A blog post about blog posts

This is an example post written for our attendees at Marie Workshops. It may not make any sense to you if you're not here. The sentence that you were working on before...

which, as I recall, was something like:

Who you are (business or individual, or a combination of the two - it's up to you). 

What's your message? (In a sentence)

For example: 

#END
--
Simon Young
Director
#sy social media consultancy
http://sy-engage.com/

Ph (+649) 379 5421 | Mob (+64) 021 192 0016
Skype: simonisntsoyoung
Our office: http://www.schmap.me/sy-engage/

Find me on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook etc: http://j.mp/simonyoung

-----------

Unless we've agreed otherwise, this email is off the record. If this email is not for you, please let us know and delete it. Thank you!

Posted via email from Simon's posterous

Installing plugins in the latest version of Wordpress

Image via CrunchBase

(Warning: Jargon ahead. If you don't use WordPress, you won't get anything out of this)

I was impressed that the latest version of WordPress (which we use for iJump) let you install plugins from within your control panel.

Previously, I'd had to manually upload and extract plugins, which got pretty tedious.

But, the process doesn't work if you already have the WordPress Automatic Upgrade plugin activated. Something causes them to conflict.

The workaround is simple, just deactivate your Automatic Upgrade plugin, install your other plugins, and then activate them.

Don't forget to reactivate your Automatic Upgrade plugin again when you've finished. It's a good plugin, and I'm sure the developers of either the plugin or Wordpress itself will figure out a way to make them play nicely together.

The invisible blight of poverty

When you work in Queen Street, it's hard to avoid the homeless. It's just as hard to know what to do. Avert your eyes? Give a donation? Smile? Say hi? Or walk past, because you're busy.

It's uncomfortable seeing another human being in distress. Short-term distress would be okay, because you might be able to step in and "solve the problem". But generally the problems of the urban homeless are complex and deep-rooted.

Worse still is the kind of poverty you don't see - whether it's behind closed doors in the suburbs, or in some faraway country.

Today is Blog Action Day (it was yesterday in New Zealand; I'm playing catch up!). Bloggers were encouraged to spark conversation about the issue of poverty.

Sometimes poverty is pretty low on my agenda - just paying the bills and keeping up with deadlines captures my attention. But when something like this forces me to focus on poverty - what do I do? For a start, I'm bringing it to your attention. Maybe we can solve this together.

Here's a sampling of what other bloggers have been talking about:

Mama Lucy, a social entrepreneur from Tanzania, gives us the first-hand definition of poverty - and what it's not.

The UK's Paul Bradshaw shows us 88 ways to do something about poverty now.

Hitwise's Alan Long gives us an interesting view of poverty online.

In NZ, Annabel Youens muses on the effects of the recession on the world's poorest, and offers some thoughtful tips on giving well.

Robbie Mackay offers this quotable gem: "We’re so busy trying to ignore the problem, we forget that small contributions eventually add up…"

Ben Young talks about how marketing can help solve poverty.

Ilai Amir passionately puts forward that it is NOT OK that young children have NO OPTION but to go without.

And Stephen Knightly at Pursuit PR gives an overview of what Blog Action Day is, and what Pursuit PR is doing about it.

Lastly, Ilai shared an amazing set of images that show the faces of poverty around the world:

The blog post about nothing

Blogging every weekday is kind of addictive - most days I have something interesting to say.

So I find myself sick on a Friday, with very little in my head, and yet still I want to blog.

But scratch anyone these days, and you'll find something they have to share. I'm the same ... so what can I share?

• Blogging every day must be something Google likes - or something - because just about every post I've done has received a comment or two. Is this because I'm posting every day? Or because I'm posting on consistent(ish) topics? Is it because of Twitter?
• Or is it just that blogging and commenting has become a mainstream part of society, compared with my other blogs in the past, which didn't often get comments?
• Or maybe I've just become a better writer? That's always a possibility...

I've also been thinking about how Twitter is kind of like blogging, only better. Just this morning, I posted a link which in turn led to a minor conversation. In the past, that kind of conversation could - theoretically - be held through a blog post and comments. Twitter speeds up conversations and helps us learn things from multiple perspectives. Which is a really good thing.

So there we go... this post wasn't about nothing, after all!



Nothing

Podcasts: Blogging marketers, bad lawyers, spiritual entrepreneurs and smart airlines

Great podcast listening this morning. Good to hear Joseph Jaffe back after just a week since his last one! And better still to hear of a groundswell (not to be confused with the Groundswell) of blogs written by actual marketers and agency folks, not just consultants like us who recommend people write blogs.

Then there was chapter 17 of David Maister's podcast/book Strategy and the Fat Smoker, What's wrong with Lawyers. Not being a lawyer, I didn't have to listen to this and found it interesting. Particularly since most politicians are former lawyers. Almost as harmful to innovation and collaboration as journalism!

Then there was Mitch Joel's excellent interview with E-Myth author Michael Gerber. Absolutely inspiring. My gem of the day: "Being an Entrepreneur is a truly spiritual thing. Spirituality is more pragmatic than we thought, and pragmatism is more spiritual than we thought."

Finally, HBR's Ideacast looked at how Singapore Airlines is zagging when everyone else is zigging in the airline industry. Very good bits and pieces!

Some random thoughts:

• It is sooo good to get some exercise in today, not just for the exercise but also because I get to listen to podcasts
• It will be so weird when I finally meet the likes of Mitch Joel and Joseph Jaffe, because my mind mixes up where I am when I hear them, and makes those into shared experiences. Eg I associate the opening music of Foreword Thinking with walking around my street in Titirangi, yet Mitch himself has never been there. It's different from video, where you see the face behind the voice, in their setting, not yours.
  

The post I posted just to get free stuff

I've heard of Mark Joyner as long as I've been in business, so an offer that would normally raise a question mark instead has me slavishly following it.

All I have to do is post a piece of code like this:

I'm evaluating a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they're letting you snag it for free if you post about it on your blog.

It covers:

• The best blogging techniques.
• How to get traffic to your blog.
• How to turn your blog into money.

I'll let you know what I think once I've had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it's still free.

and then point them to this post and I'll get Mark's course on blogging - for free.

This is clever because a) I get a free product, but I still know it's valuable because I had to do something to get it, and b) Joyner gets a helluva lot of link love. Happy to send the love your way, man, as long as your blogging course is good! :)

Maxnet followup - they don't suck after all

Someone said a company's response to a problem can make all the difference. Maxnet's general manager Brett Herkt was quick to respond to my irate blog post the other day, and it's a textbook example of a gracious, well- thought-out reply.

The problem in question was (thankfully) sorted the morning after I posted, only to be followed up by another problem that seems to be with "the way things are" with domain names. It's still very frustrating.

But Brett's response stands as a textbook example of how to cope with those cranky customers who use their newfound power to spread bad vibes about your brand. That was a common fear expressed at the Media Relations Conference I've just returned from.

As I tried to explain at the conference - it's just conversation. All technology does is extend the conversation outside the walls of a room. The same rules apply online as in a room - be direct, be humane, attack the issue and not the person (which I tried to do, but probably slipped over the line in that blog post title...)

I'm a little behind

(Not I have a little behind, that's a different matter!)

I took until now to add Mad Young Thing to my Technorati account. Please add Mad Young Thing to your Technorati favourites, if you feel so inclined:

Add to Technorati Favorites

(No need to mention you know me, of course!)
(An explanation of that in-joke is here)

What's the deal with Debbie Weil? (Please comment on this post)

Friday morning I heard about the furore over Debbie Weil's simple request for people to comment on a blog she was facilitating - if they felt so inclined.

(Read the message on this blog post)

Storm in a teacup, I thought. Debbie's got a great reputation, and it's a small faux pas that would only offend a few ultra-uptight purists. (In fact, shockingly, I don't even see it as a faux pas).

But it has exploded in a heap of stinking controversy. Allan Jenkins (a great guy who I've met in Second Life) excoriated Weil on his blog, saying:

you'd have to be an obese PR blogger more than ready to shill for no pay

Surely this is misconstruing the whole point of a product blog? It's not about necessary selling the product, but sparking genuine discussion around the subject - at the level that it interests you. It's not shilling, it's talking. Conversing.

Surely that's simple enough? And not deeply offensive.

I think I understand where the objectors come from. They're zealous for the reputation of blogging and social media, and don't want it tarnished by cheap and nasty PR spammy yucky tactics.

But their response would tend to scare me if I were a marketer in a big company, with all the accompanying accountabilities, trying to venture into blogging. Thankfully for GSK it's been Debbie who's taken the heat, but if I were the CMO there - and I came from a traditional marketing background - I'd consider pulling the blog. Too much trouble, not worth it.

However, the pressure to be doing something in social media is so strong, that it's likely they'll continue.

Interesting comment on Maggie Fox's interview with Debbie Weil where Weil says GSK don't care, they're puzzled at what all the fuss is about. "They're well on to the next thing," she says.

Just a kerfuffle in a teacup, so it seems. Here are some of the leaves:

• David Gray's excoriation
• Debbie's response to the furore
• Stowe Boyd doesn't buy Debbie's response
• Don't be so hard on her, says Stuart Bruce
• And online copywriting legend Jeffrey Eisenberg asks Who makes the rules?
  

Blogs meet mainstream TV

In the US, they're bringing bloggers and TV together with the from-the-front stories of soldiers in Band of Bloggers.

Meanwhile in New Zealand, Gibson Group is experimenting with fictional characters blogging with their mini-soap MyStory.

Steve Rubel

Check out Twitter Danger #3 Revisited - and note the second comment after the post.

Make a mistake, yes. And own up to it publicly. Yes! Go Steve.

Friday's unfocused blog post

Okay, so I'm breaking all the rules of blogging here. This post is random links to the news I'm catching up on, because I haven't sat down and read the news properly all week.

On iTunes at the moment: "Come let us go back to God" - by Sam Cooke and the Soul Stirrers, as featured in the Coen Bros' version of LadyKillers.

In the news:

• Very sad news for the New Zealand music industry.
• Finally Google has read my mind and added a PowerPoint-like program to their online docs suite. However it's too late for me; I've discovered, fallen in love with and bought Keynote.
  
• Speaking of Google, they are so taking over the world. The last episode of Diggnation mentioned Google 411 in the US - no money in it, but it kind of ruins it for other players. And last night at the Auckland Entrepreneurs Meetup, Ian Mitchell mentioned Google's purchase of radio and TV stations. Are they becoming... Microsoft?
  
• Congratulations to Idealog for being finalists in the MPA Magazine Awards. They got finalist for best business cover for the August 2006 cover, for best business magazine, best relaunch or launch, and Adrian Clapperton for magazine design.
  
• Congrats too to Graham Medcalf for his finalist position for best business editor at Marketing Magazine.

Now on iTunes, the Finn Brothers with "Disembodied Voices".

• While the congratulations are flowing, big ups to Clemenger BBDO for being Best in Show at the CAANZ media awards. Kind of cool to see a social marketing message winning - or is that just the cynical ad industry assuaging their guilty conscience for pushing fatty foods and alcohol onto an unsuspecting culture? Just kidding.
  

How to blaze your blog!

IDEALOG - the magazine and website of creative business, ideas and innovation - How to ... blaze your blog

I've written the article, now I need to put some of it into practice! :)

Blogging at Davos!

Blogging has become seriously mainstream, with business leaders being invited to blog from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

This article from the Economist quotes Seth Godin and other luminaries of the blogosphere on the subject of CEO blogging. However, it recommends blogging and being a CEO in the post-Enron era are mutually exclusive.

Economist aside, it's exciting to see the mainstream business community have a crack at this new form of disclosure.

(PS the Economist article is subscriber-only, but I heard it for free on The Economist's podcast - search for The Economist on the iTunes store)