The Edgy Entrepreneur

Saving the Blog: TypePad Adds Microblogging

Thank god someone is finally working on a way to save blogging. With microblogging's popularity, the new scrolling platform at Facebook and a whole generation of texters, it just makes sense to make blogging platforms closer in similarity to our new standards of communication.

I have been a big fan of TypePad for quite a while. This past year has been one of change for them as they drastically changed the user interface, added better SEO functions and more effective stats services. Not long ago, they introduced profiles for bloggers, now microblogs.  And with the integration of posting to multiple platforms simultaneously, TypePad is setting itself up to be my new Command Central.

I decided to test out this new microblog service by creating one for my Portland Foodie Blog. Now, this will not replace Portland Foodie...for one thing, I will need the space to post longer amounts of content. Portland Foodie Bites (catchy title, eh?) will focus on smaller chunks of content, foodie news, photos, videos and the like. In a way, it is like TwitWall or Tumblr. A hybrid between the looooong (?!?) 250 word blog posts and the scant 140 characters available for a Tweet. 

The blog format is set up to look more like an all inclusive social media profile. My bio and picture are to the left, then a long list of links to all of my profiles. I also added a Twitter feed and a Facebook Fan Page feed. Then, I crafted my first witty message...ok, maybe the first wasn't that witty, but the second...now there's a great post!

It is a brand new service, so some hiccups are to be expected. Like for some reason, I can't get Twitter to interface and auto post...but that could just as easily be Twitter's fault. Also, the designs are very limited, as is the customizing of the sidebar. In the future, it would be great if Facebook Connect and the Twitter Visitor Widgets were easily added...as well as other social media widgets. And making it easier to search and find other blogger profiles would be grand.

I look forward to testing it out. It may be that I choose to switch one of my blogs to an exclusively microblog format. I applaud TypePad for giving it a go! I wrote a sister post about microblogging and publishing over at my real job website, Cool Springs Press...see what you think!

New FTC Guidelines for Garden Bloggers (Yes, You!)

Hey Garden Writers...if you have a blog (or other website) and do any type of product review, this post is particularly important for you. The Federal Trade Commission has issued a set of guidelines that require you to disclose any relationships you have with products/companies you are reviewing. Now, for many of us, this has been standard operating procedure for a long time.

Here's what they have to say:

"if you have received any products, samples, benefits, or other incentives from a company whose products or services you discuss in your blog, you must disclose that. Similarly, if you are an employee of, or have any other connection to, a company whose products or services you discuss in your blog, you must disclose that, as well."

These regulations have been in place for a very long time in traditional advertising. The truth in advertising/backing up your claims language is something that we have all heard before. It makes a lot of sense that the FTC would broaden these regulations to apply to online marketing. Really, it is strange to me that it has taken this long. 

So for those of you who returned from the Garden Writer's Symposium with a suitcase of books and products, it is now a requirement that you disclose that those products and books were given to you for free. You must also disclose if you connected to the manufacturer in any way.

As a writer, and now as a new employee for Cool Springs Press, I am going to make sure I am very clear in identifying my publisher/employer, as well as any sponsor relationships. Note: I don't have any sponsor relationships, but I am accepting applications! :) This is a small but important change in regulation that could have a major impact on your writing...make sure you understand and follow the regulations to avoid any future drama.

*photo by smlp.co.uk

Finding Illustrations for Posts and Publishing

I recently finished my first book, "Growing Food: A Guide for Beginners". It is a book about starting a vegetable garden, with sections on harvesting, preparing and storing on my top ten picks. It was a challenge, to be sure...but I enjoyed writing it.

Since I was publishing in black and white, I didn't want to use photographs...sadly, I am not an illustrator of any kind. So, I was forced to research the public domain for usable art. Since it took me so long to figure this out, I thought it might be helpful to share. Even if you aren't writing a book, chances are good that you are business blogging...and having a great illustration can really make your post pop!

But before I do, I am offering a disclaimer: Before you use images in the public domain, you need to understand a bit about copyright. Since I am not an attorney, I recommend that you read this quick wiki article for the basics, then check each site to make sure it is truly in the public domain. The sites I am listing are not sites that I own or control, but they have assurances on their site that specify the use of the materials.

That said, here's my favorite sites for free public domain images:

Grandma's Graphics

The Graphics Fairy

The Household Cyclopedia

Internet Archive

Karen's Whimsy

US National Archives

Time Tunnel

Do you have sites that you use? Leave a comment and share your resources!

Is RSS Too Simple? Syndication in Web 3.0

For years, we have relied on RSS technology to publish our blog posts. Feeds delivered to their reader, bringing our outstanding content, witty repartee and gorgeous photos. And, we have developed a very narrow definition of what it means to have a blog following. As we continue to move towards Web 3.0, I would suggest that the concept of really simple syndication has become...well...too simple.

In the event that you don't spend all of your free time reading up on internet trends (doesn't  everybody?), I thought I would include a bit of information about Web 3.0. Web 3.0 can mean a number of things, dependent upon what web function is involved...but the part that is most applicable here is the concept of the open web. Think open API, OpenID and application interoperability (ie Facebook connect).

Nova Spivak, grandson of the great Peter Drucker, offers several points to define the third decade the web. But one of them really captured my attention. It is the transformation of the Web from a network of separately siloed applications and content repositories to a more seamless and interoperable whole.

I have often considered that to be a very literal statement...that we will be able to find our tribe on any site where we have registered. My Facebook friends, my Twitter tweeple, my Plurk pals, all will be visible when I log on to a site that is participating in this open connection between platforms.

But recently, I have started thinking of Web 3.0 as a philosophical understanding, not just a practical application. And it occurs to me that we have been trying to keep blogs and blog syndication in a Web 2.0 box, while it is clearly trying to evolve.  We have defined our followers, our syndication, even our comments in a such a way as to disregard the value of satellite communities found on social media sites.

I started to think about this as I evaluated my analytics for several of my blogs. I could see tremendous growth in visitors, but not corresponding numbers subscribing to the feed. And for a while, I really fretted about the whole thing. My traffic was not "sticky", I didn't have nearly enough comments, my bounce rate was too high...how could this be?

When I let go of the traditional quantifiers for blog success, I saw a different paradigm taking form. I started looking at the referring sites to my blog and saw that there were some fairly consistent patterns. I started to think of sites like Facebook, Twitter and Plurk as my "real" readership. Rather than subscribing to my feed directly, my followers on those platforms were using my micro-posts as feeds. And after reading the articles, would go back to the various referring sites for commentary and discussion.

I started seeing regular readers and commenters on multiple platforms having multiple follow up conversations. I started wondering why they didn't "count" as subscribers...and why this type of interaction wasn't considered in the overall metrics of blog performance.

I have come to the conclusion that we have reached a point where measuring the amount of subscribers to an RSS feed is a much too simplistic way to analyze the impact of a blog. And counting comments per post no longer gives us a sense of reader involvement. Instead, we need to build measurement systems that consider followership on social media platforms as part of the community of the blog in question. 

By letting go of our rigid definition of blogging success, we can bring this reliable social media tool into Web 3.0. Rather than assuming the blog is no longer as effective as it once was, let's consider that our standards of effectiveness have not advanced sufficiently to capture the decentralization of social media interaction.

BlogRovr Excellent Tool to Track and Promote Your Blog

UPDATE: If you want to share the blogs I follow, go to here. Let's share! Won't that be fun?

BlogRovr is an awesome idea! I just discovered it while browsing Fire Fox 3 add ons. Essentially, the BlogRovr watches the pages you are on and retrieves blogs with matching information. The highlights of these blogs are displayed in a small side tray, from which you can click to go to the post for more info...

Below, you will see that I am on Seth Godin's page...the browser picks up keywords from the page and brings me back the posts (the red arrow is pointing to the tray). How cool is that?

Here's how it works...after downloading the program, a little retriever shows up at the top of your Fire Fox browser (adorable!). Close and reopen the browser and a tab will pop up with the Rovr home page, here you will create an account and choose from a variety of pre-packaged blog choices (later you can go back and change the settings to the blogs you like to follow). Once loaded with blogs, the little retriever does its work whenever you are on a page that has a topic corresponding with the said blogs.

And for you Tweeters, there is a feature that allows you to tweet about the page you are on...no need to cut and past links...wha??? That's right, kiddies...icreased effeciency!

Business applications are primarily two fold...One, you can quickly get a depth of knowledge about a subject of interest...a big time saver. Two, you can also list your blog (s) in the search function so that they will be a part of the results...promoting you and your product/service.

BlogRovr isn't a substitute for your regular blog reader, but it is a fun new way to access info you want without opening and closing a bunch of tabs...it's my new fave!