I passed on this "opportunity" this week

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datagirl	I passed on this "opportunity" this week		Lead	[-]
Posts: 407 11/21/09 08:59:46 Senior Member	Tags : None As most of you know I have a SOHO business aimed at local mom and pop's niched firmly in database programming and services, with a little business/tech writing on the side. I've recently done some freelance writing on non-tech topics. Late Thursday I got an email from a guy attached to the online version of a local community newspaper. He said they were wanting to start a regular column on "Information Management" and my name was referred to him. He attached a letter with the "job description." There was a lot of stuff about the positive PR exposure, etc. of having a regular column aimed at local small business. The hit I got was that it was more of a sales letter, offering ad placement at cost in exchange for writing a column that was subject to editing by them. I followed the link to the newspaper's website. It was more ad content then news, but I will say that I have read the print version before, so it is a legit business. He was pushing for a face-to-face meeting on Friday or Monday. I responded that I was unavailable until after the 1st (which is true). He replied that his boss wanted someone selected by Wednesday (red flag warning). I countered that I could fit in a phone conversation on Monday, and that if it was a true paid position that I might be interested. However if it was a pitch to get me to buy ad space then I would take a pass. I got a snippy reply that if I was too busy to meet with him, I must not need the work and he would find someone else. What do you think? Did I play this right or did I miss a chance at valid PR? Regards, -DG He is always right who suspects that he is always making mistakes. -Spanish proverb
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John Masterson		#1	[url]	[-]
Posts: 7177 11/21/09 11:02:02 Moderator	I bet your version of "snippy" is pretty civil, given what I have seen you write here. Do you think your potential clients would be reading this online publication? "To those who believe, no explanation is needed. To those who don't, no explanation will do."
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G0ddard B0lt	Data point	#2	[url]	[-]
Posts: 9421 11/21/09 12:46:17 Have you ever tasted a rainbow? At OpenIT, you will.	There are usually more people interested in doing this kind of thing than there are opportunities. Several years ago I got interested in the idea of writing an article for the local Business Courier with the side effect of pimping my consulting business. The person I spoke to there indicated that they had something like a three month backlog of writers for IT specific articles who were doing essentially the same thing. However, an online edition of a newspaper is nowheresville as far as I am concerned. You may as well blog the same content. You'd want any exposure to be via the printed copies. And I would also be turned off by their approach. They acted like you were some sort of servant to them.
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Richardk	You did OK	#3	[url]	[-]
Posts: 2274 11/21/09 13:50:03 Moderator	As JM pointed out "Do you think your potential clients would be reading this online publication? ", is the first thing that popped into my head. Is it online only? Our local paper has an online version but it's not complete. Some stories are only summaries and the entire edition gets quickly archived and then becomes a pay to read service. So your column here, would quickly disappear. Do you own the copy? Even if it's 'free' or in exchange for ads, it might be a 'work for hire' arrangement. I would retain the copyright and repost it as a blog, maybe a day to two after they 'print' their version. Finally your 'red flag' detector is working. I've experienced the "if I was too busy to meet with him, I must not need the work and he would find someone else" line. If that's his attitude at this point then "I'm no longer interested." You don't need to work for someone like that. Final data point: If he really identified a 'need' then as GB suggested, I'd consider a blog but compete against them with better writing. So I think you did well by passing on this.
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1Aussie1 1Aussie1 1Aussie1 Oi Oi Oi		#4	[url]	[-]
Posts: 2391 11/21/09 15:42:59 Senior Member	" I followed the link to the newspaper's website. It was more ad content then news, but I will say that I have read the print version before, so it is a legit business." I'd be inclined to think that this publication is something you're aware of, but only in a vague background sense. You know, like the 'local rag' that arrives free on the front lawn every week, and is just great for wrapping the prawn shells and the potato peelings in. But as to what's actually in it? Have you ever bought a product or service based on this publication? The fact that it seems that you hadn't checked out the online version before is also probably indicative of how 'crucial' position within this rag is. Local rags may be good for tradies (sparkies, chippies, plumbers, etc), but I.T. ? Put it this way......if a competitor got themselves a mates-rates advert in it, would your business take a hit? Do you have much in the way of competitors round your way ? If you're fairly relaxed about that, I reckon you did yourself no harm by flick-passing that gig on.
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G0ddard B0lt	Bad advice Aussie	#5	[url]	[-]
Posts: 9422 11/21/09 17:29:28 Have you ever tasted a rainbow? At OpenIT, you will.	>> just great for wrapping the prawn shells In the US we don't have prawns, we have shrimp. Actually, you nailed it completely and thoroughly. This outfit presented themselves like DG was supposed to kiss their ring for the opportunity, which is insulting. And I agree completely (from actual experience writing self promotional informational articles like the ones she was thinking to write) that even highly targeted groups (much less the general public) just don't want to read about IT. IT bores most readers. It's overdone.
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1Aussie1 1Aussie1 1Aussie1 Oi Oi Oi	I should have really confused you...	#6	[url]	[-]
Posts: 2392 11/21/09 17:43:10 Senior Member	....and said 'yabbies' instead. Not sure, but think they're vaguely related to what Granny Clampett used to refer to as 'crawdads'. http://www.nativefish.asn.au/yabby.html Young kids in Oz often mistakenly call the chess piece 'prawns' instead of 'pawns'. I had a chess kit many years ago from some seaside holiday down the NSW South Coast where the pawns were in fact prawns, and the other pieces were various other Australian fauna.
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G0ddard B0lt		#7	[url]	[-]
Posts: 9424 11/21/09 17:47:48 Have you ever tasted a rainbow? At OpenIT, you will.	Yabby, that sounds adorable. Can we keep one as a pet?
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datagirl		#8	[url]	[-]
Posts: 408 11/22/09 10:56:09 Senior Member	Aussie and GB - You're both right about both the IT column and small crustaceans. The newspaper is better than the penny-shopper type rag (which ironically go for about 75 cents these days). It's not as robust as the metro daily or the weekly county-wide paper that includes real news, obits, indy legals, etc. The letter indicated they were considering three candidates and "naturally" I was supposedly at the top of the list (ego stroke). My closest competitor gets plenty of PR by being on the board of directors for the Chamber of Commerce. Another competitor has a strong presence through storefronts and conventional ad placements on billboards, tv, yellow pages, etc. Both are struggling to keep afloat. I've never had any luck with print advertising, which is a main reason why I'm not wasting my time or writing talent just to get an at-cost ad placement in something that may not get noticed. I have learned a little SEO, though. But that only pays if you get a click-through rate deal. On the other topic - I'm allergic to shrimp. I started to say it doesn't matter what they are called, but actually since I must avoid them, I guess I do care. Isn't calling someone a prawn a put-down? Crawdads, crayfish, mudbugs are a fresh-water phenomenon here on the Gulf Coast, especially in flood-prone areas. They look like mini-lobsters. My husband says that when I-59 was built in southern Mississippi it crossed a migratory path and thousands of the little critters got crushed by motorists. The DOT dug some culverts under the roadway - problem solved. Regards, -DG He is always right who suspects that he is always making mistakes. -Spanish proverb
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G0ddard B0lt		#9	[url]	[-]
Posts: 9427 11/22/09 11:23:31 Have you ever tasted a rainbow? At OpenIT, you will.	Re: writing and newspaper: I have the same gut feeling that you do - you probably would have been compensated with free advertising or something, and in any event, the exposure isn't worth a whole lot. Re: creatures: On "Good Eats", Alton Brown compared lobsters to cockroaches (he was defusing the normal "ick" factor of killing a live animal in preparation for cooking.) IE, lobsters are just a notch different on the evolutionary ladder than roaches. Bet the same applies to all crustaceans. We're eating big cockroaches, yum! (Full disclosure: I do enjoy shrimp. Even if they are basically big fleshy bugs.)
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datagirl		#10	[url]	[-]
Posts: 409 11/22/09 17:51:18 Senior Member	G0ddard B0lt wrote: Re: creatures: On "Good Eats", Alton Brown compared lobsters to cockroaches (he was defusing the normal "ick" factor of killing a live animal in preparation for cooking.) IE, lobsters are just a notch different on the evolutionary ladder than roaches. Bet the same applies to all crustaceans. We're eating big cockroaches, yum! (Full disclosure: I do enjoy shrimp. Even if they are basically big fleshy bugs.) They're also scavengers, which means they are not Kosher. Actually, a Jewish friend of mine said if they are de-veined they are okay. Hmmm. Of course lots of southern favorites are not Kosher... catfish, cheese burgers, bbq pork, bacon... Yabby dabby doo! Regards, -DG He is always right who suspects that he is always making mistakes. -Spanish proverb
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1Aussie1 1Aussie1 1Aussie1 Oi Oi Oi		#11	[url]	[-]
Posts: 2393 11/23/09 05:35:57 Senior Member	"Isn't calling someone a prawn a put-down?" Well, in my day, the full epithet was: "Ya bloody-useless, prawn-headed mullet!". The person who gets the worst task of the job, etc., is said to have 'drawn the raw prawn'. To express disbelief, one says "Aww, don't come the raw prawn with me!". And the two-fingered post-Agincourt 'up yours' gesture of Britain and Australia is sometimes called the 'raw-prawn salute' here. One of the nursing homes that my wife works at from time to time is a Jewish one. One of the folks there tried to explain the rules of kashrut to me once. I'm not quite sure I understand it even now, but it seemed that, in the strictest sense and in olden times, the wine, for instance, had to have been untouched by goyim hands from the time the grapes went into the press till the time the wine was poured out of the bottle into the glass. In other words, if you, as a Gentile, poured your friend a glass of kosher wine yourself, you broke kashrut. But seeing as how this fellow had an amazing sense of humour, it's just possible that he was having a bit of lend of me, I dunno. Crawdads, crayfish, mudbugs are a fresh-water phenomenon here on the Gulf Coast, especially in flood-prone areas. They look like mini-lobsters. My husband says that when I-59 was built in southern Mississippi it crossed a migratory path and thousands of the little critters got crushed by motorists. The DOT dug some culverts under the roadway - problem solved." You should see Christmas Island's annual red crab migration. http://www.bestviral.com/..._island_red_crabs_invade Last Edited By: 1Aussie1 1Aussie1 1Aussie1 Oi Oi Oi 11/23/09 06:47:28. Edited 2 times.
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I passed on this "opportunity" this week	11/21/09 08:59:46	datagirl
Re: I passed on this "opportunity" this week	11/21/09 11:02:02	John Masterson
Data point	11/21/09 12:46:17	G0ddard B0lt
You did OK	11/21/09 13:50:03	Richardk
Re: I passed on this "opportunity" this week	11/21/09 15:42:59	1Aussie1 1Aussie1 1Aussie1 Oi Oi Oi
Bad advice Aussie	11/21/09 17:29:28	G0ddard B0lt
I should have really confused you...	11/21/09 17:43:10	1Aussie1 1Aussie1 1Aussie1 Oi Oi Oi
Re: I passed on this "opportunity" this week	11/21/09 17:47:48	G0ddard B0lt
Re: I passed on this "opportunity" this week	11/22/09 10:56:09	datagirl
Re: I passed on this "opportunity" this week	11/22/09 11:23:31	G0ddard B0lt
Re: I passed on this "opportunity" this week	11/22/09 17:51:18	datagirl
Re: I passed on this "opportunity" this week	11/23/09 05:35:57	1Aussie1 1Aussie1 1Aussie1 Oi Oi Oi

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