Archive by Author

Comments: Listen & Respond

By on June 1, 2006 in Blogging, Conversations, RSS Feeds with 4 Comments

Imagine yourself the CEO or owner of a business. You’re sitting down with a prospect for a cup of coffee and overhear someone at the next table ranting about your company. Your companion also hears this – as do other at nearby tables.

Ignore it and hope for the best, or engage in a conversation and make things right?

If you chose the first, check out this site: Indeed.com

If you chose the second, let’s look at two examples on how you can listen to the conversations using blogs and feeds:

  1. David Sifry, CEO of Technorati recently caught wind of my open letter to the company and responded the next day. Things had already been fixed, but David shares that his use of a Technorati Watchlist alerted him to my call. Great example. Every business person should do the same – then subscribe to the feed.
  2. Jack Pan with GreatNews has commented more than once here, first about his product, but also in a follow-up on where we can find info on Zoundry integrating with GreatNews.

This stuff isn’t new. Here’s a hall-of-fame post from Alex Barnett in October last year. If you’re in business, you should be tracking what blogs are saying about you, your company, your competition, your clients.

You can start here, or…you can start over – over here

Hold on there, friends…we’re not done yet. If you’re reading this and saying, "yeah, yeah – we already know this," my question for you is, "Are you sharing your knowledge with others?"

BlogTipping Day

By on June 1, 2006 in Blogging with 11 Comments

As it’s the first of the month, it’s BlogTipping Day. The sites I read are plentiful (here’s a list) and diverse and so are the tips.

BlogTip #1: Zoli’s Blog
Author: Zoli Erdos

I read this blog because:

  • He consistently introduces new tools and widgets – sharing insights
  • Though I rarely visit the actual site (slow load), I like how he shares his Calendar of Events and more so, his del.icio.us tags (I’m going to implement the latter) – sharing knowledge
  • Lots and Lots of content, lots of humor and wit.

TIP: Aggregators and Browsers are auto-discovering this feed: instead of this feed (../blog/index.xml) instead of your FeedBurner feed (http://feeds.feedburner.com/zoli). Here’s a quick fix I wrote about earlier: Are Your FeedBurner Feeds Auto-Discovered?

BlogTip #2: Adventures in Home Working
Author: Steve Richards

I read this blog because:

  • His content always stretches and exercises my own thinking process
  • Excellent use of graphics and bullets (The best use of graphics this side of Kathy Sierra)
  • I don’t get envious much – if at all, but I want to work in this office space!

TIP: Would the use of tags (Blog Posting Mantra #6 & KeoTag: HTML Free Tag Generator) improve Technorati updating your site? They haven’t done so in 51 days!!

BlogTip #3: Why My Blog Stinks
Author: Steve Remington

I read this blog because:

  • Steve shares great tips on how to improve a blog site.
  • He doesn’t use reverse psychology to confuse the reader..or..I’m confused – point is, he gets the reader thinking.
  • The site is interactive with polls, contests and his Blog Analysis feature.

TIP: Three for free (I’d have to charge you for the fourth)

  1. Keep going with the You Write the Cutline series. It’s great practice for writing headlines.
  2. Full feeds, please? By combining your WordPress blog with FeedBurner’s FeedFlare (Add a Comment Flare). More comments (and therefore visits) are sure to follow.
  3. Always remember, don’t ever forget – Blog Posting Mantra # 4, will make your site better yet.

That’s it for this month. Thank you to the above authors for sharing their thoughts and passions. You make me smarter.

technorati tags: BlogTipping Blog Posting Mantra

KeoTag: HTML Free Tag Generator

By on May 31, 2006 in Blogging, Cool Tools with 4 Comments

You know I like "free" – but I also love "simple."  That’s why I’m making the switch to KeoTag to generate tags for my posts when I compose from within TypePad.

Instead of a copy/paste of the tag code into the HTML, I can copy/paste the text links right into the WYSIWYG (see the pointer in the image below?) Be sure to use a space as a separator and a plus sign to put a phrase together.

technorati tags: KeoTag     

Comments: From Conversation to Conversion

By on May 31, 2006 in Blogging, Conversations, Marketing with 5 Comments

Benjamin Yoskovitz offers a great example of how by engaging in a conversation, a business might convert a prospect into a customer.

Ben recently took part in the conversation Quotes n Notes:Curiosity. I had seen his name at Blogger Stories, Successful Blog, Buzzoodle: Buzz Marketing and Marketing Roadmaps, but I hadn’t delved too deep into his IGotNewsForYou site or blog.

Here’s the business blog lesson: Ben added to the discussion with relevant thoughts. He didn’t talk about his site or offering, he was simply becoming part of the community.

Here’s the business result: I immediately drew a liking to Ben’s style and thoughts. Since I liked Ben, I bought into his product – and have used it with great fun. Ben’s conversation led to a conversion. Will it happen every time out? Nope. But I probably wouldn’t have taken action without Ben extending his voice and reach.

Here’s a screen shot of what I sent to my pal, Mike Wagner (click image to enlarge):

You can give IGotNewsForYou a test drive or send millions of pages for only $14.95.

technorati tags: IGotNewsForYou  

June 1st: Blogtipping Day

By on May 31, 2006 in Blogging with 1 Comment

Just a reminder that tomorrow is BlogTipping Day (the 1st of each month).

What’s BlogTipping? Quite simple, and everyone benefits. Here’s how:

  • Pick a blog,
  • Share three positives about the blog,
  • Offer one tip to improve the blog,
  • Tag it with Blogtipping,

Many reasons to dig this idea:

  1. As part of the audience, you share feedback with the author.
  2. As the author, you find out what your audience likes/would like.
  3. As fellow blogtippers, we can be introduced to different blogs.
  4. By looking at other blogs and blogtippings, we can learn from each other.
  5. It’s a great way to introduce your audience to other blogs.
  6. It’s a great way to introduce your site to other bloggers.

Hard to decide on just one blog? Do more than one.

Related:
- May 1st: BlogTipping
- Get Free Blogtipping Icons (From Easton)

technorati tags: blogtipping 

Thank You, Technorati

By on May 30, 2006 in Blogging with 6 Comments

Wow, that was fast!

Yesterday, I posted an open letter letting Technorati know that I’m still alive and hadn’t stopped publishing posts. Less than 12 hours later, all previous posts appeared indexed. Thank you, Team T’rati (Still curious if it was my error or just a glitch).

Maybe I can send some much requested link love to Media Orchard so Scott won’t have to step out of his comfort zone again.

Thanks again, Technorati. Good luck, Scott (though I don’t think it’s needed).

Technorati :  , Media Orchard

Quick Thoughts from a Head Cold

By on May 30, 2006 in Conversations with 3 Comments

Is Des Moines the next LOBAU, USA?…Good to see Paul Chaney back at the reins of Radiant Marketing…Mark White has a thorough eCourse (look under the pencils) on Better Business Blogging – and it’s Free! We love Free.

Creating Passionate Users recently asked "What Makes a Popular Blog?" 133 comments and counting…Darren Barefoot is looking for advice on House Swapping. I wonder if Home Based Holidays has that term plugged into their Blog Search feeds…Scott Berkun is offering 5 copies of his tome, The Art of Project Management to folks working at a start-up. Anyone want to hire me for a day?

Where does KnowMoreMedia find so many rock-solid bloggers?…Is there anything worse than a head cold during the start of summer?…Two books I’m looking forward to reading are Publish & Prosper and The Corporate Blogging Book…Speaking of books, the post officer assures me that Phil’s gift is safe, but it will be a week before they can fix the lock on the box.

Almost forgot – what’s LOBAU? Land Of Business As Usual (borrowed from Mark Stevens’ Your Management Sucks)

Quotes n Notes: Curiosity

By on May 30, 2006 in Quotes n Notes with 6 Comments

“You can learn new things at any time in your life if you’re willing to be a beginner. If you actually learn to like being a beginner, the whole world opens up to you.” – Barbara Sher


Gary Bourgeault at Managers Realm reminds us of the power of curiosity in Keeping the Zeal of a Child, remaining childlike without being childish. Can leaders and managers do this? Absolutely. Your people will follow a curious nature with more zeal and loyalty than a puffed-up know-it-all.

Were you born with all that?

Technorati : , , ,

Dearest Technorati – I’m Still Alive

By on May 29, 2006 in Blogging, Conversations with 6 Comments

Dearest Technorati,

I’m sorry it’s been so long since I’ve written. By now, you must think I’ve died or just stopped blogging. I’ve noticed that you haven’t recognized any posts I’ve written for 38 days.

I don’t blame you. You’ve been busy with your new agreement with AP (Congrats, BTW). I understand you’re swamped with your new Local Language program. That’s one of the reasons I haven’t written – I empathize that your plate is quite full.

Instead of bothering you, I first scooted over to a Successful blogger I know to see if I could glean some T’rati wisdom. Liz speaks highly of both Dave Sifry and Janice Myint, but I hope not to take advantage of that connection. I did find some helpful hints from Janice (thanks:-))

But here’s the crux of the matter – my customers are beginning to wonder when the same thing is going to happen to their blogs. You see, I fancy myself as a Blog Coach (I even have a Blog Posting Mantra – you’ll like #6 best). I don’t play the SEO card heavily, but rely on the conversations and the linking to and from in efforts to extend the conversation.

Google picks up on the links I use to point to others, such as my fellow Blog Farmer, Scott at Media Orchard. I’m concerned if he doesn’t see my links to him, I might never – ever be a Pick of the Orchard again. I’m getting ripe here!

I searched some of the tags I use to describe my site, but still – no returns for this blog. Even my old archive at Copywriting Watch shows up better, despite the fact it is now a (cob)web site.

Please let me know if I should do anything to correct the situation. Several companies and business leaders are counting on us to work this out.

I’ll continue to evangelize your many offerings in my Business Blog Workshops. I’m confident the solution to this problem will make for a great story (Next workshop in in two weeks). I know your services are free – and at this rate, mine soon will be:-)

In the interim, I’ll be go watch a Paramount Picture. Know of any good documentaries?

Yours truly,

Mike Sansone
Conversation Conductor
Alive and Kicking and Screaming

Technorati : , Blog Workshop, Dave Sifry, Janyice Myint, Media Orchard, ,

Using Zoundry in GreatNews

By on May 29, 2006 in Blogging, Cool Tools with 0 Comments

As I’m trying out the team of and Zoundry together this weekend, I thought I should post a few instructions found in the forums of these tools.

The discussion between GreatNews and Zoundry begins on the GreatNews support forum.
From the Zoundry forums:


How do I setup GreatNews to use its BlogThis function?

GreatNews (GN) is another cool news reader from CurioStudio. The developers of GN have now added a BlogThis functionality support external client applications such as Zoundry. To set up GreatNews v1.0.0.366 (GN build 366 or later) to work with Zoundry:

1. From GreatNews applications select menu Tools->Options
2. Choose Features tab.
3. Check BlogThis option and press the Configure button.
4. Create a new configuration (giving it a name such as Zoundry).
5. For Type, choose Generic External Blogging Tool option.
6. For the URL enter path_to_zoundry_install\sys\pyth\zBlogWriter.exe -blogthis -title "%TITLE%" -file %HTMLFILE% .
where path_to_zoundry_install is the install directory for Zoundry. For example,
C:\Program Files\Zoundry Blog Writer\sys\pyth\zBlogWriter.exe -blogthis -title "%TITLE%" -file %HTMLFILE%

(Thanks to GN developer team for adding this support and Dotku for the tip).

For those trying this from home, the Zoundry tool opens right up so you can start blogging on the fly. Not as smooth as , but if you’re an IE user, it works well.

P.S. The previous post on Jim Turner’s article was written using the GN/Zoundry team.

Technorati : , Zoundry

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