Marketing sociology is about building relationships. For 20 years I’ve called reporters offering story ideas. Now Internet god Seth Godin recommends that tactic for building blog relationships. It works. It resulted in me being invited to write for Billboard Magazine, Arizona Republic, Associated Press and more.

Glad to see this store will serve those who believe you can become famous overnight. It is like those who think you can go into a gym once and come out looking like Arnold in his prime. That thinking has lead to public relations becoming like buggy whip making. Ask 10 people what public relations is, they’ll say getting a story in the news. PR people – like newspapers – have done a great job of eliminating themselves.

Similarly, I am finding those who promote SEO as a means of getting famous are as lame as those pushing press releases to a shrinking media.
In six months my blog – unintentionally (so much for strategic planning) has moved from the bottom of the blog-o-sphere to being in the top 8 percent (marketingsociologist.blogspot.com – and its sister publications). I have two other blogs in the top 15 percent.

In that six months, I have learned about pinging, Technorati, Alexa and other tools for building a following. I now scoff at people who tell me about how SEO is the end all. It is like telling a business they need press releases to build an image. Send them to the Wal-mart, I mean PRStore.

Accessibility to computers, design software, fonts, etc., has created a proliferation of “off-the-shelf-graphic-gurus”. But, knowing how to use Photoshop doesn’t make someone a designer anymore than knowing how to scramble an egg makes someone a chef. Navigating the complexities and nuances of effective and compelling design and branding requires the acuity of trained, professional designers.

It’s the same with effective PR.

This franchise will offer templated, canned solutions. Canned solutions can be as memorable as original and unique ones. The customer needs to decide how they want their business to be remembered.

Working with a professional graphic designer, or a professional public relations rep, is a capital investment, rather than an expense. Investing in quality up front generates greater dividends in the long run. Customers of this franchise are likely to learn the hard way the high cost of saving money.