Debbie's Insights on Social Media

NICE WORK, NICK

Posted in the Category of In the News

My friend and colleague Nick Usborne has the gift for a "turn of phrase." He used the words white color spam in his blog a few days ago. Next thing he knows, Seth Godin mentioned it in his blog. Then came a call from The New York Times. And this article, Big Companies Add to Spam by Saul Hansell which quotes Nick. You know what he's talking about. When you register on the Palm site, for example, using an email address you don't use for My friend and colleague Nick Usborne has the gift for a "turn of phrase." He used the words white color spam in his blog a few days ago. Next thing he knows, Seth Godin mentioned it in his blog. Then came a call from The New York Times. And this article, Big Companies Add to Spam by Saul Hansell which quotes Nick. You know what he's talking about. When you register on the Palm site, for example, using an email address you don't use for anything else. Subsequently you begin receiving emails you haven't asked for from other big name companies - to that particular address. These mainstream companies are (discreetly, it seems) trading your email address with one another. Or perhaps there was a box you forgot to uncheck, in miniscule type, that said they might "tell you about related products or services." This is a…

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E-NEWSLETTER TURNED BLOG

Posted in the Category of Stuff

Amy Gahran, a well-respected writer and content consultant, has turned her (occasional) e-newsletter into a blog. Check it out. You can subscribe to it as an RSS feed. Oh, and apologies about the lapse in posting. I was migrating this blog from one server to another. Thanks to Ina Steiner for the pointer to Amy's blog. Amy Gahran, a well-respected writer and content consultant, has turned her (occasional) e-newsletter into a blog. Check it out. You can subscribe to it as an RSS feed. Oh, and apologies about the lapse in posting. I was migrating this blog from one server to another. Thanks to Ina Steiner for the pointer to Amy's blog.

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ON BLOGGING WELL

Posted in the Category of Stuff

It occurred to me when I was visiting Seth Godin's blog recently that there is a "good blogging style" - and he seems to have it. It's when you develop a concise, vigorous voice and use it to post interesting, relevant or useful bits & pieces. Does this say something about our attention deficit society? Maybe it's easier for us to think, read, write and react in smaller doses. It occurred to me when I was visiting Seth Godin's blog recently that there is a "good blogging style" - and he seems to have it. It's when you develop a concise, vigorous voice and use it to post interesting, relevant or useful bits & pieces. Does this say something about our attention deficit society? Maybe it's easier for us to think, read, write and react in smaller doses.

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5 comments

MEN GIVE UP FIRST

Posted in the Category of In the News

This post has been in draft mode for the past 24 hours while I published the latest issue of WordBiz Report. In other words, I started to post a note about a new survey by Perseus. I stopped because I wasn't quite finished writing. And saved it as a draft. . The draft mode is an interesting feature of most blogging tools. It belies the common assumption that everything about blogging is instantaneous and unedited. Not so. Yet another This post has been in draft mode for the past 24 hours while I published the latest issue of WordBiz Report. In other words, I started to post a note about a new survey by Perseus. I stopped because I wasn't quite finished writing. And saved it as a draft. . The draft mode is an interesting feature of most blogging tools. It belies the common assumption that everything about blogging is instantaneous and unedited. Not so. Yet another reason why blogs as a content publishing tool might be appropriate for a business. Anyway, according to Perseus' research, there are 4.12 million blogs, but 2.72 million of them have been abandoned. So there are really only one million-plus active bloggers out there. I loved this bit: the survey reveals men are more apt than women to abandon their blogs... Thanks to Ralph Wilson for…

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Top 20 Definitions of Blogging

Posted in the Category of Stuff

What is a blog? Why blog? Who should blog (journalists, marketers, CEOs, techies, educators, scientists, hobbyists)? Should blogging be pure or can you make money with a blog? Will blogging change everything?

Picture several hundred intense writer/thinker/bloggers at BlogCon in Cambridge, MA the weekend of Oct. 4 - 5, 2003 and you get the idea... a blogging conference is not for the faint-hearted. The metaphysics of blogging was a hot topic.

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EMAIL IS SLIPPERY

Posted in the Category of In the News

I love this article by Dave Gelerntner in the 29 Sept 03 issue of The Weekly Standard, although I'm not sure I agree. "Is (email) good or bad for the art of writing? Both. It devalues the written word; email is so fast and easy to send, correspondents exchange semi-articulate gibberings without a second thought. There used to be good letter writers, but there don't seem to be any good email writers (or barely any)." Not so. My 83-year-old I love this article by Dave Gelerntner in the 29 Sept 03 issue of The Weekly Standard, although I'm not sure I agree. "Is (email) good or bad for the art of writing? Both. It devalues the written word; email is so fast and easy to send, correspondents exchange semi-articulate gibberings without a second thought. There used to be good letter writers, but there don't seem to be any good email writers (or barely any)." Not so. My 83-year-old father-in-law writes marvelously long and literate emails.

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WordBiz Report

Debbie Weil's WordBiz Report

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"Rock-solid advice and examples," says Chris Anderson, author of The Long Tail. This comprehensive guide confronts the Big 3: fear, the time factor and what to write.
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