So after a flurry of tweets, publicly and in private direct messages, with them today (before they maturely decided to block me), I realized there is an even bigger issue here. Making a mistake is one thing. Sure, that can be terribly damaging. What is really crucial is how you respond to it.

I have seen companies turn a PR nightmare around to actually create loyal fans. It can be done. People remember the response, when done properly, more than they remember the mistake.

I have also seen companies respond poorly, which has a way of making the situation fester. It becomes like a virus, continuing to spread until it can no longer be controlled. This is how PETA has responded.

They have repeatedly been defensive. They repeatedly say what they did wasn’t spam. They repeatedly say what they did was justified because they had a message to get out. Anytime they apologize, it is followed with a “but.” But we got lots of clicks. But we needed to spread the word. But, but, but…

They repeatedly hurt the exact message they are trying to spread by their response to this controversy.

This is exactly why you must hire someone who gets social media to run your social media. I can’t stress this enough! Just because someone is in marketing does not mean they will “get” Twitter. You need someone who’s been immersed in social media spaces, preferably for years. You need someone who understands the rules of engagement, and even more importantly understands the importance of responding properly and responding immediately.

Twitter, more than probably any other space, can damage a reputation in as little as minutes. Do you want someone who doesn’t get it at your social media front line?

How should they have responded? Simple. They should have admitted their mistake. They should have apologized (minus the buts). They should have promised not to spam anymore.

Instead, they not only claim to be justified, but they moved the spamming to Facebook.

This was done after some moms replied that they didn’t care for the methodology of spamming used on Twitter, and after Allie Sullivan did a blog post about it. A Google search showed that Emily Nash is a youth coordinator for PETA, according to her LinkedIn profile.

And again, when @bostonmamas called them on it, PETA still defended their methods:

I really am trying to help them. I really would like to see them do it right. I love animals. Responding properly now will help them spread their message instead of badly damaging their brand and eclipsing their message. If they are bent on ignoring what several people who do get social media are saying, then I hope this will serve as a case study in what not to do for other non-profits and companies in social media spaces.

I think @technosailor put it best:

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Here are some details about the conference:

Type-A Mom Conference is a unique mom blogging conference designed to help you take it to the next level. The conference will feature some of the most influential, admired and insightful mom bloggers talking about topics like power social networking, branding, blogging, finding your voice, and turning your passion for blogging into a real paycheck.

When? Sept. 24-27

Where? Asheville, NC

Find out more at the official Type-A Mom Conference site.

And be sure to register before 11:55 p.m. July 1st. The current Super Early Bird rate of $100 is half the full price, and it ends (and bumps up $50) in mere hours.

_{Photo © National Rural account on Flickr, used via Creative Commons license.}

Beyond that, I think everyone needs to remember that there are no clear answers on all of this. That’s the bottom line.

It’s easy to say bloggers can’t take money for any reason, but don’t moms who put time and effort into their blogs deserve to earn some money for them? Blogging is not traditional journalism. I’ve said it many, many times, but the key here is disclosure. And when I say disclosure, I mean obvious and clear disclosure. And a little soul searching before you accept a check from a company is in order because there is no secret code about when that is appropriate or not.

On the one extreme, we have far too many mommy bloggers who don’t see their value at all. On the other extreme, we have bloggers who do nothing but use their blogs to pimp out products and make money. I say to all mommy bloggers: you need to find a place between those two extremes. Where exactly we all belong is the tricky part.

I also would argue that if you call it a review, it can’t be paid to do it. That is highly misleading. On Type-A Mom, for example, the guidelines call for all reviews to have both pros and cons. I want to be sure that we are all fairly testing and writing about the products there. I would recommend any blogger who labels a post a review do the same thing. It’s one thing to get the product to review, which simply makes sense if a company wants items reviewed. It’s another to accept cold cash to do the review.

When it boils down to it, blogging ethics shouldn’t be all that complicated. Like in any medium, the reader should come first. That sounds nice on paper, but even traditional outlets stopped putting the reader or viewer first years ago. So let me break down a few of the angles and considerations here.

Because this discussion about blogging ethics is one that needs to happen, and now. In fact, several months ago I bought the domain BloggerCodeofEthics.com. I think it’s well past time to launch it. This will be a site to develop a basic code of ethics with a strong emphasis on disclosure vs. the traditional media emphasis on avoiding bias (which was never truly realistic anyway). It will not make anyone any money. I would love to have some contributors there on the various topics related to blogging ethics, so if you are interested please comment below and I’ll be in touch.

Bloggers and Ethics

Let’s start with bloggers. Queen of Spain Blog featured a great post, I’m Calling Out the Carpetbagging Mommybloggers. Bloggers, you need to do some soul searching. Why ARE you blogging? If it is just to make a buck, I would suggest blogging isn’t the way to go about it at all.

I would say, however, the idea that advertising and editorial can be separate in blogging like they are in traditional media is just not realistic. First of all, it isn’t entirely separate in traditional media. It is in theory, but not in reality.

I’m here to say that traditional media is NOT the epitome of ethics and standards we’d all like to believe. I always found it rather hilarious that the Journalist’s Code of Ethics stated journalists cannot receive any compensation, gifts, free travel, or items of value on the sources they cover, yet travel writers for years have gotten a pass on that rule by many newspapers and magazines. Why? Because media outlets cannot afford to pay the expenses of the high cost of travel. So basically, it works like this: we will be ethical until it is just too expensive or inconvenient.

I had to laugh to read what Jessica Smith posted. She was quoted in the Wall Street Journal and is taking a ton of heat about it. But she nailed it. The idea that traditional media would slam bloggers about ethics? Laughable!

Here is a snippet from her post, Blogging, Double Standards and Recommendations:

Bloggers are being scrutinized for transparency and disclosure issues but the same “traditional” media that’s reporting on it?  Pot.  Meet.  Kettle.

The other point to note there is that mommy bloggers cannot separate it. A newspaper or TV station has one whole part of the building filled with humans who sell ads, and a whole other part of the building filled with humans who report the news. They rarely cross paths.

A mom blogger is usually writer, editor, administrator, general manager, producer and ad sales rep all rolled into one. There is no true separation. So that makes it all the more important for we bloggers to establish ethics standards and guidelines.

Obvious, Clear Disclosure is the Answer

So I get back to my main point of disclosure. As I said a while back in my post about bias in newspapers, readers don’t seem terribly concerned that bloggers are biased. What is crucial is that readers get informed about those biases. It is a breach of reader trust if you do something for pay and don’t say that is why you are doing it. It’s as simple as that, and that part is not complicated.

I don’t mean with a sidebar or bottom of page button that links to a computer-generated page that generally states you might be paid to write certain posts. That’s not good enough. Any post that was touched by a payment or a personal bias in some way should say so. It doesn’t need to be detailed, but you should share. And if you would feel awkward or embarrassed stating it in the post, you probably are doing something wrong.

The main guide I always used as a newspaper reporter was this: would I be embarrassed if this was reporter in the newspaper? Could I defend myself? I say the same thing applies to bloggers. Whenever you are blogging for pay or any sort of benefit, ask yourself those questions.

I love the ideas that Amy Lupold Bair, a.k.a. Resourcefulmommy, put out there after reading the Wall Street Journal article and the Queen of Spain post. In her post, Resourcefulmommy Changes, she indicates that she will include a button that says “product provided” in reviews where that is the case.

Reality is this: if mommy bloggers have to buy everything they review, there will be very few reviews. A professional blogger can still do a fair review.

Anyone whose opinion can be bought with a free product probably should reconsider blogging or sharing opinions, for that matter. Because blogging is about being personal, interacting with your readers, and being real. If you stop being real, you should stop blogging.

Blogging Ethics and Companies

I also think companies, ad agencies, PR firms all need to be brought into this discussion. Believe it or not, they are not evil people. I have some friends and clients in these realms, and I am here to tell you that many of them are struggling just like the bloggers. I would even say more so, since they don’t have the insider sense of the blogging community.

Just a few months ago, many bloggers would lament that companies don’t take bloggers seriously. Well, hey, we won! They are slowly but surely getting it. Sure, they might have some etiquette blunders, but let’s all cut them some slack.

And there is a reason why issues like paid posts are coming up. We all know that advertising is not terribly effective. Companies are doing what we have been TELLING them to do for years. They are trying to join the conversation. But for them, there aren’t as many natural ways to do that. So they are getting creative.

They are not out to offend bloggers. They want to engage with bloggers. They want to help their clients enter the social sphere. They have staff meetings, they attend webinars, and they go to conferences just to get the slightest hint of how to do that properly. There are not clear answers on how best to do that.

This is really the Wild West, and we should all keep in mind that things were much simpler for these people a year ago. I always feel like no matter what is said or done, I want to encourage marketers who are making an attempt. That is monumental.

But to those marketers, I also want to say this: some bloggers do not have a media background and are not that savvy. You should not take advantage. Blogging ethics are your responsibility, too. You should insist that bloggers disclose. You should be sure the bloggers are comfortable with the arrangement. You should NEVER attempt to buy a blogger’s opinion.

Buy an ad on their blog, and you might see the blogger naturally talks about your company. Even the blogs that don’t mention direct advertising would probably consider it if you make a polite offer. Personally, I think giveaways are a great way to get involved in the conversation since the blogger gets added traffic, the company gets exposure, and the readers love them.

You can insist that they also disclose that the company provided the prizes. Providing prizes for contests is not something remotely new to the blogosphere. But seriously. Contests decades before blogging even existed have had prizes provided by companies, so I doubt many readers think the bloggers themselves are buying all those prizes out of their own pockets.

Navigating the Blogging Ethics Gray Area

This is no simple thing for bloggers. There are no clear cut rules about what’s acceptable or not. I would say go with your gut.

If you don’t want your readers to know your arrangement, and in simple, non euphemistic terms that can confuse, then you should say no. If a company paid you to post, say it very clearly in the text. Tell exactly what was involved. You don’t have to say exact dollars, but if you received a gift card to write about something, say so. If you were paid to post on a certain subject by a company, say that. If you are writing about a company you do consultant work for, say so.

There are some very clever ways you can disclose besides the obvious. You can say so in the post in just a sentence or two near the top of the post. Plus, you can add a button that is high profile and not buried at the bottom that says the post is sponsored. Newspapers, magazines and TV all have had advertorials and paid programming for years (and I would argue some are not so clearly labeled as such). Bloggers are not the first to invent this.

You can have regular posts on your site that feature an icon like Featured Client. There are some fun ways to be clear to readers. If you find this all results in less traffic and interaction on your blog, then you need to think about what’s more important.

Personally, I don’t see how a review can be paid and still be a review, so I would consider using different terms.

But it all boils down to this. As bloggers, we will encounter many occasions to consider doing something for money. Every time, think about what that means.

When you represent a company as a blogger in some fashion, that is not the same as doing other work. You are selling a piece of your personal brand. If the company is a good fit for you, fine. If it’s something you would blog about or spread the word about for free because it is something you like or love or believe in, then great. If it’s something that interests your readers anyway, cool.

If not, walk away. We all need to feed our families, but let’s not kill the goose that lays the golden eggs here.

Each and every time, you have to decide whether the money is really worth it and whether it benefits your readers. Each and every time, you need to examine whether what you are about to do is ethical. Because like it or not, you are part of a community and you will be judged by that community for your actions. Be sure you can defend yourself, both to the community and to yourself.

And never forget: without your readers, none of these opportunities would happen. You owe them.

_{Photo of mommy blogger, © Channah at Sxc.hu}

Part of the hang up for many higher-ups, I think, is fear of change. Another part of it is the desire to track ROI on marketing down to hard numbers, and social web campaigns don’t work like that. It’s a bit like asking to measure water cooler conversations.

Mostly, it’s a fear of surrending control of the marketing message to the online community. But guess what, people, they are already running it. You don’t think so? Search for your company name in Google and just see what you see. Mmm-hmm.

The Moms Panel is not even a year old yet, but the call for applicants alone attracted about 10,000 inquiries. Yes, Ten Thousand. So many that they created a private site, the Mickey Moms Club, just for the many moms who didn’t make the cut (they only selected a dozen for the Moms Panel). They are right now in the midst of going over the thousands of applications for the 2009 Moms Panel members.

Just think of this: the power of connecting with thousands of your enthusiastic fans, many of whom already are active online, and some of whom are bloggers and influencers. Just pause and reflect for a moment.

Yesterday, I chatted with Disney World Social Media Director Leanne Jakubowski about the Disney World Moms Panel. It was interesting to learn about how it all began, and how amazingly and wildly successful it has been in helping them find real mom Disney World evangalists. Also, I’d like to note, every major (and some minor) company should have a social media position on their roster. Just sayin’. It isn’t the 1990s anymore.

“It’s been a huge success,” Jakubowski said. This year, for example, they have upped the panel to 16 members. They were forced to do that to handle the high number of questions web site visitors asked.

When the idea first emerged, however, she said there were naysayers. In fact, even proponents were surprised at the impressive response.

“At the start, we were like shooting darts at the wall. We had no idea what the response would be. We thought if we got 100, we’d be doing good,” she recalled. Not only did they get around 10,000 applicants, but these were people who took the time to complete essays to apply. “These were very passionate people. These people were pouring out their hearts and souls.”

Their response in creating a social network just for the moms who didn’t make the cut is pretty impressive. I think many companies would have missed that catch. “We were going to tell 9,999 moms they didn’t make it. We quickly got together as a team here and worked with our internet folks and an outside consultant. We reached out to the moms and we formed the Mickey Moms Club.”

Kudos to Disney World for getting it! And if you have any questions about visiting Disney World, ask the Moms Panel.

I’m also thinking about going to Disney World in December to write about spending the holidays there. What do you think? It is an insanely busy time of year for a mom, but I keep thinking about the cool events happening there that I wrote about here. The kids would certainly enjoy checking those out, and it seems like I’d get loads of travel writing material. I was even thinking it could be fun to live blog and live microblog the Disney World trip, post twitpics, post qik videos, generally do something like Apryl did at Type-A Mom last weekend while on a press trip in Destin.

So do you think I should go? I would probably do it early December so readers/followers would have time to plan their own trip, too. Would you follow live blogging about it? I’d love your feedback while I mull the idea over.

_{Photo of the 2008 Disneyworld Moms Panel, courtesy of Disney World.}

I was working on a couple of articles mentioning or focused on Disney theme parks. I wrote this article about Halloween events and included mention of some very cool sounding festivities over at Disneyland and Disney World. I was hoping to get a picture, so I went onto the Disneyland media site. I completed the registration to get access to media images and even just press releases (since when are those a secret?).

I was annoyed to have to wait 24 hours for approval to access the media site, but Disney certainly isn’t the only organization to make someone wait to access materials, although that, too, is stupid in my opinion. Many members of the media, both online and *gasp* print journalists, need this information immediately. But I digress.

I sit on the articles and wait. This evening I was pleased to see an email saying my login was approved. I skimmed it just enough to see I was approved and logged in. Then I clicked photos. Then I got this message:

This area is reserved for members of the news media. If you qualify, please update your user profile. Please include any notes in the “Supporting information for media credentials” box. We will notify you of your status via e-mail of your account status.

I checked, and I had filled out that portion of my profile. Confused, I went back to the “approval” email. That’s when I noticed this part:

Your current credentials do not provide access to editorial photography and videography section of this website. This is reserved for members of approved media outlets only, and subject to review on a case-by-case basis.

One of the sites I write for is owned by the New York Times, but whatev. Regardless, there is obviously some list of approved news agencies and I didn’t name one that triggered it. This is what I can only refer to as PR web bigotry. It isn’t the first time I’ve encountered it. I can’t tell you how many times I have had to justify my existence as a web writer or blogger ten times over. The funny thing is I never got that kind of grilling when I wrote for print.

The good news is I emailed a nasty reply, and I cc’ed the person with Disney World’s PR department who assisted me when we visited. Then I got an autoreply and it included the information for logging in to the Disney World media page, which is far better. They also have a cool social media site, the Disney World Moms Panel.

Shoot, they even have a Twitter profile (although they might consider, like, following a couple people back). Still, impressive considering their west coast cohorts don’t even allow web writers to access images for, essentially, free advertising for Disneyland without jumping through hoops and getting reviewed on a “case by case basis.” Shudder. Methinks it’s time to write about Universal Studios instead.

It’s not like Disney is the only organization that doesn’t get it.

Just recently, we went to Carowinds outside Charlotte to do some coverage of Charlotte for Kids. I went through all the normal channels to arrange media passes to Carowinds beforehand. Then I arrived where I was told to pick up the passes only to get grilled by the front line person there. She was very confused about my media outlet. Her exact words were, “I’ve never handled one of these for web before.”

Really? The web? You’ve heard of it before, right lady? Extremely popular with, well, almost everyone? Yeah.

So I will give the PR people a freebie here, a no-fee consultation. I will save you an awful lot of time, money and hassle. Next time you think about blowing off a web writer, blogger or someone who does their writing through the internet, consult this list. In fact, why don’t you just print it and paste it next to your computer (you do have internet access, right? Thought so.) Take it to your next board meeting. Because it’s important.

Here are just some of the reasons why web coverage is the best PR coverage.

• You can often track the results of PR coverage. If the writer links to your site, you can see a direct impact in hard numbers being looking at your own stats to see how many people that coverage sent your way. You will know that those people read that specific article, not the circulation for a specific print edition. And, of course that doesn’t even include the many people who will read the coverage and you will never know it (or, you know, something like the stats you get for coverage in print media).
• Print coverage has a shelf life, literally. Getting in even a major magazine will only get something read for maybe a month or so. Web coverage has staying power, and it will be found potentially for years to come. Yes, you can argue that it means that bad coverage also stays for years to come. Rest assured. Bad coverage on the web is not to be avoided by annoying web writers and bloggers. Engaging and respecting them is the only way to have some influence on that.
• The reach is almost limitless with web coverage. Now yes, it is true, there are blogs that only have a few readers. But there are also blogs and web sites that literally reach millions monthly. Many popular web sites have monthly traffic that dramatically surpasses even A-list magazines and newspapers. But the reach goes far beyond that. Bloggers link to other bloggers and web sites. People socially bookmark articles. People tweet about cool articles. Then web writers read that and write about it. And here. Pay close attention now, because you will love this one: PRINT WRITERS read blogs and web sites. That’s where they get lots of story ideas.
• You get real feedback that you never will from print or broadcast coverage. If someone writes about how great an attraction is, and 20 people comment that they had the same type of bad experience, you can address it. If 20 people comment that the place is amazing, you have people saying great things about you for free. Shoot, contact them!
• Readers respect what bloggers write, and they take it seriously. Blog readers have a much more intimate and trusting relationship with their favorite bloggers than they do with typical inaccessible print writers.
• Coverage is instant, or can be. You don’t have to anticipate what to pitch several months out like you do for mags, or even several days or sometimes weeks out for newspapers.
• A blogger or web writer reaches, typically, a very targeted audience. Print publications are, by nature, typically broad and general in reach. Even special interest publications can never be as niche as a web site or a blog can. So say one day you look at your numbers and realize you’d really love to covet a certain demographic. You can by pitching blogs and web sites who also target that very specific group. And I mean specific… on my Type-A Mom site, for example, you can target a mom editor to write about subjects as specific as bed rest, green parenting, 40-something moms or moms of college-aged kids.
• Here’s my personal favorite as an SEO maniac. Every time someone writes about your site online and links to it, be it a blogger or a web news site or whatever, that is a gift of Google juice. What that means is, essentially, Google looks at which web sites like YOUR web site. If it’s a lot, then that is a major factor in how often you show up in searches. If it’s not too many, you might even get beat out by an SEO-savvy blogger who writes about your company instead. I’m thinking you don’t want that. Print coverage does nothing to boost your Google PageRank, or how cool Google thinks your site is.

If you don’t believe me, read this amazing post that asks Are Bloggers Media? Here’s an excerpt:

“…the question of whether bloggers are media is moot. Bloggers are DIFFERENT from the mainstream media.  They are smart, expert, passionate, independent, talented, and cantankerous.  They have their own agenda, whereas journalists (while they share many of the traits listed above) are beholden to a publisher’s agenda. More to the point: whatever else ya call them, bloggers are influential.”

And believe me, the last thing you want is the wrath of an influential blogger. So when you blow off or snub a web writer, you are rolling the dice that you could be  the subject of a major PR disaster.

_{Photo of web writing, © Ginny Austin}

I have toddler twins and a 5-year-old. I need hands-free first and foremost, and that eliminates about 90 percent of remotely decent bags. I am also an early adopter gadget geeky mom, which means I have a variety of gadgets that need a safe, cozy spot in a purse: iPod, Smartphone, digicam, etc.

Since becoming a mom, I have bought purses. I mean, a lot of purses. I always have such high hopes for them. Then I use them and usually within a day, maybe a week, I hate them. I endure them usually for several months before I resort to trying again.

Then one day I saw the infomercial-esque commercial for the Buxton. It looked so alluring. They were showing like an endless number of things going in and out of the thing. I thought to myself, “I know this is probably a scam… yet I can’t help but wonder if I should get it. I DO have a lot of crap.”

Jump six months later, and I was standing at a Bed, Bath and Beyond store. And there it was. The Buxton. I couldn’t resist the impulse to try it. I even pulled it out of the bag before making my purchase and thought two things: “This looks like a cheap crappy purse,” and “This does NOT look like it can hold a bunch of crap.”

I was right on both points. It barely held my wallet and AT&T Tilt Smartphone at the same time! It does have several pockets, but they are miniscule pockets. For example, I couldn’t dream of getting a gadget in there like an iPod or even a slim digicam. Not unless it was the only thing going in there.

And I’ve had it less than a month, and there are already sections tearing. Probably from my attempt to make more than two things fit inside.

Oh, and the best part? That little cell phone pocket they brag about? I don’t think the stylus for my Smartphone would even fit in there.

So I’ve decided I’m sick of trying purses that are not mom-friendly, only to waste money, waste precious time I don’t have moving crap from purse to purse, and then just be aggravated with it later.

I’m making a call-out to PR people, companies, manufacturers, Etsy crafters, whoever. If you have a purse you think is mom-friendly, contact me and I will test it. If I hate it, I will write about it (sorry, but I’ve got to share!). But if I love it, I will write about it and gush to my mom friends. On several social networks. (Psst: I have a lot of mom friends. I mean, a lot. And most of them have blogs too. Just sayin’.)

Here are my demands of a purse. I would read them closely. These are non-negotiable. For a purse to be mom-friendly, it should be all of these things:

1. It must be hands free. I have three kids. When they see my hands tied up, they plot against me. Two of them are 2-year-olds. Enough said? I need my hands. I don’t care what makes a purse hands free. It can be a backpack, a messenger bag, and it can float right next to me for all I care. But I need it to be hands free in a comfortable manner (as in, not a back breaker!).
2. If I have to let go of it or set it down suddenly, and open, it needs to keep all my crap inside. I know this demand probably sounds a little unreasonable, but here’s the thing. Because of said kids above, I often have to put down a purse without forethought and effort to zippers and snaps. Some purses will allow gravity to keep crap down, but some actually have gravity working against you. If you leave your purse open, it WILL dump its contents. I can’t have that.
3. It must have multiple secure, closable inner pockets and pouches that will hold a variety of gadgets. A mom-friendly purse should be able to hold cell phone (yes, a big one), PDA, iPod, digital camera, maybe a Flip. If these pouches can be padded, all the better. It should also have plenty of room for you to organize checkbook, wallet, keys (how many times must I dig around a stupid purse looking for keys? I want a special pocket easy to get to, but not subject to fall-outs, that holds keys). A purse that is just one bag sack is useless. You can’t find anything in a rush, and moms always rush.
4. It must be roomy, but not ginormous. I know this is a subjective thing, but size with purses never seems quite right. If it’s huge (and one big glorified tote), it is a back-breaker and you also carry everything but nothing since you can’t access anything. If it’s too small, well, it’s utterly useless.
5. It must not stain easily. Because let me tell you. Something will get spilled on it.

Beyond that, there are some features that would be nice, but not mandatory:

1. It should look good. I would love to actually put that in the mandatory list for a mom-friendly purse, but I’m trying to be reasonable here. If it could look great and stylish, that would be an amazing bonus.
2. It should be manufactured/made/designed by a mom.
3. It should be reasonably priced (accessible for most moms to buy).
4. It should be environmentally-friendly. A purse made with recycled materials, for example, would honor a mom’s desire to protect the planet for her own children.

Here’s the totally weird thing about my quest to find the perfect mom-friendly purse: moms are buying a crapload of purses. Aren’t they a major purse demographic? I mean, are they testing these things on any actual moms? I can’t help but wonder.

I’m ready. Do you have a purse that can stand up to a type-A mom’s test?

And if you’re a mom, what annoys you about purses? Have you found the perfect mom-friendly purse? I would love some recommendations! I’m getting desperate here!

_{Photo of woman with purse, © Ugur Yilmaz.}