Friday, September 22, 2006

Stila founder doesn't appreciate customer feedback

Dave Winer and Robert Scoble, to name just two notables, have been blogging recently about how there is a lot of money to be made for companies who are willing to listen to what their blogging customers have to say. The way companies tend to work now with bloggers is that, if you’ve got a highly-trafficked blog related to their product (for me, it’s the beauty blog, for which I receive many shipments of freebies to review each week), they send you their product(s) in the hope that you’ll give them a rave review and a link. Dare to give some less-than-thrilled feedback, and they get can get rather huffy.

To give an example away from the technology ground of Winer and Scoble, check out what happened when I blogged a note of constructive criticism - and a commenter on my post added their own disappointment as a customer - to the creator of major make-up brand Stila.

The person I was addressing, Jeanine Lobell, found my note through Google (we rank on the first page of searches for her name) and left a snarky comment. Oh, but guess what? The point the commenter made - about the flimsiness of the company’s packaging - was valid enough that Stila introduced a new product which addresses the problem. Still, Lobell couldn’t resist getting sarcastic with good, evangelistic customers (my post praised the colour in question as the best I’d ever found, and no, it wasn’t a freebie; I bought it, and many other Stila products, with my own money). Now things are getting really interesting in the comments to my post, and other Stila constituents are not happy.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

$2.3 million in revenue via blog

Dave Winer saw $2.3 million in revenue from his blog last year.

People think blogs are about advertising, and I would agree, but they’re thinking in terms of clicks and eyeballs, and I’m thinking of technology that’s created using the intelligence of community participation.

Hell, you don’t even have to be in the technology business to reap those kinds of monetary rewards from clever use of your (or your company’s) blog. Unless you’ve got something to hide, I don’t know what would stop you from blogging properly (link away from your own site; I never trust a man without a blogroll).

As for ads on his blog, Winer says:

I don’t share this space with hitch-hikers. I use my blog for my own ideas. They make good money. No point diluting what I have to say.

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Yes, we're still here

Apologies for the lack of blog posts over the last few months. Things have been quite hectic, with EA business taking me to Silicon Valley (twice) and with much to do in London as well. I will be back to regular posting starting now, though. Thanks for reading.