The Cost of Loving MPU

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As Mac Power Users celebrates it 300th episode let this blog serve as a warning to new MPU’ers ! I figure my MPU Loss Index or MPULI is somewhere around $3000 to $4000 dollars. I would truly be in the stratosphere of MPULI if it wasn’t for my wife. She has kept me from purchasing an iMac Retina, iPad Pro and Apple Watch in the last year alone thus saving us thousands of dollars.

(David be forewarned we travel to Orange county at least once a year. We also travel to Orlando once a year as well Katie…so should we ever meet I may reference you guys as old broadcasting friends. Please don’t mention the podcast as you may be putting yourself in danger.)

I have been listening since the first year…but I would like to know who might have a higher MPULI than me (or a more ticked off wife)…thanks to your many Apple and software recommendations. By the way, Katie is in less trouble than David when it comes to Apple or software recommendations, as she tends to be a bit more conservative. One more thing …David, How do you get Daisy to go along with all your purchases? Share the secret…

Anyway happy 300! Show this to your sponsors if you think it will help.

Looking for a Make-good

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I love podcasts. I truly love tech podcasts. Being a broadcaster for more than thirty years I really appreciate the efforts of those people who gather in front of a microphone to inform and entertain us. Consider this, many of these podcasters have little or no broadcasting experience at all. There efforts are successful in two ways. I religiously listen each week to them and if you look at my phone or pad you will clearly see their efforts to sell apps and products have been fruitful.

I started to write this blog a year ago. As with most of my blogs I fail to publish on the grounds of I don’t want to come off as being too negative or out of bounds. I feel this little podcasting problem has gone far enough. I hope you take my advice and recommendation to heart. Podcast producers limit your advertisements to 30 or 60 seconds. On a tech podcast that I truly cannot wait until it hits the internet, one advertising message this week ran 4:30! I stopped timing it thinking it was over when the guest chimed in for at least another :30 seconds. I don’t complain about the length of the programs…say around 90 minutes…but if you have 3 advertisers that’s 15 minutes you could have saved your listeners. Remember it’s your time and it’s worth something. So don’t throw it away. Timed advertisements also open the door for more advertiser opportunity. Some companies may buy into an inexpensive thirty as opposed to a sixty.

Another recommendation: have one host do the spot and only one host. Bringing in more comments extends the time of the advertisement. Guests should never, never, really never comment on advertisers. Never. I cannot tell you how deep of a rathole that takes the podcast into. Plus…it doesn’t seem right. Guests were invited because of the expertise or talent they have. No one expects a guest on any interview show to turn around to the host after a commercial and say “Hey Jimmy, I love my pocket fisherman!”

I’m not saying you have to time these down to the millisecond or that they have to be TV slick. But if I know I can make a sandwich, take the dog out and wash my car while you wax on about some app….I just might forget I was listening to the podcast in the first place.

Dying is Easy Comedy is Hard

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From PR Newser: The Future of Content: Takeaways from the Council of PR Firms

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The Council of PR Firm’s latest event on content marketing concluded with some rock solid takeaways according to Mediabistro’s PR Newser,

“Despite what critics say, “content” isn’t going anywhere, and we’re only going to be making more of it.

We need to be as flexible as possible with our definition of the word.

Multimedia approaches are crucial, but good writing still lies at the heart of the content equation.

We need to prove ROI, but pageviews and Facebook likes won’t cut it.

Authenticity is the most important aspect of everything we produce. We can’t disguise our content as traditional journalism.

The most authentic sensation around is humor. A brand that can laugh at itself will instantly win attention and, hopefully, respect.”

I too believe we have only seen the tip of the iceberg when it comes to content marketing. Writing well truly helps but compelling writing helps even more. The Council’s point on metrics is right on. I’d much rather see an increase in sales, fundraising or participation than the number of Facebook likes you get. PR is PR, blogging is blogging both can be genuine and trustworthy. Journalism is about professional writers that are paid to write without opinion or bias on a subject, more often than not have no connection to. PR firms are working for a clients benefit. Bloggers have to continually prove themselves when it comes to trust. Bloggers that have a history of bias will carry that reputation. Bloggers that consistently prove they are unbiased will be welcomed into the fourth estate.

Now we come to humor…I’m all for humor. If you are successful at making them laugh and see an increase in sales, use the humor hammer sparingly from your tool chest. One must remember the class clown, he was a nice guy, everyone liked him but no one ever took him seriously. Too much of going to the funny bone can result what I call a false positive campaign. It’s like a TV commercial that’s creative and funny. Everyone remembers it…even talks about it… but no one remembers the product that was for sale. Humor like a strong spice can really make a dish unless it’s used too much then all people can remember is that you cook spicy food.

Content will be with us for a long while. It’s going to be interesting to see how PR firms handle it.

A Bridge

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For those of us stuck in the limbo world between Apple at home and Windows at work I offer help with workflows with Resoph notes, http://www.resoph.com/ResophNotes/Welcome.html . The text program syncs up nicely to Simplenote which in turn syncs up to NVAlt. This way information is shared on all devices from PC to iOS devices to iMac…

This little hack? I don’t know if it’s a bone fide hack but this trick really helps bridge both worlds. I have given up the fight of trying to “turn” the IT department from the dark side of Microsoft. And, while I never bought any Windows for Mac software stories from the Internet indicate that the programs really don’t work all that well. Plus they are to expensive to maybe work. So I have decided to try and come up with as many hacks and workflows that I can that bridge the worlds.

If you are in the same spot and know of any tricks please share them. I’m sure I’m not the only corporate stooge dealing with this problem.

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