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Why Bloggers Matter to the Publishing Industry

January 29, 2010 By 5 Comments
What makes a blogger? A penchant for the rant? A crowd hustler with sticky offers? A spirited journalist, an observer of life, a thought leader? And what about the rest of us, scratching hard to make (not even a) living? Is it all for nothing or is there a future for us? The answer is absolutely. The titanic publishing industry is mobilizing, and we need to upgrade our strategy.

The Myth of Make Money Online

For the obscure blogger aspiring to the privy rank of ‘problogger,’ chances for commercial success are [Read more...]
Filed Under: Blogging, Business and Marketing Tagged With: , , , , ,

Do SWAG Blogs Bother You?

January 22, 2010 By 4 Comments

Racing Greyhound photo by Rick Pascale. © All rights reserved.

They sure bother me. You what SWAG is, right? It’s Stuff We All Get. All the cheap branded junk from the job fairs and marketing conventions of the world: fluorescent pens, calendar magnets, carabiner keychains. Baseball caps with corporate logos you’d never wear but keep anyway. A SWAG blog is a blog that churns out tons of content but provides little value over a long time. So maybe at first you’re sucked into its helpful advice or vernacular charm, but after awhile you realize you’re reading the same stuff, different day.

How to Spot a SWAG Blog

Most SWAG blogs are ones that insist they know how to make you the next internet marketing superstar. They suck you in with their too-good-to-be-true headlines, then proceed to assimilate your creativity with all the great marketing advice you could ever need, and then some. Before you know it, all that’s left is [Read more...]
Filed Under: Blogging Tagged With: , ,

Publish or Perish, Then Try Marketing

January 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment
In 2009, did you spend a little too much time on Facebook and Twitter? A little too much time talking about Facebook and Twitter? Did you proclaim yourself a social media expert? It’s okay to admit it, because we’re all guilty. 2010 promises to be a different year—the Year of the Publisher. Now that the novelty of social media as marketing tools is wearing off (heck, even my tiny local supermarket uses Twitter), it’s time to really focus on the content we publish. In other words, you need to put more energy than ever into producing ultra-high value content. [Read more...]
Filed Under: Business and Marketing Tagged With: , , ,

Top 5 Reasonable Goals for 2010

January 1, 2010 By 1 Comment
New Year’s Resolutions are nothing but washed out 20th century cliches that need to go. But it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t examine areas needing improvement in your life and work on long-term fixes for them. I came up with a short list that feels about right for 2010. After all, it’s been a rough year and a rougher decade and so it’s time to be pragmatic and wise and strong for better times ahead. Here are my top 5:

Take care of your family.

Pretty obvious, but it should always be at the top of the list. Family first. If you’re single, then take better care of yourself so other people (including your extended family) don’t have to later on.

Focus on greatness.

A petty life is not worth living. Neither is a life chasing wanton desires or dogmatic ideologies. Focus on being you, then focus on being the best at what you do. Refuse to settle. Indefinitely. Don’t live and work to appease others — there’s no more time for that. [Read more...]
Filed Under: Mindset and Productivity Tagged With: , ,