In this episode Nathan and Bill discuss a recent situation where the PR firm, Brody PR, pitched a large list of bloggers, podcasters, and social media/technology media outlets. The pitch itself was bad and missed the mark, but the way it was done and a technical issue that went along with it made it much worse. The whole situation provided an opportunity for numerous bloggers to comment on the poor job of many traditional PR pros do in reaching out to bloggers. Bill and Nathan explain the situation and provide ways Brody PR and other agencies can avoid this kind of problem in the future.

In this episode, Bill and Nathan talk about one of the most important things in social media: transparency. For all the talk and excitement over new tools and technology, one of the greatest changes brought about by social media is an expectation of transparency. Some companies that have really embraced this are DreamHost and Twitter. Other companies, like Apple, haven’t embraced transparency at all and have had a series of issues where this has hurt them like the recent admission of Steve Jobs’ health problems.

One of the biggest things to remember for implementing social media well is to adopt the right mindset. There is an old mindset and a new mindset. Choose the right one.

At the end of the episode, be sure to check out the information about FastPitch, an opportunity for people to pitch their business ideas and get those ideas funded. The FastPitch events will be held during February and March, 2009.