Michael Janzen

Have you heard that billionaire Rupert Murdoch wants his content removed from Google? I think it’s a great idea. Clinging to old-school ideas is a wonderful self-destructive approach to business and I can’t think of any organization I’d rather see self-destruct. Just think of the wonderful positive effect this will have on the world. This Murdoch quote says it all:

“I think we’ve been asleep. It costs us a lot of money to put together good newspapers and good content and they are very happy to pay for it when they buy a newspaper, and when they read it elsewhere they are going to have to pay.” [Source]

That’s right buddy boy… you keep right on thinking boneheaded ideas like that. Keep your old school head tucked right there between your cheeks and if you focus your brown shirts on monetizing the old-school way and you should be bankrupt by the end of 2010. Go get-em Murdoch! Show those Silicon Valley blokes how to run a newspaper!

Is it too early for champagne?

I got into a little bit of a row recently with the guy that runs Holy Cow Products. We had a little back and forth in the comments section of a greenwash of the week post on The Good Human.

The interaction itself and the little bit of product research I did on green cleaning products started me noodling over the real problem with greenwashing; which is that most people make product decisions based on product packaging and marketers know it. It’s a marketers job to do everything they can to sell products and build positive brand reputations. So it is a natural step for some folks to skirt the edge of what is legal and ethical especially during hard economic times.

I realize that most folks are just trying to realize their own dreams. In many ways I respect this kind of entrepreneurial spirit. The problem is that unsubstantiated product claims and product design mislead people and will eventually cause the business failure as the truth emerges. Failure is not inevitable because guys like me and David (The Good Human) that point out the truth. Failure is inevitable the moment the decision is made to market the product as something it is not.

Choosing to put people and the planet before profit is a more sustainable business model. As the internet and social media become more popular business ventures that don’t adopt a high level of ethics will fail faster simply because the truth will always surface.

I hope more business folks realize that by taking the high road they are choosing to make more money over a longer period of time. If you make a product or are working to build a brand put a focus on ethics, people, and the planet, and your profits will be longer lasting. Social media is here to stay… well at least until the power goes out permanently.

A question was posted on twitter by follownathan:

Question: Am I wrong for thinking newsletters may be antiquated? Should I even bother?

Here’s my long-winded (more than 255 characters) answer…

I think print newsletters are dead and online newsletters are being replaced by RSS. More web savvy people will use an RSS reader. Others will want to subscribe by email which is the audience most likely to want to read a newsletter.

I would not use email vendors like FeedBlitz, Emma and Constant Contact because it is so much easier to automate with RSS, feedburner, and a separate blog. In fact I’m really glad you asked this question because I don’t think this solution would have ever occurred to me.

Set up a separate blog just for the newsletter and schedule a post (newsletter) to publish on a regular (weekly) schedule. Then add the feed to feedburner and post the ‘newsletter’ subscription form on your main site and blog. It’s not a substitute for your normal RSS feed but this kind of setup would give you a simple newsletter crafted in a blog interface with focused content that you carefully craft to link back to your website(s). The best part is that it would be free and only require you to write one summary post (newsletter) of all the things you want people to see or know. Keep the info in the newsletter simple. Let the main website(s) provide all the details.