Big Picture Guy Keith Philpott took up my challenge to tell the back-story on some of his fabulous images. Of course, the photos speak for themselves, but getting a glimpse of the photographer's process is like hearing an author talk about the genesis of a novel. Thank you, Keith!
Dell engages global customers in product design with IdeaStorm, which looks and feels like a wiki. Check it out!
ClickZ Network Editor-in-Chief Rebecca Lieb gives us step-by-step instructions for tracking down and deterring the sploggers and other content thieves who make money by swiping stuff off other websites. She admits, though, they're hard to stop.
Here is one of the splogs ripping off my content, which I found doing a Google Blog Search on my name. There where others, but Blogger must do a good job of policing splogs, because they're now MIA.
In my case, the publisher owns the copyrights, and this particular splog appears to have been tested and abandoned, so it's not worth pursuing. But others are actively racking up Google AdSense revenue by padding their sites with keyword-rich articles not their own and without permission.
Here are the steps Lieb recommends taking:
The best outcome is getting these thieves kicked out of the search engine indexes, which Lieb says "renders them invisible."
Thanks for these great resources, Rebecca!
In the latest edition of Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox, he crushes the concept of short snappy posts under a mountain of evidence that long is better, supporting his basic tenet:
"To demonstrate world-class expertise, avoid quickly written, shallow postings. Instead, invest your time in thorough, value-added content that attracts paying customers."
Nielsen says content derived from secondary sources has less intrinsic value than content driven by the author's experience. If you want to be the go-to person, you have to be the primary source.
If I thought that was always the case, I would not have shared his tidbit with you but would have, instead, written about how to write those long, in-depth articles -- because that's what I do best. But Nielsen gave me food for thought, and I passed the platter.
Andy also says there are four types of blog posts, so when you're stumped for content, think about what you can offer in each category: news and updates, how-to's and tips, resources and links, thoughts and essays.
Writing White Papers author Michael Stelzner warns that blogging can be dangerously addictive and erode your free time. The A-list bloggers he cites caution that it takes a considerable time commitment to write compelling content, build an audience, and monitor and respond to comments.
Reading this, I am reminded of Rebecca Blood's Bloggers on Blogging interview with David Weinberger, featuring this exchange:
Rebecca: "How has your weblog changed your life?"
David: "Blogging has made me fat. I used to exercise in the morning. Now I blog."
My problem exactly.
A disturbing controversy has erupted in the blogosphere around one blogger's suggestion that it's OK to delete obnoxious comments from your blog. The flurry in abusive and threatening comments that followed have been likened to cyber-stalking and cyber-bullying.
In response, tech publisher Tim O'Reilly proposed a bloggers' code of conduct. His seven principles (paraphrased):
The ugly phenomenon of bullying in the blogosphere is not an inexorable outcome of free speech and spirited debate. It is simply people overstepping the bounds of decency and hiding behind their anonymity. It needs to stop.
It's great to see how people act on the advice of experts to achieve instant results.
When Janis Johnson wanted to launch a new website for Johnson Consulting, she followed business blogger Andy Wibbels' lead and used a blogging platform that's easy to setup and maintain with no IT support.
Janis organized the blog categories around her areas of expertise, giving her a prime platform to demonstrate what she knows through advice and case studies. Nice work!
My son has been blogging four months longer than me. He started a Xanga journal in June 2003 as a junior in high school, along with a cadre of friends who chronicled the adolescent experience online.
Now that he's a 21-year-old college student focused on his future, he's discovered business blogging with a twist. As an aspiring nature photographer, he has a catalog of thousands of digital photos, and he's using his new blog, Living World Photography, to showcase his work.
His challenge: To ensure publishers looking for images of, say, a wolf spider eating a butterfly or a congregation of ladybeetles will find the photos and contact him about high-res images. A thoughtful balance of superb photography, behind-the-photo stories, blog promotion and search engine optimization could build a small but loyal following of natural world chroniclers.
It's happened once already. Will's photo of an obscure insect photographed on the beach at Half Moon Bay, CA, and posted on BugGuide.net was picked up by the publisher of a field guide to insects.
One of my favorite photos by Will is a dozen angry wet rock hyraxes (the closest living relative to elephants!), photographed on safari in Kenya in April 2006. Will caught them after a rain shower, when they were quite indignant about the drenching.
We invited Blogwild! author Andy Wibbels to chat with our SF/IABC Independent Communicators' Roundtable about the benefits of blogging if you're self employed. He gave us an excellent hour of insights and advice. Here's what I took away:
Asked if blogging is really worth the time, Andy says the biggest blog ROI is lead generation. Journalists looking for expert insight on a topic will also find your blog, giving you added exposure in the press.
Thanks for a terrific session, Andy!
