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EGR: Flogging Bloggers
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Christopher Locke
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Oct 14, 2001 11:24 PDT
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Gonzo Marketing: Winning through Worst Practices
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0738204080/entropygradientr
be the first kid on your block!
http://www.gonzomarkets.com
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"Nobody give me trouble cause they know I got it made."
http://www.davemcnally.com/lyrics/ZZTop/ImBadImNationwide.asp
Valued Readers:
In our last episode, as you will recall, Steve MacLaughlin's review of
Gonzo Marketing had just ran on Slashdot, inspiring all manner of
speculation -- most of it entirely misinformed -- as to what I might
be on about this time. I don't think I pointed to Steve's blogger, so
let me rectify that immediately. He's doing some great stuff over
there:
http://saltire.weblogger.com
I should also say that the wild-assed speculation on Slashdot (/. to
the terminally hip) is easy to forgive. There's no way people *could*
know what the book actually says, as it hasn't been available until
now. On Friday night I signed eight copies in my local Barnes & Noble
store. These are the first I've seen on sale anywhere. What a rush!
Perseus Publishing tells me that, this coming week, Gonzo will be
featured in front-of-store displays at Barnes * Nobles across the U.S.
-- flashes of ZZ Top singing "I'm baaaad... I'm NATIONWIDE!"
Unless you're one of the goddam foreigners littering this list, please
send news of sightings in your area. God Bless Amerika!
However, to continue our story, despite said previous unavailability,
one enterprising EGR reader took seriously my admonition -- still
running atop this very send -- to "be the first kid on your block!"
Jeneane Sessum went to Amazon to pre-order the book, and found to her
amazement -- since Gonzo had not even been printed at that juncture --
that someone was offering a USED copy. As it transpired, some scumbag
"reviewer" had decided to sell his copy of the uncorrected galley
proofs. And Jeneane immediately one-clicked this unexpected find into
her first-kid clutches.
She and I have been gleefully vibing back and forth over the last
couple weeks, but her mail of this morning totally blew me away:
hey, i'm really tired... took me all night to figure out this blog
thing but I think I have the knack, html and all. It was so
addictive--one more change here, oops there's a typo there, oooo I
wonder if you can.... Anyway, I'm almost halfway through the read,
but thought if I don't start blogging it now, I'll hose their
system when I finally upload this stuff.
In her first blogging effort ever, she has reviewed the first half (or
so) of the book. Stay tuned for further installments.
Reading Gonzo--Engaged
http://gonzoengaged.blogspot.com
While I love what she says, I love even more the fact that this page
represents exactly what I'm getting at in the book: the power of
immediate, engaged, bottom-up web micromedia. This is journalism with
the doors blown off. "Can it happen?" she asks. Then answers herself:
"It *is* happening."
btw, you may at first have trouble figuring out who she's talking to
when she says "you" -- as in: "I am afraid they may abscond with you,
tie you to a leather wingback..." Well, valued readers, she's talking
to the author. That is to say -- de-cloaking, getting personal --
she's talking to me. But everybody gets to listen in. Books-cum-blogs
are conversations.
Doc Searls gets full credit for The Cluetrain Manifesto's "markets are
conversations" tagline. Even more to his credit, though, Doc has
pinned the blogger form to floor and made it cry Uncle! Add him to
your list of sites to check out each morning before donning the
corporate leg irons. And his blog will give you a much larger list of
other worthwhile bloggers.
http://doc.weblogs.com
So Doc, how about adding Jeneane? New voices, new blood. Now more than
ever, we need all the help we can get in end-running the empire.
Jeneane writes:
Page 60 - Now I want to quit my job. What are you doing to people?
I need to take my antidepressants...
But hey, what are you so depressed about? Didn't I end that page on a
nice upbeat note?
As for Mr. and Mrs. America and all the ships at sea, I got your
value proposition right here. Take a chance. Take a trip. Take a
leap of faith. Incorporate for real. Take a walk on the wild side.
And the colored girls go, doo dodoo...
Regards,
Lou Walter Reed-Winchell
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