Entrepreneur Magazine’s article “The Best Things in Life are Free,” featured a list of free web-based services businesses and online entrepreneurs need today to run their business and spread their message around the world.

The list of web-based services, open source, free programs, and social media tools for today’s businesses is impressive, but incomplete. It included Remember the Milk task management system, Woopra live web analytics, OpenOffice, Google Docs and Calendar, FreshBooks for invoicing, expenses, and time-tracking, SlideShare, Audacity audio recording and editing, YouSendIt for sending files free up to 2 gigs, and Oovoo the video messaging, conferencing, and chatting service. A great collection of outstanding free services, but what’s missing is more interesting. read more

Recently I have been seeing lots of complaints on Twitter and blogs around the people who are spreading schemes that are essentially tricks to artificially increase your Twitter follow count, or inflate your feedburner numbers.

OK, there is an ego boost, and a “social proof” benefit to a large follow or subscriber count, but if those people don’t exist, or worse don’t want to be there, how much value will you get really?

If you are wanting to gain more and better attention, and increase both the size and quality of your subscriber list, then you are going to have to take some action. That means giving real value. read more

West Seattle Herald is either really freaked out about the competition from local blog West Seattle Blog, or they simply just don’t get it. Probably the latter, or perhaps it is a matter of being frustrated by the fact that they just can’t break news from events anymore, since it is being liveblogged. I don’t know, but I think Eat Sleep Publish is dead on, and would like to quote this from an editorial by the West Seattle Herald who questions local blogging:

Professional journalists don’t waste your time

Professional journalists perform a very valuable function in a democratic society. They sift through the information and, when they are good, provide as unbiased a view as possible. That’s the job.

Instead of 3000 words about a community council meeting that was ‘live blogged’ with updates every seven minutes, wouldn’t you honestly prefer 300 words that tell you what happened and what was decided?

While I probably wouldn’t read a liveblogged council meeting, I still find this offensive. Let’s say I’m really interested in local politics but can’t attend, then the live blog is a great way to keep up to date as it happens. Is it the perfect way to cover a council meeting? No, of course not, but it is live and happening right now. read more

Dave Winer wrote a rebuttal to Daniel Lyons’ piece on the latter’s hanging of the blogging pajamas. “There’s no money in blogs.” says Lyons. Winer on the other hand says there is — he just made 2 million:

So when I told you I made over $2 million with this blog, why did you immediately look for ads? I can save you the trouble — there aren’t any. And in the 12 years this blog has been here there has never been an ad on this blog. With a caveat, unless you count me talking about my products. Because I do talk about my products here. I try to stay as balanced as I can, but of course I tilt toward the positive. I have a bias — I wouldn’t have made the products if I didn’t think they were good. But like all people with real products I know they’re not perfect, sometimes they’re imperfect, and I try to be honest about that. [quote]

read more

Understanding Digital Marketing is a new UK-friendly book aimed at explaining to companies how to harness the Internet to grow their business.

Written by technology journalist Calvin Jones and online expert Damian Ryan, it provides practical step-by-step guidance on the topics like selecting a domain name, search engine optimisation, affiliate marketing, online PR, social networking, email marketing and blogging. read more

Daniel Lyons of Fake Steve Jobs-fame showed exhaustion from blogging after failing in his attempt to turn his blog into a business that could bring in the earnings that would satisfy him.

As experience taught him, even a monthly traffic of 1.5 million and 10 to 20 posts per day is not enough to turn in a living for him, earning only $1,039.81. Despite additional ads coming in, his blog apparently failed to push him into quitting his day job.

“While blogs can do many wonderful things, generating huge amounts of money isn’t one of them,” Lyons said.

His obsession failed to bring in the ‘pot of gold’ from his venture. For this, he concludes that it’s time to hang up the pajamas.

How about you, when is it time to hang up your pajamas?

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Two British journalists have launched a project to publish a book of comedy writing with all proceeds going to Comic Relief.

TwitterTitters was only announced on Twitter yesterday, yet already the power of the platform is very apparent.

They’ve found an illustrator, and writing submissions — which can include short stories, scripts, poems and prose — have been received. read more

Together with a client I am working on setting up around 30 new blogs. This has meant scouring the interwebs for WordPress themes so all of these new blogs look unique and differentiated. There is only so much damage I will be allowed to do with my “mad design skills”!

It got me thinking, I wonder if the lovely and brilliant Blog Herald readers could help? Which are your favorite WordPress themes? read more

I love the response to the recent Twitter business model buzz on the Twitter blog:

However, it’s important to note that whatever we come up with, Twitter will remain free to use by everyone—individuals, companies, celebrities, etc. What we’re thinking about is adding value in places where we are already seeing traction, not imposing fees on existing services. We are still very early in the idea stage and we don’t have anything to share just yet despite a recent surge in speculation.

All illustrated with a press clippings image. I wonder how big this one will be on Techmeme?

With a plan to shake up the music industry, MyMusicSite.com announced its launch today. The online community acts as a medium for music talents to independently promote and sell their own music, songs, albums, production tracks, ringtones and more without the restricting chains of a traditional music label. The site also dubs itself as the only non-traditional vehicle where independent artists are in-charge of their own destiny.

Each member is given their own individual URL, the ability to create their own customized site, promotional tools to allow them to promote their music as well as the ability to load songs, albums or music tracks for instant sales via downloads and ringtones. Artists are encouraged to promote their site, such as successful MyMusicSite.com artist Solomon has, who, without a major record deal, has had his music played primetime on many radio stations including New York’s Hot 97.1 (WQHT) and recently had a song featured on the soundtrack of the Golden Globe nominated movie, The Wrestler.

The site currently has 5,000 members, still a long way to really shake up the music industry.