ImpactWatch Blog

Two weeks ago, I showed you how to change your password under the My Account section of ImpactWatch. 

This week, I want to make sure that everyone is aware of the other customizable options in My Account.

Want to receive your daily email alerts in plain text as opposed to HTML?  Easy; simply change the selection under My Account by using the content box shown below:

You can also check the boxes of all the daily email alerts that you want to receive.

Want to skim the News section at your leisure, but view all the trending graphs and analytics when you first login?  Select Analytics under the Home Page Format section and check Remember Me to always see the graphs upon first login.

Don’t forget to click Submit to save all of your changes!

ImpactWatch lets you customize the way you view the news that is relevant to you and your company.  Use the My Account section to make it even more impactful.

This week we conclude our look at The Corporate Weblog Manifesto by Robert Scoble.  There are six final tips contained within this section.

Tip #16 – Never hide information.

It’s the Internet; people can find out quickly if you are hiding information.  We live in a world where creditability is questioned constantly; try to make sure that you are not the one being questioned.  Someone will find out.  It’s a guarantee.

Tip #17 – If you have information that might get you in a lawsuit, see a lawyer before posting, but do it fast.

It’s always best to stay out of legal issues, but if you wait too long, you’re going to be in trouble anyway.  Other weblogs will find loopholes and post before you can offer your counterargument.

Tip #18 – Link to your competitors and say nice things about them.

Think of yourself as part of an industry.  If the industry as a whole is doing well, the individual stores in the industry will also do well.  Consumers remember who was friendly and gave them valuable information.  They may not buy a specific product from you, but you can bet that you made a return costumer out of them!

Tip #19 – BOGU or ‘Bend Over and Grease Up’

Normally this refers to keeping the big-wigs happy, by doing anything you possibly can…but Scoble recommends doing this for everyone.  Why?  You never know who is going to be able to ‘scratch your back’ in the future.  Today’s intern is tomorrow’s CEO.

Tip #20 – Be the authority on your product/company.

There is absolutely no excuse for not knowing more about what you are selling than everyone else.  Why are you selling it if you don’t know the most about it?

Tip #21 – Know who is talking about you.

This used to be a pretty new idea back in the days when consumer-generated content was still growing.  Now, companies devote entire positions (sometimes entire sections) to following their feedback online.  In fact, it’s what ImpactWatch is all about.

I hope that you’ve enjoyed our review of the Manifesto.  It’s incredible how pertinent it remains after five years.  In case you missed it in the first part of our review, here is the link to the original blog post.

I’ve recently received a couple of email from users asking how to change their passwords, so I figured I’d spread the information to the masses.  Changing your password is quick and easy in ImpactWatch.

1. Login to your IW using your current username and password combination.

2. Once at the main screen, click on the My Account tab on the right-hand side of the screen.

3. Fill in the boxes asking for your new password and repetition of the new password.

4. Don’t forget to click Submit!

5. Your new password has now been activated.

Do you have any additional questions about ImpactWatch?  Feel free to shoot us an email at support@impactwatch.com.

Today, I continue my look at The Corporate Weblog Manifesto by Robert Scoble.  Below are my thoughts on the next five tips:

Tip #11 – Know the information gatekeepers.

This is one of those things that a new blogger is going to learn, most likely the hard way.  Information gatekeepers reach more users than anyone else.  They are your first point of contact in a crisis.  This tip works both ways; when something goes wrong, these gatekeepers should know if you are a popular blogger so that they can offer an explanation before you blast them.

Tip #12 – Never change the URL of your weblog.

I’ve lost many a good weblog to the fact that the admin changed the URL without giving proper notice.  I was never able to find it again, nor did I want to expend the effort to search for it.  Even when the creator of a weblog gives proper notice, readership is going to decline.  You’d better have a great reason for changing your URL.  I didn’t bookmark just for you to be fickle.

Tip #13 – If your life is in turmoil/or you’re unhappy, don’t write.

I can’t count how many times I’ve been reading a blog for a corporation, web comic, etc. and been made uncomfortable by an announcement of some pending crisis in someone’s life.  If you’re going through a divorce, death in the family, or some other traumatic event, do yourself a favor and take a break from writing.  Your blog is only going to suffer because you can’t hide sadness or disdain in your writing.

Tip #14 – If you don’t have the answers, say so.

But find them out, as soon as you can.

Tip #15 – Never lie.

Credibility can’t be gained back easily, and sometimes, it can’t be gained back at all.

Next week, we’ll wrap up our look at The Corporate Weblog Manifesto!

With the Beijing games’ conclusion in August, the Olympics Demo we’ve been running has a lot to show for itself. Over the course of the summer, we picked up thousands of news stories ranging from athletic scandals to the cuisine of China, medals sweeps to Tibet supporters.

Overall, as noted in our previous posts, the Olympic games held a much higher favorability rating than that of host China. Nearly all articles reporting on sporting results were much more correlated with the Olympic Games or other countries, while China’s stories consisted largely of pollution, Tibet, and human rights.

As the games began, the “Phelps Fever” swept the press. With the flexibility of the ImpactWatch platform, I was able to add attributes to tag all articles related to Michael Phelps. Taking data from August, here is a graph I generated showing the topics breakdown:

It is incredible to see that out of the articles published about athletes, Phelps-related stories comprised of nearly 1/5 of the total news about athletes. I had expected it to be slightly higher, but this is still an incredible percentage.

Our demo worked out just as we had intended. Aggregating articles about the Olympics and arranging them in intelligent and meaningful ways yielded interesting results, as well as provided an outlet to showcase the features of the ImpactWatch platform. As this demo was my first IW experience, I am convinced that the platform is a valuable tool for monitoring media (our clients agree!).

We’re throwing some ideas around within the IW team for a smaller-scale demo in the future, and so far we’ve come up with UFOs, assorted B-list celebrities… have a suggestion? Drop it in the comments, we’d love to hear it.

This blog post continues our look at The Corporate Weblog Manifesto by Robert Scoble.  Click on the following links for parts one and two.

Tip #8 – If you screw up, acknowledge it.

People are surprisingly forgiving, especially if you simply apologize and make haste to fix the problem.  Consumers understand that, like people, companies make mistakes.  Just don’t try to hide it and fix it behind their backs; there’s no better way to lose business.

Tip #9 – Underpromise and over deliver.

It’s always best to predict due dates that are a couple of weeks later than when you actually expect to accomplish your goal.  After all, consumers will love you if you come in ahead of schedule, but they will foam at the mouth if you are late.  Make it easy on them by underwhelming them with your predictions, and then overwhelming them with your execution.

Tip #10 – If Doc Searls says it or writes it, believe it.

In case you don’t know who this is, here’s a link to his biography on his blog.  He’s pretty much got his hands in everything, and he’s the go-to guy for most things webby.

Next week, we finish up the next five tips!  Stay tuned!

In our continuing review of The Corporate Weblog Manifesto by Robert Scoble, we now move on to the next seven tips that he published in 2003, to see if they are still relevant today (read the first post here).  After all, four years in Internet time might as well be grounds for retirement (or, at the very least, the Internet Nursing Home).

Tip #4 – Make sure you support the latest software/web/human standards.

I would venture to say that this is truer today than it was in 2003.  Savvy Internet users are ridiculously unforgiving if you don’t use the latest and greatest of anything and everything.  After all, with a simple search engine, you can find most of the new stuff, so there’s no excuse!

Tip #5 – Have a thick skin.

There are people called ‘trolls’ on the Internet, and you know what?  They hate you.  They specifically find grammar boo-boos, differing opinions, and design issues in order to flame you until you are practically charred crisp.  It’s the Internet, don’t worry about it.  As I’ve written about in the past, people act differently online than they do in real life.  That jerk that just told you where your gadget review can stick itself?  He’s probably a normal guy that had a bad day at the office and needs to blow off some steam.  Let him; get over it.

Tip #6 – Don’t ignore Slashdot.

Scoble didn’t provide any explanation for this tip four years ago…and it still really doesn’t need one.

Tip #7 – Talk to the grassroots first.

Mainstream sources can be particularly untrustworthy.  Get numerous quotes and site your sources as often as you can.  It’s the only way that you will build trust, and trust is key to a successful weblog.