I am a blogger.
I observe.
I rant.
I question.
I have definite opinions.
I have freedom of what I write and when.
I am an incurable romantic.
I don’t like everyone I write about, and it’s OK to let that show.
I would never ‘out’ someone without their permission.
I make inappropriate jokes.
I may choose to tell only half the story.
I don’t have to question my writing.
I run nothing past a higher authority.
I honour my conscience.
I am not always objective.
I don’t have to look good in front of a camera.
I don’t have to soften the message.
I write for an audience that feels the same as I do about freedom of information.
I go places that others would not dare.
I am a blogger.

Here’s a clip I took today during this morning’s keynote at BlogWorld, “The Death and Rebirth of Journalism”, with a panel consisting of (from left to right) Joanna Drake Earl (Current TV COO), Don Lemon (CNN News Host), Jay Rosen (Journalism Prof at NYU and Blogger), and Hugh Hewitt (Radio host and lawyer). The panel was moderated by  Brian Solis (Principal of FutureWorks).

In this video, Don Lemon is describing his feelings about social media vs. big media.

I should note that Mr. Lemon took a few major checks against the boards this morning at this panel discussion, and in my personal opinion, while some of them were rather tough, some of them were deserved. There were some heated moments when I turned my head to see if there were any security guards in the room. Being that I was sitting in the very front row, not 10 feet away from these panelists, I admit at times I felt rather uncomfortable, uncertain how far people might exercise their obviously strong feelings.

The essential points from the Blogger community amount to that they find traditional media to be slow, cumbersome, incomplete, and not without a certain amount of unjustified self-assurance that comes across as arrogance. The traditional media claims not to feel threatened by social media, and furthermore, they want to work with social media to form a more “horizontal” system of news gathering and distribution, rather than a “vertical” one. “Let us in the loop,..” they ask. (This particular comment inflamed the Bloggers in the audience, who felt that they were being asked to do the “dirty work” of data-gathering for journalists, rather than being treated like equals.)

Another heated point related to the issue of fact-checking. While it’s true that the gatekeepers of traditional media make judgements about what to report based on what they feel will be of greater interest to their viewers (read=have greated ad-selling potential), they also perform an essential task when reporting on events: fact-checking.

Lemon openly stated that of course the system could not be perfect, and it was simply not possible to fact-check every single bit of information before it makes the airwaves. Bloggers however, want it understood that while there are some “bad apples” who perpetuate misinformation, perhaps maliciously or more often simply out of ignorance, most bloggers consider themselves ethical enough to want only to report that which can be substantiated and which they know to be true and accurate.

The debate will doubtless rage on for decades more, but this was a very interesting event for me to witness. As I said, heated moments, which made for stimulating and thought-provoking conversation for the rest of the day.

I’m heading to Blog World Expo again this year for some educational fun. Speakers this year include Guy Kawasaki, Chris Brogan, and Chad Vader.

OK, I admit I’m most excited about seeing Chad, the internet video sensation created by Matt Sloan and Aaron Yonda. Everyone’s favourite grocery store night manager, Chad has captured more than my own heart. (Even George Lucas gave it his thumbs up.) My main mission at the Expo this year is to go to sessions about podcasting, and the brains behind Chad Vader’s viral video success are two that I wish to pick, if only from a safe distance, down there, in the audience. Perhaps I can sit next to Chad’s girlfriend Clarissa.

What’s your own podcasting mission for your enterprise? Lately, I’ve become more bipolar in my own approach, as I created a more polished set of videos for TheBookBroads.com’s YouTube channel, and yet streamlining my “joie de le moment” approach for certain cell-phone generated video content. (Soon to be released.) There are advantages to each approach, and I enjoy doing both.

I will be interviewed and interviewing all weekend at the show, October 15th through the 17th, from the show floor and various locations around Las Vegas. You’ll find any new videos at the Wizard of eBooks’ new YouTube channel at YouTube.com/wizardofebooks.

I’ll be happy to do my best to honour any special requests for specific blog or podcasting-related info from the show made via email, Twitter, or comments on this blog.

Let’s face it: writers don’t get a lot of exercise. I’ve discovered this recipe that makes a really crunchy and filling low-carb snack.

Low-Carb Crunchy Writer’s Snack Mix
(This makes enough to last at least a week or more.)
- 1 box Bran Buds
- 1 bag raisins
- 500g toasted sunflower seeds
- 500g toasted pumpkin seeds
- 250g toasted sesame seeds
- 1 Tablespoon sea salt

Toss in large airtight sealed jar, and spoon out when you feel munchy. Little goes a long way.

The raisins add some carbs, but they are more than offset by the bran, and seem to reduce cravings for sweet stuff. The seeds provide omegas and keep one from feeling hungry because they take a while to break down. If I eat about 3-4 Tablespoons of this before midday, I eat far less lunch.

Makes a nice snack with fried onions – just chop an onion, fry in EVOO, and add the mix to the pan. Can also add spices, curry powder mixes, other low-sugar dried fruit or nuts, chili flakes, bran flakes, flax seed, dried vegetable flakes, etc. Use it to top off soups or mix into tuna salad. Delish!

Here’s a quick post about blogging for authors, written by Joanna Penn – she re-states everything I’ve been saying about effective blogging tips.

Link to: http://bookmarketingmaven.typepad.com/book_marketing_maven/2009/02/-top-10-tips-for-effective-blogging-for-authors.html

The next time a client tells me they’re not sure that blogging, social media marketing, and new media will work for their company, I want them to watch this video.

Bruce is not ashamed to stand in a booth at BlogWorldExpo and beg people to blog about him and his company. It apparently worked, because his booth was swarmed by people. In fact, I’m extremely proud to say that just as I was putting away my own video equipment form this interview, the anchorman from the local newscast in Las Vegas dropped in the booth to beg for a short interview. (Gee, did I get in before you guys? Awww, that’s too bad.)

What I was late on was finding out about the concrete company’s product, because it might have save me about 10k on the construction of my new house. Oh well: next time.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (16.0MB)

Well, it’s a day of combined impressions. Firstly, this show is not nearly as big as I had anticipated. But secondly, it’s more meaningful for me than I had ever imagined.

Frankly, I can’t understand why a topic with an obvious application to almost every business on the planet can only book 62 booths into a trade show. However, the conference schedule and speaker roundup is 29 pages of the show schedule booklet. The sessions were what seemed to be more valuable to most of the attendees, including myself.

Of the three sessions that I attended today, the most valuable was the “Making Money with with Podcasts” session, which was a panel discussion with three hosts including JB Glossinger of MorningCoach.com.

Glossinger has much in common with my own finance guru, Mr. H, who is constantly telling me to “…just get it done now – stop thinking so hard.” Glossinger truthfully introduced himself as “different” after hearing the other two panelists speak about their own success by explaining that he’s “…not a marketing expert…”, nor does he want to “…make you think I know everything about business…” But, he’s got a very clear understanding of two key areas of online business: speed and guts.

In the early days of his business, Glossinger knew that he wasn’t doing everything right, but he knew that podcasting was a great vehicle, and that he needed to just keep doing it to gain an audience. He knew that he had to be consistent in his offerings, and he knew that he had to keep his promise to delivery a 15-minute daily morning podcast. When he started, nobody knew who he was, but he had the guts to keep going. Now, he’s a well-known speaker and trainer in not only the field of personal coaching, but also in the field of online business. He’s a bit confrontational, and I just loved that.

What’s equally interesting about Glossinger is that his income model is not based on what seems to feed most podcasters, which is banner ads, ClickBank, and (low-)paying content creation. Instead, Glossinger uses his free podcasts to build his profile, build his traffic and subscriber base, sell items off his site, increase his bookings for speaking, and fill his classes with people who already understand what they are there to learn. Yup, I’m on my way there.

More updates tomorrow, Sunday evening, plus some video that I shot today and will add to tomorrow.

Wow – it hardly seems possible that I’ve already reached the 100 mark, when this revised blog has only been operating as you see it for a few months. Prior to that, I was posting on multiple blogs for similar subjects. This forum has been an exercise in setting personal boundaries.

Thank you to all of you who continue to send me email and comments, online and offline. I really find the interaction very stimulating, not only for my own writing, but for the development and marketing of my clients’ products. My commitment to helping to develop authors on the West Coast of Canada is renewed every time I hear from one of you.

As a blogger who loves what she does, and what I write about, I can offer one piece of key advice. If you glean nothing else from reading about blogging, please know this: only blog about topics for which you have a true passion. Blogging is work, and loving your subject makes it a pleasure rather than a chore. More coming soon!

For many years, I’ve been a subscriber to the newsletter (now turned blog) of Elliot Masie of the Masie Center, an eLearning thinktank based in Saratoga Springs, New York.

I like Masie – he’s got a clever, out-of-the-ordinary way of looking at the way people learn and communicate. Masie is a very readable writer, and he communicates complicated ideas in a simple and easily-assimilated manner. He might be a training nerd, but he does it with style.

Therefore, I was pleased today to receive the most recent edition of “LearningTRENDS“, his newsletter. His headline? Follow him on Twitter as he participates in the Harvard Kennedy School event on Presidential Leadership Competencies.

For those of you not already on board, Twitter is a handy-dandy little website that allows you to broadcast one-liners, or “headlines” of content to a a list of your subscribers. It’s another one of those things that falls into the category of Social Media Marketing. People can subscribe via email, or even on a cell phone. We’re only talking about a short string of text – messages are capped at 140 characters, so most people will stop and read it, even if they don’t have time to read your blog.

The caution here is that Twitter must be used carefully to avoid “burning”, or over-messaging your subscribers, and making them want to leave the list. It’s about serving the needs of people who have taken the trouble to sign up to hear what YOU have to say.

Masie announces, “If you would like to get a taste of RealTime blogging, I am using Twitter to send all-day-long “blog” objects: quick notes about comments from Joe Klein, David Gergen, Ken Blanchard, Rosabeth Moss Kanter and more.” He calls this “small-burst blogging”, and invites people from all over the world to listen with him on this important leadership conference.

By following him on Twitter, I received several stimulating headlines throughout the day that made me stop and think. Items like “How will you create an environment for innovation within your leadership team?” and “Evaluate your campaign as a case study in leadership — success, failure, personal learnings” can easily apply to almost any business leadership situtation.

So, I’m taking note: THIS is how Twitter should be used. To stimulate, to question, to inform, and most of all, to keep people wanting more. Masie understands the needs of his audience, and he has really maximized the use of this channel. I’ve seen some really poorly-utilized Twitter feeds, which turn into personal rants about the weather, or comments about being unable to get a taxi. What does your reader really need to hear about all day long? Industry news? Updates from a conference? Cool new products you’ve seen at a trade show? Only you know what will be of greatest benefit to your readers. So, unless you’re the weatherman, no rants about the rain.

This week, I’ve had a number of readers ask me questions that relate to blogging; setting up blogs, writers and blogging, and promoting through blogging.

In response to this, I’m preparing a short eBook that will be available shortly for download from this site, which is essentially a re-work of a class that I taught some time ago, titled “Blog Essentials for Self-Publishing Authors”.

The eBook will include information that was not in the original course, including a variety of updates and lists of resources, both free and paid. As usual, comments will focus on resources that are open-source in nature.

To be updated when this free eBook is available, please subscribe to my blog using the sign-up box at right.