NEW BLOG PAGE

Check out my new Blog. I am a abandoning this one for this now look. Hope you like it.

THE NEW BLOG

also check out my

Book Review Podcast Blog

Get More People to Look at Your Blog

But will they listen?

If you have a blog or plan to start one you should keep one thing in mind. A blog is a product, regardless if it's information based.

There are a lot of blogs out there, so yours better be good. If you want people to read it, then you should start promoting it and when they come to read it they better be blown away or entertained... or whatever you have written will quickly be forgotten and your blog will join the millions of other blogs that no one reads regularly. Here is some great advice from Lauren Hatch who has a great blog that people read.

Consistency
Readers want lots of posts, and "neglected content may inadvertently translate to neglecting your readers too."

Eloquence
Read a lot, write well and proofread. Weinberg's favorite bloggers "always have something insightful to say," and "their content exudes intelligence and occasional wit."

Uniqueness
Channeling Darren Rowse, Weinberg argues that being unique "requires not doing what everyone else does." I.e. don't repeat the news with nothing new to offer.

Specific
Focus on a niche and master it.

Personal
Let readers get to know the person behind the screen. Write "personal stories as it relates to your mission in blogging," Weinberg says.

Analytical
"People love data, and they love knowing how data can be aggregated to make conclusions. They love charts and graphics, and they love the findings that can be made from this data in aggregate," Weinberg says. So give it to them.

Detail
Details take a regurgitated news story and make them your own. The more detail, the better.

Thought-Provoking
Leave your readers thinking about your post long after they click away.

Passion
If you are passionate about your blog, readers will notice.

Instructional
Teach your readers how to do something interesting and useful, and it will be impossible for them not to share.

Networked
Be active in your quest to attract readers. "In order for people to find you," Weinberg says, "you need to be able to market your blog to them. How does one do this? Comment on other bloggers’ posts consistently. Send tweets out to the bloggers with your own commentary."

Does social media actually work? The White Paper Report

Paper paper everywhere but not a piece to jot...

Michael Stelzner at the WhitePaperSource has produced a pretty in depth report on the social media marketing whitepapersourceindustry. The industry now has enough years on it that this research is becoming more valuable to help make sense of this fast growing and often unwieldy area of the marketing mix.

The report is based on interviews of over 900 social media users of varying degrees. The findings are interesting in some areas and not so surprising in others. Some highlights include:

• The Top 10 social media questions that marketers want answered
• Experience levels are low with 72% of the marketers questioned having just started or only being involved in social media for a few months
• As a surprise to me, owners of 2- to 100-employee businesses were the most experienced (29.3% reporting doing social media marketing for years)
• Another startling finding was people aged 60 to 69 were significantly more likely to be just getting started with social media marketing than other age groups. In all honesty, I can’t imagine my parents on Facebook or Twitter!
• After only a few months and with as few as 6 hours a week, more than half of marketers have generated qualified leads with social media marketing
• The top 4 social media tools were Twitter (81%), blogs (79%), LinkedIn (78%) and Facebook (77%) topping the list of the Top 10. Owners preferred LinkedIn.
• The least understood outlet are social bookmarking sites

As it is with all research it is important to see how it measures up to your particular situation. These are interesting bits of data and can be convincing to the many new users that are currently just feeling their way around. It’s probably fair to say that almost everyone is feeling their way around social media though because the rules are being written and rewritten even as you read this.

Food as Art

Yummy in My Tummy

I had an awesome culinary experience tonight with a couple of special friends from China. The chef from green-t-house created some awesome food and the presentation was breathtaking.

One of the most interesting things about this haute cuisine is that all the dished utilize tea as an ingredient. The Shrimp with wasabi was amazing and the dessert came with tea infused dark and white chocolate slabs... yummy.

Next time you're in Beijing, do yourself a favor and treat your test buds and eyes to an amazing dining experience.

Check out there flash driven website here.

The Power of Persistance

Reminds me of days at art school

As an art project this is pretty ambitious. Check out what the student says regarding the creation of this great piece of work.

"This is the final piece for my AS art course, a flipbook made entirely out of biro pens. It’s something like 2100 pages long, and about 50 jotter books. I’d say I worked on and off it for roughly 3 weeks."