You Got Jarvis'd

It?s amazing what a little blogging can do. You know, you work real hard on your blog, you try to create content that is not only readable but maybe even perhaps useful, and when you try to help a company out with some of your old fashioned PR, they completely ignore you.

Now, it?s one thing for me to bitch about Herb Newton Nissan, but then again I?m no Jeff Jarvis, even if I do work and live very close to Mr. Instapundit. What can I say, good blogging water must flow around East Tennessee.

While I haven?t had any problems with Dell (apart from their financing department?stay far away kids), I did receive a delicious (yes, delicious) email the other day:

Hey Evan,

I just got my issue of Ward's Dealer Business in the mail. It's an automotive dealer magazine. Your Blog is quoted in there, although they don't give you credit, and edit out the name of the dealer (Herb Newton Nissan).

I googled some of it and found you.

The story headline is Beware Of Bugged Bloggers.

FYI.

Oh man, if you could see the smile on my face. I can?t wait until the article pops up online, which of course will lead to a completely self-serving post about ?Sticking it to the man.?

In reality though, the whole ordeal seems a little ridiculous. I was pissed, and instead of offering to talk about the problems I perceived, Herb Newton Nissan decided to go legal on me. Guess what fellas, we?re living in the 21st century now. If you don?t want to be talked about, don?t get into business. Blogs are too prevalent and everyone is giving their opinion. If your product or service sucks, you better be on the lookout, because people are waking up to the fact there are resources out there to weed out those bad eggs.

There was a time when a plumber or a building contractor would be absolutely terrible and would continue ripping people off for years, only because each new client had never heard of him or her before. Well, guess what. The Age of Search has arrived and your name and your company can and will be Googled. Those talking about you will be found and lackluster performance is no longer going to cut it.

I know that I will personally not be buying any Dell hardware until I see how they handle the Jarvis problem, and I know that Herb Newton Nissan is none too happy with me showing up as the 2nd entry when you Google them. But that?s today?s market. The Cluetrain market. Markets are conversations, and Dell isn?t saying anything, so Dell is getting run over. Herb Newton Nissan isn?t saying anything, so all you get is marketspeak and my drivel. If they don?t want to talk, it?s their loss. And they need to realize that. Dell needs to realize that.

The next time you?re pissed off, make some noise. Have you read Jeneane?s run-in with Holiday Inn? And how they wouldn?t oblige her request for an additional $50 gift certificate to be sent to a charity instead of just the one sent to her?

Guess what hotel I?ll no longer stay at.

See? Conversations. Real life experiences. Blogs are about truth, and companies can?t hide behind CorporateSpeak? any longer.

If a business pisses me off or does me wrong, I?ll be blogging about it. I hope you do the same. I?ll do my best to give them a chance to respond (email, forums, etc if I must). If they do not, then the google juice will sour for them, and only give me hits and recognition of their bad service. If they do respond, then it makes them look better, their google juice will then point to a good experience when dealing with a problem.

The Cluetrain is here folks. To the companies who don?t get it: We?re all on board, and you better hop on before you get left behind. Or Jarvis?d.

This is the last time I?ll abandon you
And this is the last time I?ll forget you

Tags: Jarvis Dell Herb Newton Nissan Ward's Dealer Business Car Dealership Instapundit Blogging Google Holiday Inn HolidayInn Cluetrain