The Wonderful World of Blogging

I checked out some sites this weekend that caught my eye. The whole world of blogging is very new to me but so far it has proved to be very interesting. One of the sites I like best is The Bad Pitch Blog. I like the randomness of the site but how it pertains to Mass Communications. It was fun to read the different blogs but I really liked the blog Don't Get Cute with Naming by a random blogger named Susan Jacobsen. What's in a name?

Everyone has heard a name of a business, product or maybe even just a person that makes you go.... "wait what?" Sometimes you think how did they come up with that name for that? A name is very important and is what people remember.

I AGREE with what the author said, "You may have a fantastic story to back up your company name but without the right positioning - from the get-go - trying to be "cute" can backfire."

There is so much that goes into a name.... the meaning or what you want it to stand for. What you may be selling.... what you want others to think of when they hear the name. A bad name can deter potential clients or customers.

From this blog site if you click on the Wikepedia link it will lead you to other big companies and how they got their name. Do you know where Coca-Cola got its name??? Or how someone came up with the name Google?
A lot of them were named after initials but there were some interesting ones that you wouldn't have guessed.

You can hire a firm to help you come up with a name because sometimes it is difficult. Sometimes what we see or come up with might be a good idea to us but to everyone else it just sounds dumb. It's good to have outside advice and it doesn't even need to be a research company although it couldn't hurt. Take a long heard look at your product or business, what you want to say to your audience and even what audience you are going for. Reasearch or what is important to your target audience.... how do you think they would pick up on the name.

Some of us may be promoting new companies or products in the future and if you don't agree with them or their name/banding... it will be harder to promote them.

Take the time.... do the research..... pick a good strong name!!! It will stick with you forever :)

Ethics Today

Today in class we went over Ethics involving research. It's a great code to follow when conducting an experiment not only for you as a the researcher but also for the participant. They are as follows...

1. All the participants in a study must agree to do the study.

I believe the easiest way for you to make sure they agree to the study is to have them sign a waiver. This is very common in all studies done today.

2. A participant must be allowed to withdraw from a study at any time.

This one is easy enough. The participants are volunteers and should be able to withdraw from anything whether they don't feel comfortable anymore or just don't want to do it.

We also talked about awards and that if there is an award for participating in a study or experiment they should be entitled to something even if they withdraw from the study.

A participant should never be punished for withdrawing.

3. Participants must understand what they are volunteering for.

Basically, they need to know everything that is about to take place.

4. The research may not harm an individual.

This includes in any way .... physically, psychologically etc. No one should be harmed.

5. EVERYTHING you receive from the volunteers must remain CONFIDENTIAL!!!!

Just like a visit to the doctor.... it needs to remain confidential. This is very important and you must protect it.

The Code of Ethics found on the PRSSA website is a great guideline to follow.

The Golden Rule was something that we were taught as kids. In a nutshell.... Treat others as you want to be treated. This goes along with ethics, too. It's a great guideline to live by!