The author of the book The Social Media Bible has put up his Ten Commandments of Social Media over at the Fast Company Web site. Here's the very first one:
Commandments 1. Thou Shalt Blog (like crazy)
Blog. Please. That's the first priority. Set up a blog, a personal blog, a business blog. It's easier than you think. Use an existing blogging site such as Blogger.com or GOingOn.com or install your own branded blogging site right on your own server by using WordPress. And, WordPress is free.
It's interactive, it's more or less permanent, and it represents exactly what you want to say. The hardest part is doing it on a regular basis, so people keep coming back. Any business that wants to maintain a continuous relationship with its customers should really look into keeping a blog.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
A Thought for Memorial Day
I have never been able to think of the day as one of mourning; I have never quite been able to feel that half-masted flags were appropriate on Decoration Day. I have rather felt that the flag should be at the peak, because those whose dying we commemorate rejoiced in seeing it where their valor placed it. We honor them in a joyous, thankful, triumphant commemoration of what they did. ~Benjamin Harrison, our 23rd President. Memorial Day was known as Decoration Day until after World War II.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Watch What You Say
One of the great things about blogging is that it can be instantaneous, off the cuff, a response to what's happening in the real world in real time. But that spontaneity also has a downside, if you're not careful.
According to the Wall Street Journal, in 2007, there were 106 civil lawsuits against bloggers and others in social networks and online forums, up from just 12 in 2003. The Media Law Resource Center in New York, a nonprofit clearinghouse that tracks free-speech cases, says that there have been about $17.4 million in trial awards against bloggers.
Remember, blogging is publishing. The same rules of libel and defamation apply in the blogosphere that would apply to any newspaper. So be spontaneous, but don't be reckless.
According to the Wall Street Journal, in 2007, there were 106 civil lawsuits against bloggers and others in social networks and online forums, up from just 12 in 2003. The Media Law Resource Center in New York, a nonprofit clearinghouse that tracks free-speech cases, says that there have been about $17.4 million in trial awards against bloggers.
Remember, blogging is publishing. The same rules of libel and defamation apply in the blogosphere that would apply to any newspaper. So be spontaneous, but don't be reckless.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Blogroll
A blogger over at Seeking Alpha, a top-notch investment site, has put together a list of his favorite financial blogs. I would list them here, but there are several dozen of them, on topics ranging from European economics to Cacluated Risk, the blog that has done the best job of covering the housing and subprime stories here in the U.S.
Seeking Alpha itself is a very worthwhile site as well. If you're not already clicking over there regularly, I highly recommend it.
Seeking Alpha itself is a very worthwhile site as well. If you're not already clicking over there regularly, I highly recommend it.
Friday, May 15, 2009
The Kindle News
The next major platform for blog readers appears to be Amazon's Kindle, which has announced a new program for uploading and publishing blog posts. There's no charge to bloggers for having their material distributed, but Amazon plans to charge readers - prices haven't been announced, but speculation is that it will be something like $1.99 a month per blog.
I generally trust that Amazon knows what it's doing, which is why this comes as a significant step for the world of blogging. If Amazon thinks people will be willing to pay to read a blog, they must have evidence that they're considered pretty popular and valuable.
Now that doesn't mean people will be willing to pay to read the kinds of marketing blogs we handle here at Triton. But it does mean that blogs have become a regular, accepted and even necessary part of people's online reading habits.
If people are willing to pay to read a blog, don't you think they might be likely to stop by and catch up on your blog - for free?
I generally trust that Amazon knows what it's doing, which is why this comes as a significant step for the world of blogging. If Amazon thinks people will be willing to pay to read a blog, they must have evidence that they're considered pretty popular and valuable.
Now that doesn't mean people will be willing to pay to read the kinds of marketing blogs we handle here at Triton. But it does mean that blogs have become a regular, accepted and even necessary part of people's online reading habits.
If people are willing to pay to read a blog, don't you think they might be likely to stop by and catch up on your blog - for free?
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Don't Start a Blog?
I thought this was an interesting piece of advice from a Web site that handles PR for Managed Service Providers:
Over and over again, I warn MSPs not to launch corporate blogs. The reason: Most of the blogs turn into content graveyards because MSPs don’t have time to update the sites.
That gets at one of the issues we strive to avoid here at Triton. It's hard to update a blog every day. It's hard to know what to write about, and it's hard to find the time to write up your thoughts coherently and concisely.
But when you let Triton handle your blog, you get fresh, informative items posted every single weekday. Clients will never find your information stale and out of date. Each time they click on your site, they will find something new to read.
That's how you keep people coming back. Let us show you what we can do for you.
Over and over again, I warn MSPs not to launch corporate blogs. The reason: Most of the blogs turn into content graveyards because MSPs don’t have time to update the sites.
That gets at one of the issues we strive to avoid here at Triton. It's hard to update a blog every day. It's hard to know what to write about, and it's hard to find the time to write up your thoughts coherently and concisely.
But when you let Triton handle your blog, you get fresh, informative items posted every single weekday. Clients will never find your information stale and out of date. Each time they click on your site, they will find something new to read.
That's how you keep people coming back. Let us show you what we can do for you.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Tell It to the King
The latest person to get into trouble over his blogging is none other than CNN talk show host Larry King. King keeps a blog on the CNN Web site, even though a couple of years ago he said that he never goes on the Internet at all.
Now, blogs borrow material from other sites all the time, but it is considered kosher to always provide an attribution. Larry (or someone calling himself Larry) apparently has been putting up posts from other sites without any indication that it came from anywhere else. That's a no-no.
Everyone realizes that everything on the Internet is linked to everything else. There's no problem with that. But if you do, give credit where credit is due.
Now, blogs borrow material from other sites all the time, but it is considered kosher to always provide an attribution. Larry (or someone calling himself Larry) apparently has been putting up posts from other sites without any indication that it came from anywhere else. That's a no-no.
Everyone realizes that everything on the Internet is linked to everything else. There's no problem with that. But if you do, give credit where credit is due.
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