The Coming Boom « PR-Squared

The Coming Boom

Calacanissad Entrepreneur and serial scallywag Jason Calacanis sent out his latest email today, and while I won’t “pull an Arrington” and republish the entire thing, there were some choice bits that I hope Jason won’t mind me sharing.

As part of a longer treatise on how the recession will affect us all, Jason points to some potential good news (he has plenty of gloomy thoughts, too). He predicts “a boom in traffic, engagement and participation.”

“ … People will have time on their hands and the desire to socialize. Group behavior makes people feel better…

“Blogging became a phenomenon not because of some technological advance, but because between 2002 and 2005 there were a lot of unemployed–and underemployed–individuals with a lot to say and a lot of free time. Bloggers like Peter Rojas, Michael Arrington, Nick Denton, Rafat Ali, Xeni Jardin and Om Malik broke out in the down market–not the upmarket.

“Social networking and podcasting were born and boomed during the last internet winter.

“Bottom line: Folks with time on their hands–and anxiety in their hearts–will be drawn to communications, content, and community offerings.”

IStock_000000609908XSmall This concept harks back to recent rantings about Marketing through a Downturn.

If you look at these tough times as an opportunity to gain marketshare while the competition is weak, and combine that posture with the understanding that your prospects will be “more online than ever,” then dropping-off on digital marketing (in the form of PR, social media engagement, etc.) makes little sense.

In a related note, if you are interested in more recession-proofing advice, ProBlogger Darren Rowse shares thirteen terrific tips.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 27th, 2008 at 5:36 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Mike McGrath says:

October 27, 2008 at 6:00 pm

I have to agree with Jason. I first dove into the Social Media waters in ‘02 after resigning from Sapient. He’s got the right recipe…time on your hands, wanting social interaction, re-connecting with friends that you didn’t have time for before, looking for work…these will drive user and engagement numbers in the near future.

All we need now are those clients bold enough to see the opportunity and smart enough to allocate the budget.

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Jim Kukral says:

October 28, 2008 at 5:03 pm

This is so true. Now is the time to invest heavily into online, not avoid it. So many people are losing their jobs… now is the time to make a go of it on your own, and there’s never been a greater time in the history of the world to cost effectively launch a business without having to spend millions on advertising and publicity.

John Cass says:

October 30, 2008 at 12:01 am

I like the idea of people with more time on their hands will develop more content and socialize in social media land. But how are we going to make any money on this if everyone is unemployed? Just asking?