community

An Invite to Pimp Your Blog

Mr Bling So this week’s been really quiet on here, due to a particularly busy project over at Maritz Canada. Now that project has at least resorted to more normal activity levels, I’ll be jumping back in here and reverting back to normal frequency.

First up will be the continuation and conclusion of the 7 Days to Turn Your Blog Into a Social Media Hub series, and this will be followed by some thoughts I’ve been having around operational social media and marketing differently. So, thanks for your patience during this recent quiet spell – really appreciate it.

But before all that, I’d like to ask you a favour – share your blog.

Leave the URL and a little info about it in the comments section (don’t worry if it doesn’t appear immediately – I use a filter for multiple links, but I will publish any filtered as soon as possible).

You kindly come here to read and maybe share a post or two with your community; now I’d like to do the same. The comments are yours to share your blog with us. And while you’re there, make sure you check out some of the blogs left there – you might just find some great new reads.

Thanks for being you, guys.

photo credit: nicora

A Slight Intermission on Blog Comments Respect

every care and courtesy Hi guys.

So today was meant to be the third part of the 7 Days to Turn Your Blog Into a Social Media Hub series. This will appear tomorrow, as something’s been chewing on my mind today (and apologies to anyone who was expecting the Hub post).

When I write a blog post, it’s obviously my point of view. Once it’s in the open, though, it then becomes a shared point of view with you, the readers – and your point of view is what builds the discussions around a post. Sometimes you’ll agree with me; other times, not so much. And that’s what makes the comments after a post such a fervent breeding ground for ideas.

I don’t even mind if you attack me for my views. Heck, I’m big and ugly enough to take your shots, and it shows me that you’re passionate about a topic – and I would never discourage passion.

Besides, I’m the person that’s invoked that reaction, so if it’s an attack, let’s have it open and unfiltered.

What I won’t accept, however, is attacking other commenters. They’re like you – simply offering an additional view on the starting topic. By all means, attack me – the blog is my home and as the owner, I’m responsible for what goes on inside. But attacking another commenter – that’s poor form.

I’m a firm believer in an open comment policy; I don’t moderate before publication, because I feel that stints genuine interaction and conversation. Going by the conversations that have happened over the months, it would appear that most agree.

Let’s play nice and keep it that way. Like I say, attack me if you wish – as the instigator of discussion, I’m open to all views and words. But let’s treat the guests (and that includes you) nicely.

What say you – fair?

photo credit: Martin Deutsch

Ten for 10 in 2010 – Amazing People

As we approach the end of the year, I thought it might be fun to share Ten for 10 in 2010 ? a list of people, blogs, apps, platforms and more that I think you might enjoy checking out in 2010.

These are just personal takes, and will probably either see you agreeing or thinking I?ve lost the plot ? and either one is fine by me! As with any list, this is subjective so please feel free to leave your own recommendations in the comments after the post.

This time around, ten people that are doing amazing things and you should really get to know in 2010. I hope you enjoy.

Mark Lovett. One of the things that stood out for me in 2009 was the emergence of Mark Lovett and his Global Patriot project. The idea – to spread patriotism globally. Take the love for your country and offer it to everyone – not a bad aim, in my book. Mark also presented three Music as Medicine concerts in support of Doctors Without Borders, and showed how music truly does bring us all together.
Darius Bashar. Hailing from my neck of the woods, Toronto native Darius Bashar is a man on an incredibly inspiring mission. Co-founder of the brilliant Daily Challenge initiative, Darius’s goal is simple – to use technology and the Internet to inspire people around the world to do good. Works for me.
Samantha Nutt. Founder and Executive Director of War Child Canada (12for12k’s first charity in 2009), Samantha Nutt is simply an amazing person. Tireless in her mission to help kids trapped in conflicts, she live tweeted from one particularly dangerous warzone earlier this year and shared the stories of the people affected. You need to know Samantha today.
Mark Horvath. Anyone that knows me will know I love Mark Horvath and what he does. His Invisible People blog is relentless at bringing the stories of the homeless to a wider audience, and he braves the streets of Los Angeles and beyond to offer a voice to the voiceless. One of life’s true heroes, Mark Horvath is someone I admire immensely.
Susan Murphy. I love people with passion, and they don’t come much more passionate than Susan Murphy. Her energy is boundless; her enthusiasm contagious. She’s a creator of stories and a sharer of personal wealth. She teaches kids how to be great. She lives life the way it’s meant to be lived. Simply put, Susan Murphy is showing us how to be amazing every day.
Nate St. Pierre. If there’s one person I feel a real affinity to even though we’ve never met, it’s Nate St. Pierre. Nate has a project called It Starts With Us, where his belief that real change around us is inside us comes to life. Nate is someone I believe is going to be a life and game changer in 2010 – make sure you hop on board early.
Gabe O’Neill. To me, our kids are the ones that we need to help grow and instill belief in if we want to become better people, and no-one epitomizes that like Gabe O’Neill. Co-founder of the amazing Kids Are Heroes project, Gabe inspires children to learn from each other and be inspired to create change and hope. Something us adults could learn a thing or two from.
Sasha H. Muradali. One of the amazingly talented Generation Y folks that I’m blessed to know, Sasha H. Muradali is an incredible individual. She wears many hats – PR, marketing, community manager, fashionista, awesome blogger – and is forever positive, no matter how down she may be personally. A bright glow in an often dull space, Sasha should be on your radar in 2010.
David Spinks. Another Gen Y superstar (what are these folks drinking?), David Spinks has been on my awesome list for a while. He’s one of the smartest minds around, he writes an excellent and thought-provoking blog, and he’s helping Scribnia become one of the best platforms around for bloggers and authors everywhere. Oh, and he also co-runs a great Under 30 Pro Twitter chat every week. Kudos, sir.
Amy Neumann. A veteran of the Internet and media industry for 15 years, Amy Neumann is much more. Continuously looking at ways to improve charity awareness and non-profit work, Amy takes the expertise of consulting with Fortune 500 companies and shares her smarts with non-profits. One of my favourite folks around.

So these are ten amazing people I feel you’d really benefit from knowing in 2010. But these are just ten among many more – who would be on your amazing list? Please feel free to leave your own recommendations in the comments.

I’ll be taking a break both tomorrow and Boxing Day, as I look to spend some much-needed time relaxing with loved ones. Hopefully you can join me again on Sunday December 27 when I share more Ten for 10 in 2010 goodies.

Cheers, and a very Merry Christmas to you!

The Best Day for Blogging is Thursday

Actually, as you can see from the time stamp, it’s not quite Thursday when this blog was posted. Yet according to quite a few blog posts themselves, this is the prime time to post your blog when it comes to catching the attention of visitors. Is this really the case, though? I’m not too sure.

Although I can see the logic behind this reasoning (and the charts highlighting traffic spikes for the time of day and actual weekday make a good argument), there are a few reasons why posting a blog at pretty much any time is just as beneficial.

One Can Make a Community

Unless your solitary goal for blogging is to see how much traffic you get, or how many subscribers you have, then there’s no real reason for favoring a particular day to post.

Agreed, if your blog is a business-oriented one, then perhaps it is more useful to post from the beginning to the middle of the week.

However, if you’re simply writing a blog to share your views and hopefully connect with others that share similar and open up a thread of discussion, then any day of the week is good enough. Even if you only receive one visitor/commenter, that’s someone you’ve touched with your post and surely that’s reward enough for blogging?

Besides, there are also wonderful social media tools like Stumbleupon, Reddit, Sphinn and others that can bring you passive traffic for the virtual lifetime of your post. Add in the sharing aspects of Twitter and Facebook, and services like them, and you can see a blog post can live long after the initial publish date.

Roads? Where We’re Going We Don’t Need No Roads!

A quote from one of my favorite movie trilogies – Back to the Future – it also sums up why posting any day you wish is fine (in a roundabout kind of way – bear with me). When you write and post a blog, it’s present only for you and everyone else in your particular timezone. Anyone else is either a future or past reader.

For instance, I’m originally from the UK but I now live in Burlington, Canada. There’s a difference of 5 hours between the two places (the UK is ahead of Canada). So, anything I write could potentially be read on a completely different day, yet still at the immediate point of posting. So, I write a post at 8.00pm on Saturday night, and someone in the UK would read it at 1.00am on Sunday morning.

Take into account the likes of Australia, Asia and other places even further afield, and you can see that what might be a prime time for one country is already in the past (or yet to come) for another. Which kind of negates parts of the “ideal time to post” theory.

Of course, the whole time travel thing in Back to the Future always was a bit confusing to me, so maybe I’m just talking nonsense!

The point is – we blog because we like it. As I mentioned earlier, if it’s a business-minded blog then perhaps there should be certain days that a post is published. For the rest of us? Look at it this way – slow and steady might not win the race, but it certainly won’t lose it.

Write engaging content, communicate with your readers, share with the community and you’ll enjoy visitors and readers no matter what day of the week you write. And of course, always invite your readers to subscribe to your blog!

What say you – do you prefer posting at certain times or do you blog when the inspiration takes?

photo credit: andyp uk

Thank You

0216 Like any of the best innovations in life, social media doesn’t stand still.

Constantly evolving, always re-inventing itself to meet new challenges and overcome new detractors.

If you’re not careful, you can miss a lot of what’s going on. Like making new friends and acknowledging the fact, for example.

I’m guilty of that, I’m sorry to say – although in my defense, it’s not because I’m deliberately being a selfish jerk! Anyone that knows me would say I’m a reasonably nice guy (I hope, anyway!) and that I always try and show appreciation or support. Which makes me realize that I’ve neglected to thank people that deserve it – you.

Whether you follow me on?Twitter , or have me as a friend on Facebook, or subscribe to this blog you’re showing that, for whatever reason, you want to know me. Even if you just stop by here occasionally, you’re offering time from your day to see what I have to say – and I really appreciate that.

So, to anyone and everyone that has ever listened to anything I’ve said, Tweeted, written about or more and still keeps coming back for more –

Thank you.

I may not always reply, or get back to you as soon as I’d like to. But it doesn’t mean I’m not listening or reading. I truly appreciate your time and investment in anything I ever say. Here’s hoping I can keep making it worth your while.

Cheers!

photo credit: Cia de Foto