Sometimes Saying Nothing Is A Better Idea
When I first Started this blog a few months ago I made a post about Findel Potentially Putting Kitbag.com up for sale which was met with quite a lot of feedback from one of Findel’s employees.
Said employee (Craig) decided that my post was negative to the Findel brand (which wasn’t my intention at all) and made two very long responses to my post in the comments section. Nothing out of the ordinary there, but what were the consequences of doing so?
Up until the responses were made in the comments section (a good two weeks) this blog had attracted 2 visitors through the search engines with either “findel” or “kitbag” in in the searched for keywords. Since the dialogue in the comments section this blog has received over 600 visits from the search engines with either “findel” or “kitbag” in the searched for keywords.
There were 46 keyword variations driving traffic, some of which had only been achieved because of the extra content that was added in the comments section.
So lets re-look at the scenario. A Findel employee comes across a blog post which they feel is negative to the brand. In deciding to respond publicly they have unwittingly made the blog post more visible to the world (due to search engine algorithms) and attracted more visitors through their comments.
If they’d have said nothing at all very few people other than the 2 people who had visited the site through the search engines previously would have seen it…
I show this example not to mock Findel or Craig, but really because I think it’s a learning point that all brands should take on board. Protecting your brand is obviously important, but knowing when to respond to feedback in the public eye and when something is dead should be managed and advised by your PR experts, they’d have known this blog was too small to worry about.
Sometimes saying nothing at all can be the better solution…
July 20th, 2009 at 11:26 am
Are you actually saying that you normally write articles because you don’t want anyone to read them?
I fail to see how putting the record straight is negative publicity.
Perhaps YOU should act upon the domains title and your own advice; for someone who’s intention was never to offend and with a blog titled I’ll shut up now, you seem incredibly patronising and vocal in your comments.
In am well aware of the consequences of posting on a blog and did so armed with this knowledge, yet you seem suprised the content has been indexed?
I too can patronise and in my experience it’s always worth remembering that not only is content on the web there for everyone to see, but in business, paths cross often and you never know who your next employer is going to be or who they may seek advice from….
Regards
Craig
July 20th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
@Craig
“In am (sic) well aware of the consequences of posting on a blog and did so armed with this knowledge”
Bet you weren’t and bet you didn’t.
Flamebait intended for purposes of continued hilarity.
@Paul
DONTshutupnow.com
July 20th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
“Perhaps YOU should act upon the domains title”
I wonder how many times in the next year your going to receive the same “witty” advice Paul
July 24th, 2009 at 11:58 am
Nice one, Paul, causing controversy within days of starting the blog! Good times ahead, I’m sure..