[WikiEN-l] Using Wikipedia as a Marketing Tool

[FT2]

I'd rather a write-up that made clear Wikipedia is not for "getting" an
article in. That's a meme to discourage not support.

Businesses that don't merit one do a disservice to themselves and us by
putting effort into trying to "get" one anyway. We do a  disservice by
suggesting it can be done by such means (even if it sometimes could for
borderline cases).

FT2



On Tue, Dec 7, 2010 at 9:25 AM, Carcharoth <carcharothwp at googlemail.com>wrote:

> On Tue, Dec 7, 2010 at 4:45 PM, WereSpielChequers
> <werespielchequers at gmail.com> wrote:
> > One of those steps being "Check to see if anyone already working at
> > your company is a Wikipedia volunteer. If so, that person can be a
> > valuable resource to help you find your best strategy for getting
> > included." Now that sounds like a pretty good reason not to talk about
> > this particular hobby at work, or to edit in your real name.
>
> I agree absolutely! I'm fortunate in that where I work doesn't have a
> Wikipedia entry, though there are sporadic mentions within other
> articles (one red-link, one dead link in a reference, one external
> link, and one incidental mention). I would be horrified if I was ever
> approached to "help" with anything Wikipedia-related to where I work.
> I have, sometimes, looked up some of the people I occasionally
> correspond with, or who crop up during the course of my work, and some
> of them have Wikipedia articles, but most don't.
>
> The article also says "The more mentions you have in the press, and
> the more visibility you have in social media and blogs". This
> completely misunderstands what a reliable source is and the difference
> between having a big (and usually temporary) media presence, and an
> enduring presence that generates its own press. There is a difference
> between media puffery of a company and independent, industry-wide
> evaluation by those with an interest in getting things right (and not
> just putting spin on things) - this is usually related to "getting
> things right" in terms of investing in or taking over a business.
>
> They also miss the most obvious method. Grow your company until it is
> so big that it will get an article anyway.
>
> The brutal truth is, that if you are a small company, unless you get
> big you will either not amount to much (and end up as a footnote in
> history, if that), or you will get big and get taken over, or take
> others over, or you will fold and vanish. The real test of enduring
> notability in business is whether a company or brandname is remembered
> after it has gone or been swallowed up by others. If no-one remembers
> much about something 5 years later, it probably wasn't worth writing
> about in the first place, unless it endured for several decades at
> least or did something that garnered a lot of attention, and maybe not
> even then.
>
> Carcharoth
>
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