February 28, 2008
Mock ye not, Leesa is on to something big
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My colleague in arms Leesa Barnes has been at the end of some good ol’ sledging*, it would seem.
As she points out on her latest post, there are those who are calling her Telesummit a ‘get rich quick scheme’ and some bizarre attempt to snag some Google keyword love.
Even one of the sledgers, Bob LeDrew, acknowledges that he won’t be a part of the audience “so I could judge it from a perspective of knowledge.”
Having been a part of the listening audience, I can vouch for the authenticity and usefulness of the material the speakers are delivering. It is a truly outstanding Telesummit.
Good on yer, Leesa, for putting together such a great summit — by allowing us who aren’t in the major US timezones the opportunity to still partake of the information, you are, as you say, highlighting what is important:
What’s important here is how people can access the content. That’s what makes the Social Media Telesummit so unique. I’m offering 5 separate ways for attendees to consume the content - either live, or through a private RSS feed, or on CDs, or on a portable player or online. My guess is that the majority of attendees will choose to access the information when - and how - they want to based on timezone, learning style, time, language and other commitments.
Some of the sledgers are criticising the layout of her sales page, saying that it’s garish and ‘hokey’. My own take on it is slightly different…
Lisa is following the principles of Online Direct Marketing that have been proven again and again and again to work. Having studied the principles myself, I know that she has invested considerable time and effort to make sure that the whole experience for the attendee is as great as can be. The fact that she has got so many of the little, front-end things right (sign up process, email and name capture for mailing lists, free follow-up newsletter, and so on) means that I am exceptionally confident that she has got the rest of the ‘package’ put solidly together too.
The challenge Leesa faces is that business communicators look down their nose at their online marketing colleagues. Very often the business communicators come from a formal background, work or have worked for large corporations, and have particular views about style and language.
On the other hand, online marketing millionaires very often don’t have those handicaps, and therefore do what every business communicator should remember but very often doesn’t — tell the story in the way the recipient wants to receive it. And make a shed load more money in the process.
Perhaps it is time for business communicators to realise that we are not the owners of the online space, nor are we the style judges. Perhaps we need to come off our high horses and realise that even the uneducated masses deserve to access high quality information that we ourselves deem is far too beneath us to bother with.
As for me, based on what I’ve seen, I’m going to be approaching Lisa for some joint venturing opportunities that will be coming to this blog and my business very, very shortly.
The ability to speak eloquently is not to be confused with having something to say. Michael P. Hart
courtesy of Sueblimely
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Related post: Online privacy policies - just who are they designed for (courtesy of Media Bullseye).
* sledging - “insulting opponents to break their concentration and cause them to make mistakes”
Stumble it!
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One Response to “Mock ye not, Leesa is on to something big”
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February 28th, 2008 at 3:01 am
Hi Lee:
Just to be clear — I don’t think I “sledged” Leesa or the SMTS at all. In fact, I wrote two blog posts in advance of the SMTS, including one where I gave Leesa the opportunity to respond at any length she chose to some fair questions (I thought).
I think if your readers read what I wrote, they would agree I was far from mocking or sledging, and I’m a little irked at being portrayed in that way.
A couple of quotes from my posts:
“having been at Podcamp Toronto last year, an event which Social Media Telesummit creator Leesa Barnes was a key part of, gives me some confidence to say that this event will likely be pretty good”
“Thanks, Leesa, for taking the time to answer the questions, and good luck — although I’m doubtful I’ll be part of the summit, I think it’s got great potential.”
It sounds from your posts as if I was right.