Being Fast

“It’s not the big that eat the small…it’s the fast that eat the slow”
- author Jason Jennings

A recent survey by Brodeur and Marketwire confirms that bloggers and social networking sites are speeding up the pace of news reporting. That’s old news for people working with reporters, who are often called upon to deliver complex information and messages in record speed.

A long-time friend of mine wrote a book about this trend several years ago titled “It’s Not the Big that eat the Small…it’s the Fast that eat the Slow”. Jason Jennings published this in 2001, well ahead of the trends we are now seeing come to light. (he’s published another book since, “Think Big Act Small”, and is on the verge of a third book publication in 2008 ).

The reason I like Jason’s book is the same reason that his personal advice over the years has always been impeccable. He goes beyond pointing out the obvious (you’ve got to move fast), he tells you how to move fast - strategically — in what seems like an impossible business environment. For non-profits of all sizes, tracking the news can be so overwhelming that no time is left to become a part of the news. All this means that hiring people who can truly act strategically will be the best strategy for keeping pace.

Blogging is a great way to participate in the news cycle, but only if its done strategically. The Brodeur report finds that journalists claim to be using blogs for ethnographic research, not investigative research. If this is accurate, using your organizational blog to create context could be a smart strategy to shape an ongoing story.

Blogging is an increasingly important way to communicate with journalists. It’s also an increasingly important strategy for communicating with your target audience. If you’re engaging teens - especially teen girls — you’ve got to get into the blogging world. According to Pew, 35% of all teen girls and 20% of all teen boys blog. Girls are fueling the rapid growth among teen blogs. In fact, younger teen girls (ages 12-14) are even outpacing older teen boys (age 15-17) in their blogging activity.