Dear readers, what a treat we have in store for you today. Jane picked a particularly marvelous gentleman for our Smart Man Online interview this week. A man with over 20 years in marketing, who has adopted blogging as a pro-active, positive tool to communicate with customers, vendors, and clients online. He understands marketing to women --online and off -- as you will see towards the end of this interview.

Bob Cargill of A New Marketing Commentator is -- first and foremost -- a true gentleman, with a great smile. [Jane, and most women, LOVE smiles. We swoon for a man who looks us in the eye and greets us with a smile.] Bob is also a Past President of the New England Direct Marketing Association, a Past President of two Toastmasters clubs, and a graduate of the Metro West Leadership Academy. Whew! Jane is exhausted just reporting all that!

We know that Bob is a runner -- in fact, he's run 10 -- that's right, 10, marathons [four for charity] and several hundred road races. We hear he's run the Mount Washington Road Race, a 7-mile run up the tallest peak in New England!

Bob is one of our original blogger-buddies. His insight into blogging is one reason we wanted to feature him this week. Another is because he always makes us feel special, so we thought we should do something special in return.

Lip-sticking: How did you get started as a blogger?

Bob: My "born on" the blogosphere date is February 17, 2004, my first day on the job at Yellowfin Direct Marketing. I had been reading other people’s blogs for a few months and thought it would be a great idea to blog about my own life as an agency creative director. I’ve always been a proponent of open, candid communication, so the temptation of sharing what I know and do with an unlimited universe was just too hard to resist.

Lip-sticking: What has blogging done for you?

Bob: My career as I knew it changed – for the better – the day I discovered blogging. Writing A New Marketing Commentator (formerly known as A Fine Kettle of Fish) has given me a public platform from which to disseminate what I have to say about my profession. It’s an incredibly powerful feeling to know that if you have a strong opinion or interesting perspective, you can put it out there to an audience of your peers and – if you’re lucky enough to have it resonate with them – watch it propagate almost instantaneously.

Blogging has made it possible for me to connect and establish relationships with people (and organizations) who might not otherwise have given me the time of day.

Lip-sticking: What are some of your highlights of your life so far in the blogosphere?

Bob: Well, being quoted about blogging in The New York Times twice in less than two months has to be up there as one of the more exciting times of my career, not just of my life as a blogger. The fact that such a prestigious newspaper came calling goes to show just how much attention even a small blog like mine can attract. Then there’s the story about Bob Bly, a fellow direct marketing copywriter who was very critical of blogs in an article he wrote for DM NEWS. After I read it, it wasn’t long before I gave several prominent bloggers a heads-up – including you, Jane – and wrote a letter to the editor of the publication, rallying to the defense of the blogosphere.

Ironically, not long thereafter, Bob launched his own blog, which has been a rousing success from day one. And finally, there was my article, Why Advertising, Marketing and PR Pros Should Blog. As soon as I posted it on my blog, it took off like wildfire. To this day, if you were to look it up on Google, it would show up on dozens of other Web sites and blogs. Who knew it would be so popular?

Lip-sticking: How does blogging fit into your professional life as a direct marketing creative director?

Bob: Frankly, it’s not easy to find the time to blog regularly, as my first responsibility as Creative Director here at Newport Creative Communications is to our clients and staff and to the many different fundraising programs we work on together. I can’t tell you how many late nights I’ve spent writing my blog while Jay Leno is delivering his monologue in the background. It’s no laughing matter. But seriously, blogging is well worth all the long hours. I’ve been able to have many of my posts republished as full-length articles in popular trade publications and even in my hometown newspaper.

Blogging keeps me fresh, too. If I’m not up to speed on almost everything to do with advertising, marketing or fundraising, my writing – and, consequently, my reputation – will suffer. So with the freedom of the blog comes a great deal of responsibility. It’s a mixed blessing.

Lip-sticking: What role can blogging play for those in your industry?

Bob: I don’t think it will be too long before the marketing communications agency that isn’t blogging – on behalf of both itself and its clients – will be an anomaly. Blogging is a quick, easy and inexpensive way to interlock a circle of like-minded people – customers, prospects, colleagues, peers, whomever. Blogging breaks through the corporate-speak and helps an organization put on a refreshingly new, trustworthy face, which is more important than ever today, given the fact that buyers have become so desensitized to anything resembling the traditional sales pitch.

Because a blog is such an open, authentic communications vehicle, its trust factor is high from the get-go. And by giving readers the opportunity to post their own comments, those advertising, marketing and PR pros who are blogging can be held accountable for their claims – which audiences appreciate and respond to favorably. Blogging levels the playing field and creates a win-win situation for all concerned. Think quid pro quo.

Lip-sticking: How do you think blogs fit into the nonprofit landscape?

Bob: If fundraisers are looking for a good reason to blog, they need look no further than the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast, from Louisiana to Florida, where Katrina’s fierce winds and brutal, punishing rain resulted in one of the worst natural disasters in the history of the United States. Blogs are perfect for disseminating key, timely news and information to an audience of readers who are already interested in what you have to offer or – in the case of fundraising – ask of them.

Blogs are really tailor-made for nonprofits, organizations that typically don’t have big budgets but do have a lot to communicate to a passionate, engaged constituency. Blogs allow nonprofits to draw out invaluable feedback, establishing a mutually-beneficial dialogue with donors, prospects and friends, increasing the potential for more successful fundraising, activism, participation and volunteerism.

Today, there’s certainly no reason for any organization, nonprofit or for profit, involved in the business of providing disaster relief not to have a blog in its communications toolbox. A perfect example of how a blog can be used as an emergency response to a natural disaster is The South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami (or SEA-EAT)blog, which was launched just days after that dreadfully fierce wave mercilessly struck and ravaged southern Asia late last year.

Lip-sticking: Do you think blogging can really be as personal as, say, a phone call or an in-person meeting?

Bob: I suppose no communications medium can ever compare to an up-close and personal conversation in which the sender and receiver are physically present, but you still can’t underestimate the power of social software. The Cluetrain Manifesto, which was published about six years ago, had it right when it said that people, thanks to the Internet, are "discovering and inventing new ways to share relevant knowledge with blinding speed and that markets are getting smarter faster than most companies." Whether traditional business likes it or not, blogging is an inevitability.

Blogging is that new kind of global conversation that the authors of The Cluetrain Manifesto wrote about way back when.

Lip-sticking: A lot of people still think blogging is just for kids. What do you think?

Bob: Up until a few years ago, most blogs may have been online journals kept by teenagers and young people, but that was then and this is now. Given that today the likes of Donald Trump, Mark Cuban, The Sierra Club, BusinessWeek and the vice chairman of GM, Bob Lutz, are blogging, there’s no reason anyone shouldn’t be able to see at least the potential of blogging as a bona fide business communications tool used by and for grownup professionals. Heck, Debbie Weil even has a blog written exclusively about, as she calls it, "the corporate blogging phenomenon."

Lip-sticking: Do you think there are differences in how men and women blog?

Bob: I’m guessing that more women than men, especially businessmen, are good at blogging, because instinctively, women are simply better at expressing themselves freely. Perhaps that’s what makes blogs even more revolutionary than even we bloggers may realize: Over time, not only will blogs give the corporate world a reason not to speak in jargon, legalese, and platitudes, but it will also help close the communications gap that still exists between the two genders. Who knows? Maybe blogging will help expose a kinder, gentler side of business.

Lip-sticking: What are your future blogging plans?

Bob: At Newport Creative Communications, I’m working with my colleagues on a fantastic, new blog about fundraising for nonprofit organizations, which we’re just a few weeks away from launching. At the New England Direct Marketing Association, we’re considering publishing a blog to promote our next annual conference (June 14-15, 2006). And, yes, I’m continuing to do everything I possibly can to keep up with A New Marketing Commentator, my own blog, which is how I initially hooked up with you, Jane.

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Jane is waiting with eager eyes to see what new fundraising blog Bob is talking about. We will be visiting A New Marketing Commentator every day until we see that announcement.

What's not to like about that?