<![CDATA[Okay, it's Thursday and this is the first of my weekly postings thanking Marqui for its sponsorship of this blog. I appreciate that they can get behind the wide-ranging subjects that I talk about and I hope you’ll check out their communications management system for the enterprise, because it would be great to have the checks keep coming.]]>
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Thanks, Marqui
<![CDATA[Okay, it's Thursday and this is the first of my weekly postings thanking Marqui for its sponsorship of this blog. I appreciate that they can get behind the wide-ranging subjects that I talk about and I hope you’ll check out their communications management system for the enterprise, because it would be great to have the […]
9 replies on “Thanks, Marqui”
Have you used the product? If so, what do you like the most about it?
I have used the demo of the service, but I don’t know how to answer the question without giving you something to further your criticisms of my having taken an ad placement deal. Here’s what you said about this posting:
I think you’re ready to jump on anything I may write. Have you ever asked this question of a publication that displays an ad for any other product? Have you ever asked the editor of your local newspaper if he or she shops at the largest grocery advertiser in the publication?
You also suggest I should be using the software and that of competitors, but it isn’t what Marqui is for—it’s an enterprise tool for collaborating and publishing in a variety of channels, including email, blogs, and Web sites. So, it wouldn’t really fit my needs to use it here; Movable Type installed on my Mac OS X Server fits my needs as an individual blogger, though if I had a staff working on this and budget for enterprise software I would consider Marqui because of the ability to route documents around the group.
But, again, do you expect the journalists and publishers whose magazines display Ford ads to drive Fords or Adobe ads to use InDesign to build their publication?
I’ve discussed this deal extensively in other postings. I am treating it as a standard ad placement. Because many of my readers get the content through RSS, where there is no badge displayed for the sponsor, I thank them once a week in text.
So, what do I like most? I thought the product worked well, but I reserve the right to take my time examining it at length before I offer any other comments, if, in fact, I decide to. Having spent almost 20 years as a journalist, I choose to treat this like an ad deal and probably won’t do anything except criticize features and functionality.
I like the fact that Marqui is experimenting with this sponsor program, because it will lead to more money to support people who want to write in this format. I like the fact the program doesn’t force me to say anything in particular and, like an ad placement, I can say negative as well as positive things about the product and other bloggers sponsored by the company can offer explicit endorsements or criticisms. You can judge each of us individually for how we deal with the filthy lucre.
Finally, you made a number of statements about how this ought to work, but it’s the fact that even within a small group of bloggers involved in this program they are doing different things with the sponsorship that makes this a great learning experience for all involved, even those not being paid. I’m not laughing all the way to the bank, however, rather I am spending more time blogging here than I have since I picked up the paying blogger gig at Red Herring. The sponsorship and others that may come along let me do more for my readers and that’s the win I am focused on.
Your comparison of writing about Marqui and displaying an ad are totally different. If you were getting paid $800/mo to display their ad, no I would not question it at all. That is not what you are doing. You are writing posts about them, so yeah, I expect you to have used the product thoroughly before typing one word.
You said:
Which only proves my point that someone in the position to actually incorporate the software in their business and talk about it honestly would be a better fit.
Let us get something straight. I love the fact that Marqui has done this. I love the fact that they are not forcing you to say something in particular. However, I think you should say something besides please go visit them so I can continue to get paid. We all have choices in life, and making posts like that, in my opinion, is the wrong choice.
Companies are looking at you closely to see exactly what you post, what you do with the money. Marqui has given you the rope to either hang yourself or use it to move yourself forward. Eric Rice made a wonderful gesture by giving back to the community which helped to support him. No matter what he says (if his posts were similar to yours) his gesture outweighs everything. Very wise of him.
The point in my post is that you have an opportunity (so do the other bloggers) to do something with it so other companies will look to you for support and pay you to blog. Use this gig to get future gigs and expand this concept. Your average company is not going to pay a blogger to say “this is my obligatory post, please visit them so I can get paid”. Companies watching you aren’t caring about anything else you say except about the company that’s paying you. So make that one post a week mean something.
Good luck.
Ah, so the weight of bloggers’ economic aspirations everywhere are on my shoulders? That’s silly, this is an experiment that has to do with Marqui’s interest in reaching a large audience in a variety of different ways. Others in the program are doing what you suggest; but some of us aren’t.
I’ve never made any representation that I am a marketer or marketing on behalf of anyone. If I had, then I would agree that I am letting Marqui down. But this blog is about a lot of things that don’t have anything to do with communications management systems and, yet, they chose me (or, rather, Marc chose me).
Eric’s gesture is a smart and generous one, and it is being used as the standard for ‘dirty but clean’ by you and Jason Calacanis in comments on my site today. What someone does with the money they earn, however, does not sanitize the process of earning it. If a person who cooked babies into paste gave all the proceeds to their church, they’d be ethical according to this argument.
You, however, want me to really whore myself out, not act as a writer who is also his own publisher and, therefore, has to sign contracts that provide companies exposure in exchange for fees. Those are two different functions in a traditional publishing company, but not when you are bootstrapping a self-published product like a blog. The fact there is a posting each week is almost identical to the sponsored editorial sections you see in most publications and on many Web sites. And, alas, I have been in the publishing business long enough to have done my share of work on those projects, too. The only difference is that I don’t have any intermediary between myself and the advertiser today.
You should sign up to blog for Marqui the way you suggest. Maybe the fact that Marqui has done this—and we’ll see which approaches to doing the actual “blogging about Marqui” are rewarded with contract renewals—will get another company to sponsor you after they see you’re willing to write about their products at length.
You see, I am just writing my blog with the same indifference to the advertiser as I had as a journalist. I don’t care if the advertiser stops if they don’t like the way I handle the relationship, because my “customer” is the reader who looks to me to be honest with them. I’m honest when I say “they pay me for exposure, so here it is.” If I rhapsodized about or went on at length dissecting the product, which would be rather disingenuous and boring, if you ask me, I’d have turned my blog into a service for Marqui rather than a publication for my readers.
You hit the nail on the head:
The fact that your readers would be bored if you posted about the product means you definitely aren’t one who should be blogging about Marqui. You just said it yourself. Yes, you may have been perfect to draw up the contract but your readership is not interested in the product they provide. You’d be an excellent spokesperson for TypeKey, MovableType, etc. 🙂
One post a week with honest feedback does not make your site a service for Marqui any more than your “please visit so I can get paid” posts. If your readers are unlikely to spend $199/mo on the product then I think you were not the effective choice. All the exposure in the world will do them no good if it doesn’t lead to sales.
Unless Marqui is not expecting enough sales to offset their investment in this. Is that the case…because that is what Marqui wants in the end, more sales, right?
I think it is crazy the criticism of ethical violation with the Marqui sponsorship. I think it is black and white. Mitch is doing nothing wrong and is going over the top with his disclosures. Mitch it is grand that you are willing to disclose so much about your business relationships. I just don’t think you need to do it. Most people trust you enough to read what you post and evaluate the validity of it. The only danger is if you post positive about Marqui in a major way without disclosing the sponsorship. I do have to say that it is unnatural to think that Mitch would post negative criticisms about a sponsor. I would never think to do that on my WebTalk radio show.
I think we are mixing the concept of objective product review and advertising. This is the ethical dilemma. By mixing the possible good and bad review into the advertising message you are assuming that any exposure is good exposure and that the sponsoring company gets value from the open criticism and discussion about the sponsors product or service. It is an interesting way of looking at sponsorship, but one that is driving questionable value to the sponsor.
I think that Marqui is going to get great exposure and value from the sponsorship of these blogs. But, the next advertiser will get less value from it as the buzz of it will be less.
Everyone needs to climb down from the mountain of ethical purity and Zen. What is going on with blog sponsorship is not really all that ground breaking, but an extension of an already accepted media sponsorship practice.
The combination of sponsor blog posts, banner ads and possibly audio mentions in podcasts will be the ultimate path for sponsoring and funding blogs. My show WebTalk has all those pieces right now. My WebTalk blog is not as popular as the blogs being sponsored by Marqui, but I could start mentioning sponsors in my blog. I don’t see why a double standard exists with people in relation to blogs and sponsorship. Blogs are just another content distribution method like radio, newspapers and TV. They all run biased promotional mentions all the time. Look at PaidContent.org as they are a practicing case that is walking the ethical line very well.
I think the only real change is the sponsors’ willingness to accept negative criticism of its products or services as part of the sponsorship package.
Rob — Thanks for the support. The next time I am on the show I’ll try not to be so hard on the sponsors…. Okay, I probably will be hard on the sponsors and the guests. Sorry.
Tyme — I guess you’re really lobbying for a Marqui sponsorship by knocking me. Thing is, I do have a corporate readership that Marqui does want to reach. I would never be a spokesman for MT or TypeKey (TypeKey is a pain in the ass and really doesn’t work very well). That’s not my gig. I write about things related to business, technology, politics, economics and much else. My imprimatur is my honesty and willingness to speak my mind, even when it hurts my ability to earn money. Yet the fact is that many companies have benefitted from being in close proximity to that honesty, through advertising placed around the content and at conferences and trade shows that I have hosted.
I hope you get a Marqui gig, but I don’t think you’ll get mine.
Because I disagree with you I am lobbying for a Marqui sponsorship? I am not the only one disagreeing with you and I do not see you accusing them of wanting a Marqui sponsorship. That was rather childish but hey, it’s your blog. You can make wild accusations if you want to.
You haven’t answered my question – how are posts like yours going equal more sales for Marqui? It’s a simple question. Note I did not say exposure, I said sales.
As I told Marc when I first started talking about this, I DO have an open mind and I hope Marqui has success with it. It’s obvious though I am not going to learn about the product from your blog because it would bore your readers. Which may be why the contract is so open ended, you wrote it and you wouldn’t want to bore your readers. Did you know there was a slight possibility that you would be blogging when you wrote the contract?
I am a regular reader. I have a genuine interest in the product. I was hoping the chosen bloggers would actually post something about it so, perhaps other people like me, would get some different views, pros and cons on the software, etc. From your HONEST posts perhaps we would recommend the software to companies in need of it (again, I fall into that category). The fact Marqui is offering a referral bonus implies they want sales. You have a corporate readership that Marqui wants to reach and you are not talking about the features of the product because it would bore your readers. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
This is one of those times when one should agree to disagree. After your completely false (and unwarranted) accusation of me expressing an honest opinion for a sponsorship I’m understandably not receptive to what you have to say.
Tyme, I was actually just giving you a hard time about the lobbying for my gig thing. Your main thrust is that I am shilling wrong, after all.
But, with regards to the software and referral fees, I don’t plan to do anything on the referral side. Marqui can keep that money. And I did say that I may offer criticisms along the way, but I just was introduced to the product recently (it was only finished about two weeks ago), so give me some time.