ViaPress

Microblogging | A Lifestyle for Some

Do you know anyone like Amanda Mooney? With the popularity of Twitter, and other microblogging services and social networks, it appears there may be millions. But how do you decide which service(s) to use or find the time to monitor and maintain them all?  For me it comes down to two basic questions:

1. Where are my family, friends, and colleagues?
2. What services work for me?

Basically, the microblogging service or social network has to allow for quick and easy use. This includes being able to utilize text messaging, mobile and internet (which most, if not all provide). Mobile web is becoming more important to me as I find that I interact on these services a majority of the time using my phone.

At this time, I am only using Facebook, Twitter (I know it is down a lot) and BrightKite on a consistent basis. These three services meet my above criteria - a vast majority of my family, friends and colleagues are there. Plus, all three are easy to use (at least the way I use them) with the ability to access and update either on the web, mobile web or text.

Yeah, I have accounts with a number of the other services (Pownce, Friendfeed, Plurk) but they do not meet my above criteria to warrant consistent use. At least not at this time...

How do you determine which service is right for you?

Read the Newsweek article: Microblogging: Twitter and Other Blogging Tools

Tweet, Tweet'l, Twitter Oh My! | A Tiny Tip

It seems everyone is all a twitter with, uh, Twitter (yeah I know that was pretty lame). It is great for quick updates about what you are doing or experiencing in the moment, as well as sharing information via URLs.

Now I haven't shared many URLs in my "tweets" (see left sidebar of this blog - Twitter Updates) mainly because it takes up characters from the 140 character limit for Twitter. And I need those characters for my sarcastic remarks. To save characters (as many users of Twitter do), you can shorten the URLs with services like Tweet'l or TinyURL. Both are free, as well as quick and easy to use.

Viaspire at BlogWorld - Mark Cuban Gives Closing Keynote

Mark Cuban gave the Closing Keynote at BlogWorld 2007. As I mentioned in my earlier post on ViasBlog, "Mark Cuban to Give Keynote at BlogWorld", I was interested to see and hear the real Mark Cuban. I subscribe to his blog, but don't read it religiously. I have to say he was very down to earth. His perspective on blogging, not just personal but corporate and business blogging, appeared to resonate with everyone in the crowd. He was self-deprecating, provided cautionary tales about reckless blogging, and made a little fun of Bill O'Reilly (which a majority of the crowd applauded).

As I was listening, several guys I am following on Twitter also expressed there impression of Mark Cuban - "... he's down to earth and honest, great closing keynote."

All in all, Mark gave a very good keynote address and provided honest, insightful answers to conference attendee questions, and his selection as the closing keynote was appropo to end BlogWorld 2007.

Viaspire at BlogWorld - Understanding Analytics

Avinash Kaushik, author of  “Web Analytics: One Hour a Day”, breaks down analytics for websites and blogs at a level we can all understand (6th grade level actually) even if numbers scare you. Kaushik gave six steps for measuring your blog numbers, and more importantly, understanding the numbers.

What every blogger should measure:

• Raw Author Contribution (Do You Deserve to Succeed)
  • General Stats (Plugin for Wordpress)
  • Your contribution
  • How many posts you do
  • How many words
  • Look for your own trends
  • Not a measure of quality

• Audience Growth
  • Onsite (Audience builds gradually)
    • Google Analytics – Look at trends
    • Visits
    • Unique Visitors
    • Look at trends
  • Offsite
    • RSS
    • Feedburner Pro
    • Look at trends
  • Holistic
    • Compare and analyze offsite & onsite together
    • Look at unique blog readers (RSS & visitors to blog)
    • Some overlap
• Conversation Rate
  • He asks readers to share their perspective, etc. at the end of every post.
  • Conversation rate = # of visitor comments / # of posts
• Citations
  • Technorati
    • Measures all the other chatter related to your blog
    • Authority – number of unique blogs that link to you for the last six months
    • Rank – number of unique blog links (changes dynamically)
    • The intent and purpose of your blog will determine the importance for you of each of the different measurements
• Cost
  • Technology
  • Time
  • Opportunity Cost
• Benefit (ROI)
  • Comparative Value
    • Blog worth
    • Your blog is an asset you created
  • Non-traditional value
    • Your customers/visitors
  • Unquantifiable Value
    • Your own personal value for your blog

Please note: The above list consists of my notes and take-aways from Kaushik's presentation. I am confident the list contains the basic principles/ideas discussed by Kaushik, but is not a verbatim copy from his PowerPoint or presentation. For more information on analytics by Kaushik visit his blog Occam’s Razor and/or his book “Web Analytics: One Hour a Day.”

BlogWorld - Corporate & CEO Blogging

Debbie Weil moderates a panel on Corporate & CEO Blogging at BlogWorld. The panel included Jennifer Cisney of Kodak, Pete Johnson of HP, John Earnhardt of Cisco, and Paula Berg & Brian Lusk of Southwest.

New Media & Public Relations

(Re-formated)

Don Crowther of 101 Publications.com gave examples and 10 tactics of using "New Media" for public relations:

1. MySpace/Facebook pages

2. MySpace/Facebook Groups

3. LinkedIn

4. Video

5. Use Web PR Tools

6. Social Bookmarking Services      

7. Create Squidoo Lenses

8. Use Stumble Upon

9. Use other tools - Blogs, Wikis, etc.

10. Tie it all together

This is not to say you have to or should do or use all of these tactics and is merely a listing of different tactics. And it is not exhaustive. You have to determine what is appropriate for your business or interest and how any of these tactics can be undertaken and supported.

BlogWorld Starts Today - Executives & Entrepreneurs

The BlogWorld Conference kicks-off today with sessions geared toward executives and entrepreneurs. I will be blogging the entire conference, so look for my updates and thoughts on the sessions and parties. You can also follow me on Twitter.

Also just found out that Anil Dash (Six Apart) will be speaking on Friday. Plus Mark Cuban will be giving the closing Keynote that day as well.

Blog Action Day 2007 - It's A Wrap!

One day. One Issue.

20,603 Blogs Participated. 23,327 Blog Posts. 14,631,038 RSS Readers.

Visit blogactionday.org for more statistics, posts, press and quotes.

Blog Action Day! One Day. One Issue.

As we noted here last week, October 15, 2007 is Blog Action Day.

The environment was selected as the 2007 theme for Blog Action Day both for the clarity of its importance and the undeniable urgency that issues like global warming and pollution have. It is an issue that can relate to virtually any subject, any blog and anybody.

Here are a few Top 10 ways we can all do to help the environment, reduce global warming and save the environment:

Top Ten Things you can do to help the Environment
Population Connection

1. Choose a Fuel Efficient Vehicle

2. Eat Meat-Free Meals One Day a Week

3. Buy locally grown (organic, if you can get it) and produced Food

4. Choose an Energy Efficient home and appliances

5. Conserve Water

6. Support Car Free Alternatives and Use Them

7. Change your Bulbs

8. Have children when you are Ready and raise them to be Environmentally Aware

9. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

10. Get Involved.

Top 10 Things You Can Do to Reduce Global Warming
About.com: Environmental Issues

1. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

2. Use Less Heat and Air Conditioning

3. Change a Light Bulb

4. Drive Less and Drive Smart

5. Buy Energy-Efficient Products

6. Use Less Hot Water

7. Use the "Off" Switch

8. Plant a Tree

9. Get a Report Card from Your Utility Company

10. Encourage Others to Conserve.

Ten Things You Can Do to Help Save the Earth
HowStuffWorks.com

1. Pay attention to how you use water.

2. Leave your car at home.

3. Walk or ride your bike to work, school and anywhere you can.

4. Recycle.

5. Compost. 

6. Change your light bulbs.

7. Make your home more energy efficient (and save money).

8. Maintain your car. 

9. Drive smarter.

10.Turn off lights when you're not in the room and unplug appliances when you're not using them.

Blog Action Day on October 15, 2007

Monday, October 15, 2007 is Blog Action Day.

One day. One Issue. Thousands of bloggers.

In its inaugural year, Blog Action Day is tackling the issue of the environment.

The environment was selected as the 2007 theme both for the clarity of its importance and the undeniable urgency that issues like global warming and pollution have. It is an issue that can relate to virtually any subject, any blog and anybody.

Bloggers can participate on Blog Action Day in one of two ways:

1. Publish a post on their blog which relates to an issue of their own choice pertaining to the environment.
   
   For example: A blog about money might write about how to save around the home by using environmentally friendly ideas. Similarly a blog about politics might examine what weight environmental policy holds in the political arena.
   
   Posts do not need to have any specific agenda, they simply need to relate to the larger issue in whatever way suits the blogger and readership. Our aim is not to promote one particular viewpoint, only to push the issue to the table for discussion.


2. Commit to donating their day’s advertising earnings to an environmental charity of their choice. There is a list of "official" Blog Action Day charities on the site, however bloggers are also free to choose an alternate environmental charity to donate to if they wish.

It only takes one post. Get involved. Register your blog to participate. We did, along with thousands of other bloggers.