The Perils of Punditry

There’s an excellent article by Paul Boag over at Vitamin, entitled The 5 hidden costs of running a CMS. Content management systems can be a great way for site owners to manage their sites, but they do come with hidden costs as well. I know this from experience.

As Boag explains, he is not against content management systems. But knowing their drawbacks is important when determining whether to take the CMS route.

Jack Shedd and Merlin Mann are on to something. Blogging (aka “writing on the Web”) has become an Official Industry, and as such has for some people become a soulless search for links, traffic, and advertising dollars. My experience running Mac Law Students has shown me that the right kind of small numbers beat the wrong kind of big numbers every time. It’s better to stay small and focused than attempt to be all things to all people (and advertisers).

As Merlin puts it:

Want to build a great audience, composed of people you respect? Be picky about who you decide to overserve. Then do it with all the skill and enthusiasm you can muster.

It’s good advice for anyone writing on the Web.

If you’ve read Naked Conversations, the blog marketing book by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel, you know that blogs are a great way to interact directly with customers. You also know that to do it right you need to be accessible and open to criticism.

Ken Case, the CEO of software maker Omni Group, demonstrates how to effectively respond to criticism and engage with customers in a constructive fashion. In Matt Neuberg’s review of OmniFocus, Case deconstructs Neuberg’s review. He is thorough, thoughtful, and respectful, and he doesn’t pretend that OmniFocus is a perfect product.

Things get interesting in the comments to the post. Instead of merely posting his thoughts then retreating, Case stays engaged with his readers and encourages them to continue their own critiques of the product. He’s not asking for punishment, and he explains the reasons behind some of the company’s design decisions, but he appears to honestly welcome direct, detailed feedback from customers. I happen to use three of Omni Group’s applications pretty much every day: OmniFocus, OmniGraffle Pro, and OmniOutliner Pro. But even if I didn’t like Omni Group’s applications, after reading Case’s blog post I’d likely want to give them a try.

No spin. Just direct, respectful interaction with customers and critics. If only we had more of that online and in the physical world.

Tip o’ the hat to John Gruber’s excellent Daring Fireball blog for the link to Case’s post.

Image Credits

Cropped version of having a discussion by Erik Kristensen - http://www.flickr.com/photos/erikkristensen/293638211/ - Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license