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The Digg Nation Not My Blog Log Community

June 24, 2007 By 3 Comments

digg A couple of days ago, Tris wrote a blog post for the b5Media blog he writes for at Pimp Your Work, and the post made it to page 1 of Digg.  In that post he did a link to this site as an example of how to  do an email signature.  As a result, the all the people at Digg also came to this site following the link.  The mention caused us to get approximately 100 people an hour visiting the blog.

I followed along with the spike in traffic and looked a little at where the people that were coming to the site were coming from and looking at patterns.  I checked the analytics, and was wondering if this increased our subscribers or perhaps whether it made for more readers that would return. 

mybloglog Finally, I looked over at the My Blog Log widget in our sidebar and it dawned on me that the visitors it showed had not changed for most of the day.  Those of you that know how that widget works, when you visit a site with the widget installed, and you are also a member of the My Blog Log community, your avatar shows in the widget.  I explain this because with hundreds of new visitors that day, none of them were members of My Blog Log.  This meant that the people at Digg (what we call the Digg Nation) are not also members of the My Blog Log Community.

This makes me wonder if people go with one social network and stay with that network, not also belonging to other groups.  Do people go with Facebook and not also go with MySpace?  If you use one tool do you not always use a competitor tool?  One thing for sure, with all of those visitors, if they had been My Blog Log members, that widget would have been smoking.

 

Filed Under: Blog Metrics, Blog Mining, Blog Tools, Blogs and PR, Findability, Marketing, Media, Social Media

Mediasphere Radio: Beginning Blogging 101

June 8, 2007 By Leave a Comment

Tris and I had a great time talking about how a business or individuals can get into blogging. We talk about the very basics and things to think about and tips on how to get your company up and blogging.

You can go and listen to the show!

Tags: , Bloggers For Hire, , , Hiring Bloggers, , Mediasphere Radio, One By One Media, Professional Bloggers, , , Tris Hussey

Filed Under: Advertising, Blog Consulting, Blog Metrics, Blog Mining, Blog Platforms, Blog Revenue, Blog Tools, Bloggers and Blogs, Bloggers For Hire, Blogging News, Blogonomics, Blogs and PR, Business Blogging, Client Sites, Corporate Blogs, Findability, Marketing, Media, Mediasphere Radio, Search Engine Optimization, Services, Social Media, The Site

Continuation of yesterday’s show: more on linky love to advertisers

May 30, 2007 By 4 Comments

Andy Beard left this awesome comment one the post announcing the show yesterday (if you’d like to listen to the show–listen to Shel Israel really–I have the show archived here):

I caught the end of the show and then listened to the recording.

I would love to know what you guys think of

1. People thanking their advertisers with followable links
2. People frequently tell me I undercharge for the amount of time and effort I put into all my reviews, so that would make any links I supply in a review purely editorial (which is what I firmly believe) – I write my reviews partially as a kind of consultancy, but also to demonstrate that compensated reviews can be high quality, whether compensated by affiliate sales or by a direct payment.
3. Free software which is monetized by the links (many notable Open Source Projects)
4. Providing links to people who pay you a retainer as a consultant. When you get someone like Rand Fishkin mentioning a few of his clients in a blog post and deliberately (that is what it seems to me) not including a link to them, then policies on linking really need to be specifically clarified on a blog that doesn?t have a legal disclaimer
5. Links from charities where you donate
6. Other forms of donations to people who decide to give you a link back

Everything about the discussion was very much “black & white” whereas in fact there are so many shades of grey that are perfectly acceptable, and actually in many ways darker than a comprehensive review written for some kind of compensation.

Does a company like Hewlett Packard or Universal Music Group really need to buy links for SEO, or is it really just for Buzz?

I told Andy in a comment that his comment was worth a post of its own, so without further ado…

Andy is bang on, these issues are not black and white. We covered this complex issue in about 20 minutes and didn’t have alternate points of view on for discussion. Can we do that? You freakin’ bet we can!

This might be a post where Jim and I don’t agree 100% (which is good), but IMHO I don’t have a problem with, and often do, thank advertisers with a link in a post and we (Jim and I) do link to clients. Part of it is SEO, but a lot of it is so you can visit their blog! Same for charities. If I support them, I link to them. Again I’m not thinking about an SEO benefit, I’m thinking about people finding the charity. This is probably why I didn’t even think about PPP posts being Google gaming bait.

I agree Andy, I think the cost to a company for a review is pretty paltry. Heck if I’m given a piece of software for free I’ll review it. A free copy doesn’t buy me or a good review, but I will take the time to give it a good shot. I don’t think a review on one of my blogs is equal, though, to one on yours Andy, so … well maybe I’m priced about right.

I also don’t mind links in free software in lieu of paying. Now, the bigger question is whether or not they work. That I don’t know.

As for large companies…no they don’t need the SEO, buzz, sure, SEO no. Frankly the big companies have the budgets and connections to get stuff in our hands.

I’m sure this post will bring up more questions than it answers, but hey that’s a good thing of course. If we need to do the next radio show on this topic again … so be it.

Update: Lots of great comments on this post (as I had hoped). Connected Internet poses more questions on this topic as well. One thread is why not go direct instead of through TLA or PPP:

I really can’t see the logic of signing up to the scheme. If an advertiser has decided based upon looking at your site that they want to buy a review, then why not just do the deal directly and keep all the money? By all means keep your site listed in the PPP directory so that you don’t miss out on any potential reviews that might come in via that route, but I really think that any advertising sales generated via your site should be done directly. If you’ve generated the sales lead directly, then why pay commission?

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Filed Under: Bloggers and Blogs, Blogs and PR, Media, Mediasphere Radio, Professional Blogging, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media

Blogging, social media, communications, and corporations–More advice for a grad student

May 28, 2007 By 1 Comment

Joe Thornley got this request for help from a grad student:

Hello Mr. Thornley,

My name is Leah and I am a graduate student at xxx University in
yyy and I am writing a research paper about blogging. … My
research is exploring the use of blogging as a useful social facilitator
between the media(community) and organizations. …

I would love to know how you view the use of blogs in terms of importance in
the communication between businesses and corporations and the media. Has it
greatly helped? Some corporations have had some embarrassing mishaps with
the use of blogs (ex. wal-mart), how can this be prevented? Why should
corporations still consider the use of blogs despite their fears? If a
corporation is considering the development of a blog, what things should be
taken into consideration?

If you could provide some insight into any of these questions that would be
wonderful. …

Sincerely,
Leah H.

Having been a grad student, and having asked similar questions to my scientific peers during that time, I feel for the woman. And since Joe asked for all of our help in expanding on what he said, well I said I’d give it a shot–just not within the constraints of a comment box. I actually offered to e-mail it, but eh, I’m in a blogging mood right now so I’m going to run with that.

Like Joe pointed out considering just blogs in this question too tight a constraint. I’d expand, as he did, to just say “social media”. Blogs, podcasts, video blogs, livecasting, social networks (Facebook, etc).

The whole “why” questions is a really good one. Pretty similar to the “why do we need a website” a few years ago. Essentially the why is this is how we are communicating with each other. People like to connect and communicate, marketers know this and have been following new communications media for centuries. Imagine this conversation: “I’ve heard about this new ‘newspaper’ thing. Some that guy Ben Franklin has a new one going and he wants to know if we want to have a little bit about our company in it. It’s just a fad, he’s crazy…”

Fine, I’m playing a little fast and loose with historical facts. I was an anthro major, not a history major, cut me some slack. You get my point though, right? The “why” isn’t because this is the cool, new thing, it’s because looking over the past five years the trend has been more and more information online. The trend in the last three has been the opening of the social conversation between companies and customers. If you aren’t participating in the conversation, and even listening counts, you’re going to miss out on an amazing realm of information and knowledge.

Now the preventing mistakes. Well, firstly, you can’t. Sorry, it’s going to happen. We’re people, we goof. It’s in our nature as much as it is to communicate. Now you can lessen the “doh!” factor by listening to the conversations in the social media space. Listening lets you get a feel for the social norms in the social media sphere, who the influencers are in your niche, and maybe most importantly, who to call when you need help.

Leah, I hope this answers more of your questions.

 

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Filed Under: Blogs and PR, Business Blogging, Corporate Blogs, Mediasphere Radio, Social Media

Where.com Secures $11M Funding and a New Blogger

May 21, 2007 By Leave a Comment

We are proud to announce that a new client of ours, uLocate Communications, recently received an $11 Million round of funding through Venrock, Grand Banks Capital and Kodiak Venture Partners, and they will be using that funding to further their new and exciting mobile platform at Where.com. In addition to the funding, One By One Media and Bloggers For Hire will be providing them a professional blogger to jump into the Where.com application and use it as a consumer and to post about his experiences and thoughts on the application.  Where.com’s platform is very exciting, as is stated from the press release:

WHERE is the first application development platform that addresses the major challenges facing developers and operators in the mobile application landscape. Built on the same framework that powers MapQuestâ„¢ FindMe and Helio’sâ„¢ Buddy Beacon, WHERE delivers the promise of marrying mobile technology with GPS. As a result, consumers have a wealth of content to choose from, effectively personalizing their mobile GPS experience. WHERE helps you find the people, places and things that matter to you.

Walt Doyle, CEO and President of uLocate is also a participating blogger which makes this company a very forward thinking company that I expect great things from them anbd not just because they have chosen our company to assist them in their blogging efforts, that’s was just a bonus.  They understand the power of blogging and want to expose their platform to as many developers and other consumers as possible.  They understand the communication tool that blogging provides and have implemented their online plans to include this powerful tool.  This company is going places, and I’m glad we get to be a part of it.  For further info you can see the full press release.  Follow along and see how Where.com will rock your mobile experience.

Tags: uLocate Communications, , , Kodiak Venture Partners, Where.com, One By One Media, Bloggers For Hire, , , Helio’s Buddy Beacon, , , Walt Doyle, , , CEO Blogs

Filed Under: Advertising, Blog Consulting, Blog Tools, Bloggers For Hire, Blogging News, Blogs and PR, Business Blogging, Client Sites, Corporate Blogs, Findability, Marketing, Media, Professional Blogging, Search Engine Optimization, Services

One By One Media Enters The Social Mediasphere

May 16, 2007 By Leave a Comment

Last week I was interviewed on Blog Talk Radio, and Tris has now had a discussion on WebPro News via video.  It seems that we here at One By One Media have made the cross over into what we are calling the Social Mediasphere. 

We have decided since we are doing more and more with the Web 2.0 tools out there and are trying and mastering new techniques for joining the new revolution of tools for marketing advertising and PR for our clients, to also begin our own Social Media show over at Blogonomics.net. We are just now in the early stages, but we will be doing a weekly podcast of the happenings in the social media area, and will be doing live casting of events and other fun things.  Please take a moment to bookmark the site or add it to your feeds and we will be delivered to you when the site is up and running

Tags: , Tris Hussey, WebPro News, One By One Media, Social Mediasphere, , , , , , , ,

Filed Under: Advertising, Blog Consulting, Blog Tools, Bloggers and Blogs, Blogging News, Blogs and PR, Marketing, Media, Services

PRWeb Blog This … close but not quite

May 15, 2007 By 2 Comments

From 901am:

PRWeb, an online press release distribution newswire and a Vocus company, announced the launch of “BlogThis,” a new social media tool enabling bloggers to easily post and comment on PRWeb press releases in their blogs.

Part of PRWeb’s growing social media toolset, “BlogThis” leverages the growing influence of Web 2.0 technologies to provide additional online visibility for PRWeb press releases. Bloggers can link their PRWeb account to their personal blog, providing a shortcut to post commentary on PRWeb news releases to their blog.

PRWeb has made a half-step, IMHO, with their new “blog this” feature on press releases. While I think it’s a great idea, having to create a PRWeb account to use it, well I’m just not into that. How could it be better? What about what YouTube and others do, offer a link to use in your post? Maybe a handy snippet of code that has the link they’d like bloggers to use (so they can track interest in the release) plus the excerpt or something. Why we have to sign up for yet another account that we have to remember the username, e-mail address used, and password for is beyond me. Really I’m tired of signing up for new communities and networks. I think I’m only get a bit out of the ones I’m on (like Facebook and LinkedIn) so I’m loathe to add more.

If PRWeb was really trying to “get” Web 2.0 and social media, I think they might have tapped a few bloggers for their opinion on their blog this feature. Ah well, maybe they will change their minds soon enough.

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Filed Under: Bloggers and Blogs, Blogs and PR

Catch Jim talking to the Blog Squad about Pro blogging

May 6, 2007 By Leave a Comment

Over the winter (when I had no power and there was a ton of snow on the ground) I chatted with Denise and Patsi about blog SEO, now it’s Jim’s turn.

Blogging and Beyond with The Blog Squad, Patsi Krakoff, Psy. D., and Denise Wakeman
With Guest Expert: Jim Turner, One By One Media

Bloggers for Hire: An Emerging Profession
Thursday, May 10th 2007
3:00 p.m. PT (6 p.m. ET) 

Source: Blogging and Beyond: Bloggers for Hire: An Emerging Profession

Jim is very proud, and rightly so, of what he’s built in B4H (that’s Bloggers For Hire).  It’s been Jim’s dream and baby.  I’ve been along for the ride for a long time.  Jim is going to dispute this and downplay his role and play up mine, but Jim has vision.  Jim “gets it”.

You want to hear someone passionate about what lies ahead on the blogosphere?  Listen in on Thursday.  Yeah, I’ll listen too … wouldn’t miss it.

 

Filed Under: Bloggers and Blogs, Blogs and PR, Marketing, Media, Professional Blogging

The New Digg Effect – What This Means For Social Media

May 2, 2007 By 3 Comments

After watching the story unfold about the blog post that appeared on Digg that was dugg over 15,000 times and appeared on page one of Digg.  The Digg Effect as it has become known is a phrase given when this phenomena occurs.  Many times if a story becomes popular enough it will appear on page 1 of Digg and the result is traffic soaring to the point of bringing most servers to their knees and crashing many sites.  This Digg Effect has taken on new meaning for me since seeing the resulting revolution that unfolded.

For me, the "New Digg Effect" is the power of social networks and communities.  This can be used for good or for bad actually.  In my opinion, posting something on a site that breaks the law or goes against a terms of service rules can be a very bad thing.  Mob rule takes over in this new action.  This is not necessarily unique in the instance of Digg, but its popularity was shown and the number of people that can influence an outcome was apparent here.  As I read a comment by Paul Montgomery at Tech Crunch it came clear to me that this could be a New Digg Effect:

I agree with the users on this one. They win. I just wish they could turn their power on some issue that actually mattered. (emphasis added)

That made me think of the power that social networks and communities could wield in other areas. The viral effect of this new medium.  It made me think of things like the Amber Alert System, and then I began to think of the power a mob could have on a Presidential election in online communities.  I’m not sure if the New Digg Effect has me running scared at this point or in awe how quickly something can travel from shore to shore and continent to continent when a group wants something accomplished.   Social Media and the online communities carry a new torch at this point.  Like Paul Montgomery said, let’s use this New Digg Effect for something that really matters.

Filed Under: Advertising, Blog Consulting, Blog Mining, Blog Platforms, Blog Tools, Bloggers and Blogs, Blogging News, Blogs and Law, Blogs and Politics, Blogs and PR, Business Blogging, Findability, Marketing, Media

A CEO Blog shouldn’t be ghostwritten, sorry Debbie

April 30, 2007 By 5 Comments

Ghostwriting of CEO blogs.  I though we put this one to bed a while ago, but I guess not.  Okay, it seems that from Debbie’s post that some people think it’s okay and pretty much the rest of the Blogosphere disagrees.

I know CEOs are busy people, but they still manage to send e-mails to their VPs and such.  That’s why Blackberries were invented.  Once post a week, maybe two, that would be great.  Don’t have time to put in the links?  No problem, fine have your admin do that.  No biggie.  The idea of a CEO blog is that it’s an inside look in the the company.  Not a filtered view of the inside look into the company.

I could never write with the perspective of the CEO and get it bang on.  I’d miss the subtle tone and style that makes that person interesting.  I don’t care how good a ghostwriter you might be, you are still a filter.  Your persceptions will still colour the outcome.  Sorry it’s basic quantum physics and a little anthropology/sociology theory thrown in for good measure.

Eric Eggertson takles this topic as well, not at the level of the CEO, more at the level of “should your PR firm write your blog”.  Umm, no.  Bad idea.  Anyone who is paid to make you look good and put the best spin on bad news for you isn’t going to be a good blogger for you.  There are awesome PR bloggers out there.  I know lots, Eric is one, Steve Rubel, Joe Thornley, Jeremy Pepper.  But I dont’ think, I hope they wouldn’t, blog for their clients.  They might help their clients blog.  Coaches the blogger and such, but writing? Nope.

The central issue here is one of perspective and transparency.  Transparency, well I’m not going to go there, we know the drill, okay?  Perspective is the important matter.  That feeling, that passion, that insight.  That is was makes the difference between a good blog and a great blog.  You can’t get that from a ghostwriter.  Personally, I think you’d be better off finding a sharp lower-level person on the company, or better several, to contribute to the blog.  Make it a company blog, sure the CEO will chime in a couple times as week maybe, but the rest of the time, show off the amazing people you have in your company.  Let them tell the world about their passion for what they do.

I think you’ll be happy with the results.  Acutally, I know you will be.

 

Filed Under: Blogs and PR, Business Blogging, Corporate Blogs
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