Busblog writer Tony Pierce puts forth the idea of the sponsorable photo essay. Steve Hall comments. [this is a summary - go to our web site for the complete entry, links, comments and categories]
[MarketingWonk - The single source for no-nonsense Internet marketing news]

ClickZ's Joanna Belbey and Karen Gedney put together a good, basic reference for getting started with email marketing. ClickZ reports. [this is a summary - go to our web site for the complete entry, links, comments and categories]
[MarketingWonk - The single source for no-nonsense Internet marketing news]

Publishing consultant Vin Crosbie, in his monthly "Publishing: Free or Fee?" column for ClickZ, tackles the question of whether or not blogs may be able to charge readers fees to read their material. In fact, most of the column is comprised of extensive quotes from other leading blog experts, including Patrick Phillips, publisher and editor of I Want Media, Rafat Ali, publisher and editor of PaidContent, both of whom are skeptical about the opportunity to charge for blogs, as well as our own Rick Bruner, playing the role of the blog believer. [this is a summary - go to our web site for the complete entry, links, comments and categories]
[MarketingWonk - The single source for no-nonsense Internet marketing news]

The next level of targeting and results improvement in search engine marketing will likely come from personalization. Google's Kaltix acquisition underscores that priority for the search giant. CNET gets the skinny straight from Eric Schmidt, who concurs that the algorithm is undergoing constant enhancement. CNET reports. Kevin Lee comments. [this is a summary - go to our web site for the complete entry, links, comments and categories]
[MarketingWonk - The single source for no-nonsense Internet marketing news]

You may have noticed something strange lately at Google. Some searches that should display thousands of results only show a handful, even though Google itself says there are thousands of matches. This "bug," highlighted by The Register, causes Google to display highly reduced result sets. The explanation hypothesized in the article is an algorithm change designed to thwart Google page spam. Author Andrew Orlowski goes so far as to suggest that Google is moving away from the famous PageRank to place more emphasis on anchor text. Kevin Lee comments. [this is a summary - go to our web site for the complete entry, links, comments and categories]
[MarketingWonk - The single source for no-nonsense Internet marketing news]

The Direct Marketing Association's neutered interactive group, the Association for Interactive Marketing, finally released its email guidelines, stripped of meaningful spam policies. The contraversial document originally dared to define spam as unsolicited email, but the parent organization, rife with "opt-in" emailers and traditional direct companies, censored that part. It then launched a star-crossed publicity campaign to try to define spam only as email that contains already illegal, fraudulent claims. IAR reports. Tig Tillinghast comments. [this is a summary - go to our web site for the complete entry, links, comments and categories]
[MarketingWonk - The single source for no-nonsense Internet marketing news]

Having passed an anti-spam law two months ago, Missouri broke the precedent set by other states by actually bringing charges against two Florida (of course) spammers. This case may provide the first test of inter-state spam law enforcement, as the dozen or so other states have yet to file charges based on their own laws. The constitutionality of this cross-state regulation is, as a result, untested, although similar regulations have passed muster in the telemarketing realm. IAR reports. Tig Tillinghast comments. [this is a summary - go to our web site for the complete entry, links, comments and categories]
[MarketingWonk - The single source for no-nonsense Internet marketing news]

kickass weblog. The Democratic National Committee has a kickass weblog.  [Scripting News] with a choice of RSS feeds. [McGee's Musings]

Alarm Bell Phrases on Ward's Wiki are just great. As with all links to the Wiki though, be warned: click too many links and hours of your life will inexplicably vanish...

[Simon Willison's Weblog] The NonAlarmBell Phrases are just as enlightening [McGee's Musings]

A few of my favorites are:

• I'm the team boss. Every decision made on this team is going to be mine.
• "I don't want to tell you how to do your job, but..." Isn't any phrase ending with "but" an alarm bell phrase?
• Look, just give me something for the demo!
• "We're going for a BestOfBreed approach."
• "Oh, come on, I CouldDoThisMyself in a week."

J:L

Jon Stahl pointed out this fantastic thread on Howard Dean's campaign blog, his supporters from around the country (173 comments so far) are dropping great tips for online organizing tools. They already have one of the most successful social toolsets built to date. Dean is dominating the battle for web dominance. In a very open way, they used a thread to harvest ideas and energy from supporters.

(Via Network-centric advocacy) [Smart Mobs]

Blog2Mobile - Here it is a new online service in English (and also in French) based in France:
blog2mobile (beta 1.0). Just click on the UK flag for a version in English.

With this tool, you can create an account (login/password) and read any RSS feed via a mobile phone or a PDA connected to the Internet.

This tool is also Wap and Imode compatible.
See the FAQ there.

[Smart Mobs]

Gary Burd explains how Amazon's RSS feeds work.
[Scripting News]

Greenspun: "What's the point of blogging?"

This weekend is the BloggerCon conference at Harvard.  A young audience member had the courage to ask "What should I say when someone asks me what the point of having a blog is?"

Indeed this is a variant of the early 1990s question the first personal Web sites went up "What is the point of having a personal Web site?"

What then IS the point of personal Web site or blog?

Let's go back to the beginning...
[Scripting News]

Heath Row's incredible BloggerCon notes.
[Scripting News]

Unless you're just blogging to exercise your writing skills, or to communicate with a few friends, you're in the publishing business, and you have readers who hope, or expect, that your blog, just like any other publication, will be valuable to them. Information science identifies two ways that published works can provide value to readers: They can inform, or they can entertain. Most newspapers and magazines have articles that do each. As anyone who reads How to Save the World regularly can attest, I'm no expert on writing for entertainment. I'll leave it up to others to offer advice on how to write entertaining blogs (though I have no doubt that good stories are an important component of many entertaining articles, columns and blog posts). Most blogs aspire to inform, in one way or another, and that's something I do know a little about. The word inform means, literally, to put form around, to flesh out. The 'value chain' at left, another artifact of information science, shows the stages that we go through in the process of becoming informed. A blog that takes us from one stage to the next informs us -- and therefore has value. Here are the four ways that this can happen: Aggregation/Research: This is the process of pulling together, compiling data. It's what a reporter does. Who, what, when, where, why, how. Just the facts, ma'am. It's research. It's hard work, a lot of digging. Example: Billmon or Kriselda go back and find out what someone said two years ago that's still archived in some obscure publication or cache, which proves the Bush Administration has been lying/up to no good. Synthesis: This is the process of distilling and organizing information to provide context for understanding it better. It's what news writers and editors do. Charts and tables are also examples of syntheses. Example: I took the aggregated data on US incomes and produced this power chart. Analysis: This is the process of deconstructing the information to reveal what it means, what it implies. It requires not only an understanding of the information and its context, but also broad and/or deep expertise about the related subject matter: politics, economics, history etc. It's the domain of experts and specialists: business gurus, professors, and lifelong students of specific domains of knowledge. Example: The New Yorker does in-depth analysis like this, while newspaper op-eds (and blog rants like this one of Rayne's) provide more cursory and subjective, but still valuable (and often entertaining as well) analysis. Prescription: This is the process of advising and/or persuading the reader what actions or responses are appropriate in light of the analysis. The analyst may conclude with a prescription that follows from the analysis, or the appropriate action or reaction may be obvious or tacit, or the analyst may not presume to offer a prescription, and instead leave this final step up to the reader. Example: Here is my recent prescription for education reform. None of these four ways of informing the reader is inherently better or more valuable than the others, nor is it always advantageous (or even advisable) to try to do more than one of them in any single article. But you'll generally find that the best publications, and the A-list bloggers, tend to do (at least) one of them very well. So, at the risk of taking all the fun and uncertainty out of your blogging, and being accused again of saying there's a right and wrong way to blog (there isn't -- there are no rules, OK?) here's a scorecard you can use to assess the 'information value' of your posts: Criterion Applicable? Achieved? Appropriate research done, facts checked, citations given Article presents new information, or presents it in a new way/light Layout and organization is clear and concise Graphics used if (and only if) they improve understanding Aggregation/summarization saves readers time reading other stuff Article adds something unique that readers don't get elsewhere Analysis helps reader see the meaning/significance of the issue Arguments/solutions presented are logical and/or persuasive New ideas, perspectives, useful tools or ways of thinking are introduced Heading, intro help readers assess their interest in reading further I've been using it for awhile -- checking off the 3-4 things I'm trying to accomplish in the middle column before I start writing each post (which 3-4 vary from post to post), and then just before posting scoring myself on how well I've achieved each of those 3-4 objectives. It's caused me to 'pull' a few posts that didn't measure up, and miss a few days posting, but it's for the better. I'm also realizing that time pressures recently are negatively impacting my 'scores', and the quality of what you read on this blog. The drop in comments and hits shows you realize that too. I'll try to get back to full stride as soon as work (and other writing) pressures ease off, and I appreciate your patience in the meantime.

[How to Save the World]

Last week I suggested that IT and KM (Knowledge Management) departments need to get together and refocus themselves on enhancing individual front line worker effectiveness and productivity. Since then I've knocked this around with some IT and KM people both online and in person, representing a variety of different industries, and they've helped me refine these ideas considerably. The first thing I've concluded is that for pragmatic reasons KM should be organizationally part of IT, rather than a separate department or a part of HR or Sales & Marketing. IT has the resources and the budget, understands the function of infrastructure, is less vulnerable to full outsourcing, and has objectives that are so synergistic with KM's that sometimes they step on each other's toes. Besides, as I explained in that previous post, KM has a lot to offer IT as well, to get it past the major challenges IT is facing today. The new, combined TechKnowledgy department would have not only the traditional responsibilities for managing the financial, HR and sales systems and the centralized and desktop hardware of the organization, but also these new responsibilities: Development of new social software tools for front-line employees, including: Expertise locators - to help people find other people inside and outside the organization they need to talk with to do their job more effectively Personal content management tools - simple, weblog-type tools that organize, access and selectively publish each individual's 'filing cabinet' Personal collaboration tools - wireless, portable videoconferencing and networking tools that save travel costs and allow people to participate virtually in events where they cannot afford to participate in person Research bibilography and canvassing tools - technologies and templates that enable effective do-it-yourself business research and analysis and facilitate the preparation of professional reports and presentations, and Hands-on assistance to front-line employees -- helping them make effective use of technology and knowledge, including the above tools, one-on-one, in the context of their individual roles. Not training, not wait-for-the-phone-to-ring help desk service -- face to face, scheduled sessions where individuals can show what they do and what they know, and experts can show them how to do it better, faster, and take the intelligence of what else is needed back to HO so developers can improve effectiveness even more. Why should management pay for these new tools and services that they don't directly benefit from? Because improvements in the effectiveness of front-line workers increases profitability, and because the above tools will also make some management tasks easier: appraisal of employee performance, identification of internal and external experts, knowledge hoarders, and (as these tools begin to cross organizational boundaries) the quality of potential recruits, contractors and suppliers. And some of the personal content management tools could replace centralized content tools and repositories that, in most organizations, have produced more pain than gain. When we talked about this, it also occurred to us that this second category of new responsibilities -- hands-on assistance to front-line employees -- might lend itself right out of the gate to outsourcing. This might create a huge opportunity for all the un- and under-employed IT consultants out there -- as front-line productivity consultants. There are certainly plenty of value propositions for such a service -- lousy return on IT and death by e-mail overload come immediately to mind. So, infrastructure lovers everywhere, there are two opportunities here: One to save both KM and IT from attrition and irrelevance by joining forces and doing some new and desperately needed things, and the other to create a host of new entrepreneurial businesses that will allow business- and tech-savvy people to solve what Drucker called the greatest business challenge of the 21st century. Now all we have to do is convince management.

[How to Save the World]

Bloglines, the RSS feed reader that follows you everywhere, has recently been updated with two neat new niceties:

• Blogrolling (some of) your Bloglines subscriptions on your web site.
• A recommendation feature that suggests new feeds based on your subscriptions.

Bloglines is a great, web-based way to read RSS feeds. There's no software to wrestle with, and using Bloglines is smooth and easy.
[About.com Email]

A special challenge for bloggers switching hosts is retaining traffic from archived posts that have been indexed in Google and other search engines.
[Blog Hosting News]

Another Internet powerhouse appears ready to jump into the Blog hosting game. This time it's Yahoo!
[Blog Hosting News]

Technorati is now tracking more than 1 million weblogs.
[Blog Hosting News]

view Blogs4Business' Technorati Cosmos

Video blogging has gone main stream and now you can use it to create and broadcast your own web TV show. UK Blogging service Tonguewag has teamed up with UK viral site TTR2 to bring you a talent contest like no other to launch the worlds first video blogg
[Adrants]

Marketers spend billions of dollars every year developing and advertising taglines hoping consumers will remember them, understand them and act on them. Well, according to a recent study by Emergence, most of that money is wasted. Only 6 out of 22 tagline
[Adrants]

If you can't get enough gossip or don't like what you read in the rags then Quickbrew is for you. With Quickbrew's Dirt Magazine, you can choose from a menu of "dirt" to dish up your own personalized rendition of BenLo-like article. Not surprisingly,
[Adrants]

Driven by broadband, streaming media, and online personals, the paid content market experiences more growth.
[Advertising]

UPDATE: The DMA's Association for Interactive Marketing issues e-mail best practices for marketers, after months of controversy and delays.
[Advertising]

Internet.com's interactive marketing editor published a piece today explaining just why Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds may help publishers thwart spam filters, but this one also puts together a creditable list of the downsides. ClickZ reports. [this is a summary - go to our web site for the complete entry, links, comments and categories]
[Up2Speed - The single source for no-nonsense Internet marketing news]

ClickZ's Kevin Lee lists the main search marketing trade groups, listing their priorities, membership trends and types of activities and services. New to the list is the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO), a search-specific trade group. [this is a summary - go to our web site for the complete entry, links, comments and categories]
[Up2Speed - The single source for no-nonsense Internet marketing news]