I’ve lined up about 4 drafts in the Gizbuzz system, which have the first paragraph written. So, over the course of next week, all I need to do is finish them. I have a feeling I will.

So – to get over future blocks, I will half write posts.

(by the way, I’m procrastinating again – I have a coursework essay to write, and it is midnight).

In my opinion, tech companies (and much of this would apply to other companies as well) need look no further than Zoho for their tips on building interest and brand value for their product in the age of new media. Zoho first got in contact with me when I wrote on Gizbuzz on the launch of Writely that ‘Writely is certainly better than Zoho Writer’. One of the Zoho team, Arvind, got in touch to ask why. I was really impressed – I’d written about countless companies on Gizbuzz before, often negatively, yet none of them had bothered to get in touch. I wrote quite a long email back. What impressed me even more was that Zoho took some of the feedback on board, with the result that much of the criticism contained in that document no longer stands.

About a month after that, I got in touch with Arvind again about doing an interview with someone from Zoho. I hadn’t interviewed anyone for Gizbuzz before, and it was the first Gizbuzz podcast. It’s not uncommon for a company you email about an interview to completely ignore your request (bigger companies, unsurprisingly, are worst about this). This was even more likely given the fact that I had no track record and no audience, as this was the first ever. Zoho did put up someone for interview, however, and it was certainly one of the best I’ve done. And the Gizbuzz podcast now has a fairly substantial audience, with a lot of traffic from our latest podcast being sent back to the Zoho interview. The second second benefit Zoho has got from being helpful.

Since then Zoho has always kept in touch with me, telling me when they have released something which they think I might be interested in. Having built the solid foundations of a relationship with Gizbuzz, I am far more likely to cover Zoho because I find them interesting and use many of their products.

The latest stroke of genius from Zoho, which prompted this post, was the post on their corporate blog about coverage of their latest update. They posted quotes from many blogs, including Gizbuzz, who had covered them, obviously all positive. This post was then used by Read/WriteWeb’s Richard Macmanus (I suspect) find what other bloggers had been saying. Thus by this summary post from Zoho they influenced the blogging conversation by ensuring that the positive reviews were picked up by the A-list blogs where it really matters.

So what have Zoho got from me as a result of being friendly,  savvy and ‘keeping me in the loop’? Quite extensive feedback, on a number of their products. Significant coverage of those products, often positive. More positive coverage on A-list blogs, despite my distinct B-list status. I would say that was worth it! 

A note to Zoho – make sure you hold on to your evangelism team!