Why do I write a blog for this publication? Why do I write one for Brandweek.com?

Both a highly-respected publications written by seasoned professionals. Why did they ask me to write blogs for them? I don’t work for them. I am a free agent. I can write whatever I want to write and have not an iota of fear about being fired.

Asking me, and other bloggers, to voice our opinions in their space, that takes guts. And these are brands with guts. And even more so, this is what the digital world, in its purest form, is all about. Guts. The free exchange of information. Outlaws writing on Berlin walls in properties others own. Not as hackers but as invited guests.

Whenever I have guested in traditional media, there were 10,000 questions, a Kafkaesque due diligence to make certain I embarrassed no one. In the digital world, just the opposite. “Will you write a blog for us, Mark?”

“Would love to.”

“Go for it.”

It is that simple for brands with guts, brands that understand the digital world, because if it is about control and limitations, it is not about cyberspace. All of the good behavior rules of traditional PR need to be re-examined when it comes to digital PR. Because caution doesn’t work here. It is actually against the rules of the game.

The big mistake is to think that the transition from traditional media to digital is all about the alphabet vs. binary code. It has almost nothing to do with the function and virtually everything to with form. You need to read the language of the Web. To visit a zillion sites. To witness the abandon that runs through this world where in seconds science can pop up to politics and politics to food and food to sex.

The beauty of digital PR is that its “rules” have not been written yet. You can write them. And then relish in the fact that they will change the day after.

The more you can accept this, the more you can accept a blank slate, the more you will succeed.

There are no experts in digital PR. We are all Magellan circumnavigating the world. Enjoy the ride. And make a mark on the world.