Social marketing and the All Arkie Army

Arkansas bloggers, unite!

Or, well, something like that.

Just the other day, I was conversing with the intrepid FishHawk (see blogs here and here) and it occurred to me that all bloggers want the same thing -- a lot of attention.

What I mean, of course, is that we want people to actually take some time and pay attention to what we have to say. Since everyone and their dog has a blog these days (my rat terrier is picking out a template for his right now, I think) it's hard to attract a whole lot of traffic.

I'm a public relations guy buy trade, and there's one thing I've learned over the years. If you want people to pay attention to what you're doing, you've got to kick up a lot of dust. One person can't kick up that much dust here on the crowded Internet, but 20, 30, 40 or more people certainly could. And, that kind of activity would get all the members of such a dust-kicking lot noticed both individually and collectively.

So, the idea of the All Arkie Army was born. Simply put, that blog exists as a place where bloggers with firm, Arkansas roots can promote their work and keep track of other blogging Arkies. Why single out people from the Natural State and other folks who have strong ties here?

Curiosity, really. I've run across a few people, some of whom just live right up the road, who are bloggers. Getting them involved in a central effort would be a lot of fun, I think, as no one understands the point of view of an Arkie like another Arkie.

Alas, the All Arkansas Army is a strictly volunteer army as conscription is out of the questions. So, if you are either an Arkansan or have strong ties to this small, wonderful state, click on the slickly-designed banner right under my masthead and read all about it. FishHawk has joined up, and we need some more Arkies to follow suit if this little social marketing project is to work.