A deep dive into digital marketing

Why we blog

Posted by Chris under Community, Social Networking

“Talking about your blog is the social equivalent of talking about your dog. It’s a dull conversation for everyone but you.”

A friend emailed me the recent post from Merlin Mann on 43 folders in which he comments on a recent post from Jack Shedd’s blog “Tacky,” which as Merlin calls it “a razor-sharp polemic on the industry of cheese-food manufacturing that “pro blogging” has turned into.”

I found the article a fantastic read, take a read to it first then check out Merlin’s comments so that would be

click here

then here

For someone who blogs: because they want to, feels they have a point of view to share and the act of writing/publishing also makes me a greater reader/content consumer then ever before, Jack’s article really resounded with me.

And for the days that I’m tired, and feel like I’ll post something tomorrow his last paragraph is worth a read alone.

“Despite the utter-bullshit so much of Anderson’s long tail has proven to be, the core idea that everything finds an audience should be held up and remembered. Clung to fastidiously; A life raft for the ignored, for the invisible.

If you’re worth reading, someone will read you. If you’re worth watching, someone will watch you. If you’re worth hearing, someone will listen.”

I’d extend this beyond just blogging but to any UGC. The tools are easy and getting easier so everyone can be in the content creation business. One could argue that only great well produced/written stuff gets watched but you’d be as wrong as Chocolate Rain, Numa Numa and of course the aggregator of all that Pork and Beans.

Which bring me fully around to Forrester’s technographic tool. Huh? I thought you were talking about blogging. Actually I’m talking about interaction and Jack’s post tackles the blogging side of it. The flip side is that for each content creator there are lots of collectors, spectators and critics. So take heart dear publisher you are the tip of the spear.

Blogging is like working out

Posted by Chris under Chicago, Travel

I’m sure I’m not the first and won’t be the last to write a post like this but after taking a few days off from most all technology. Not necessarily by choice but visiting family over the holiday in rural Illinois can leave you a bit out of the connected loop. Now don’t get me wrong visting Avon, Illinois where for the most part I grew up, except for my divorced kid travel to Amherst, is a nice diversion from the city.

Last year we got WiFi for my mom but cell service, at least for AT&T, of which I’m a subscriber, continues to be a challenge. So making a long story short I took a few days off from twitter, blogging, surfing, social networking and the internet in general.

Which meant more time for water skiing, tubing, and setting off a few fireworks. Oh, and star gazing, I always forget how the night sky really looks until a clear night visit down state.

But that takes me back to, blogging is like working out. A few days off and it’s hard to get the routine going again, just like I find with the gym/working out. Given a routine it’s great and becomes part of your daily system. A few days off and that first day back, well it’s not easy.

So I guess it’s with that note that i serve up what seems to be some tech “dish.” Happened to look at Vallywag last night and the article titled Kinderplex crisis reveals Google founder’s fumbling and fibbing, wow, trouble at Google, this referencing the New York Times article on problems at Google Day Care.

For some reason I find this interesting, maybe because it’s a public Google stumble, which is pretty darn rare.