Probably the most difficult challenge I’ve had to deal with since last autumn until now is learning how to do everything that needs doing in a day as demands on my time and my roles have changed. It’s been difficult, and along the way, I let down a few people, friends who wanted my best effort, and who got a really pale rendition of what I can do and offer instead. That was hard to swallow, as no one ever likes to overpromise and underdeliver. Since that time (probably starting this last September), I’ve been working towards learning how to scale my skillsets up to this next level, trying to rapidly prototype what I have to know how to do to get everything on my plate done.…
February 12, 2008 146 Comments
Scaling Yourself
February 11, 2008 118 Comments
Free eBook on Social Media and Social Networks
Social Media and social networking can be a tricky thing for businesses and organizations to consider. I wrote about this the other day, and have since decided to make a free, downloadable eBook available for your consumption.
If you’re looking to show your organization how to get into social media and social networking, here’s a downloadable starting points document to open up the conversation.
Feel free to pass it on. File: Social Media and Social Networking Starting Points – PDF file. …
February 5, 2008 71 Comments
Social Networks are Your Local Pub
Walking out the door the other night to watch the SuperBowl last night was interesting. I walked past the Barking Dog (another bar), past the Ale House (another bar), past the Carriage Wheel, and then into the Stage 2 Cinema Pub, which is normally a movie theater, but when there’s a big sports event, it transforms into a great place to watch a game. I realized that any one of those places I walked past had people watching the game. I knew that each one of those places had “regulars” and “visitors,” and a sense of what’s okay and what draws disapproving stares. Sounds a bit like social networks, if you squint.…
January 30, 2008 54 Comments
Performance and Your Audience- Blogging Tips
Performance. When you blog or podcast or record a video, it is an opportunity for a performance, a presentation, a distilled and distinct package of information. It is your chance to connect with your audience and deliver something of value. It is an obligation and a pact.
It’s fine to use these tools for conversation, but consider your audience. Think about how little time they have in a day. Think about the places where they will be spending their time.
Be Brief
Can you say it faster? Do so.
Appeal to Their Sense of Self
Can you tell a story? Will the story help your audience think of themselves? Will your words bring THEIR minds awake?…
January 27, 2008 64 Comments
Bloggers vs Journalists and Who Cares
Inspired by this post by RichardatDell, I wanted to bring this out to you again: bloggers aren’t always journalists, and journalists aren’t always bloggers. Some of you don’t really care, and others of you care a little too much. But here’s the thing:
Journalists
Journalists, at least those who have received professional education and training, have responsibilities, have certain skills, and have certain inherent traits assumed about their conduct. The United States, as a nation, uses journalists to keep our government (and to a lesser extent, larger corporations) in check, by vigorously reporting their actions.…
January 21, 2008 50 Comments
Tagging And Metadata and Why Bother
Steven Hodson wrote a post that got me thinking. He was asking whether bloggers used tagging in their posts to extend the conversation by encouraging people in via search. I looked at my Google Analytics, and it turned out that traffic coming to my site via Technorati style tags was the 21st potential way someone was coming to my site.
Thus my question: why bother tagging? Here are my thoughts on the answer:
Tags are a way of adding a layer of metadata onto something one has placed on the web. We tag photos in Flickr, for organizing, for giving labels to images, to help computers see them. We tag blog posts, songs, profile information, and all kinds of other things.…
