It’s stories like this one, on the front page of the New York Time, that put the “no shit?!” look on my face when someone tells me they’ve never heard of blogging.
Stories like this must make it a little harder for institutions and governmental bodies to deny access to bloggers. Not that the U.N. or the New York Times get much respect outside of The Big City. [Thanks, Henry]
A good blog is: personal, informative, timely, passionate, focused… and, yes, I do have an example in mind. Following excerpt is from yesterday post on Your Pet’s Best Friend:
“When we welcome a new client to our practice, part of the process is a questionnaire about their pet’s health history and environment. The last question is: “Do you consider your pet to be a member of the family?” and most people answer “Yes”. The human-animal bond is very strong. It’s very common for people to say that the pet is like a child to them. Cat-lovers often say that the cat owns them, rather than the other way around. Certainly many (most?) of us consider our pets as companions, as opposed to property. Thus it would seem that referring to ourselves as the “guardians” of our pets is just a nice way of saying how we really feel. [Trade Secret: the real key question is “Where does your pet sleep?”]”
If you come across what you believe is a better vet blog, send me the link.
This is pretty close to home but I’m proud to report that our CEO writes pretty much everything he posts to his blog. He might ask me to add an image to one of his posts if he’s on the road, but nobody is ghosting his blog.
“The 2008 election is already shaping up to be the most cyber-savvy presidential contest in the brief history of the Web. Now three major Web sites — Yahoo Elections 2008, The Huffington Post, and Slate — have announced that they will collectively host two online-only debates, one for the announced Democratic candidates and one for Republicans.
The debates will allow the candidates to participate wherever they are located around the country. Each will appear on live video, and will be able to speak to and question the other candidates through the online connection.
The debate will also be uniquely interactive for the audience. Viewers will be able to submit both written and video questions in real-time, and can blog their responses to the candidates’ answers.
The idea of hosting a virtual presidential debate was the brainchild of conservative-turned-liberal-pundit Arianna Huffington, who saw the potential for an online forum while at the World Economic Forum in Davos. That event was covered by both traditional journalists and bloggers.” — Yahoo! News
So, I can be sitting in the Coffee Zone in beautiful downtown Jefferson City (slurping Rocket Fuel)… record a 30 second question and zap the the video clip to the debate site…and see my question (and candidate responses) 5 minutes later. Or, watch what hundreds (thousands?) of bloggers are saying, about what the candidates are saying, in real time. Okay, that’s only cool to bloggers.
I find most TV debates to be a waste of everyone’s time. But I might watch/take part in something like this.
Planet Nelson points to Jott: “…is a free service (to the extent that your cell can call anywhere in North America for free) that allows you to dictate a 30-second message into your phone and then have it sent as a text email to a friend/colleague/self/offending politician/anyone whose email address is in your Jott address book.”
From Jott.com: “Using Jott, yoau can either Jott your blog directly or just jott yourself and post later. Better yet, your readers can listen to you too — a great way to connect?”
If I understand this correctly… a news reporter could be posting audio and text reports directly from their mobile phone to their blog. And given the evolving definition of “reporter,” this tool could be used by anyone, whether they went to J-School or not.
Update: Jamie at Planet Nelson Jott’ed back on this post. The voice-to-text was close. “Blogroll” became “blog rule” and “Gnomedex” showed up as “noon desk.” But pretty slick all the same.
The headline of a blog post is arguably as important as the post itself. Digg points us to this handy list at copyblogger:
1. No Reader Benefit – Ask yourself “what’s in it for them?” If the headline doesn’t tell you, it’s missing a benefit.
2. Lack of Curiosity – Does your headline make you have to know what the promised answer is? Use questions, numbers, challenges and statements that compel the prospective reader to explore the beneficial content you’re offering.
3. Lack of Specificity – Use variations of the “list” headline, use words like “this,” “these,” “here is” and “here are” to refer specifically to your content, and also use hard numbers and exact percentages when appropriate.
4. Lack of Simplicity – Stick to one concept, eliminate unnecessary words, and use familiar language.
5. No Sense of Urgency – Check to see that items 1-4 above are truly present. If so, try reworking the headline to make it more compelling without stepping too far into hyperbole. If all else fails, examine the premise of the content itself. Is it really “need to know” information?
One of my blogging sermonettes is the importance of having an established blog (and readership) before you need it. Once the shit has hit the fan, you can’t run down the hall to the IT department and shout, “Quick! We need a blog!”
If you have a credible blog in place, you can respond to and comment on topics as they arise. A good example of this is “Your Pet’s Best Friend,” a blog written by my old Kennett buddy Dr. T. Everett Mobley.
Like vets all across the country, his clients are concerned about contaminated pet food. He’s been posting short updates with links to other websites and just generally letting his readers know what’s happening.
Everett is not our vet but I know him and trust him and I’ll be checking his blog to get his take on this situation. As far as I know, none of the Jeff City vets have blogs. Missed opportunity.
The “West Virginia” printed on the shirts players wore after winning the NIT title with a 78-73 victory over Clemson on Thursday night is missing the last “i” in “Virginia.” WVU sports information director Shelly Poe said the NIT printed the shirts.
Embarrassing? Maybe a little for the NIT. But certainly not for West Virginia. Their accomplishment is in no way diminished. But it will get a little ink for a day or two.
If I were the Resident Blogger for West Virginia Athletics, I would be having some fun with this.
Blogging lemonade.
Disclosure: The company I work for handles multi-media marketing for Clemson.
Henry says I first mentioned blogging to him in 2003. He let the idea percolate for a while and emailed me last weekend to say he was ready to start blogging (he’s a thoughtful guy). I stopped by his office a couple of days later for my Are You Ready to Blog lecture. By the time I left, Henry had lost his blog virginity and had a couple of posts up at HealthCareFineArt.com.
Along with his medical practice, Henry has built a very successful business creating digital images for the health care industry.
Where was I? I remember. While Henry has a beautiful website, he had concluded a blog would be a valuable addition. People he knows and trusts warned him “this blog thing” might be a distraction. And he came to Dr. Steve for a second opinion.
Aside: Have I mentioned smays’ theory that the first 48 hours are critical in the life of a new blog? At the end of two days you’ll wind up with one, sad little “toe in the water” post… or a dozen or so posts.
I’m proud to report Dr. D. comes down solidly in Column B. He is off…and..running. And, like all good blogs, he has focus. He’s writing for and about the health care fine art space (the oxygen is thin up there).
Like all natural bloggers, he didn’t need much help. He came armed with passion, creativity and something to say. And he hasn’t stopped saying it. He is… empowered!
(Throw up the Prediction graphic)
A year from now, a Google search for “health care fine art” will take you to Henry’s blog. Comments are open, so if I’m wrong… I want to hear about it.
If any smays.com readers with blog want to give Henry a little link love, he’ll appreciate it and so will I.
Last night I posted about one of the speakers at a statewide child abuse conference that got underway here in Jefferson City on Wednesday.
Jan Hindman has served on the advisory board of the National Resource Center on Child Sexual Abuse, the National Network for Juvenile Sex Offenders, and she is currently a member of the Oregon Attorney General’s Sexual Assault Task Force. She is also the past president of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers, as well as being an author of numerous publications and a national trainer, lecturer, and consultant.
Today I had occasion to google “Jan Hindman” and came up with 551 results. As I scanned down the list, I discovered that my post here on smays.com was #48.
I am not all that knowledgable about Google ranking, but that a blog post (on a site with modest traffic) could could show up in the top 10% of the rankings in less than 24 hours says something about the power of blogs.
Update (3/17/07): For some reason my post is no longer showing up in that Google search. As Roseanne Roseannadana used to say, “Never mind.”
Correction courtesy of Bass (3/19/07): Emily Litella said, “Never Mind.” Roseanne Rosannadanna said, “What are you trying to do, make me sick?” Both played by Gilda Radner.