I accidentally clicked on an expandable banner while I was reading my email on Yahoo! and went to DoMoreForPets.com.  It’s got two overall versions.  One for dogs and one for cats.

I love cats, but I’m a devoted dog over.  So I figured I’d check it out.  It’s sponsored by Purina ProPlan

Overall, I like the way it’s done.  The masthead ad is a bit too big, and you can’t register for it because you’re already signed in via email.  So you can’t “join” it.  Ergo, Purina is missing out an opportunity to develop a direct relationship with those that get involved with it.

The sections are “Photos”, which seemed to be pulled from Flickr, Q & A, which can lead to direct answers to people’s questions: “Forums”,  which leads people to Yahoo! groups; “Blogs”, which have evidently been selected by people from Yahoo! or Purina; “Posts from our favorite blogs”, which seems redundant but is based on specific posts, “How Do You Do More”, which seems to be a storytelling feature on helping pets; and “Pet Rescue”, a database of activities geared toward that topic.

Some of the stuff is repetitive and it will fail to develop a sense of community, but pet owners are passionate enough to get involved in various ways.

A decent effort that misses on some points.

Inside PR Podcast screen capture

Firstly, if you’re in new media, social media, new marketing, publicity, or public relations, you need to subscribe to the Inside PR podcast. Secondly, before you continue embarrassing yourself professionally by using all the words you have been using incorrectly, you need to read through the Inside PRoper English archives. Seriously. You’re embarrassing yourself. The rest of this post is non-essential.

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I have yet to read How, my next purchase, but after listening to Dov Seidman interviewed by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman on Word for Word (podcast), I have another soulmate in Dov with his radical business ideas such as “authenticity,” “reputation,” “transparency,” “relationship,” “conversation” and “integrity” business ideal. Listen!


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