Here I am. Floating away. Eveything I do is a river of life.
First it was that my little writing blog had a feed. RSS what was that? Really Simple Syndication. Then I joined a social networking, or was it a social media site? I don’t know.
But it had a river of news about what everyone was doing.
Now along comes Tumblr.
Steve Rubel has a great description of lifestreaming and how he is using it. [Read more…]
I’ve been reading since I was short. I’ve only been blogging for a couple of years. . . . but I’ve noticed something about bloggers. We’re all rock stars. It’s true and there’s nothing wrong with that. You don’t have to have 1000 readers to be a rock star. You only need one loyal fan.
The problem is that, over the long haul, we sometimes change the way we blog. Like rock stars, some of us peak too early. Some of us get better as time goes by. Some of us get tired of the daily grind, and some buy into our own PR.
What’s sad is when a rock star blogger I love quits doing what won my heart and starts phoning it in. What’s devasting is when a rock star blogger I know begins to think the universe revolves around his or her blog.
Blog writing’s tough, and though being a little Internet famous can be fun, keeping up with readers can be a pain. I guess a rock star could make a case for wanting readers to go away — more leisure, less stress in a rock star day. In a case like that, I think the best thing might be to help.
For those rock star bloggers, I offer these 3 easy steps. [Read more…]
Recently a post I wrote over a year ago, 7 Steps to Being Recognized as an Expert, was picked up on a popular list of “must read” posts. It didn’t surprise me that a some great traffic followed. The list was popular — not quite viral — but passed around a great deal.
I’d like to think the popularity of this post is because what I recommend is rock solid advice. I’d venture to say that no expert blogger has gotten to where he or she is by doing only six of the seven on this list. In my mind, no one could question that these seven steps work. I’ll set a short version here.
When Twitter first came on the scene, I shook my head and wondered? Some folks are still wondering while others are tweeting, twitting, and twading, oops sorry, trading not so secret secrets there.
Last night I stopped by Twitter while I’m in D.C. working. I heard a twit or two about not mentioning I was in town earlier. . . . I’m a Twitter beginner. But Twitter has become so much more than a record of who’s tying their shoes or where they’re tying them. If you’re still thinking that, you’re missing a dynamic culture. The Twitter I see is busy folks who like to check in with each other to crack a joke, share a fact or ask a question . . . or entertain each other.
Some do it solely for scalable communication. They drop links and mention folks to get their attention. Note this twit by a popular A-List blogger.
If I want to get a hold of Mike Arrington, for instance, i know that writing a Tweet about him will get his attention far faster than email. . . .
Basically this is my gesture to the world: I am not answering my email and I’m not going to start. I’m overloaded. Tweet me.
I can trade remarks with people I couldn’t hope to meet otherwise.
Questions get asked and answered.
Question of the day: Are you persistent enough to get what you want/need?
Nope.
no I’m not.
[not all answers included here.]
Many thanks to everybody who have answered the “question of the day”
Pithy observations remind us of what counts.
Some questions are about finding help or expertise. In the last hour, two have been about available jobs. Two have pointed to blog posts — which might make you worry about irrelevant spamming. Yet I’ve never seen it in the group that I follow.
Some tweets are simple observations.
One user report is more valuable than 1,000 expert opinions.
From the Twitter dictionary to the twittersearch, people are finding little ways to innovate on this microblogging platform. Keep the people straight reading twitopera, the Twitter Tabloid about the Twitterati.
140 characters can take many shapes — most of them are clever, informative, or relational. The biggest mistake you might make would be to assume that only twits are twittering.
Ever since I arrived in the blogosphere two years ago, I’ve been hearing, “Where are the women bloggers?” This past weekend we were in Chicago for the third annual BlogHer Conference held at Navy Pier. The event, sponsored by the organization of some 13,000 women, launched in 2005, offering a blogging conference that invited everyone, but limited speakers to women.
The event kicked off with the first General Session: Speed Dating for BlogHers, in which two massive circles of attendees faced each other as pairs to exchange introductions. Five minutes later one circle moved on to repeat their hello to the next BlogHer in the circle across. In the group of about 25 or so that I met. Many were charming new bloggers at their first conference of any kind . . . ever. Most of them had mommy blogs or were political bloggers. Two were conference sponsors.
The conference had sessions that followed six strands of information.
The project was a joint publishing venture. My team was working with a team in Australia. We were combining our expertise to build a 200+ book program for kids learning to read and the teachers who teach them. Most of the books were little readers — 8-, 16-, 24-, and 32-page books, written with subtle supports for early literacy.
Two parts of my role as the head of the department were to ensure that the supports were there and that the content would “travel.” The first part called for an understanding of how kids interact with text to gain meaning. The second required knowledge of whether content and presentation would work in classrooms from logging towns in Maine, through the Bible belt, in the land of “fruits and nuts,” to our diverse city schools.
The program was on an educational publishing timeline, which meant a missed deadline would cost an entire year. When a book didn’t work, the manuscript to replace it had to be fit the program and educational standards, had to be of highest quality, and had to be executed quickly — solutions had to be elegant and practical.
That’s when I started to notice. That was the year I first called the words “content,” not a story or a report. 1997. That’s when I noticed something happening in my office was also happening on TV. [Read more…]
As you know SplashPress and The Blog Herald are running the Independent Blogger Book Quest in which I’m reviewing a book published independently — without the backing of a major publisher. In keeping with our mission at the Blog Herald, the books will be about blogging, business, and the work of online professionals. Read this post for guidelines to submit your book for review.
Title: Maps for Modern Magellans: Charts for Captains of Commerce
Blogger/Author: Roger Anderson
URL: Modern Magellans
http://www.modernmagellans.com/
Get this Book: Maps for Modern Magellans: Charts for Captains of Commerce
A Business Book for Folks Crossing Uncharted Waters
Are you feeling that your blog or your business is lost at sea? You might pick up Roger Anderson’s book, Maps for Modern Magellans: Charts for Captains of Commerce. It’s a map for uncharted waters. [Read more…]
As you know SplashPress and The Blog Herald are running the Independent Blogger Book Quest in which I’m reviewing a book published independently — without the backing of a major publisher. In keeping with our mission at the Blog Herald, the books will be about blogging, business, and the work of online professionals. Read this post for guidelines to submit your book for review.
Title: 10 Ways to Make It Great!
Blogger/Author: Phil Gerbyshak
URL: 10 Ways to Make It Great!
http://makeitgreat.typepad.com/
Get this Book: 10 Ways to Make It Great! Product Info
One of the most memorable moments of SOBCon07 was Jeff Brown’s statement about Kum-ba-ya-ers and business bloggers. No matter who hears me talk about that moment, if they were there, they remember it with a grin of “ain’t it the truth?” That’s because the famous BawldGuy, Jeff, was talking about the preferences folks have toward relationships or information as their personal strong suit.
So, when the time came to talk about the book by the consummate Relationship Geek, Phil Gerbyshak, I thought, perhaps, I was not the best choice. I found the right guy up in Edmonton. He’s Greg Balanko-Dickson, and he’s a self-professed Information Geek, as you can tell by his newest blog, the Remote Control CEO.
Hi Greg! How did go when you, an Information Geek, first met Phil, THE Relationship Geek, in person and in his book?
Phil is an extrovert, friendly, and passionate guy and it shows, as an introvert nothing gets my goat more than meaningless hype and hyperbole. When I first ran across Phil’s site the Make It Great! my guard went up, my concerns were never realized as I realized that Phil was the real deal and lived what he wrote. The same is true of his book, Phil works hard to live 1o Ways to Make It Great!
And when you got to reading Phil’s book did you go right through to the end? [Read more…]
This is the story behind the story of the eBook that hasn’t happened yet. Brett Farmiloe and two friends are Pursue the Passion. The past few months they have gathered sponsorship, developed a following of blogger fans and support to hit the road again.
I got to know Brett a few weeks ago when he asked to guest post about Pursue the Passion on Successful Blog. We’ve had several conversations and emails since that day.
The team left Phoenix yesterday in a fully-wrapped RV for a 90-day trip to interview Americans about their passion at work. I was able to catch an interview with Brett before they hit the road. I’ll let Brett tell the story from here.
So, Brett, why are you going? What will this trip accomplish?
Half of the American work force is not satisfied with their job. Only a fifth say they have a passion for what they do. My goal with Pursue the Passion is to change all that.
I believe that people will draw inspiration from our cross country roadtrip. I believe people who do not have the time to investigate how others have found their passion will benefit from the information we gather and make available.
To be the source of that inspiration and guidance while traveling the country in a gigantic RV for ninety days with three friends is simply a dream.
Transportation, accommodation, interviews . . . so many details — Who are your comrades in this pursuit of passion? [Read more…]
As you know SplashPress and The Blog Herald are running the Independent Blogger Book Quest in which I’m reviewing a book about blogging, business, or the work of online professionals. Read this post for guidelines to submit your book for review.
Title and link: Pursue the Passion: Timeless Advice for the Aspiring Individual pdf
Blogger/Author: Brett Farmiloe
URL: http://www.pursuethepassion.com/
When you read the marvelous quotes the team of Pursue the Passion gathered on their trip across the US last summer you’ll understand why it’s worth taking the time to download this little gem. Brett Farmiloe did a beautiful job of choosing and editing them.
Brett chose to organize the quotes into these ideas. [Read more…]
