Blogging My Life...
This morning, a friend of mine, pointed me in the direction of a New York Post article named FAITH GOES WIRELESS. The article praises (no pun intended), a product called JewBerry. It is basically a Jewish prayer book for the BlackBerry.
Why am I a little upset with the NY Post article? Well, to be honest, the iPhone Siddur uses technology that JewBerry hopes to use in the future, according to the article. The iPhone Siddur already uses GPS and localization features to locate the nearest minyan, it already uses GPS to figure out the times to pray (including into that, altitude), it had all the features and more. In fact, we might even add in the feature to find a minyan now (although most people don't request it, it was an idea I had on day one).
So why did JewBerry get the feature and not the iPhone Siddur? Don't get me wrong. Jonathan Bennett, the creator of JewBerry is an awesome guy. In fact, we shared with him our minyan technology, and he hooked us up with some Chabad nusach text. He is a really nice guy and deserve it.
My only question is, how do I get major publications to cover the iPhone Siddur? Almost all of the buzz already created around the iPhone Siddur is either Jewish paper related or blogs. How do I get it into a major publication?
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Comments
That's a tough one... but you gotta admit, "JewBerry" is really catchy.
Sometimes that's all the difference.
Posted by: Brian Clark | November 3, 2008 10:43 AM
I guess thinking like an SEO, in this case, is my down fall? :)
Posted by: Barry Schwartz | November 3, 2008 10:47 AM
The JewBerry is mentioned on Haaretz.com today too (they picked up the story from the AP).
Posted by: Andy Levy-Stevenson | November 3, 2008 10:51 AM
YEa, its spreading... http://www.google.com/news?q=jewberry
Posted by: Barry Schwartz | November 3, 2008 11:00 AM
Barry,
From my perspective it's ironic you write this because so many people want you to write about them or link to them.
Do you keep track of Help A Reporter Out (HARO) by Peter Shankman. http://www.helpareporter.com/
It's not a magic bullet, but it's a good weapon to have in your arsenal.
Posted by: Thomas Schmitz | November 3, 2008 12:45 PM
Thomas, was waiting for someone to say that. Thanks. :)
Posted by: Barry Schwartz | November 3, 2008 12:56 PM
Do your research. Who are the Jewish technology reporters with major newspapers? Who are the reporters covering Jewish affairs at each of the major publications.
Well, now you know what nice little wrapped present they should receive for Hanukah this year. Oh, and make sure to provide the phone number they should dial on their iPhone Siddur to reach a Rabbinical authority for comment on the iPhone Siddur (who, by the way, just happens to answer on his own iPhone Siddur that you presented him with a few weeks earlier).
Basically, set it all up very carefully, and don't wait for the media to come to you.
Posted by: David Leonhardt | November 3, 2008 2:11 PM
Not to belabor the point, but yeah... sometimes thinking SEO over "Jedi Mind Trick" kills you in public relations, but also on the search end when the click though isn't excited.
Posted by: Brian Clark | November 3, 2008 9:27 PM