Business Blogging Tips

BloggerBase Can Help Find New Readers and Earn You Money

derrick sorles — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 18:06:00 GMT

BloggersBase provides a discovery platform for bloggers, user-generate-content and readers alike. This platform takes the form of an online magazine spanning various topics, each implemented as a multi-authored blog, moderated by algorithm-enhanced crowd wisdom. Their magazine introduces a brand new concept of citizen-journalism, using powerful analytics and unique algorithms.

Bloggers - your audience is here!

Get discovered & monetize on your talent on BloggersBase!
Compete and become a part of an exclusive club of elite professional bloggers!

Readers - Find high quality content that interests YOU to read and watch!
Make a difference by ranking and controlling the content that gets exposed!
Earn recognition for your expertise and gain social status!

CHECK IT OUT! BLOGGER BASE

Free How to Do Social Media Marketing Webinar with Chris Abraham and Sally Falkow

derrick sorles — Wed, 13 May 2009 18:48:00 GMT

Sorry for the short notice. Sally Falkow and Chris Abraham are going to co-present a free webinar tomorrow, Thursday, May 14, on the subject of digital PR, social media marketing, and blogger relations. This event is at 1PM Eastern time and 10AM Pacific time and you need to register in advance.

How to Do Social Media Marketing:
Bloggers, Social Networks, Metrics, and More

Hear Sally Falkow of Expansion Plus and Chris Abraham of Abraham Harrison talk about the best practices in social media marketing.

Not only is social media marketing the hottest thing in marketing, it may well also be the most effective marketing tool available to anyone doing any form of outreach.The meteoric rise of twitter and the slower but just as large groundswell of blogging have combined to shake communications of all kinds to the core.

But social media marketing isn’t monolithic and it covers a lot of ground. There is no one-size-fits-all solution. But there are best practices, there are tools and tricks and techniques to achieve greater success. Sign up for this webinar to find out how to:

~    use twitter wisely and well
~    reach out effectively to bloggers
~    drive success with social networks
~    combine fronts to multiply your success
~    get your audience to help you reach out
~    measure and understand your success (and failure)
~    Plus many more techniques to help you master social media

Speakers
Sally Falkow is a veteran of the PR industry. She has since translated her experience in marketing, PR and communication to the Internet. Her main interest is in the shift in media consumption and how new technology is affecting the practice of public relations. Sally is the author of the Proactive Report and co-developer of PRESSfeed, a social media tool for PR and marketing professionals.

Chris Abraham, President and COO of Abraham Harrison, is a leading expert in online public relations with a focus on blogger outreach, blogger engagement, and Internet reputation management. Chris is a pioneer in online social networks and publishing, and specializes in web2.0 technologies, including content syndication, online collaboration, blogging, and consumer generated media.

This webinar will take place live on Thursday May 14th at 1 PM EST and 10AM PST. It will include audience participation and will be recorded and made available on demand within two days. Register now!

Business Blogging Consultants on Business Consulting Buzz!

derrick sorles — Fri, 08 May 2009 17:28:00 GMT

Last week I was approached by
BUSINESS CONSULTING BUZZ
to be a guest writer on their site.

BCB is your one-stop resource center for everything consulting. Whether you’re just starting out, been in the business for a couple of years, are a consulting veteran, or a company looking for information on how to hire good consultants, this is the website for you.

Mike and Sam (or the “Zipursky cousins” as they are often called), created this website with the goal to provide an arsenal of knowledge to take your consulting business or career to the next level and beyond.

Stop by and see them and read my post!

Derrick Sorles

Web 2.0 Consultants and Strategists
Derrick Sorles and Michael Snell - We Help "Pull" New Business To You!
Your Business MD's - Business Blog Consultants & Internet Marketers

BuddyPress and WordPress - Social Networking 3.0?

derrick sorles — Sat, 02 May 2009 18:33:00 GMT

What if there was software with the elegance and extensibility of WordPress but all the features you’ve come to expect from social networks like Facebook?

Now there is: check out BuddyPress.

BuddyPress is an official sister project of WordPress. The idea behind it was to see what would happen to the web if it was as easy for anyone to create a social network as it is to create a blog today. There’s been an explosion of social activity on the web, it’s probably the most important trend of the past few years, but there’s been a dearth of Open Source tools that enable the social web.

In WordPress we have a robust and extensible base that can scale to many millions of users, and BuddyPress is essentially a set of plugins on top of WordPress that add private messaging, profiles, friends, groups, activity streams, and everything else you’ve come to expect from your favorite social network, like a Facebook-in-a-box.

This is just a 1.0 release and it’s not for everybody yet, for example it currently requires using MU which is a bit trickier to get set up than regular WordPress, which is tricky in itself!

Yeah, call me when 3.0 is ready! I need easy!

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Can I Touch Your MingleStick? Say Goodbye To All Those Pesky Business Cards

derrick sorles — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:14:00 GMT

Don't you hate coming home from a conference with a stack of business cards?
And God forbid you lose a couple along the way....This is an idea that could really catch on! The MingleStick!

Simplify your life and meet someone with ease.

It’s Simple! Two people connect with each other by pointing their MingleSticks and pressing one simple button. A connection is made within a split second! Lose the need for business cards, pen, paper and the hassle of it all.

Not sure what contact information is right for the occasion? The MingleStick allows you to decide later! Protect your privacy and have peace of mind knowing that your email address, phone number, mailing address will be given to the right people at the right time. MingleStick users socialize and safely connect with others without any risk.

Use your stick to meet anyone - friends, business associates, acquaintances and even complete strangers!

The MingleStick is sleek and small, so take it out of your pocket to make that connection wherever you go!

WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT?!

MingleStick

Ashton Kutcher vs. CNN on Twitter

derrick sorles — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 18:58:00 GMT

ASHTON KUTCHER now has more followers on TWITTER , than CNN NEWS!

CHARTBEAT is watching their numbers, live!

I really do not Twitter enough!
But if you want to follow me, I am BlogStrategist.

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Darren Rowse and ProBlogger TV on Facebook

derrick sorles — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 20:21:00 GMT

I was on my Facebook page today giving it a much needed update and answering some mails and what not. And I stumbled across a new app from Darren Rowse! Problogger TV!

Of course, unless you have been living under a rock the last 4 years, you know Darren Rowse is the author of Problogger.net, a website devoted to helping bloggers improve their presence online.

You can Add this app on Facebook, to get the latest articles and videoblogs from Darren.

Pretty cool!

Blogging from Australia's Great Barrier Reef - Best Job in the World!

derrick sorles — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 14:13:00 GMT

Imagine...living and working in Australia for 6 months,

exploring the Great Barrier Reef.

And your job is to write, blog, photograph and tell the world about it!
That is what I hope to be doing this coming July!

Please take 90 seconds and view my video and cast me a vote!
This would be a dream job for us! Blogging from Australia!

VOTE FOR DERRICK SORLES!

Many thanks!

Derrick and Michael

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Google and the .com vs .info Issues

derrick sorles — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 14:19:00 GMT

GoDaddy ( Find, Buy & Sell Domain Names ) has been selling .info sites for $0.99 each for some time now. And people started snatching them up! Because they could get exactly the keywords they wanted, that were already taken by .com domains. But now it seems, Google has been flooded with useless, spammy websites as a result.

There has been a lot of rumors in the last week or so (and some valid data) saying that Google has recently dropped MANY .info sites from their rankings -- sending them from high rankings to totally off the charts.

Not long ago Google's Matt Cutts said that Google does not differentiate between .com and .info domain names when it comes to ranking, but maybe that is no longer the case.

My personal advice on domains, and I may be wrong, has always been to not register any of the .info , .biz, .tv names and stick with .com names. You can usually add a word or two and come up with a domain that is very close. And with persistent work and keyword penetration, YOU WILL come up for your originally desired domain. We have done it - with several domains.

By the way, GoDaddy (Find, Buy & Sell Domain Names) is STILL about the best place, I think, for domain purchases. You can still pick up a blog for a year for $35 and your domain for $2! And you get 24/7 tech help - you can't get that with WordPress!

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What I Learned From 2008 @ Middle Zone Musings

derrick sorles — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 07:43:00 GMT

WOW - What a journey this year has been!

Actually, it's been an amazing 3 years. All of our lives we have been entrepreneurs, marketers and big internet users. About 3-4 years ago, we noticed a shift in the Internet. The explosion of Web 2.0 and Social Media. We decided it was worth exploring. We started dabbling with blogs and various Social Media groups and started having these “Ah-Ha!” moments! We discovered if we did certain things, we could get in top Google searches. If we belonged to certain groups, we could get free PR for what were doing. Our phone started ringing. People were finding our sites. Within time, we had a dozen sites and started consulting for others on how to build their web presence by using blogs and other tools that are widely available.

I met Robert Hruzek, in 2007 thru Liz Strauss's and Terry Starbucker's brainchild, SOBCon (which is an amazing event!) in Chicago. Robert's site, is Middle Zone Musings,

Middle Zone Musings is a comfortable place to stop, have a cup of coffee, swap a few stories and share practical ideas for the real world. "I don't ask for much, just a bit of your brain every now and then. Have a seat, take a load off, and relax... " Well, last year he started something called BLOGAPALOOZA. And this years BLOGAPALOOZA 09 just wrapped up!

All this month he has been posting collections of What I Learned From 2008 , from various bloggers. He has been cranking out the best of the best posts! Take some time and look at all the great posts and great writers, inparting great knowledge! People like Best of Mother Earth Karen Hanrahan, Phil Gerbyshak, Sheila Glazov, Michael Snell and Terry Starbucker.

We have learned SO MUCH in the last 3 years, Michael and I have invested over 10,000 hours, learning the best of the best of practices, SEO, SEM Content Attraction, importance of keyword and domain selection, ....we made all the early mistakes...so YOU DON'T HAVE TO! And we try to pass on those tips here at our Business Blogging Tips.

My WHAT I LEARNED FROM 2008 were a selection of posts that I thought shed light for newer bloggers. Some of what we discovered over the year...things that helped us.

Robert runs 12 tips....if I had to pick only 3, they would be...

#1 mistake people make...June discussed the number one mistake people make - choosing a bad domain:
Domain Advice - Selection and Keywords are Crucial to Findability

Start your blog on the right foot! In January we talked about optimizing your blog and blog posts for maximum search engine lift: OPTIMIZE YOUR BLOG - For Readers and Search Engines

November named 50 top Social Media worth exploring: FINDABILITY - 50 Social Media Sites That Every Business Needs to Know

Congratualtions Robert on a GREAT event!

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Increase Your Online Visibility and Get Links!

derrick sorles — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 14:51:00 GMT

I just discovered this site today and wanted to share it.

WORK.COM - Are you great at what you do -- whether it's filing business taxes, choosing the best pizza oven, or customizing ecommerce shopping carts -- and want more people to know you as a guru? One of the best ways to increase your good reputation and spread the word about what you have to offer is to share your expertise -- and content-based marketing is a huge trend. Writing a Work.com how-to guide can help introduce yourself to a business audience and promote yourself as an expert. Join experts such as Anita Campbell, Scott Allen, and Aaron Wall who have already written their own guides!

Writing a Work.com guide may:

1) Enhance your reputation
2) Improve your search engine rankings
3) Increase the chance you'll be linked to around the web
4) Increase the chance you'll be talked about in the blogosphere
5) Help drive traffic to your website
6) Supplement your own marketing efforts

It's just like an article submission site - but with a more narrow and targeted scope.

It's easy to create a free account and start submitting. Follow their tips!

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Website vs Blog and Blogging

derrick sorles — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 21:30:00 GMT

It really amazes me that in the last 4 years, the blogosphere has really exploded. And we have been evangelists, spreading the word about this medium and on using the Internet to reach new customers and bring new eyes to you and your business. And yet every week, I run into people who still don't get it. We have numerous articles on our main site, Business Blogging Consultants, that explore all of the aspects and advantages of blogs, Web 2.0 and Social Media.

If you have only a website today, that's like having a billboard out in a cornfield on a dirt road. Wouldn't you rather have your billboard on a busy freeway where thousands and thousands of people can see it???

Some people get it - some people don't. Since we have LIVED   THIS for the the last 3 years, we understand it,   inside and   out! We have invested over 10,000 hours between us, "blogging"!  I grew up living at the library! (remember those?!)
But delivery of information changed the world when Google joined the game 10 years ago with a mission to digitize the world! You have a question? Google it! You will find your answer in seconds!

BLOG is an ugly word for many people - and it is misunderstood and underutilized! They started out as boring junky journals. A place for people to vent, share their thoughts, whatever. They have now become robust online magazines! The top bloggers in the world figured out the more they post, the faster their audience grew.

    What is a Blog? The Lines Continue To Blur...

Wikipedia defines blogs as:
A Blog (a contraction of the term "Web log") is a Web site, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order.

The Blogosphere is the collective community of all blogs. Since all blogs are on the Internet by definition, they may be seen as interconnected and socially networked. Discussions "in the Blogosphere" have been used by the media as a gauge of public opinion on various issues.

But as the Blogosphere grows in size and influence, the lines between what is a blog and what is a mainstream media site become less clear. Larger blogs are taking on more characteristics of mainstream sites and mainstream sites are incorporating styles and formats from the Blogosphere. In fact, 95% of the top 100 US newspapers have reporter blogs.

Blogs are the NEW website. So you can have an old-school website, out in the cornfield...or a new-school website on a super highway. Or have both, and just link them together.

We live in an information society! And people want their news, media, entertainment NOW - not on tonight's TV news and not in tomorrows newspaper.

Ask any business - what do they want to accomplish? Reach new clients and/or potential customers! Well guess what? A website probably won't do that. A website is simply a glorified business card or brochure online. It's a one-way "push" source of information.

ALEXA a respected authority in the WEB industry, the top 100 "websites" are not websites at all. (for the most part)
they are what we call WEB 2.0 sites. Interactive sites. Streaming news sites. Most of them are updated hourly, daily or weekly. And/or they allow interaction with the public. People seek current, useful information and the public can now participate in the sharing. (the #1 website in the world? GOOGLE!)

Google (and most search engines) know how to separate the good from the bad. There is a lot of garbage out there. There are "spammers" who try to weasel in and "work" the system. However, 9 times out of 10, Google will deliver you the best of the best information about what you are looking for.

Most people do not realize what has happened in the last few years.YELLOW PAGES are dead. They are doorstops! Google changed search. And Blogs and "new" information have taken over. And business owners can use this to their advantage.

This is the power of blogs. Providing information. Google loves freshness and they love information, that is why most websites don't get indexed well. They are not fresh. They don't provide useful information - they SELL. Also, most search robots cannot read a website fully, because of the crazy code used and complicated bells and whistles people add to the site to make it fancy, to make it "pretty". Search robots will shut down, and walk away.

You have to PUSH people to websites. 60-90% (usually) of all website traffic, is usually direct hits. Pushed traffic. People who already know the name of your company or have the web address. The information these websites provide usually does not attract the search robots.

You can PULL people to a blog. It can attract   readers organically. 60-90% (usually) of all blog traffic, usually comes in organically. They find YOU. That's the difference. That's the beauty of blogs. It's because they are written in a simpler code, it's because Google and robots can read them faster and easier, it's because search algorithms have gotten smarter! However, you have to understand how they work, the strategy behind a good publisher's efforts, and what the search engines are looking for to win in the game of organic keyword search! And you have to provide information people are searching for.

Google looks for freshness. The more you post, the more lift you get. Most websites do not update very often.

Google WEB 2.0   CONSULTANTS - we're on page one, out of 8,000,000 links!

Google GAY TRAVEL, we're on page one, out of 5,000,000 links!

Google MINIATURE YORKIE - we're on page one, out of 1,000,000 sites!

Google   BUSINESS BLOGGING, we are usually on page one or two, out of 10,000,000 sites.

Google SKULL ART,   under images - we represent an artist, who wanted a website - and we talked him into a blog.   He is ALWAYS   on page one! In the last 6 months, he has sold 8, $3000 pieces of art AND been picked up by 3 galleries, all because they found him and his "blog". - which is really just a website that he updates about every 12 weeks!

Google GAY ANAHEIM   - we have an article usually on page one or two. The city of Anaheim and the Orange County Tourism board discovered we were always on page one for GAY TRAVEL. They wanted to be there too - and expose their amazing city to gay travelers. They flew us out there, and wined us and dined us, all expenses paid, to get us to cover them. Because the saw the power of our site. Last month alone, we got phone calls from MTV, LOGO  TV, and press releases from 10 different companies, all asking us to help them promote something or they wanted to buy an ad on our site! They came to us.

We have a wonderful client here in Chicago who does electrolysis - permanent hair removal. She had a website and just was not happy. She heard us speak and she hired us to help her build her blog site. In 6 months - she has gotten more new clients, that have found her with the new site! And get this, she originally had about 2 dozen "keywords" that she thought people would find her by. We ran her analytics reports...over 5000 people found her using 2000 different keyword combinations! An old-school website can not deliver that. Period!

Any business-any industry-can benefit. Anyone can set up a blog! It's cheap. We can help get you there quicker, by shortening the learning curve. That's why people come to us. They don't want to spend 6 months figuring it out and make the top 10 mistakes most people make.

We have countless examples. IT WORKS! It may come in round about ways, but people will come and find you! People are still set in the old mindset though, I need a website... but guess what? blogs are websites. They are the NEW WEBSITES! You just have to understand them and how they work, to maximize your information that you can share with the world!

Web 2.0 Consultants and Strategists
Derrick Sorles and Michael Snell - We Help "Pull" New Business To You!
          Your Business MD's - Business Blog Consultants & Internet Marketers

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China blogger population exceeds 50 Million!

derrick sorles — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 21:15:00 GMT

China now has more than 50 million bloggers as increasing numbers of people seek an outlet for their views, state press reported.

The number, reached by the end of November, compared to a blogging population of about 47 million a year earlier, according to Xinhua news agency, quoting figures from the Internet Society of China.

The group said there were 100 million blogs, or personal online journals, in China, meaning many people are keeping more than one.

"More and more Chinese want to express their own views about local and international events through the Internet," Gao Lulin, the group's deputy head, was quoted as saying.

The Internet Society of China represents firms in the industry such as service providers and network access carriers, as well as research institutes.

China has the world's largest population of Internet users at 290 million, according to government figures announced last month.

The growth in blogs has become an apparent source of concern for the ruling Communist Party, which strictly controls the media and Internet.

News on social unrest, dissidents, official corruption and abuses, and anything else that might embarrass or harm the government, is typically censored or suppressed.

But blogs and other Internet forums have often filled in the information gap, publicising events considered off-limits by the official media.

In response the government has in recent years imposed new requirements on bloggers, such as requiring users to register with their real names.

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Hyperlocal News with Outside.in

derrick sorles — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 22:03:00 GMT

I just discovered this site the other day.

OUTSIDE.in

outside.in is a hyperlocal news and information service. They help you find places around you, get news for the places and neighborhoods you really care about, and engage more with your neighbors. They also offer bloggers and online publishers GeoToolkit, a great resource with tools, maps, widgets, and stats - especially if your blog and its information is centered around a particular city.
What does hyperlocal mean?
Hyperlocal means news and information on a level beyond what traditional media provides. Until now, most "local" sites didn’t actually get more, well, local than cities or towns. They assumed that just because you live in a specific city or town you are looking for the same news as everyone else. Hyperlocal content gives you the news and information for the area right around where you are, like the block around your office or the neighborhood where you live.

So whether you just want to be "neighbor" and sign up to find cool places and news near you - or if you are a publisher/blogger, contribute and get a free "story map" and GeoToolkit - it's a service that can help publishers of local content categorize their content by location (geo-tagging) for wider distribution and increased traffic. "We've been using it internally for some time to better categorize our feeds and are opening up access to the GeoToolkit for others as well."

- view stories about your city
- find out about specific places in your neighborhood
- browse stories by subject
- connect with your neighbors

Check it out!

Web 2.0 Consultants and Strategists
Derrick Sorles and Michael Snell - We Help "Pull" New Business To You!
Your Business MD's - Business Blog Consultants & Internet Marketers

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PING.fm - Feed Service for Social Networks

derrick sorles — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 19:52:00 GMT

For our regular readers, I am so sorry we have not posted lately. We have been so busy with all of our travel blogs and we helped 3 clients launch blogs over the last few months.

One of my new clients, actually turned me onto this site called PING.fm

Ping.fm is a simple service that makes updating your social networks a snap. They support over 30 social networks like Flickr, Bebo, Hi5, Plaxo, Plurk and more.

Between their straight forward posting methods and advanced custom triggers, they make it easy for you to post your messages exactly where you want them to go.

Check it out! And happy new year to all!

Web 2.0 Consultants and Strategists

Derrick Sorles and Michael Snell - We Help "Pull" New Business To You!
Your Business MD's - Business Blog Consultants & Internet Marketers

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FINDABILITY - 50 Social Media Sites That Every Business Needs to Know

derrick sorles — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 20:12:00 GMT

FINDABILITY.

When I tell someone they need to be on LINKEDIN, FACEBOOK, 43 THINGS, NAYMZ and YOU TUBE....they look at me like I have three heads!

"Why on Earth do I need to be on all of these sites?" they ask.

TO BE FOUND. If you're not there, you can't be found. The more sites you are on, the more strands in the web 2.0 world that lead people to you, your products and/or services. Why plant 3 seeds when you can plant 100?

That's the same reason you need a blog. Someone told me other day they just spent $4,000 giving their website a full SEO makeover for their top 50 keywords. You know how many keyword combinations people used to find this blog in the last 60 days? 2173 keyword combinations! You have no idea of clients search habits and there is NO WAY to predict how someone is going to find you. Don't assume. BE EVERYWHERE.

Today I was at Inside CRM, digging thru their archives and found 50 Social Sites That Every Business Needs a Presence on. Sure, the usual suspects are here...like those mentioned above. But there are some you might not be aware of. Like MIXX, Sphinn, Frappr, NING, XING, and ZIGGS! (who comes up with these names?!)

You MUST have an online presence, beyond your website. The Internet provides powerful networking opportunities that allow users to effectively target their audience by logging on to social media sites.

Web 2.0 Consultants and Strategists

Derrick Sorles and Michael Snell - We Help "Pull" New Business To You!
Your Business MD's - Business Blog Consultants & Internet Marketers

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Viral Marketing Video for Barack Obama

derrick sorles — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 20:32:00 GMT

A group called MOVE ON.org has launched a brilliant example of Web 2.0 marketing and Viral Marketing, to help get people out to vote (for Barack Obama!).

You can send in a friends name and email, and a customized video is sent to them! "We all know people who might not vote this year. So we created this funny news video about Obama losing by a single vote. It's a great, fun, scary way to remind everyone you know to vote."

Watch Michael's video or Stop by MOVE ON.org and send some videos today!

Web 2.0 Consultants and Strategists

Derrick Sorles and Michael Snell - We Help "Pull" New Business To You!
Your Business MD's - Business Blog Consultants & Internet Marketers

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Back By Popular Demand For Those Who Missed The Original Posts~ Bloggers Are A Lot Like Pigeons and WE’RE NOT BLOGGERS ~ WE’RE PIZZA MAKERS!

derrick sorles — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 20:50:00 GMT

Bloggers Are A Lot Like Pigeons
(Original Post Date 3/02/07 )

So I'm sure many of you read the title and thought, "Where is Derrick going to go with this one?"

Okay, I agree it sounds corny, but it is amazing how your mind frames things early on a cold, wet Midwest winter morning walking to the train station (remember, a perfect morning involves staying in my sweats, not leaving the house, working on the computer).

Now granted, I do hope most of us are potty trained better, have a more permanent residence and a sharper mind when it comes to avoiding traffic, but stay with me and read on.

Both bloggers and pigeons are (in my opinion):

1. Vastly colorful and individual. The flock of pigeons that served as my inspiration reminded me of how unique each one was physically. At a glance they may appear similar when you see a flock together as a tapestry, yet, it is remarkable how distinct the markings are to each bird. Just like our blogs; each possesses personal font-image-layout-color preferences, variances and nuances specific to distinguish us.

2. Tend to bobble, hunt and peck. I don't know about you, but I feel I resemble a pigeon as I hunt and peck across the keyboard with my head bobbling most the day! It's crazy too how their always pecking at something they can see on the ground, or think they can see, and I can't see it! Do we do that?

3. Friendly and respectful. Pigeons and bloggers are a genuinely friendly, communal group. Even when pigeons are being fed they are respectful to one another as they go in for their share--unlike seagulls. Granted, every now and then, one in the group gets a little "randy" and starts climbing on the other, but we know the motivation behind that behavior. Overall, they get along tremendously.

4. Very vocal. Ever notice how much cooing goes on-especially when they congregate? I am amazed everyday as I sit with my feed reader at the wealth of intellect and insight shared daily amongst us all! Maybe that's why pigeons huddle too, because they have so much to share with one another!

5. Free to travel. Well, bloggers can travel anywhere Wi-Fi to blog, but isn't that almost the same today as having wings? What a beautiful thing to no longer be bound to a brick and mortar model and be able to blog from the beach (its really funny here in Chicago along lakeshore beaches we have both pigeons and gulls out in the sand!).

6. Helpful. Fellow worldwide bloggers I have been privileged to "meet" are some of the most amazing people I have ever had any fellowship with.

Although most bloggers are willing to lend a hand with information or a project, if they have the time, don't forget that they might have to refuse or even not reply because of time constraints, heavy workloads, set principles, or a simple distaste with your lack of proper etiquette.

You know what I am saying, don't get so consumed with your own needs that you behave or come across disrespectfully to your fellow bloggers. Even pigeons do get ruffled and fly away.

Let me know what you think!

Derrick Sorles

For even more insights check out Jay T.'s bloggershelpingbloggers or the bloggershelpingbloggersalliance. I also really like bloggerforum and bloggeretiquette.

What we learned at the SOBCon07 Conference in Chicago: Were Not Bloggers, Were Pizza Makers!
(Original Publish Date 5/16/07)

What didn't we learn? GOSH, we came back with so much knowledge, so many notes and so many new friends. We shared new tools we discovered like VIDEO STICKY and THE Z LIST and THE GOOD BLOGS, as well as interesting blogs and bloggers we spent time with like Phil Gerbyshak of Make It Great, Terry Starbuckers Ramblings and Connie Reece and her wild Blogabillies - Scribblin stories and Livin Large!

We will be talking about ALL of the blogs and bloggers we got to spend time with, in the coming months. Hats off to Jason Alba who blogged the ENTIRE EVENT!

A discussion was held around the word blogger and the fact that it can have a negative meaning to some people. I think of a blogger as someone who decides to launch a weblog, and its true, ANYONE can do that, maybe we do need to separate ourselves somehow. Are they successful? Do they tire out? Is their blog interesting? Are they someone who blogs with no real direction or mission or passion about what they are doing? Are they blogging in a vacuum?

As a blog starts to take shape, you begin to have a good idea about what you can offer the blogosphere. Is this something you can stick with, is it sticky and are you passionate about it? Can you keep things interesting and attract readers for months to come.

Do you have a desire to grow your blog, share your blog, connect with others and learn? At SOBCon07, David Armano suggested perhaps PERSONAL PUBLISHER or even ONLINE PRODUCER is a better, more fitting term for us all in the blogosphere as opposed to bloggers.

As a personal publisher or online producer, we treat our blogs with respect and publish online newsletters and magazines and that is the message we need to communicate to people who have negative connatations to the word blogger or may have no clue to what the term blogger may really mean.

What we have found is most bloggers (online publishers and producers) handle all their blogs (call them what you need to as to make people want to visit and revisit) with extreme care and commitment.

We put a lot of time, energy, and thought into every single post and its overall look, taste and feel ~ just like one would with pizza. It's a business. It's a resume. It's about relationships. It's about relavance to one's day-to-day. It's actually a lot like a pizza when you think about it! We could be compared to chef's of many sorts as pizza makers with many different ideas of the ideal pizza pie in mind!

Think about the streets of New York City for example. Pizza by the slice is everywhere! But who has the best pizza in New York City??? Ask 10 New Yorkers, you'll probably get 10 different answers. It's all good, it's a subjective question.

Some people like it with a lot of cheese. Some like more sauce. Some like sweet sauce, some like a more salty sauce, some like anchovies, some like green peppers, some black olives and extra cheese... you get the idea.

But the point is, every pizza maker tries to deliver the "best" pizza possible. They research their ingredients and experiment until they feel they have the right crust/topping combination.

The point is as a producer, and as a personal-online publisher, we try to create something special people will like as well. A lot of love, energy, sweat and tears go into a serious blog and its content. That's just what it takes to make a great pizza pie as well!

We are so thankful and glad we attended the event and can't wait till next year (which SOBCon08 was fantastic - now looking forward to SOBCon09 which kicks off Friday, May 1, 2009 ~ stay tuned!).

But most of all, we are thankful for destiny bringing us together with Liz Strauss of Successful and Outstanding Blogs, for without meeting her, our life of personal publishing/pizza-making would not be going down this road it's currently on now.

THANK YOU Liz ~ BIG HUGS!
Michael and Derrick

WEB 2.0 Consultants & Strategists - Business Blog Consultants - Your Business MD's
Derrick Sorles and Michael Snell - We Help "Pull" New Business To You Online!

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2012 - ISP's Confirm The Internet As We Know It Could Come To An End

derrick sorles — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 20:14:00 GMT

ARE YOU SICK AND TIRED OF RISING PHONE AND CABLE BILLS?

Just wait, it could get worse. For over a year I have heard the rumours, and in the last 2 months, this has been in the news.

Bell Canada and TELUS (formerly owned by Verizon) employees officially confirm that by 2012 ISP's all over the globe will reduce Internet access to a TV-like subscription model, only offering access to a small standard amount of commercial sites and require extra fees for every other site you visit. These 'other' sites would then lose all their exposure and eventually shut down, resulting in what could be seen as the end of the Internet.

WATCH THE VIDEO ON NING

Dylan Pattyn who is currently writing an article for Time Magazine on the issue, has official confirmation from sources within Bell Canada and is interviewing a marketing representative from TELUS who confirms the story and states that TELUS has already started blocking all websites that aren't in the subscription package for mobile Internet access. They could not confirm whether it would happen in 2012 because both stated it may actually happen sooner (as early as 2010). Interviews with these sources, more confirmation from other sources and more in-depth information on the issue is set to be published in Time Magazine soon.

Can you imagine what this would mean? You will have to pay $50 a month extra, to access all of the sites that you currently access for free. Can this really happen?

Internet For Everyone was launched this past summer, believes EVERYONE should have access to affordable, fast and an open Internet. Since 2001, the United States has fallen from fourth in the world in broadband penetration to 15th in the world today. While American consumers face high prices and few choices, many of our European and Asian counterparts have achieved the goals of universal deployment and competitive markets. Returning to the top of international rankings would translate into millions of new jobs and hundreds of billions of dollars in increased economic activity for the United States.

It will be something to keep an eye on, that's for sure!

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Learn WordPress in 1 Day! A New Video Tutorial Will Help You!

derrick sorles — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 13:16:00 GMT

I have never been a fan of WordPress.....

mostly because I don't find it very user friendly and its very easy to get stuck on something, and you have no one to turn to for help. Except forums. And I dislike forums! And I am the kind of person that is not tech savvy and want to be able to call someone for help and get my questions resolved promptly.

I found that most of the documentation out there is written by programmers for programmers. No one takes into consideration, most new bloggers need to be held by the hand. And let me tell you, if someone can hold your hand and walk you thru the steps, YOU CAN SAVE SO MUCH TIME, than trying to figure it out and learn it on your own!

HOWEVER, I found this woman from the UK who has put together - WordPress In 1 Day Video Tutorial. - Learn How To Set Up Your Own WordPress Blog, On Your Own Domain, In One Day! 12 Easy-to-follow Video Lessons Plus 5 Bonus Videos. She takes you from A to Z. It's  ideal for blogging Newbies. Very easy to follow and understand.

                                                                     WORDPRESS IN 1 DAY!

WEB 2.0 Consultants &  Strategists - Business Blog Consultants - Your Business MD's
   Derrick Sorles and Michael Snell - We Help "Pull" New Business To You!

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