The Nerve Of New Media
Got an e-mail this morning from a self-proclaimed New Media Specialist complimenting me on Howling Point. In 2005 I mentioned the company he represents, and as a good blogger I provided a link to their website. So three years later they’re trying to reposition themselves in the market and he’d like me to change the anchor text and alt text of my link to reflect their new focus. He was even so helpful to spell out exactly what he meant by anchor text and alt text.
Pfffft, with obligatory hand gestures.
Now if he’d asked to purchase some advertising on one of my sites, maybe we could have talked. Maybe he could’ve sweetened the pot by hiring me as a copy editor, and hopefully avoided such silly typos as “Anchor Text: also refer to as link label” and “Alt Text: specifies the text to be renered …” in an otherwise professional e-mail. But no, just a simple ‘can you edit a three-year-old post to help out my client?’
Rules of thumb, all centered on the letter B. Don’t feed the bears. Don’t annoy the Borg. Don’t bother the blogger. And no, no link love for the offending parties.
Are they repositioning from a spa/resort/casino to a casino/resort/spa or a resort/casino/spa?
“Don’t annoy the Borg….”
If only they had signed the e-mail, “Sincerely, Kathryn Janeway.” Of course, she would have just broken the temporal prime directive, gone back in time, and altered the link so it would be correct in the future.
Oh my God, I am such a geek.
Nothing wrong with being a geek, but the quote I was thinking of was from Q, providing fatherly lessons to q.
I hear you on this entry. I’ve entertained requests to pimp marketer’s stuff on my blog from time to time, but it always feels awkward if it’s outside of my blogging categories (all things woof, Olivia Newton-John, rugby, gardening, DC ghetto, etc.) Then they started asking me to do stuff for free. After pimping this or that event or product and getting nothing in return, I’ve quit that practice. I’ll pimp something for free if it has to do with my blog’s interests, or if I get free stuff that I like. If it’s promoting an album, I want a free CD. If it’s promoting an event or a bar, at the very least can ya give me a free beer?
For example, rugby player Ben Cohen’s PR people contacted me to promote their Ben Cohen calendar. But they did not send me a free copy of the calendar for the free advertising.
At this point they’d have to get Ben to make out with me to make up for their callousness.