ImpactWatch

Clip sheets can be easily created in ImpactWatch (IW) to aid presentations, handouts, or general office gossip on the latest company news.  A clip sheet is a multipage document that contains not only summaries of the articles, but the full text as well.  Along with that, the clip sheet’s first page contains summary points such as the number of pickups, total reach, and dates.  Article summaries appear similarly to how they appear in the News section of IW with headlines, summary, tonality, and other important information.  Below is a step-by-step guide to creating one of these valuable clip sheets.

1. Login with your username and password, and then click on the News section in the right-hand menu.

2. Using the filters, select the appropriate range of articles.  You can filter articles by favorability, date range, type of article, and even search for specific key words.

3. Once you have selected the appropriate filters, click on Display.

4. When you are satisfied with the articles present, click the box next to Choose at the top right of the page to select Create Clip Sheet.

5. From this page, use the check boxes to select all of the appropriate articles for your clip sheet.  You can also check Select All to…select them all!

6. Next, click on the blue Create Clip Sheet button on the upper left (make sure that you have PDF or DOC selected as you would like it to appear).

7. A dialogue box will appear asking you if you would like to save or open the file.

8. Your clip sheet is now complete, and you can use IW to create as many as you would like.

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!

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.

Robert Scoble wrote a short little blog post on his Microsoft Geek Blog in February 2003, and people are still talking about it.  Walmart’s Check Out blog recently made a reference to it when it spoke on how the corporation was improving their blog.  Whether or not most corporate blogs realize it, they are probably following Scoble’s suggestions, and if they are not…well, they are probably in trouble.As part of an on-going weekly series, I am going to identify and discuss several of the points.  I will try to identify an example site for each that does a good job of whatever was Scoble’s suggestion.  Are the tips still as valuable today as they were in 2003?  More so?

Tip #1 - Tell the truth

One of the reasons that Walmart was trying so vehemently to change their blogging image was the uproar online after two of their supposed independent bloggers were found to be frauds.  They were not complete frauds (they were real fans of Walmart), but they did not fully disclose how much money they were receiving from Walmart for their journey, and made it seem completely independent.  Readers did not respond well.  You can read the full story here.

Be transparent in your blog.  If you make a mistake, tell the readers.  If you change you mind about a topic, tell the readers.  Readers like to respond to a human being, not a corporate robot (‘Corbot’?)

Tip #2 - Post fast on good news or bad

It may sound counter-intuitive to some readers, but being the first to respond when your company is negatively accused is the only way to lose less trust from your clients.  Admit your mistakes, and hold firm to your integrity at the same time.  In this age of Twitter and Blackberries, it’s hard to justify not responding as quickly as possible.

As for good news, why not help the search engines find out about that good news by posting about it?  After all, a product or service is only good if people know of its existence.  Otherwise, it’s just a marketing failure.

Tip #3 - Use a human voice

There’s a fine line between professionalism and personalization, but readers want to read something that sounds like a novel, not a textbook.  There’s a reason why the fiction section at Border’s has more people milling around.

Another reason why a human voice is more pleasing is that it lends itself to opinionated writing, which lends itself to the start of a discussion.  A new discussion is every corporate blogger’s dream!  I always thought that Kuro5hin had an awesome ‘human voice’ style, personally.

The other 17 tips will be reviewed and updated eventually.  If you can’t wait, click on the PDF file below for the complete published paper by Scoble.

Corporate Weblog Manifesto PDF

You’ve heard it before, and you’ll hear it again. Monitoring the jumble of user-driven media is essential for the health of any brand. A few days ago, Jeremiah Owyang highlighted the importance of this on his blog entry about a recent brand-jacking involving Exxon Mobil. Apparently, a user account “ExxonMobilCorp” was created on Twitter, and a user known only as “Janet” posed as an Exxon Mobil spokesperson. This is not the first time that brand-jacking has been been identified as a problem within social media.

Analytics aside, it boils down to a matter of tipping points. Most organizations spend countless resources building their brands, and the reality is that these intellectual positions can fall at a moment’s notice. Trying to calculate ROI, tracing overall trends, semantic analysis — all of these take a back burner to public relations emergencies within the realm of new media.

Being aware of attacks on your image, misrepresentations of fact, and negative opinion from top influencers is simply necessary when positioning your brand.

Here at ImpactWatch, we are excited to roll out our brand-spankin’ new logo soon.  Until then, we offer this to you:

SVP Tom sent this to Hannah, our Director of Analytics, as a joke when she requested jpegs of the IW logo finalists.  When she arrived at our office soon after, she gave everyone on the team these magnets with the joke logo on them.  She wore a pink t-shirt with the logo that she had ordered specifically for herself!

Admittedly, this logo is kinda growing on me…do we need a recount?

Below are some pictures of the ’swag’ that we handed out at the Personal Democracy Forum we recently attended.  We’re pretty pleased with how much people seemed to enjoy a stress ball on a string.  Take note that the logo you see on the products is temporary, as we are unveiling a new logo in the near future!