Content marketing, branding, entrepreneurship and writing
Two weeks ago I woke up to a suspicious pingback in my WordPress dashboard linking to my one-page business plan post. Sure enough, when I checked it out, there was my post–plagiarized word for word on a scraper site.
The first reaction of any hard-working blogger being plagiarized is to get angry, which I did. But then what? If you do a Google search on “blogging plagiarism,” you’ll more or less get these recommendations: [Read more...]
Leave it to Twitter and Lance Armstrong to create an authentic 21st century, Web 2.0, serendipitous experience for yours truly.
Two weeks ago I heard on Twitter that Lance Armstrong (@lancearmstrong), the legendary cyclist and cancer survivor, was training and tweeting here on the Big Island of Hawaii, where I live. Within minutes, I pulled up this Tweet in which he mentions passing through my home town on his bike.
Several days and a few dozen tweets later, my family and I pass by him on the road on our way to the beach, and I snap the photo you see here (and whip out this tweet). Fast forward a few more days and he’s biking right past my driveway on a morning ride. My wife catches him that same day ending that same (100 mile!) training run with a spirited sprint on the highway.
Pretty exciting, I know, but what does it all mean?
Twitter is the conversation hub of the web. I like it because it’s fast-paced, to the point and highly social. It’s also un-monetized and democratic in nature. And by all accounts, it’s going to be the must-have tool for anyone interacting online.
In the beginning, I signed up for a Twitter account and did nothing with it for several months. Just couldn’t understand why people needed to tell everyone else what they were doing at any given moment: “Going store to pick up some Blue Bunny ice cream. Gotta luv Bunny Tracks while watching 24!”, or “Heading to gym w/@demmab in 20 minutes, then to vet for Twinkle’s checkup.”
Now I have to peel myself away from Twitter many times a day because it’s so fun and addicting (cliche intended). (Check this out — it explains a lot.) It’s also useful if you need up-to-the-second information or want to know where certain people are.
Before I get too excited, though, let me back up and explain some basics: