Things I've Seen

Writing tips, via Friendfeed

Steve Rubel pointed today to Kaylow Media's Six tips for generating terrific blog posts. (Actually, Rubel shared this in Google Reader and it showed up in Friendfeed. Oh, how do you properly attribute sources in these social media times?!) From the post:

Notice everything ... I realized that the very experience I was having would make a great post

Be prepared ... I have a stack of index cards and a pen with me at all times, so I can immediately jot down any idea.

Talk with a variety of people ... the internet represents as diverse a community as you’ll ever find. Look beyond your bookmarked blogs ... Poke around the global neighborhood and see what you’ll find.

Create a "blogging only" workspace ... a person’s environment can influence their behaviors ... I’ve conditioned myself to associate [the blogging-only space] with writing, so my brain goes into “writing mode” as soon as I sit down.

Step away from the blogosphere ... Time spent away from the computer is just as beneficial as reading inspirational posts.

Create a crappy first draft ... but of course. You'll never write anything if you don't get something down in writing first - no matter how bad it is. That is writing 101 (my comment)

Nothing earth shattering - these are good tips for anybody who's writing anything - but a good kick in the ass for me since this blog continues to languish a bit.

---

On that last point: I've been editing quite a bit at work lately - more than usual as we go through the growing pains of hiring new people and shifting others' roles around. And I must say I'm pretty damn good at it.

One thing I've noticed time and again is how so-called seasoned professionals will let that crappy first draft stand as final. I mean, it's one thing to just get your thoughts down on paper. Turning them into thoughtful, powerful, persuasive prose (or copy) is something else altogether.

Weasel words and phrases (so much the province of old-school PR), over-long sentences, weak verbs (forms of to be and to have, in particular), over-use of adjectives vs. good strong verbs ... these are just a few hallmarks of weak writing that I encounter every day. It's disheartening to say the least. Especially when you consider the fact that words are the tools of our trade. Worse still? I'm sometimes convinced that the folks I'm editing truly don't know the difference between an OK sentence and a compelling, even powerfully written one.

And that's just kinda sad.

Nobody here

Wow. Has my traffic gone down over the past year.  I guess I don't wonder why.

To get readers, a blog needs content - regular updates, too. But I've been busy on Facebook and Twitter and just generally anything that keeps me from paying attention to -  caring for and feeding - this blog. Will I fix it, especially now (great timing!) that I've added AdSense, which, of course is earning exactly $0.00? Well, that's the question now, isn't it.

Update: April has brought me about a buck and a half in AdSense earnings. Woo!

Caught in the net(work)

Art by Facebook friend, Alana Servis, drawn on daughter Susan's SuperWall.

Hugh is right, you know. From his post, Blogging is dead? According to whom?:

2007 has been all about :"Social Networks". With Facebook leading the charge, suddenly who you know seems far more interesting to the journalists than what you know. Screw the nodes, it's now all about the network, People. All about "The Social Graph", People. We no longer worry about what we have to say, we worry about who's controlling our data. We no longer talk about folk we know, like and admire, and what they're up to, we talk about hot-shot startups and how many billions Microsoft is going to pay for them ...

... If you have something to say, then a blog offers a cheap, easy global medium in which to express yourself. This is as true now as it was three years ago, regardless of what the groovy cats in Silicon Valley may be up to ...

...  if you're one of these people considering giving up on blogging in exchange for paying more attention to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and MySpace, or whatever they throw at us mere mortals, bear in mind you are giving up on something rather unique and wonderful ...

Of course, Hugh McCleod's thing has been to build his own personal business brand via blogging. And he's had great success with the South African winery, Stormhoek, and other ventures. Not that he's eschewed Facebook, Twitter, or other social media. Not at all. But he's held to - and continued to build  - his personal brand.

I don't have a business interest in building my brand. But I must say whatever I did build by blogging, here and at Coit Avenue, has dwindled considerably over the past year or so since my blogging efforts have tapered off. And why? For me, it's the fact that social networking is so much easier than blogging. And the feedback is so much more immediate.

But what of that feedback? What of 'results'? I now have 70 friends on Facebook (not bad for an 'oldster' with no claim to fame). I spend a fair amount of time each day reading and updating the daily mundane about and for that disparate 70 (too many of whom are my kids and their friends). And for what? There's no thinking or probing here, no exchange of thoughts or ideas, no synthesis and certainly no real conversation. Connection, yes. But nothing meaningful.

I guess my point is this: If the only way you connect is through social networking, it's  like eating only desserts. It's sugary, fun and easy to take. But it always leaves me wanting more, and is, in the end, somehow unsatisfying. Blogging is the meal, the main course, the sustenance. Sure it is more work. But it is more productive. And more satisfying in the long run.

So will I cut back on the sugar, break out of the easy-ness of social networking  and get back to balancing my self-expression with the more meaningful, satisfying  work of blogging? No promises  here (it's hard work, after all!) but  if  I  know what's good for me ...

 

Update on Amazing Michigan

The new blog Because Michigan is Amazing has added an About Us page with a little more information on the people and idea behind it. I have more about it on Coit Avenue.

Amazing Michigan? Not so fast

This is cross-posted from  Coit Avenue.

Fellow MI bloggers, I assume you all got this email too:

Hi, Kathleen. I'm writing from Hass MS&L Public Relations in Ann Arbor. We're trying to let people know about a new blog that launched today: Michigan is Amazing (michiganisamazing.com).

The purpose of Michigan is Amazing is to bring to everyone's attention all the great things about our state. While a creative agency will be supplying the content for the blog initially, it's the site's users that will become the content providers * and, through a ratings system, judge which stories are the best. The blog's categories are People, Places, Things, Events and Organizations. Users can use the blog to let everyone know about the things they think are special about Michigan using text, images or video.

All users who submit valid entries will receive a small gift, and all those who have posts published on the blog will win a free t-shirt. The best entry of each month will win the blogger an amazing Michigan-themed gift basket loaded with a variety of prizes.

We're trying to get the word out and we hope you'll let your readers know. Just for spreading the word we'd like to send you a small gift.

Thanks for your time. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Sincerely, Melanie Seasons

Word of mouth marketing, baby
So what's this all about? A google search on Hass MS&L turns up this from the Center for Media and Democracy's SourceWatch: "David Binkowski from Hass MS&L is scheduled to appear on a panel "How to Create Great Corporate Blogs That Get People Talking" at the Word of Mouth Marketing Association conference in Orlando, Florida, January 20, 2006"

Ah, so that's it -- a Great Corporate Blog that'll get us Michiganders talking. But when I checked out the new blog for a sign of a corporate presence, I found nothing, other than a "sponsored link" from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. And indeed, when I clicked on "Send Us Your Amazing Finds," then "click here to read the rules," I read this:

Contest Eligibility:  Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan does not determine the submissions posted to “Michigan is Amazing” or the winner of the monthly contest ...

The agency MS&L, which acquired Hass in 2002, has a lengthy list of health care clients (although I don't see BCBSM on the list right now). Looking at the news area of their site, their expertise seems to be in positioning Big Pharma in the face of all its litigation and regulatory issues.

Digging further, I found that David Binkowski heads up Hass MS&L Blogworks and is a member of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association, where his page explains:

...  Hass MS&L has successfully worked with global clients to launch corporate blogs and to deal with the issues they raise. And our marketing outreach practice connects influential consumers with new products and helps spread awareness through these new media.

A notable success for Blogworks is the much-praised FastLane Blog from GM chief Bob Lutz.

So what's the problem?
What's wrong with all of this? I work in marketing communications. I understand that you can hardly get a better product endorsement than one that's person-to-person, or word of mouth. And I'm a blogger -- don't I believe in the power of blogs to spread the word, rally people for causes, inform us on issues, etc., etc., etc.?  Of course. Still, here's what grinds me about this pitch:

• I'm asked to "spread the word" about a new blog that appears to have no real reason for being, no author, no sponsor, no voice -- and therefore not much reason to engage.  (Content's kinda lame, too, but there is potential there, if people participate. It's about Michigan, afterall!)

• Prizes for blogging? Even a gift to me for "spreading the word?" Please!

• The initial complete and utter lack of transparency on the part of Melanie Seasons as to who is sponsoring the blog.

• The initial complete and utter lack of transparency on the blog itself as to who is behind it.

Conversation goes two ways
Yeah, I know word of mouth marketing is the thing these days. But if markets are conversations as we read in Cluetrain, this one-way deal isn't the way to go about it.  And it's certainly not what blogging is about. There needs to be an exchange going on here -- honest, open, no holds barred. And prizes and gifts don't count.

A word to BCBSM -- if you want to engage bloggers in a folksy, feel-good conversation about how great Michigan is, we'd be more than happy to talk, even spread the word. But take the mask off first. Be up front with us. If you don't, the words we spread likely won't be the ones you had in mind.

******************
SourceWatch had more on Hass MS&L: See the subhead Driving Bloggers Pro-War Coverage

 

Who's watching?

It looks like someone who doesn't want to be identified is checking out my blogs. I wrote about it today over at coit avenue.

Traffic by country

From my site stats as of today. It's not surprising to see that 78% of my traffic is from the U.S. But 5% from France? I wonder what's up with that?

Treat it like an A-List blog: Four Things

To paraphrase an old saw, "Treat it like an A-List  blog and it will become an  A-List  blog." (Uh huh. That's what I said, too.)

Anyway, if big guys like Kottke participate in the Four Things meme, the least I can do to achieve my goal is to copy them (and then you follow suit and copy me, see? Especially the four bloggers I "tag" at the end of the post).

Ready? Here goes:

Four jobs I've had
Cafeteria worker
Teacher
Day care provider
Church secretary

Four movies I can watch over and over (Have I even seen four movies that I like?)
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Monsters Inc
Scrooge (the George C. Scott version)
Disney's Beauty and the Beast

Four places I've lived
Great Lakes, Ill
Muskegon, Mich.
Kalamazoo, Mich.
East Lansing, Mich.

Four TV shows I love like
Desperate Housewives
The Simpsons
King of the Hill
Big Ten Basketball (I don't know!)

Four places I've vacationed
Orlando
Gatlinburg
Paris
San Diego

Four of my favorite dishes
Garlic smashed potatoes
Sushi (whatever you order for me)
Guacamole
Ice cream (any kind)

Four sites I visit read from daily
Newsvine
bOING bOING
BuzzMachine
fresh perspective

Four places I'd rather be right now
Kauai
Napping
Sunning on the beach at Lake Michigan
Biking the circumference of Mackinaw Island

Four bloggers I'm tagging
Lori
pairadocs
artinlife
g's spot

 

Something new

One of the first things I did after I left my job was to get a new email account. Sure I have our home Comcast account, and I have a personal one through Yahoo. But the former is full of sports news, ZDNet, and MSN emails sent to my husband (I use a PowerBook G4, if you don’t know). And the latter has become so full of scam spam (you know, “claim your $3 million, new car, pool table, video iPod”  – you name it) that I hated the thought of using it for my “official” business account.

So Lori set me up with an invite to Gmail, which, now that I’m used to it, I like just fine. It’s webmail, so I can access it easily from anywhere. I don’t have to bother with sorting or filing correspondence, since all conversations are threaded and Gmail is very searchable. There’s virtually no spam in my inbox. Even the advertising can be helpful, as it turns out.

I have to admit  that at first I didn’t pay attention to the ads being served up to me. I’ve become essentially blind to GoogleAds and I almost NEVER click on them at ANY website. So oblivious am I to this kind of advertising that it took me awhile to realize that the ads in the sidebar  of my email had to do with a subject in the message I was looking at. (I know -- duh, c’mon, it’s Google!)

Which brings me to the point of this post. I finally started paying attention to those ads, and now I have Google to thank for pointing me to a website that has managed to turn my head (slightly) from the tech, political, new media, sex and mainstream media sites that fill my newsreader (105 feeds and counting in NetNewswireLite) to a subject that’s also near and dear to my heart (and my expanding waistline) – food!

101 Cookbooks is a beautiful thing. The site itself is clean and white, with gorgeous photography (I’m thinking that foodie/photog Lori would love it just for that feature). I’m just digging into the information there, but it seems full of everything good and upscale and nouveau when it comes to food: trends, products, recipes.

For instance, in a post on the  recent Fancy Food Show in San Francisco, I read about new-trend "superfoods" like pomegranate, acai, green tea and herbal infusions. Now I gotta find out more!

This is stuff I absoulutely love to read, look at and learn about, just like with some of my favorite mags, Cooking Light, Gourmet, Food & Wine. Stuff I  might not actually make  or eat, but stuff I love to know about as part of a lifestyle I like to imagine.
************************

I've got more commentary on Google at Coit Avenue.

Last chance for the poll

Woo hoo!

A grand total of 4 of you (5 counting me) have voted in my poll asking about a GR blogger meetup. So far you're overwhelmingly sort of in favor of it:

YEE-HA! (that's yes) = 3 votes

Not sure = 2 votes

Now, in case any of you really wanted to register your enthusiasm for this but didn't get a chance, I'm leaving the poll up for about another week. So go vote (please).

If you all are still leaning yesward, watch for me to get something set up. [Anybody wanna help? :-) ]