Aug 31, 2008 | blog
So here are my offerings for Blog Day 2008 – a little belatedly I’ll admit. Somehow it always sneaks up on me. This year though, I’m glad to say I have at least five blogs that I highly recommend. Great knowledgeable bloggers writing about interesting and useful topics.
- Small Biz Survival – This great blog is focused on small business and small town businesspeople. Written by blogging friend Becky McCray and her team of small-biz professionals. A must read for any small business in a small town – or a large one!
- WinExtra – Written by longtime blogging pal Steven Hodson, WinExtra covers the technology beat from a great Canadian curmudgeon. Honestly, Steven’s perspective on Web 2.0 and social media makes for fun reading that definitely isn’t the usual cookie-cutter posts you’ll find around the blogosphere.
- The Personal Branding Blog – Fellow columnist for Personal Branding Magazine, Rob Cuesta is a respected authority on personal branding. With new ideas and tips, Rob can help you start and grow the brand that is you.
- Word Sell, Inc. – I met blogger Brad Shorr at SOBCon08 in Chicago this past May. Brad brings his real-world B2B experience and passion for communicating and connecting to his blog.
- Fresh Focus – Blogger Kris Rowlands blogs about productivity, exploring tools and techniques, especially Getting Things Done. Kris shares tips & ideas for enhancing productivity along with with custom designed GTD templates.
I hope you check out these fine folks, and share your own list of 5 bloggers today with your readers and friends with the world..
Thank you to Nir Ofir, "initiator" of Blog Day 2008!
🙂
Aug 25, 2008 | blog
A special note to a blogging friend in Scotland this morning. Joanna Young, the Confident Writing coach, has been offline for a bit during a move to a new place. Everyone on Twitter has missed Joanna’s wit and wisdom these last couple weeks and certainly welcome her back from her Twitter holiday.
For those bloggers getting started and looking for tips, ideas, inspiration and more related to writing, I really recommend checking out Joanna’s blog. Many great folks from Twitter also participate in the comments and the many writing projects that Joanna leads up. It makes for quite a bit of fun!
Welcome back Joanna, we’re glad to see you back on the Blog and on Twitter – hope the move went well!
Aug 20, 2008 | blog
Hi all! I just wanted to let you know that I got a chance to guest blog over at the Fresh Focus blog. Kris Rowlands let me talk about Weekend Web Work today, so head on over and check it out.
Thanks for the chance to guest post on your site.
Aug 19, 2008 | blog
Do you blog with an authoritative or a more passive voice? By “authoritativeâ€, I mean an expert, someone with experience. I don’t know about other bloggers, but I seem to get wrapped around the axle when it comes to authoritative voice in blogging. Maybe I’m not even on point in this post – you tell me. When a post starts drifting from my intent, it usually starts sounding “wishy-washy†and doesn’t draw conclusions as I’d like.
Depending on what you’re focus or intent is for your blog, it’s important to keep your tone consistent. If you are an authority on a topic, a knowledgeable or an experienced professional, it’s important to find the right voice to present your ideas to support your brand. Writing with too authoritative a tone without having the expertise to back it up won’t bring a positive vibe to your brand.
Because I want to share experiences, ideas, and such, I often stop writing a post when I feel like I’ve lost that authoritative voice. Usually, it’s also about the point where I’ve lost direction on what I’m trying to say. I know this happens to others as much as it happens to me, but I find it really disruptive and end up closing the work and walking away for a few hours.
Being authoritative is a double-edged sword though. As easily as you can communicate your expertise, you can also annoy or alienate some folks too. There’s a balancing act to it, one that nearly every blogger works to maintain. At least if their trying to be a contributing resource to the social web and not just blog about their family photos and latest vacation.
So how do you stack up? Are you able to present your ideas as an expert without being a know-it-all? How about me? Which way does my writing usually end up?
Aug 15, 2008 | blog
What’s keeping you from taking the next step? Something more than simply being noticed I hope! If you’ve got ideas, or something to say or to share, you need to do something about it. Do you blog? Do you podcast or video blog? Are you on a social network? How are you making yourself heard on in this brave new world online?
The biggest thing for those sitting on the fence is simply to make the decision that they want more opportunity than they may have now in their lives. One way to do that is to start participating online. That can take many forms, from simply joining a social network, or building your own personally branded blog and going to town on creating content.
Whatever you choose, you can’t go wrong if you’re interested in building your brand. Don’t wait, don’t second guess yourself. You are too valuable to the world not to share your knowledge and play your part. Now is the time.
Photo credit: JeremyHall
