09.30.06
Posted in Articles, Book Related, Topical at 3:11 pm by admin
Saturday, September 30, 2006. Story appeared in BUSINESS section, Page D2
“Nationally, though, blogs are increasingly being tapped by businesses seeking to build their brands with customers and clients by going beyond mere Web sites.
They’re still only a blip on the blogging scene, however. Of the estimated 25 million to 35 million blogs in the United States, only 5 percent are business-related, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project.
Among the few notable business executives who are blogging are Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, Silicon Valley venture capitalist Tim Draper of Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Sun Microsystems CEO Jonathan Schwartz. There’s also a number of business blogging consultants who preach the benefits of blogs as marketing tools.
But for the most part, it’s not mainstream, at least yet. ‘Business and blogging don’t naturally mix,’ said Jonathan Yang, a Bay Area blogger who wrote ‘The Rough Guide To Blogging.’ ‘It’s not really working yet, but businesses are trying to figure out how to make it work.’
…
Another reason some business blogs don’t catch on is they try too hard to hawk their products.
‘Concentrate on explaining what it is that you do,’ said Yang. ‘If what you are doing is interesting, and if people can find you, a (blogging) community will build around it.’”
-Mehul Srivastava, Going to the Blogs-
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09.28.06
Posted in News at 11:02 pm by admin
“Video blogger and freelance journalist Josh Wolf was on Wednesday given two more days to either turn himself back in to prison or cooperate with a federal grand jury seeking unpublished footage he shot during a protest that turned violent.”
-c|net news-
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09.26.06
Posted in News at 9:18 pm by admin
“The number of blog sites in China reached 34 million last month, a 30-fold increase from four years ago, state media said on Tuesday, despite a series of curbs on media and dissent.
China has more than 17 million people writing blogs and more than 75 million people reading them, Xinhua news agency said.”
-c|net news-
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09.24.06
Posted in Blogs / Sites at 9:14 pm by admin
Aminus3 will provide you with storage for your photoblog as well as a free subdomain. It’s still growing but looks like it has a focus on tight knit communites of photobloggers.
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09.21.06
Posted in Articles, Tools & Resources at 11:07 pm by admin
The Oprah definition of RSS:
The technical acronym for RSS is Really Simple Syndication, an XML format that was created to syndicate news, and be a means to share content on the web. Now, to geeks and techies that means something special, but to everyday folks like you and me, what comes to mind is, Uh, I dont get it?
So, to make RSS much easier to understand, in Oprah speak, RSS stands for: Im Ready for Some Stories. It is a way online for you to get a quick list of the latest story headlines from all your favorite websites and blogs all in one place. How cool is that?
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09.19.06
Posted in Articles, Blogs / Sites at 11:26 pm by admin
An interesting article about churches (and other places of worship) using blogs and podcasts to socialize and organize.
The church is probably handicapped in the sense that the least likely place youll find twenty-somethings is in a church, said Kevin Hendricks, creator of the 30,000 visitor-strong blog Church Marketing Sucks. The few of us who are there are stepping up and trying to pull the church kicking and screaming into the 21st century, and it happens in small ways.
-Religion Sites Embrace Web 2.0-
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09.15.06
Posted in Tools & Resources at 3:33 pm by admin
Pronet Advertising brings us “5 Ways to Building a Better Blog.” The five things are all pretty basic, but it’s good to know and think about nonetheless. They also seem to have quite a few other posts having to do with better blogging. Check it out here.
A new book titled “No One Cares What You Had For Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog” from Mighty Girl seems like just the thing to read in order to spice up your blog. What a great title a book like this, I’d buy the book just for that alone.
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09.13.06
Posted in Book Related at 11:47 pm by admin
Tomorrow morning I’ll be on NBC 11’s “Bay Area News” program at 10am. They do a series every Monday highlighting recommendations from independent book sellers in the area, Quills. I’ll be on the regular news show to discuss the book. Wish me luck.
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09.12.06
Posted in Blogs / Sites at 11:27 am by admin
Apple is notorious for driving their fanbase “b-a-n-a-n-a-s” with their highly anticipated bi-yearly announcements. Steve Jobs’ keynote speeches usually deliver new products and features that make the world a better (and prettier) world to live in. Today was no different as new iPods were released, along with upgraded versions of iTunes and iMovie. More surprises are in store and even if you’re nowhere near Jobs, you can still listen in or watch the keynote speech via the efforts of dedicated bloggers.
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09.11.06
Posted in Articles at 5:15 pm by admin
“When the world changed on Sept. 11, 2001, the web changed with it.
While phone networks and big news sites struggled to cope with heavy traffic, many survivors and spectators turned to online journals to share feelings, get information or detail their whereabouts. It was raw, emotional and new — and many commentators now remember it as a key moment in the birth of the blog.
When four planes were hijacked on a sunny fall morning, easy-to-use blogging services were still few and far between. Yet many who witnessed the horror of the attacks firsthand took to the keyboard to talk with the world.
Horrified Americans used e-mail, instant messages, any available communication tool. But weblogs meant large audiences, not just friends and family, could read those stories from the scene.”
-Birth of the Blog, Wired Magazine-
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