoliticaloffice.Itellthestoriesof
independentconsultants,churches,rockbands,andlawyers,allof
whomsuccessfullyusethewebtoreachtheirtargetaudiences.Ican’t
thankenoughthepeoplewhosharedtheirtimewithme,onthephone
andinperson.I’msureyou’llagreethattheyarethestarsofthebook.
Myfavoritepartisthatmanyofthemarepeoplewhoreadearlier
editionsandsharedtheirsuccesswithme.Howcoolisthat?Youcan
readthiseditionandbeequippedtocreateprogramsthatcouldgrow
yourbusinessandleadyoutoachievementsthatmightinformreaders
offutureeditions!
Asyoureadthestoriesofsuccessfulmarketers,rememberthatyou
willlearnfromthemeveniftheycomefromaverydifferentmarket,
industry,ortypeoforganizationthanyourown.Nonprofitscanlearn
fromtheexperiencesofcorporations.Consultantswillgaininsights
fromthesuccessesofrockbands.Infact,I’mabsolutelyconvinced
thatyouwilllearnmorebyemulatingsuccessfulideasfromoutside
yourindustrythanbycopyingwhatyournearestcompetitorisdoing.
Remember,thebestthingaboutnewrulesisthatyourcompetitors
probablydon’tknowaboutthemyet.
Thankyouforyourinterestinthenewrules.Ihopethatyoutoowillbe

36. successfulinimplementingthesestrategiesandthatyourlifewillbe
madebetterasaresult.
—DAVIDMEERMANSCOTT
www.WebInkNow.com
@dmscott
Notes
1.www.webinknow.com/2006/01/new_complimenta.html
2.itu.int
http://www.webinknow.com
https://twitter.com/dmscott
http://www.webinknow.com/2006/01/new_complimenta.html
http://itu.int
I
HOWTHEWEBHASCHANGEDTHERULES
OFMARKETINGANDPR
1
THEOLDRULESOFMARKETINGANDPRARE
INEFFECTIVEINANONLINEWORLD
Severaltimesinthepastfewyears,Ihavethoughtaboutbuyinganew
car.Asitisforbillionsofotherglobalconsumers,thewebismy
primarysourceofinformationwhenIconsiderapurchase.SoIsat
downatthecomputerandbeganpokingaround.
Figuringtheywerethenaturalplacetobeginmyresearch,Istarted
withsomemajorautomakersites.Thatwasabigmistake.Iwas

37. assaultedonthehomepageswithabarrageofTV-stylebroadcast
advertising.Andmostoftheone-waymessagesfocusedonprice.For
example,atthebeginningof2015atFord,1theheadlinescreamed,
“Upto$1,000SwitchCashORNoPaymentsfor90Days.”Chevrolet2
announcedasimilaroffer:“COMPETITIVEOWNERSGET$1,000
CONQUESTCASH.”
I’mnotplanningtobuyacarinthenext100hours,thankyou.Imay
notevenbuyonewithin100days!I’mjustkickingthevirtualtires.
ThesesitesandmostothersassumethatI’mreadytobuyacarright
now.ButIactuallyjustwantedtolearnsomething.Sure,IgotFlash
graphicsandanimation,TVcommercials,prettypictures,andlow
financingoffersonthesesites,butlittleelse.
Ilookedaroundforsomepersonalityonthesesitesanddidn’tfind
much,becausetheautomakerwebsitesportraytheirorganiza tionsas
nameless,facelesscorporations.Infact,thethreesitesIlookedatare
sosimilarthatthey’reeffectivelyinterchangeable.Ateachsite,Ifelta
s
ifIwasbeingmarketedtowithastringofmessagesthathadbeen
developedinalaborviafocusgroups.Itjustdidn’tfeelauthentic.IfI
wantedtoseecarTVads,IwouldhaveflippedontheTV.Iwasstruck
withtheoddfeelingthatallofthebigthreeautomakers’siteswere
designedandbuiltbythesameMadisonAvenueadguy.Thesesites
wereadvertisingtome,notbuildingarelationshipwithme.Theywere
luringmeinwithone-waymessages,noteducatingmeaboutthe
companies’products.Guesswhat?WhenIarriveatasite,youdon’t
needtograbmyattention;youalreadyhaveit!
Automakershavebecomeaddictedtothecrackcocaineofmarketing:
big-
budgetTVcommercialsandotherofflineadvertising.EverywhereI
turn,Iseeautomobileadsthatmakemethink,“Thishasgottobe
reallyfreakin’expensive.”Thetelevisioncommercials,the“sponsor
ed
by”stuff,thesales“events,”andotherhigh-ticketMadisonAvenue

38. marketingmightmakeyoufeelgood,butisiteffective?
Thesedays,whenpeoplearethinkingofbuyingacar( oranyother
productorservice),theyusuallygotothewebfirst.Evenmy80-year-
oldmotherdoesit!Whenpeoplecometoyouonline,theyarenot
lookingforTVcommercials.Theyarelookingforinformationtohelp
themmakeadecision.
Here’sthegoodnews:Ididfindsometerrificplacesonthewebto
learnaboutcars.Unfortunately,theplaceswhereIgotauthentic
contentandwhereIbecameeducatedandwhereIinteractedwith
humansweren’tpartofthebigthreeautomakers’sites.Edmunds
Forums3isafree,consumer-driven,socialnetworkingandpersonal
pagessite.Itfeaturesphotoalbums,usergroupsbasedonmakeand
modelofcar,andfavoritelinks.Thesitewasexcellentinhelpingme
narrowdownchoices.Forexample,intheforums,Icouldread
hundredsofmessagesabouteachcarIwasconsidering.Icouldsee
pageswhereownersshowedofftheirvehicles.ThisiswhereIwas
makingmydecision,dozensofclicksremovedfromthebigautomaker
sites.
SinceIfirstwroteaboutautomakersitesonmyblog,hundredsof
peoplehavejumpedintocommentoremailmewithsimilarcar-
shoppingexperiencesandfrustrationswithautomakerwebsites.And
whileIcertainlyrecognizethattheautomakershaveimprovedtheir
sitessinceIfirstwroteaboutthem,thefocusisstillonadvertising.
Somethingisseriouslybrokenintheautomobilebusinessifsomany
peopletellmetheyareunabletofind,directlyonacompanysite,the
informationtheyneedtomakeapurchasedecision.
Butit’snotjustautomakers.
Thinkaboutyourownbuyinghabits.Doyoumakepurchasedecisions
basedonyourindependentresearch,viainformationyoufindwith
searchengineslikeGoogle?Ofcourseyoudo!Doyoucontactyour
friendsandcolleaguesviasocialmedialikeTwitterandFacebookand
askthemaboutproductsandservicesyou’reinterestedin?Ifso,you
arenotalone.Andyetmanysellersfailtoreachyouinthisprocess.
Intheyearsbeforesheheadedtocollege,mydaughterresearched
appropriateschoolsbysearchingonlineandconnectingwithher
friends.Overthecourseofherhighschoolyears,shecarefully

39. narrowedherchoicesdowntoahandfulofschoolsthatwereagoodfit
forher.Whenapplicationsweredue,shewasallset.
Yetinthemonthsleadinguptotheapplicationdeadline,shereceived
hundredsofveryexpensivedirect-mailpackagesfromuniversities
aroundtheworld.Manysentlarge,thickenvelopescontainingglossy
brochureswithhundredsofpages.Theseeffortswerecompletely
wasted,becausemydaughterhadalreadymadeuphermindbydoing
herownresearchontheweb.Thishugeinvestmentindirect-mail
advertisingsimplydidn’twork.
Beforetheweb,organizationshadonlytwosignificantoptionsfor
attractingattention:Buyexpensiveadvertisingorgetthird-partyink
fromthemedia.Butthewebhaschangedtherules.Thewebisnot
TV.OrganizationsthatunderstandtheNewRulesofMarketingand
PRdeveloprelationshipsdirectlywithco nsumerslikeyouandme.
I’dliketopausehereamomentforaclarification.WhenItalkabout
thenewrulesandcomparethemtotheoldrules,Idon’tmeanto
suggestthatallorganizationsshouldimmediatelydroptheirexisting
marketingandPRprogramsandusethisbook’sideasexclusively.
Moreover,I’mnotofthebeliefthattheonlymarketingworthdoingis
ontheweb.Ifyournewspaperadvertisements,YellowPageslistings,
mediaoutreach,andotherprogramsareworkingforyou,that’sgreat!
Pleasekeepgoing.ThereisroominmanymarketingandPR
programsfortraditionaltechniques.
Thatbeingsaid,there’snodoubtthattodaypeoplesolveproblemsby
turningtotheweb.Justconsideryourownhabitsasyoucontemplate
apurchase.
Consideranotherformofmarketing,theartoffindinganewjob.
Severaltimespermonth,Ireceiveemailorphonecallsfrompeople
whoaresearchingforwork.Theyusuallysendtheirresume(CV)to
meandwanttonetworkwithmetofindajob.Whatthesepeopleare
doingisadvertisingaproduct(theirlabor)bysendingmean

40. unsolicitedemailmessage.Liketheautocompaniesandthe
universities,thetypicaljobseekerisadvertisingaproduct.Yetthe vast
majorityofthesepeoplearenotpositioningthemselvestobefoundon
theweb,becausetheydon’thaveapersonalwebsite,theyaren’t
bloggingorcreatingonlinevideos,and,exceptformaybeaFacebook
orLinkedInprofile,theyaren’tactiveinsocialnetworking.Theyaren
ot
creatingthecontentthatwillhelpanemployertofindthemwhena
companyneedsnewstaff.
Ifyouaren’tpresentandengagedintheplacesandatthetimesthat
yourbuyersare,thenyou’relosingoutonpotentialbusiness—no
matterwhetheryou’relookingforajobormarketingyourcompany’s
productoryourorganization’sservice.Worse,ifyouaretryingtoappl
y
thegameplanthatworksinyourmainstream-media-
basedadvertising
andPRprogramstoyouronlineefforts,youwillnotbesuccessful.
Sotakeaminutetoaskyourselfthissimplequestion:Howaremy
existingadvertisingandmediarelationspro gramsworking?
Advertising:AMoneyPitofWastedResources
Intheolddays,traditional,nontargetedadvertisingvianewspapers,
magazines,radio,television,anddirectmailwastheonlywaytogo.
Butthesemediamakeitverydifficulttotargetspecificbuyerswith
individualizedcontent.Yes,advertisingisstillusedformegabrands
withbroadreachandprobablystillworksforsomeorganizationsand
products(thoughnotaswellasbefore).GuyswatchingfootballonTV
drinkalotofbeer,soperhapsitmakessenseformassmarketer
BudweisertoadvertiseonNFLbroadcasts(butnotforsmall
microbrewsthatappealtoasmallnichecustomerbasetodoso).
Advertisingalsoworksinmanytradepublications.Ifyourcompany
makesdecksealant,thenyouprobablywanttoadvertisein
ProfessionalDeckBuildermagazinetoreachyourbuyers(butthat

41. won’tallowyoutoreachthedo-it-yourselfmarket).Ifyourunalocal
realestateagencyinasmallercommunity,itmightmakesensetodo
adirectmailingtoallofthehomeownersthere(butthatwon’tletyou
reachpeoplewhomightbeplanningtomovetoyourcommunityfrom
anotherlocation).
However,formillionsofotherorganizations—forthoseofuswhoare
professionals,musicians,artists,nonprofitorganizations,churches,
andnicheproductcompanies—traditionaladvertisingisgenerallyso
wideandbroadthatitisineffective.AgreatstrategyforProcter&
Gamble,ParamountPictures,andtheRepublicanU.S.presid ential
candidate—reachinglargenumbersofpeoplewithamessageof
broadnationalappeal—justdoesn’tworkfornicheproducts,local
services,andspecializednonprofitorganizations.
Thewebhasopenedatremendousopportunitytoreachniche
buyersdirectlywithtargetedinformationtha tcostsafractionof
whatbig-budgetadvertisingcosts.
One-WayInterruptionMarketingIsYesterday’s
Message
AprimarytechniqueofwhatSethGodincallstheTV-industrial
complex4isinterruption.Underthissystem,advertisingagency
creativepeoplesitinhipofficesdreamingupwa ystointerruptpeople
sothattheypayattentiontoaone-waymessage.Thinkaboutit:
You’rewatchingyourfavoriteTVshow,sotheadvertiser’sjobisto
craftacommercialtogetyoutopayattention,whenyou’dreallyrather
bedoingsomethingelse,likequicklygrabbingsomeicecreambefore
theshowresumes.You’rereadinganinterestingarticleinamagazine,
sotheadsneedtojoltyouintoreadinganadinsteadofthearticle.Or
you’reflyingonUSAirwaysfromBostontoPhiladelphia(whichIhave
frequentlydone),and20minutesorsoaftertakeoff,theairlinedeems
itimportanttointerruptyournapwithaloudadvertisementannouncin
g

42. itscreditcardoffer.Thegoalineachoftheseexamplesistoget
peopletostopwhattheyaredoingandpayattentiontoamessage.
Moreover,themessagesinadvertisingareproduct-focused,one-way
spin.Advertiserscannolongerbreakthroughwithd umbed-down
broadcastsabouttheirwonderfulproducts.Theaveragepersonnow
seeshundredsofseller-spuncommercialmessagesperday.People
justdon’ttrustthem.Weturnthemoffinourminds,ifwenoticethem
atall.
Thewebisdifferent.Insteadofone-wayinterruption,web
marketingisaboutdeliveringusefulcontentatjusttheprecise
momentabuyerneedsit.It’saboutinteraction,information,
education,andchoice.
Beforetheweb,goodadvertisingpeoplewerewellversedinthetools
andtechniquesofreachingbroadmarketswithlowest-common-
denominatormessagesviainterruptiontechniques.Advertisingwas
aboutgreat“creativework.”Unfortunately,manycompaniesrootedi
n
theseoldwaysdesperatelywantthewebtobelikeTV,becausethey
understandhowTVadvertisingworks.Advertisingagenciesthatexce
l
increativeTVadssimplybelievetheycantransfertheirskillstothe
web.
Theyarewrong.Theyarefollowingoutdatedrules.
TheOldRulesofMarketing
Marketingsimplymeantadvertising(andbranding).
Advertisingneededtoappealtothemasses.
Advertisingreliedoninterruptingpeopletogetthemtopay
attentiontoamessage.
Advertisingwasone-way:companytoconsumer.
Advertisingwasexclusivelyaboutsellingproducts.

43. Advertisingwasbasedoncampaignsthathadalimitedlife.
Creativitywasdeemedthemostimportantcomponentof
advertising.
Itwasmoreimportantfortheadagencytowinadvertisingawards
thanfortheclienttowinnewcustomers.
AdvertisingandPRwereseparatedisciplinesrunbydifferent
peoplewithseparategoals,strategies,andmeasurementcriteria.
Noneofthisistrueanymore.Thewebhastransformedtherules,
andyoumusttransformyourmarketingtomakethemostofthe
web-enabledmarketplaceofideas.
PublicRelationsUsedtoBeExclusivelyaboutthe
Media
Fornearlyadecade,IwasacontributingeditoratEContentmagazine.
IcurrentlywritefortheHuffingtonPost,contributeguestarticlesto
manyotherpublications,andmaintainapopularblog.Asaresult,I
receivehundredsofbroadcastemailpressreleasesandpitchesper
monthfromwell-meaningPRpeoplewhowantmetowriteabouttheir
productsandservices.Guesswhat?Infiveyears,Ihaveneverwritten
aboutacompanybecauseofanontargetedbroadcastpressrelease
orpitchthatsomebodysentme.Thinkaboutthat:tensofthousandsof
pressreleasesandpitches;zerostories.
DiscussionsI’vehadwithjournalistsinotherindustriesconfirmthatI’
m
nottheonlyonewhodoesn’tuseunsolicitedpressreleases.Instead,I
thinkaboutasubjectthatIwanttowriteabout,andIcheckoutwhatI
canfindonblogs,onTwitter,andthroughsearchengines.IfIfinda
pressreleaseonthesubjectthroughGoogleoracompany’sonline
mediaroom,great!ButIdon’twaitforpressreleasestocometome.
Rather,Igolookingforinterestingtopics,products,people,and
companies.AndwhenIdofeelreadytowriteastory,Imighttryouta
conceptonmyblogfirst,toseehowitflies.Doesanyonecommenton

44. it?DoanyPRpeoplejumpinandemailme?
Here’sanotheramazingfigure:Inmorethan10years,onlyatiny
numberofPRpeoplehavecommentedonmyblogorreachedoutto
measaresultofablogpostorastoryI’vewritteninamagazine.How
difficultcanitbetoreadtheblogsandTwitterfeedsofthereporters
you’retryingtopitch?Itteachesyoupreciselywhatintereststhem.
Thenyoucanemailthemwithsomethinginterestingthattheyare
likelytowriteaboutratherthanspammingthemwithunsolicitedpress
releases.WhenIdon’twanttobebothered,Igethundredsofpress
releasesaweek.ButwhenIdowantfeedbackandconversation,Iget
silence.
Something’sverywronginPRland.
Reportersandeditorsusethewebtoseekoutinterestingstories,
people,andcompanies.Willtheyfindyou?
PublicRelationsandThird-PartyInk
Publicrelationswasonceanexclusiveclub.PRpeopleusedlotsof
jargonandfollowedstrictrules.Ifyouweren’tpartoftheincrowd,PR
seemedlikeanesotericandmysteriousjobthatrequiredlotsof
training,sortoflikebeingaspaceshuttleastronautorcour t
stenographer.PRpeopleoccupiedtheirtimebywritingpressreleases
targetedexclusivelytoreportersandeditorsandbyschmoozingwith
thosesamereportersandeditors.Andthentheycrossedtheirfingers
andhopedthatthemediawouldgivethemsomeinkorsomeairtime
(“Oh,pleasewriteaboutme!”).Theendresultoftheirefforts—the
ultimategoalofPRintheolddays—wasthepressclip,whichproved
theyhaddonetheirjob.OnlythebestPRpeoplehadpersonal
relationshipswiththemediaandcouldpickupthephoneandpitcha
storytothereporterforwhomtheyhadboughtlunchthemonthbefore.
Priorto1995,outsideofpayingbigbucksforadvertisingorworking
withthemedia,therejustweren’tanysignificantoptionsforacompan
y

45. totellitsstorytotheworld.
Thewebhaschangedtherules.Today,organizationsare
communicatingdirectlywithbuyers.
Yes,theMediaAreStillImportant
Allowmetopauseagainforamomenttosaythatthemainstreamand
trademediaarestillimportantcomponentsofagreatpublicrelations
program.Onmyblogandonthespeakingcircuit,I’vesometimesbeen
accusedofsuggestingthatthemediaarenolongerrelevant.Thatis
notmyposition.Themediaarecriticallyimportantformany
organizations.ApositivestoryinRollingStonepropelsarockbandto
fame.AnarticleintheWallStreetJournalbrandsacompanyasa
player.AconsumerproducttalkedaboutontheTodayshowgets
noticed.Inmanynichemarketsandverticalindustries,trade
magazinesandjournalshelpdecidewhichcompaniesareimportant.
However,Idobelievethat,whilealltheseoutletsareimportant
aspectsofalargerPRprogram,thereareeasierandmoreefficient
waystoreachyourbuyers.Andhere’ssomethingreallyneat:Ifyoudo
agoodjoboftellingyourstorydirectly,themediawillfindout.And
thentheywillwriteaboutyou!
Publicrelationsworkhaschanged.PRisnolongerjustanesoteric
disciplinewherecompaniesmakegreateffortstocommunicate
exclusivelytoahandfulofreporterswhothentellthecompany’sstory,
generatingaclipforthePRpeopletoshowtheirbosses.Thesedays,
greatPRincludesprogramstoreachbuyersdirectly.Theweballows
directaccesstoinformationaboutyourproducts,andsmart
companiesunderstandandusethisphenomenalresourcetogreat
advantage.
TheInternethasmadepublicrelationspublicagain,afteryearsof
almostexclusivefocusonmedia.Blogs,onlinevideo,news
releases,andotherformsofwebcontentletorganizations
communicatedirectlywithbuyers.
PressReleasesandtheJournalisticBlackHole

46. Intheolddays,apressreleasewasactuallyareleasetothepress,so
thesedocumentsevolvedasanesotericandstylizedwayfor
companiestoissuetheir“news”toreportersandeditors.Becauseit
wasassumedthatnobodysawtheactualpressreleaseexcepta
handfulofreportersandeditors,thesedocumentswerewrittenwith
themedia’sexistingunderstandingi nmind.
Inatypicalcase,atinyaudienceofseveraldozenmediapeoplegota
steadystreamofproductreleasesfromacompany.Thereportersand
editorswerealreadywellversedonthenichemarket,sothecompany
suppliedverylittlebackgroundinformation.Jargonwasrampant.
What’sthenews?journalistswouldthinkastheyperusedtherelease.
Oh,hereitis—thecompanyjustannouncedtheSuperTechnoWidget
PluswithaNewScalableandRobustArchitecture.Butwhilethis
mightmeansomethingtoatrademagazinejournalist,itisjustplain
gobbledygooktotherestoftheworld.Sincepressreleasesarenow
seenbymillionsofpeoplewhoaresearchingthewebforsolutionsto
theirproblems,theseoldrulesareobsolete.
TheOldRulesofPR
Theonlywaytogetinkandairtimewasthroughthemedia.
Companiescommunicatedtojournalistsviapressreleases.
Nobodysawtheactualpressreleaseexceptahandfulofreporters
andeditors.
Companieshadtohavesignificantnewsbeforetheywereallowed
towriteapressrelease.
Jargonwasokaybecausethejournalistsallunderstoodit.
Youweren’tsupposedtosendareleaseunlessitincludedquotes
fromthirdparties,suchascustomers ,analysts,andexperts.
Theonlywaybuyerswouldlearnaboutthepressrelease’scontent
wasifthemediawroteastoryaboutit.
Theonlywaytomeasuretheeffectivenessofpressreleaseswas
throughclipbooks,whichnotedeachtimethemediadeignedto
pickupacompany’srelease.

47. PRandmarketingwereseparatedisciplinesrunbydifferentpeople
withseparategoals,strategies,andmeasurementtechniques.
Thewebhastransformedtherules,andyoumusttransformyour
PRstrategiestomakethemostoftheweb-enabledmarketplaceof
ideas.
Thevastmajorityoforganizationsdon’thaveinstantaccessto
mainstreammediaforcoverageoftheirproducts.Peoplelikeyouand
meneedtoworkhardtobenoticedintheonlinemarketplaceofideas.
ByunderstandinghowtheroleofPRandthepressreleasehas
changed,wecangetourstoriesknowninthatmarketplace.
Therearesomeexceptions.Verylargecompanies,veryfamous
people,andgovernmentsmightallstillbeabletogetawaywithusing
themediaexclusively,buteventhatisdoubtful.Thesename-brand
peopleandcompaniesmaybebigenough,andtheirnewsjustso
compelling,thatnoeffortisrequiredofthem.Fortheseluckyfew,the
mediamaystillbetheprimarymouthpiece.
IfyouareJ.K.Rowlingandyouissueapressreleaseaboutanew
book,thenewswillbepickedupbythemedia.
IfAppleComputerCEOTimCookannouncesthecompany’snew
iPhone,thenewswillbepickedupbythemedia.
IfBradPittandAngelinaJolieissueapressreleaseaboutadopting
anotherchild,thenewswillbepickedupbythemedia.
IfthePresidentoftheUnitedStatesannouncesapicktofilla
vacancyontheU.S.SupremeCourt,thenewswillbepickedupby
themedia.
Ifyouaresmallerandlessfamousbuthaveaninterestingstoryto
tell,youneedtotellityourself.Fortunately,thewebisaterrific
placetodoso.
LearntoIgnoretheOldRules

48. Toharnessthepowerofthewebtoreachbuyersdirectly,youmust
ignoretheoldrules.Publicrelationsisnotjustaboutspeakingthrough
themedia,althoughthemediaremainanimportantcompone nt.
Marketingisnotjustaboutone-waybroadcastadvertising,although
advertisingcanbepartofanoverallstrategy.
I’venoticedthatsomemarketingandPRprofessionalshaveavery
difficulttimechangingoldhabits.Thesenewideasmakepeople
uncomfortable.WhenIspeakatconferences,peoplesometimesfold
theirarmsinadefensivepostureandlookdownattheirshoes.
Naturally,marketingandPRpeoplewholearnedtheoldrulesresist
thenewworldofdirectaccess.Itmeansthattobesuccessful,they
needtolearnnewskills.Andchangeisnoteasy.
ButI’vealsonoticedthatmanyenlightenedmarketingexecutives,
CEOs,entrepreneurs,nonprofitexecutives,andprofessionalsjumpa
t
thechancetotelltheirstoriesdirectly.Thesepeoplelovethenewway
ofcommunicatingwithbuyersandareeagertolearn.Smartmarketers
arebringingsuccesstotheirorganizationseachandeverydayby
communicatingthroughtheweb.
Here’showtotellifthenewrulesarerightforyou.Consideryour
goalsforcommunicatingviamarketingandpublicrelations.Areyou
buyingthatSuperBowladtoscoregreatticketstothegame?Areyou
designingacreativemagazineadtowinanawardforyouragency?
Doyouhopetocreateabookofpressclipsfrommainstreammedia
outletstoshowtoyourbosses?DoesyourCEOwanttobeonTV?If
theanswerstothesequestionsareyes,thenthenewrules(andthis
book)arenotforyou.
However,ifyou’relikemillionsofsmartmarketersandentrepreneurs
whosegoalistocommunicatewithbuyersdirectly,thenreadon.If
you’reworkingtomakeyourorganizationmorevisibleonline,then
readon.Ifyouwanttodrivepeopleintoyourcompany’ssalesprocess
sotheyactuallybuysomething(orapplyordonateorjoinorsubmit
theirnamesasleads),thenreadon.Iwrotethisbookespeciallyfor

49. you.
Notes
1.ford.com
2.chevrolet.com
3.edmunds.com/forums
4.sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2006/01/nonlinear_media.h
tml
http://ford.com
http://chevrolet.com
http://edmunds.com/forums
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2006/01/nonlinear_me
dia.html
2
THENEWRULESOFMARKETINGANDPR
Mywife,Yukari,wascheckingoutherTwitterstreamonedayand
noticedthatsomeoneshefollowstweetedaboutHotel&IglooVillage
Kakslauttanen.1Yukariclickedthelinkandlearnedthattheresortis
locatedintheSaariselkäfellareaofLaplandinnorthernFinland.In
winter,youcanstaythereinaprivateglassigloo,whichmeansthat
frombedyoucancheckoutthestars(or,ifyouarelucky,theaurora
borealis).Shefoundthisterriblyexciting,soshetweetedaresponse
fromherTwitterID,@yukariwatanabe:“Iwanttogothere!”
Wediscussedtheresortthateveningoverdinner.Whynotgo?Our
daughterwasofftouniversity,sowehadthetime.Thenextdaywe
bookedthetripforseveralmonthslater.Donedeal.
Now,IknowthatawintervacationabovetheArcticCirclemightseem
likeapunchlinetoabadjoke.Heck,thesundidn’tevenrisewhenwe

50. werethereinmid-December(the“day”consistsofjustfourhoursof
twilightatthattimeofyear).Butforusitseemedperfect,because
we’vetraveledallovertheworldandarealwayslookingforunusual
adventures.
Howdidweknowthatwewantedtogo?Bytheresort’swebsite,of
course.Thesitelistsallsortsofwinteractivitiesforguests.WhenI
saw“HuskySleddingSafari,”Iwasreadytopackmybags(bucket
list…).ButYukariwantedtodoonemorecheck,sosheGoogledthe
resort,lookedatthereviewsonTripAdvisor,andalsoreadaboutitina
NewYorkTimesarticle.
EverybodyIknowhasastorylikethis.Somebodymakesacomment
viaasocialnetworksite.Itleadssomeoneelsetoawebsitewherethe
contenteducatesandinforms.Andthatpersonendsupbecominga
customerofacompanythatheorshehadneverheardofmoments
before.We’relivinginanewworldofmarketingandPR.
Ifyouarethesellerinthistransaction,itallcomesdowntocontent:
Whatareyoucreating,comparedtowhatareotherssayingabout
you?
You’reincontrol.Youcreatethecontent.Youbringinthebusiness.
OurtimeinLaplandwasamazing.Wehadallkindsofwonderful
http://twitter.com/yukariwatanabe
adventures.Thedogsleddingwasespeciallyfun,becauseIgotto
drive(well,morelikehangon).Andweneverwouldhavehadthis
amazingexperienceiftheHotel&IglooVillageKakslauttanenonly
marketedtheirpropertyusingtheoldrules.Weneverwouldhave
heardaboutit.
TheMostImportantCommunicationRevolutionin
HumanHistory
I’dliketostepwaybackandlookatthebigpicture.Thisisnotaview,
tousethecliché,from30,000feet.It’smoreliketheviewfromthe
moon.Thenewrulesofmarketingandpublicrelationsarepartofthe
muchbiggerandmoreimportantcommunicationsrevolutionwe’re

51. currentlylivingthrough—
themostimportantcommunicationrevolution
inhumanhistory.
JohannesGutenberg’sinventionofprintingwithmechanicalmovabl
e
type(circa1439)wasthesecondmostimportantcommunications
breakthroughinhistory.Itmeantbookscouldbemass-produced,
ratherthanpainstakinglycopiedbyhand.Itmeantordinarypeople
couldrefertothingsinbooks,likelaws.Theseusedtohavetobe
committedtomemory.
Theprintingpresscreatedthefirstimportantcommunications
revolutionbyfreeingpeople’smindsfrommemorizationandallowin
g
themtousethatextrabrainpowertobecreative.Atthesametime,this
firstcommunicationsrevolution(whichtookmanydecades)helped
largenumbersofpeoplebecomeliterateandraisedlivingstandards
alongtheway.Itbroughthumanityoutofthemedievalperiodandinto
theRenaissance.
Some556yearslater,in1995,anevenmoreimportant
communicationsrevolutionbegan.Ichoose1995becauseitwasthe
yearthatNetscapewentpubliconthesuccessofNetscapeNavigator,
thefirstpopularproducttoalloweasyInternetconnectionandweb
browsing.
We’refortunatetobelivinginthistimeinhistory,thetimeofanother
importantcommunicationsrevolution.Ifigurewe’reabouthalfway
throughit.Thefirst20yearsorsowerefast-paced,andthings
changedveryquickly.Usagewentfromafewmillionpeopleonlineto
billions.Butmanyorganizationsstillaren’tcommunicatinginrealti
me
ontheweb.
Thenextfewdecadeswillbringacontinuationoftherevolution.The
paceofthatchangemeansthatIneedtoupdatethisbookeverytwo
years.Soon,thisfiftheditionwillbereplacedbythesixth.Andthenthe

52. seventh.Weneedtobeconstantlylearningandupdatingourskillsto
reachbuyersasthey’relookingfortheproductsandserviceswesell.
Areyouoneoftherevolutionaries?Ordoyousupporttheoldregime?
AreyoumarketingyourproductorservicelikeHotel&IglooVillage
Kakslauttanen?Orareyoufailingtoproducecontentthatwilldowell
inthesearchenginesandsocialnetworks?Foryoursake,Ihopeit’s
theformer—orsoonwillbewiththehelpofthisbook.
OpenforBusiness
GerardVroomenwilltellyouthatheisanengineer,notamarketer.He
willtellyouthatthecompaniesheco-founded,CervéloCycles2and
OpenCycle3(akaOPEN),donothaveanymarketingexperts.But
Vroomeniswrong.Why?Becauseheisobsessedwiththebuyersof
racingbikesfromCervéloandmountainbikesfromOPEN.Andhe’s
obsessedwiththeengineering-drivenproductsheoffersthem.
CervéloCycles,whichVroomensoldin2011butforwhichheremains
anadvisor,isaCanadianmanufacturerofracingbicycleframes.He
focusedCervélotohelphiscustomerswinraces—andtheydo.Inthe
2005TourdeFrance,DavidZabriskierodethefastesttimetrialinthe
race’shistoryonaCervéloP3Catanaveragespeedof54.676kph
(33.954mph).Thewinnerofthe2008TourdeFrance,CarlosSastre,
didsoonaCervélo.AndattheBeijingandLondonOlympics,Cervélo
bikeswereriddenbydozensofathletes,resultinginmultiplegold,
silver,andbronzemedals.Besidesbuildingexcellentbikes,Vroomen
alsoexcelsatusingthewebtotellcyclingenthusiastscompelling
stories,toeducatethem,toengagetheminconversation,andto
entertainthem.Vroomenisaterrificmarketerbecauseheusesweb
contentininterestingwaysandsellsabunchofbikesintheprocess.
“Inmarketing,ifthepointisforourcompanytogetnoticed,wecan’t
doitthesameaseverybodyelse,”Vroomensays.“Abigpartofthatis
todosomethingunexpectedandbeingremarkable.Forexample,we
werethefirsttoblogattheTourdeFranceandthefirsttodovideo
there.”
TheCervélositeworksextremelywellbecauseitincludesperfect
contentforvisitorswhoarereadytobuyabikeandalsoforpeople

53. whoarejustbrowsing.Thecontentisvaluableandauthentic
comparedtothemarketingmessagesthatappearonsomanyother
sites.“Ourgoaliseducation,”Vroomensays.“Wehaveatechnical
product,andwe’rethemostengineering-drivencompanyinthe
industry.Mostbikecompaniesdon’temployasingleengineer,and
Cervélohaseight.Sowewanttohavethatengineeringfocusstand
outwiththecontentonthesite.Wedon’tsellonthenewestpaintjob.
Soonthesite,we’renotspendingourtimecreatingfluff.Instead,we
haveagoodsetofcontent.”
RyanPatchisanamateurtriathloncompetitorontheVortexRacing
team—justthesortofcustomerCervélowantstoreach.“Onthe
Cervélosite,IlearnedthatBobbyJulichridesthesamebikethatis
availabletome,”Patchsays.“Andit’snotjustthattheyareriding,but
theyaredoingreallywell.IcanseehowsomeonewontheGirode
ItaliaonaCervélo.That’smind-blowing,thatIcangetthesamebike
thattheprosareriding.Icanridethesamegear.Cervélohasasmuch
streetcredasyoucanhavewithshavedlegs.”
Patchsaysthatifyou’relookingtobuyanewbike,ifyouareahard-
coreconsumer,thenthereisagreatdealofdetailedinformationonthe
Cervélositeaboutthebikes’technology,construction,andspecs.
“WhatIreallylikeaboutthiswebsiteishowitgivesofftheauraof
legitimacy,beingbasedinfact,notfluff,”hesays.
SearchenginemarketingisimportantforCervélo.Becauseofthe
keyword-richcyclingcontentavailableonthesite,Vroomensays,
Cervélogetsthesameamountofsearchenginetrafficasmanysites
forbikecompaniesthatare10timeslarger.Asaresult,Cervélohas
grownquicklyintooneofthemostimportantbikecompaniesinthe
world.
In2011,Vroomenshiftedgearsandnowspendsthemajorityofhis
timeatOpenCycle,themountainbikecompanyheco-foundedwith
AndyKesslerandlaunchedinmid-2012.NowOPENsellsvia40retail
storesin20countries.HetooktoheartwhathelearnedatCervélo,
makingeveryaspectofthecompany“open”tocustomers.Rightfrom
thestart,OPENfocusedonsocialengagementthroughoutthesite,

54. withcommunityaspectsandsocialnetworkinglinks.Anyonecan
commentonanything.
TheOPENsitealsofeaturesablog.4What’sinterestingisthat
VroomenandKesslerhadbeenbloggingforayearastheysecretly
developedthetechnologyfortheirnewbike,buttheblogpostswent
unpublisheduntillaunch.“Wetalknotonlyabouttheproductbutalso
abouthowwe’rerunningthecompany,”Vroomensays.“Soapartof
thatwaspublishingthatblogafterwelaunched,sopeoplecouldsee
whatwe’dbeendoingtheyearleadinguptousbecomingvisible.”
Vroomeniscommittedtohavingthecommunityofenthusiastshelp
them,andthat’sabigreasonwhytheychosethenameOpenCycle.
“Everypageonthesitehasaquestionandanswersectionatthe
bottom,”hesays.“Soit’sveryeasy,assoonasyou’veread
something,tosay,‘Hey,Idon’tquiteunderstandthis.’Weanswerallof
thoseassoonaswecan,timezonepermitting,butcertainlywithina
day,usuallysooner.Peopleseethatwhentheyasksomething,they
actuallygetaresponse.Butthecrazypartisthatconsumersdon’t
expectit.Sowesaid,‘Howaboutifweaskpeople totalktous,andwe
respond?’That’sthebasicpremiseofOPEN.”
Thecompany’suseofquestionsandanswersoneverypageofthe
OPENsite,thecommentfeatureontheOPENblog,andsocial
networkslikeTwitter(@gerardvroomenhas13,000+followers)serv
es
asaterrificwaytomarketthenewcompany.“Idon’tthinkofitas
marketing,”Vroomensays.“Itfeelssimplyliketalkingtopeople.And
networkslikeFacebook,Twitter,etal.havegivenussomeinteresting
waystodothat.TheyturncompaniessuchasOpenCycleintothe
globalversionofthevillagebakerofyesteryear.Youknowyour
customersandtheyknowyou,soyouwanttotreatthemwell.You
wanttogivethemgoodquality,andtheytelltheirneighbors.That’sthe
oppositeofwhat’shappeningatmanycompaniestoday.And,of
course,theflipsideisthat,ifyoudon’ttreatthemwell,they’lltellthe

55. restofthevillage.”
AllsignspointtoOPENbeingonatrajectorytoreplicatethe
tremendoussuccessofCervélo—withthesite,theblog,andsocial
networkingleadingthewayforward.Andthat’snocoincidence.As
Vroomenwouldtellyou,theideasyou’llreadaboutinthisbookwork.
“Thisisthefutureforcompanieslikeus,”Vroomensays.“Youcanbe
verysmallandoccupyanicheandstillsellyourproductsalloverthe
world.It’samazing,whenwegointoanewcountry,theamountof
namerecognitionwehave.TheInternetgivesyouopportunitiesyou
neverhadbefore.Andit’snotrocketscience.It’sprettyeasytofigure
out.”
TheLongTailofMarketing
http://twitter.com/gerardvroomen
ThetheoryofthelongtailaspopularizedbyChrisAndersoninhis
bookofthesamenameisthatourcultureandeconomyare
increasinglyshiftingawayfromafocusonarelativelysmallnumberof
majorhits(mainstreamproductsandmar kets)attheheadofthe
demandcurveandtowardahugenumberofnichesinthetail.Asthe
costsofproductionanddistributionfall,especiallyonline,thereisno
w
lessneedtolumpproductsandconsumersintoone-size-fits-all
containers.Inanerawithouttheconstraintsofphysicalshelfspace
andotherbottlenecksofdistribution,narrowlytargetedgoodsand
servicescanbeaseconomicallyattractiveasmainstreamfare.5
Someoftoday’smostsuccessfulInternetbusinessesleveragethe
longtailtoreachunderservedcustomersandsatisfydemandfor
productsnotfoundintraditionalphysicalstores.Examplesinclude
Amazon,whichmakesavailableattheclickofamousehundredsof
thousandsofbooksandotherproductsnotstockedinlocalchain
stores;iTunes,aservicethatlegallybringsnichemusicnotfoundin
recordstorestopeoplewhocraveartistsoutsidethemainstrea m;and

56. Netflix,whichexploitedthelongtailofdemandformovierentals
beyondtheblockbusterhitsfoundatthelocalDVDrentalshop.The
businessimplicationsofthelongtailareprofoundandillustratethat
there’smuchmoneytobemadebycreatinganddistributingatthe
longendofthetail.Yes,bighitsarestillimportant.Butasthese
businesseshaveshown,there’sahugemarketbeyondTheHobbit,
U2,TaylorSwift,andTopGear.
So,whataboutmarketing?WhileAnderson’sbookfocusesonproduct
availabilityandsellingmodelsontheweb,theconceptsapplyequally
welltomarketing.There’snodoubtthatthereisalong-tailmarketfor
webcontentcreatedbyorganizationsofallkinds—corporations,
nonprofits,churches,schools,individuals,rockbands—andusedfor
directlyreachingbuyers—thosewhobuy,donate,join,apply.As
consumerssearchtheInternetforanswersto theirproblems,asthey
browseblogsandchatroomsandwebsitesforideas,theyare
searchingforwhatorganizationslikeyourshavetooffer.Unlikeinthe
daysoftheoldrulesofinterruptionmarketingwithamainstream
message,today’sconsumersarelookingforjusttherightproductor
servicetosatisfytheiruniquedesiresattheprecisemomenttheyare
online.Peoplearelookingforwhatyouhavetoofferrightnow.
Marketersmustshifttheirthinkingawayfromtheshortheadofthe
demandcurve—mainstreammarketingtothemasses—andtoward
thelongtail—astrategyoftargetingvastnumbersofunderserved
audiencesviatheweb.
Asmarketersunderstandthewebasaplacetoreachmillionsof
micromarketswithprecisemessagesjustatthepointofconsumption,
thewaytheycreatewebcontentchangesdramatically.Insteadofa
one-size-fits-allwebsitewithamass-marketmessage,weneedto
createjust-rightcontent—eachaimedatanarrowtargetconstituency.
Asmarketingcasestudies,theexamplesofNetflix,Amazon,and
iTunesarealsofascinating.Thetechniquespioneeredbytheleaders

57. oflong-tailretailforreachingcustomerswithnicheinterestsare
examplesofmarketinggenius.
TellMeSomethingIDon’tKnow,Please
Amazon.comhasbeenoptimizedforbrowsing.Atabroadlevel,there
arejusttwowaysthatpeopleinteractwithwebcontent:Theysearch
andtheybrowse.Mostorganizationsoptimizesitesforsearching,
whichhelpspeopleanswertheirquestionsbutdoesn’tencourage
themtobrowse.Butpeoplealsowantasitetotellthemsomething
theydidn’tthinktoask.ThemarketersatAmazonunderstandthat
whenpeoplebrowsethesite,theymayhaveageneralideaofwhat
theywant(inmycase,perhapsabookformydaughteraboutsurfing)
butnottheparticulartitle.SoifIstartwithasearchonAmazonforthe
phrase“surfingforbeginners,”Iget99titlesinthesearchresults.With
thislistasastartingpoint,Ishiftintobrowsemode,whichiswhere
Amazonexcels.EachtitlehasacustomerrankingwhereIinstantly
seehowothercustomersratedthebook.Iseereader-generated
reviews,togetherwithreviewsfromothermedia.Icansee“Customers
whoboughtthisitemalsobought”listsandalsorankingsof“Whatdo
customersultimatelybuyafterviewingitemslikethis?”Icancheckout
customertagsontheitem(awayforconsumerstoca tegorizeabook
topurchaselaterortoaidotherconsumers),orIcantagitmyself.And
Icanpokearoundthecontentsofthebookitself.AfterIpurchasethe
perfectbookformydaughter(TheGirl’sGuidetoSurfing),Imightget
anemailfromAmazonweeksormonthslater,suggesting,basedon
thispurchase,anotherbookthatImightfinduseful.Thisisbrilliant
stuff.
Thesiteisdesignedtoworkforamajorandoften-ignoredaudience:
peoplewhodotheirownresearchandconsideradecisionovera
periodoftimebeforemakingacommitment.Smartmarketers,likethe
http://amazon.com
folksatAmazonandCervélo,unlikethoseatthebigthreeautomakers
wesawinChapter1,knowthatthemosteffectivewebstrategies

58. anticipateneedsandprovidecontenttomeetthem,evenbefore
peopleknowtoask.
Marketingonthewebisnotaboutgenericbanneradsdesignedto
trickpeoplewithneoncolororwackymovement.Itisabout
understandingthekeywordsandphrasesthatourbuyersareusing,
andcreatingthecontentthattheyseek.
Bricks-and-MortarNews
Thenewrulesarejustasimportantforpublicrelations.Infact,Ithink
thatonlinecontentinallofitsformsiscausingaconvergenceof
marketingandPRthatdoesnotreallyexistoffline.Whenyourbuyeris
onthewebbrowsingforsomething,contentiscontentinallofits
manifestations.Andinaninterconnectedwebworld,contentdrives
action.
Ioftenhearpeopleclaimthatonlinecontentsuchasblogs,photos,
andinfographicsdoesn’tworkasamarketingstrategyfortraditional
bricks-and-
mortarindustries.ButI’vealwaysdisagreed.Greatcontent
brandsanorganizationasatrustedresourceandcallspeopleto
action—tobuy,subscribe,apply,ordonate.Andgreatcontentmeans
thatinterestedpeoplereturnagainandagain.Asaresult,the
organizationsucceeds,achievinggoalssuchasaddingrevenue,
buildingtraffic,gainingdonations,orgeneratingsalesleads.
Forinstance,TheConcreteNetwork6providesinformationabout
residentialconcreteproductsandservicesandhelpsbuyersand
sellersconnectwitheachother.Thecompanytargetsconsumersand
builderswhomightwanttoplanandbuildaconcretepatio,pooldeck,
ordriveway—thisaudiencemakesupthebusiness-to-
consumer(B2C)
componentofTheConcreteNetwork—aswellastheconcrete
contractorswhocomprisethebusiness-to-
business(B2B)component.
TheConcreteNetwork’sFindaContractor7servicelinkshomeowner
s
andbuilderswhoneedaprojectdonewithcontractorswhospecialize

59. in22differentserviceslocatedin221metropolitanareasinboththe
UnitedStatesandCanada.Thecompany’swebcontentdrives
businessforTheConcreteNetwork.Yes,ladiesandgentlemen,web
contentsellsconcrete!(Youcan’tgetanymorebricks-and-
mortarthan,
well,mortar.)
“ThenewrulesofPRarethatanybodywhowantstobetheleaderhas
tohavenewscomingout,”saysJimPeterson,presidentofThe
ConcreteNetwork.Thecompany’songoingmarketingandPR
programincludesaseriesofarticlesonthesite;freeonlinecatalogs
forcategoriessuchascountertops,pooldecks,patios,anddriveways;
andphotogalleriesforpotentialcustomerstocheckoutwhatis
available.Asaresultofalloftheterrificcontent,TheConcrete
Networkgetsmorethan10timesthetrafficofanyothersiteinthe
concreteindustry,accordingtoPeterson.Animportantcomponentof
thesite’scontentisthebeautifulphotosdrawnfrom“Earth’slargest
collectionofdecorativeconcretephotos.”Forexample,thereare
dozensofphotosofjustconcretepatios.8
AspresidentofTheConcreteNetwork,Petersonisthatrareexecutive
whounderstandsthepowerofcontentmarketing,searchengine
optimization,andimagestoreachbuyersdirectlyanddrivebusiness.
WhatishisadvicetoothercompanypresidentsandCEOs?“Every
businesshasinformationthatcancontributetotheeducationofthe
marketplace.Youneedtoaskyourself,‘HowcanIgetthatinformation
outthere?’Youhavetohaveabitlongerviewandhaveasenseof
howyourbusinesswillbebetterdowntheline.Forexample,we
createdanentireseriesofbuyerguides,becauseweknewthatthey
wouldbevaluabletothemarket.Youneedtothinkabouthowitwill
benefityourbusinessandthencommittoit,understandingthat
nothingisanovernightthing.”
Petersonalsosuggestsgettinghelpfromanexperttogetstartedwith
aprogram.“Don’tsitthereandleavethis[as]justapartofyourlistof

60. goodintentions,”hesays.“Businesseswillliveordieonoriginal
content.Ifyouarecreatingtrulyusefulcontentforcustomers,you’re
goingtobeseeninagreatlightandwithagreatspirit—you’resetting
thetablefornewbusiness.Butthevastmajori tyofbusinessesdon’t
seemtocare.AtTheConcreteNetwork,we’reonamission.Getdown
totheessenceofwhatyourproductsolvesandwritegoodstories
aboutthatandpublishthemonline.”
You’vegottoloveit.Ifcontentsellsconcrete,contentcansellwhat
youhavetooffer,too!
TheLongTailofPR
InPR,it’snotaboutclipbooks.It’saboutreachingourbuyers.
IwasvicepresidentofmarketingandPRfortwopubliclytraded
companies,andI’vedoneittheoldway.Itdoesn’tworkanymore.But
thenewrulesdowork—reallywell.
Insteadofspendingtensofthousandsofdollarspermonthona media
relationsprogramthattriestoconvinceahandfulofreportersatselect
magazines,newspapers,andTVstationstocoverus,weshouldbe
targetingtheplugged-
inbloggers,onlinenewssites,micropublications,
publicspeakers,analysts,andconsultantswhoreachthetargeted
audienceswhoarelookingforwhatwehavetooffer.Betteryet,weno
longerevenneedtowaitforsomeonewithamediavoicetowrite
aboutusatall.Withsocialmedia,wecommunicatedirectlywithour
audience,bypassingthemediafiltercompletely.Wehavethepowerto
createourownmediabrandinthenicheofo urownchoosing.It’s
aboutbeingfoundonGoogle,Yahoo!,Bing,andnichecontentsites.
Insteadofwritingpressreleasesonlywhenwehavebignews—
releasesthatreachjustahandfulofjournalists—weshouldbewriting
releasesthathighlightourexpertideasandstories,andweshouldbe
distributingthemsothatourbuyerscanfindthemonthenewssearch
enginesandverticalcontentsites.
Tosucceedinlong-tailmarketingandPR,weneedtoadoptdifferent

61. criteriaforsuccess.Inthebookworld,everyoneusedtosay,“IfIcan
onlygetonOprah,I’llbeasuccess.”Sure,Iwouldhavelikedtobeon
TheOprahWinfreyShow,too.Butinsteadoffocusingcountless(and
probablyfruitless)hoursonapotentialblockbusterofaTV
appearance,wouldn’titbeabetterstrategytohavelotsofpeople
reviewingyourbookinsmallerpublicationsthatreachthespecific
audienceswhobuybookslikeyours?Oprahwasalongshot,butright
nowbloggerswouldlovetohearfromyou.Oprahignored100booksa
day,butbloggersruntotheirmailboxestoseewhatinterestingthings
mightbeinthere(trustme,Iknowfromexperience).Sure,itwouldbe
greattohaveyourbusinessprofiledinFortuneortheFina ncialTimes.
Butinsteadofputtingallofyourpublicrelationseffortsintothatone
potentialPRblockbuster(amentioninthemajorbusinesspress),
wouldn’titbebettertogetdozensofthemostinfluentialbloggersand
analyststotellyourstorydirectlytothenichemarketsthatarelooking
forwhatyouhavetooffer?
TheNewRulesofMarketingandPR
Ifyou’vebeennoddingyourheadexcitedlywhilereadingaboutwhat
someofthesecompaniesareupto,thenthenewrulesareforyou.In
thenextchapter,Iofferinterestingcasestudiesofcompaniesthat
havebeensuccessfulwiththenewr ules.Ineachcaseexample,I’ve
interviewedaparticularpersonfromthatorganizationsowecanlearn
directlyfromthem.Followingarechaptersonspecificareasofonline
content(suchasblogging,onlinevideo,andnewsreleases)andthen
moredetailedhow-tochapters.Butbeforewemoveon,le tme
explicitlystatethenewrulesofmarketingandPRthatwe’lldiscuss
throughouttherestofthebook:
Marketingismorethanjustadvertising.
PRisformorethanjustamainstreammediaaudience.
Youarewhatyoupublish.
Peoplewantauthenticity,notspin.

62. Peoplewantparticipation,notpr opaganda.
Insteadofcausingone-wayinterruption,marketingisabout
deliveringcontentatjusttheprecisemomentyouraudienceneeds
it.
Marketersmustshifttheirthinkingfrommainstreammarketingto
themassestoastrategyofreachingvastnumbersofunderserved
audiencesviatheweb.
PRisnotaboutyourbossseeingyourcompanyonTV.It’sabout
yourbuyersseeingyourcompanyontheweb.
Marketingisnotaboutyouragencywinningawards.It’saboutyour
organizationwinningbusiness.
TheInternethasmadepublicrelationspublicagain,afteryearsof
almostexclusivefocusonmedia.
Companiesmustdrivepeopleintothepurchasingprocesswith
greatonlinecontent.
Blogs,onlinevideo,e-books,newsreleases,andotherformsof
onlinecontentletorganizationscommunicatedirectlywithbuyersin
aformtheyappreciate.
Buyerswantinformationinlanguagetheyunderstand,not
gobbledygook-ladenjargon.
SocialnetworkslikeTwitter,Facebook,andLinkedInallowpeople
allovertheworldtosharecontentandconnectwiththepeopleand
companiestheydobusinesswith.
Inouralways-onworld,buyersexpectinstant,24/7
communications.
Ontheweb,thelinesbetweenmarketingandPR(andsalesand
service,too)haveblurred.
TheConvergenceofMarketingandPRonthe
Web
AsIoriginallywrotethislistandediteditdown,Iwasstruckbyhow
importantoneparticularconceptwastoanysuccessfulonlinestrategy
toreachbuyersdirectly:Thisconceptistheconvergenceofmarketing

63. andPR.Inanofflineworld,marketingandPRareseparate
departmentswithdifferentpeopleanddifferentskillsets,butthisisnot
thecaseontheweb.What’sthedifferencebetweenwhatAmazon,
iTunes,andNetflixaredoingtoreachcustomersviaonlinemarketing
andwhatTheConcreteNetworkdoeswithdirect-to-consumernews
releases?There’snotmuchdifference.HowisthenewsthatCervélo
Cyclescreatesitselfandpostsonthesitedifferentfromastoryon
Bicyclingmagazine’swebsite?Itisn’t.Andwhenabuyeris
researchingyourproductcategorybyusingasearchengine,doesit
reallymatterifthefirstexposureisahitonyourwebsite,anews
releaseyourorganizationsent,amagazinearticle,orapostonyour
blog?I’darguethatitdoesn’tmatter.WhereasIpresentedtwo
separatelistsforTheOldRulesofMarketingandTheOldRulesof
PR,nowthereisjustonesetofrules:TheNewRulesofMarketing
andPR.Greatcontentinallformshelpsbuyersseethatyouandyour
organizationgetit.Contentdrivesaction.
Notes
1.kakslauttanen.fi/en
2.cervelo.com
3.opencycle.com
4.opencycle.com/blogs
5.thelongtail.com/about.html
6.concretenetwork.com
7.concretenetwork.com/decorative-concrete-contractors
http://kakslauttanen.fi/en
http://cervelo.com
http://opencycle.com

64. http://opencycle.com/blogs
http://thelongtail.com/about.html
http://concretenetwork.com
http://concretenetwork.com/decorative-concrete-contractors
8.concretenetwork.com/photo-gallery/
http://concretenetwork.com/photo-gallery/
3
REACHINGYOURBUYERSDIRECTLY
Thefrustrationofrelyingexclusivelyonthemediaandexpensive
advertisingtodeliveryourorganization’sstoryislonggone.Yes,
mainstreammediaarestillimportant,buttodaysmartmarketerscraft
compellinginformationandtelltheworlddirectlyviatheweb.The
tremendousexpenseofrelyingonadvertisingtoconvincebuyersto
payattentiontoyourorganization,ideas,products,andservicesis
yesterday’sheadache.
ChipMcDermottfoundedZeroTrash1asanonprofitorganizationtori
d
thestreetsandbeachesofLagunaBeach,California,oftrash.
Populationandtourismhadexploded,andthecityhadnotkeptupin
providingsufficientinfrastructureforpublictrashandrecycling.
McDermottusedthewebtorallythecommunitywithagrassroots
movement.
“Thesparkoftheideawasthattrashwasbecomingcommonplaceon
thestreetsandthesidewalksofLagunaBeach,”McDermottsays.“We
startedtotackletheproblemwithaFacebook2pageforZeroTrash
Lagunaandquicklybuiltittohundredsofmembers.”
PeopleusetheZeroTrashFacebookpagetoorganizeeventsandto
connectlocalstoreownerswithresidents.Facebookwasinstrumental
inlaunchingtheZeroTrashFirstSaturdaymovement,wherestore

65. ownersandvolunteerswalkthecityandpickuptrashonthefirst
Saturdayofeachmonth.Thestoreownersloveitbecausepeople
supportlocalstoresandkeeptheshoppingareasclean.Inturn,
McDermotthastappedstoreownersassponsorswhofundthe
purchaseofsuppliesandtoolsliketrashpickers,T-shirts,trashbags,
andgloves.
McDermottalsousesTwitter(@ZeroTrash)togetthewordout.The
socialmediasitesservetokeeppeopleupdatedaboutwhatZeroTrash
isupto.Forexample,onarecentFirstSaturday,theLagunaBeach
communityhelpedtoremoveanother590poundsoftrashand375
poundsofrecyclablesfromthestreets;McDermottusedthesocial
mediasitestoreportthesetotalstointerestedpeople.
AftertheinitialsuccessinLagunaBeach,ZeroTrashnowalsoserves
NewportBeachandDanaPointinSouthernCaliforniaandChicoin
http://twitter.com/ZeroTrash
NorthernCalifornia,andislaunchinginSeattle,Washington,soon.
“Wewantpeopletotakeindividualownershipofeachnewlocal
ZeroTrashcommunity,”hesays.“Howcantheygetpeoplewitha
passiontotakecontrolandstartintheirowncommunities?The
obviousansweristousesocialmediatoinfluencepeople.”
There’snodoubtthatgettingthewordoutaboutanidea,aproduct,or
aserviceismuchsimplerwhenyoucanrelyonsocialmediasiteslike
blogs,Facebook,andTwitter.Theweballowsanyorganization—
includingnonprofitslikeZeroTrash,aswellascompanieslargeand
small,candidatesforpublicoffice,governmentagencies,schools,
artists,andevenjobseekers—toreachbuyersdirectly.Thispoweris
cleartonearlyeveryonethesedays,butmanyexecutivesand
entrepreneursstillstruggletofindtherightmixoftraditionaladvertisi
ng
anddirectcommunicationwithbuyers.
TheRightMarketinginaWiredWorld
Century21RealEstateLLC3isthefranc hisoroftheworld’slargest

66. residentialrealestatesalesorganization,anindustrygiantwith
approximately8,000officesin45countries.Thecompanyhadbeen
spendingontelevisionadvertisingforyearsbut,inasignificant
strategychange,pulleditsnationaltelevisionadvertisingandi nveste
d
thoseresourcesintoonlinemarketing.
Wow!I’veseenCentury21TVadsforyears.We’retalkingmillionsof
dollarsshiftingfromTVtotheweb.Thisisabigdeal.
“Wearemovingouradvertisinginvestmentstothemediumsthathave
thegreatestrelevancetoourtargetbuyersandsellers,and towhere
thereturnonourinvestmentismostsignificant,”saysBevThorne,
chiefmarketingofficeratCentury21.“Wefoundthatouronline
investmentsprovidedareturnthatwassubstantivelyhigherthanour
moretraditionalTVmediainvestments.”
Thorneandherteamlearnedthatpeoplewhoareinthemarkettobuy
orsellahomerelyheavilyonthewebandthattheclosertheygettoa
realestatetransaction,themoretheyuseonlineresources.“Weare
embracingLinkedIn,Facebook,Twitter,ActiveRain,andothers,”
Thornesays.“YouTubeisacentralcomponentofouractivities,and
weseektoutilizeitevenmore.”
Manycompaniesspendinglargeamountsofmoneyontelevision
advertising(andotherofflinemarketingsuchasdirectmail,magazine
andnewspaperadvertising,andYellowPageslistings)areafraidto
makeevenpartialmovesawayfromtheircomfortzonesandinto
onlinemarketingandsocialmedia.Buttheevidencedescribinghow
peopleactuallyresearchproductsoverwhelminglysuggeststhat
companiesmusttelltheirstoriesandspreadtheirideasonline,atthe
precisemomentthatpotentialbuyersaresearchingforanswers.
It’sanexcitingtimetobeamarketer,nomatterwhatbusinessyou’re
in.Wehavebeenliberatedfromrelyingexclusivelyonbuyingaccess
throughadvertisingorconvincingmainstreammediatotalkusup.
Nowwecanpublishinformationonthewebthatpeopleareeagerto
payattentionto.

67. LettheWorldKnowaboutYourExpertise
Allpeopleandorganizationspossessthepowertoelevatethemselves
onthewebtoapositionofimportance.Inthenewe-marketplaceof
ideas,organizationshighlighttheirexpertiseinonlinemediathatfocu
s
onbuyers’needs.Theweballowsorganizationstodelivertheright
informationtobuyers,rightatthepointwhentheyaremostreceptive
totheinformation.Thetoolsatourdisposalasmarketersareweb-
basedmediatodeliverourownthoughtfulandinformativecontentvia
websites,blogs,e-
books,whitepapers,images,photos,audiocontent,
video,andeventhingslikeproductplaceme nt,games,andvirtual
reality.Wealsohavetheabilitytointeractandparticipatein
conversationsthatotherpeoplebeginonsocialmediasiteslike
Twitter,blogs,chatrooms,andforums.Whatlinksallofthese
techniquestogetheristhatorganizationsofalltypesbehavelike
publishers,creatingcontentthatpeopleareeagertoconsume.
Organizationsgaincredibilityandloyaltywithbuyersthroughconten
t,
andsmartmarketersnowthinkandactlikepublishersinorderto
createanddelivercontenttargeteddirectlyattheiraudience.
TheLodgeatChaaCreek,4aneco-resortona265-acrerain-forest
reserveinwesternBelizeinCentralAmerica,isapublisherofvaluable
contentaboutrain-forestwildlife,nearbydestinationssuchasancient
Mayancities,andthecountryofBelizeitself.Thiscontentmarketing
efforthelpstheLodgeatChaaCreekachievehighsearch-engine
rankingsformanyimportantphrasesassociatedwithtraveltoBelize.
Thisworkgeneratesaremarkable80percentofnewbusinessforthe
lodge.ItsstoryisamongthebestIknowforlearninghowcontent
drivesbusiness.
Asanyonewhohasbuiltawebsiteknows,thereismuchmoretothink

68. aboutthanjustthecontent.Design,color,navigation,andappropriate
technologyareallimportantaspectsofagoodwebsite.Unfortunately,
theseotherconcernsoftendominate.Whyisthat?Ithinkit’seasierto
focusonasite’sdesignortechnologythanonitscontent.
Theglobalhotelchainsfallintothistrap:big-budgetdesignandpoor
content.Ifyouvisitthesitesofanyofthemajors(Hilton,Starwood,
Marriott,etc.),you’llnoticetheyalllookthesame.Thecontentisall
createdbycorporateheadquarters,soindividualpropertypagesrarel
y
containoriginalcontentabouttheloca tionofeachhotel.Theresultis
thatmosthotelsitesarejustbigbrochuresthatpullproductfeatures
likeroomtypesandfoodofferingsfromaglobaldatabase.
TheLodgeatChaaCreek’swebsitecouldn’tbemoredifferent.The
teambehinditincludesco-ownerLucyFleming,whooversees
marketing;Australia-basedwriterandformernewspapereditorMark
Langan,whocreatesmostofthewrittencontent;andanon-site
marketerwhofocusesonsocialmediaandsearchengine
optimization.Theteamresearcheswhatpeoplearesearchingon—
termslike“Belizehoneymoon”and“Belizeall-inclusivevacation”—
and
thenworkstocraftcontentfortheLodgeatChaaCreek’ssite,aswell
asitsBelizeTravelBlog.5Thegoalistooffercontentthatisvaluable
forthoseresearchingaBelizevacation,contentthatwillberanked
highlyinthesearchengines.
Canyouseewhat’shappeninghere?Somebod ygoestoGoogleand
wantstolearnaboutbird-watchinginBelize.Andbecausethecontent
ontheChaaCreeksiteandblogincludesstoriesaboutthebirdsof
Belize,thissearcherendsuponthesiteorblog.Forpeoplesearching
forinformationonplanningaweddingtriptoBelize,ChaaCreek
publishescontentsuchas“TenreasonswhyBelizemakesfor
HoneymoonBliss”ontheBelizeTravelBlog.
Noticethatthiskindofinformationisnotaboutthelodgeitself.Instead
,
theChaaCreekpublishingprogramfocusesondeliveringinformation
topeopleplanningatriptoBelize.Then,whentheyareread ytobook
aplacetostay,they’relikelytoconsidertheLodgeatChaaCreek,the