In 2015… There Will Be No News Organizations

Posted by Susannah Gardner on 06/22 at 06:46 PM • Blogs

Or so predicts this Flash presentation: Epic 2015. Produced by Robin Sloan and Matt Thompson of Snarkmarket, Epic 2015 flashes forward from the creation of the Web to the ultimate dissolution of news services in favor of blogging, podcasting, personalized news and Amazon consumer data.

Is this prediction chilling or exciting? Let me know what you think.

Also in torrent format at robinsloan.com.

I’m a little late on picking this one up, but it’s worth checking out if you haven’t seen it.

 
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WOMMA Measuring Word of Mouth Conference

Posted by Susannah Gardner on 06/21 at 10:57 AM • Blogging Events

imageThe Word of Mouth Marketing Association is holding a conference July 13 called “Measuring Word of Mouth.” Targeted to those interested in marketing metrics, WOMMA says the conference is the first-ever on measurement, metrics, and standards in word-of-mouth marketing.

It will be held in Chicago. Cost is $295 for WOMMA members, $545 for non-members. I’m happily able to pass on a $50 discount code WOMMA gave me to share with my readers. When you register, use the case-sensitive discount code “Blogsareawesome”

WOMMA Measuring Word of Mouth Conference Web site

 
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Seeking a Spanish-Speaking Blog Expert

Posted by Susannah Gardner on 06/15 at 03:36 PM • Blogs

I am looking for someone who is fluent—and I do mean fluent—in Spanish, and who is a blog expert. I’ve got a query about a talk about blogs in Chile, nothing firm, but you never know…

So if you are a Spanish-speaking blog expert, or know one, please contact me ASAP.

 
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Catching Up

Posted by Susannah Gardner on 06/14 at 03:07 PM • About the Book(s)

I apologize for the long silence on this blog. Last week was One of Those Weeks. You know the ones—they are the weeks where the only hours you aren’t working at the few you’re sleeping or in the bathroom. So it was productive, but boy, do I need a vacation.

I did take a quick break last night to duck into a book store. Believe it or not, I still hadn’t seen my book in situ, so to speak. I wandered around the huge business and computer section and eventually found “Buzz Marketing with Blogs for Dummies” in the Sales and Marketing section—and it was certainly keeping exalted company!

image

I snuck a quick picture with my camera phone and left happy.

 
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Interested in Fake Blogs?

Posted by Susannah Gardner on 06/08 at 03:02 PM • Blogging Events -- Fake Blogs

Just a reminder that I’ll be giving a talk in a couple of hours on fake blogs, character blogs, and some of the other “creative” uses of blogs today. It’s not too late to register!

Pushing the Boundaries on Blogs: Do Fake Blogs Work?
Wednesday, June 8, 2005, 8:30 p.m. ET - FREE

http://www.customizednewsletters.com/CE/cesched.htm

Blogging continues to move out of the realm of personal diarists and into the hands of business professionals and marketers. The transition isn’t always smooth, especially as creative marketers use blogs in new ways to promote products, businesses and business strategies. Long-time bloggers often refer to these efforts as “fake” blogs, and the resulting hue and cry generates publicity – of the negative kind. Are there lines that can’t be crossed? What has been tried, and failed? What has been tried, and succeeded? Learn to plan for the reactions you will get as push the boundaries with new and exciting ideas.

Conversations with Experts: How to Build Your Business On and Off-line Hosted by Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff and sponsored by Build a Better Blog System.

You can register for the Conversation with Susannah Gardner at: http://www.customizednewsletters.com/CE/cesched.htm

 
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Comparing Employee Blog Policies

Posted by Susannah Gardner on 06/06 at 10:34 AM • Law and Ethics

Fredrik Wackå, who blogs at CorporateBloggingBlog, has a terrific post today comparing the blog policies of IBM, Yahoo!, Hill & Knowlton, Plaxo, Thomas Nelson, Feedster, Groove and Sun.

On four points, all of the eight most well-known corporate blogging policies agree—corporate bloggers are personally responsible and they should abide by existing rules, keep secrets and be nice. Those four principles are the core of today’s corporate blogging rules.

You should really head over and read through this post for yourself. Wackå breaks down the policies point by point, analyzes each, and gives an example. A really thorough look at today’s blogging policies for employees.

 
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Review of Restoration and Cleaning Industry Blog

Posted by Susannah Gardner on 06/01 at 05:31 PM • Blogs

This review is one in a series that I’m posting on behalf of the students in Bud Gibson’s Blogging Bootcamp class at the University of Michigan.

Restoration and Cleaning Industry
http://restoration-catastrophe.portspaces.com/

Clean up your spelling and grammar. Language is very important in a blog. Choose your words carefully, and trying reading your post aloud after you have finished writing it. If you stumble over words, fix them. I see several sentences that don’t make any sense, lack punctuation, or simply don’t say anything. Typos and spelling mistakes, while essentially harmless, are glaring in print and reflect poorly on credibility. This is especially true of spelling mistakes that would have been caught by a spell-check application. Consider writing your posts in a good word processor and copying them into your blogging tool afterward.

If you are going to link to an outside side, explain why you think it is significant. I see a few posts that are essentially reviews of outside resources. These are great, but go ahead and say in the first sentence why you’ve bothered to review a site, and who is going to find the review useful. Also, be careful not to just repeat the claims made by the creator of the Web site you are reviewing. Exercise you own judgment about what is important for your readers.

I like the bit of levity interjected in the 5/24 post. Light jokes and humor always help to spice up dry content.

Be edgy! You’ve got lots of good reviews of Web sites. I don’t see anything negative or even slightly critical. Say what you really think and damn the consequences. OK, you don’t have to go to that extreme, but expressing a well-thought-through criticism increases your credibility, provides the reader with really useful information, and might help get your blog noticed. Critical posts get discussion going.

 
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Review of The Art and Science of Commercial Restoration Blog

Posted by Susannah Gardner on 06/01 at 05:29 PM • Blogs

This review is one in a series that I’m posting on behalf of the students in Bud Gibson’s Blogging Bootcamp class at the University of Michigan.

The Art and Science of Commercial Restoration
http://restoration-commercial.portspaces.com/

You are writing in a very active voice, which is great. Asking questions of your readers, using the occasional exclamation point—these are good techniques for making your point, and making it memorably.

Spelling, spelling, punctuation, and spelling. Respect your readers by double-checking your writing for typos and mistakes. Your own credibility is hurt when you don’t bother to use language properly.

In the 5/18 post “Cleaning.com : NEWS: Should You Have the Air Ducts in Your Home” you ask a good question and provide some very useful information. However, you don’t actually answer the question. I still don’t know if i should have the air ducts in my home cleaned, just that companies that clean air ducts think I should.

When you quote material, be sure to spell out what you are quoting. For instance, in the 5/19 post “IICRC Storm Damage Restoration Recommendations” the first paragraph is quote—but I don’t explicitly know who it is that is quoted.

The entries on 5/24 are confusing. It looks like you are using the bold and the quotation marks to present two different viewpoints—but whose?

Great job on the 5/26 post “Commercial Restoration.” You’ve used quotes, explained where they come from, and followed up with analysis in a numbered list. This is exactly what a good blog entry should look like.

 
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Review of Restoration & Remediation Industry Blog

Posted by Susannah Gardner on 06/01 at 05:27 PM • Blogs

This review is one in a series that I’m posting on behalf of the students in Bud Gibson’s Blogging Bootcamp class at the University of Michigan.

Restoration & Remediation Industry
http://restoration-residential.portspaces.com/

Back up what you say with facts. Anytime you use a sentence like “There are several factors affecting these changes” you should immediately follow it up with a list of the factors. Remember to answer to obvious questions in your posts—who what, why, where, how, when.

When you refer your readers to an article, you should go ahead and tell them just why you are recommending the article, instead of just saying the article is interesting. In fact, go ahead and tell them the point(s) you think is most important. Your readers are busy people and they may not have time to go read the article, but they can still benefit from what the article has to say, thanks to you.

Your post on 5/20 “A Marketing Challenge - Any Takers?” is very well-done. Your writing is on point and creative, and the format of the post also encourages the reader to keep reading. Your final question “Well, I’ve started the ball rolling. What do all you Marketing Savants have to say????”, however, is a little bit offensive. You’re challenging your readers, and subtly implying that they don’t have good opinions. If you want feedback, your might want to phrase your request a little differently.

Spell things right. Use correct grammar. Check your punctuation. Writing in a word processor—and not in your blogging tool—can help you keep these kinds of mistakes to a minimum. When you make silly spelling mistakes, you look dumb, and so does what you have to say.

The post on 5/29 “Industry Without Borders?” is an excellent example of what blogging can be—on-point opinion, backed up with facts. The writing is solid, and the format easy to follow. More like this, please!

 
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Review of Restoration University Blog

Posted by Susannah Gardner on 06/01 at 05:25 PM • Blogs

This review is one in a series that I’m posting on behalf of the students in Bud Gibson’s Blogging Bootcamp class at the University of Michigan.

Restoration University
http://restoration-fire-smoke.portspaces.com/

I love that you took the time to introduce your team in one of your first posts, and that you linked to your classmates in the same post. Letting your readers know just who is behind the “I” in your posts is so important to making a real connection.

Posts the length of the one you used on 5/18 (“Help for professionals”) are unusual. There is lots of discussion among bloggers about whether long posts are actually read or not. The accepted wisdom seems to be that short posts are better than long. In this case, it would be fairly easy to break up this very long post into several short ones. You also find some bloggers who link related posts in a series (Part I, Part II, etc.) and this post lends itself to that kind of treatment as well.

The personal approach taken on the 5/18 post titled “Beginning Research on the Cleaning and Restoration Industry” is admirable. Let the readers know you’re a person, and a person with your own foibles, interests and areas of expertise. A few jokes can help make you more approachable, but still informative.

I think overall your group has taken a more informal approach. I see more use of first person writing, and a slightly more relaxed style. This approach works very well for blogging. Keep it up.

Don’t forget spelling!

 
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Review of Restoration and Catastrophe Clean Up News Blog

Posted by Susannah Gardner on 06/01 at 05:20 PM • Blogs

This review is one in a series that I’m posting on behalf of the students in Bud Gibson’s Blogging Bootcamp class at the University of Michigan.

Restoration and Catastrophe Clean Up News
http://restoration-water.portspaces.com/

The short introductory post explaining the purpose of the blog (5/14 and on 5/16) is excellent. But who are you?

In the 5/16 post “ASCR to offer a new Contents Restoration Course” uses this sentence: “Those of you interested check out the attached link.” I find it much more effective to speak directly to the individual reading the blog post, than to the group of readers. Remember that each of your blog readers is sitting in front a computer by himself. When you write, direct your words to that individual to more effectively make contact.

Oh my gosh! An image! The image you included on 5/19 isn’t a great one, but kudos to you for being the first group to use a photo. It’s demonstrably effective to use images in your blog posts, even if they are clip art and only tangentially related to the content under discussion. People love their visuals, and they pay attention to posts with images. I especially like that you included a photo credit.

I have the same feedback for this group that I do for the others: spell things correctly. Mistakes look careless, and give your readers the impression that they need not take what they are reading seriously—since the writer doesn’t.

 

 
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