Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Creating a Alaska seafood "buzz"

Blogging is really changing a lot of things and will continue to change things. Keep up on these, trust me. Business Week magazine said it will be as big as the Guttenburg Press. Whether my blogging ever benefits me financially is a question mark, but is has benefitted me personally and a growing number of people are showing up on my site meter. On the average, they enjoy one minute and twenty seven seconds worth of my blog.

I also figure this is a way to leave something for my kids. I salt my commentary with stories from my life experience that applies to the current subject. I'm not adverse to detailing the mistakes, mostly of other unamed persons, and the successes that has breathed life into the seafood industry.

The current confusion over various infrastructure initiatives in the Alaska seafood industry could be settled in a heartbeat if they were brought to the table of the blog. I don't know if I want to rain on anyone's parade by dragging bad projects out into the light of day. I might ask if there is a call for such exposure, or I might not . I'm getting off the subject and will have to get to this in another post, being that I was the Alaska State Fisheries Infrastructure Development specialist at one time. Actually, the only one this state and who knows how many other states, ever had.

"Now, smart retailers and brands are using them to create buzz — the new terminology for word-of-mouth — and measure how new products, store formats and promotions are being accepted by their customers. When we consumers notice that our voice is being heard, we respond with a stronger tie to the retailer (or brand) and become more involved."(Full article)

I started to get the drift this winter that creating a buzz about something was getting to be a necessary part of business. After all, a top GM executive started blogging and discussing safety and other issues with the average Joe or Jane. The Business Week article, May 2, described a lot of blogging starting up in industry to get word of mouth going around about something. And that after getting bombarded with over 2,000 advertisements a day, people are starting to avoid ads like the plague. And that people are seeking out information on their own, and not just standing like a forest and letting the wind of ads whip them back and forth like in a hurricane.

Here's a quote from an article in Entrepreneur magazine, "More Talk, Less Ads: I find editorial is more important than advertising because we want to educate so people understand what we're all about, and you can't do that with an ad."

You know how stressful it is to watch a commercial on TV. Blogging has a way to start a good conversation about a brand or initiative in a civilized, and a lot of times, actually an exciting way. You can comment back immediately to the blogger or start your own blog, like people do every 2.2 seconds. But if you have a product or service, you need to be checking the blogosphere for what people are saying about you. People that are starting seafood projects in Alaska need to be checking because the conversation is coming to the internet.

Folks that are starting up brands in Alaska need to be thinking about who to get to talk up their stuff. The Regional Seafood Development Associations will need to do this. Regional differences are cast in stone now, but how are you going to differentiate your humpies from the humpies in the next region over. By creating a buzz.

There isn't anything to say that the Regions can't get together on some issues. They apparently already making contact with each other. This was my concept when I penned the Small Processors Association white paper while at the State in the early 90's. It thrills me to no end that these things are happening now, after nudging them for fifteen years, a lot of years all by myself.

Well thats about a minute and a half worth of reading. The average may change, so I'll change with it. Adaption to changing environmental conditions is not new for humans. The successful ones know it is a must. The environment of communications is changing fast. We've come a long way since the medieval shouting in town square, or do I still hear shouting.

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