Sam in S.A.M.

Ski Area Management just posted a wrap-up of the Midwest Ski Area's Association Trade Show that included a blurb about the Blog session I did. Thanks S.A.M.! P.S. Let me know when you are ready for your blog... :)

New eNews Released

The latest and greatest installment of the nxtConcepts eNews is now ready for reading and responding.

Why go? To find out why the heck I would give 5 Reasons to Ignore blogs...

Why blog?

Probably the most important question anyone would ask is, "why should I blog". There's quite a few reasons. Here's my top six reasons why:

1. Way to get personal with customers
2. Get immediate information to & feedback from customers
3. Tell your side of the story
4. Build authority, credibility (especially with media)
5. Improved search/placement/referrers
6. Crisis communication

Have any to add? Go ahead and start posting!

How does a blog differ from...

"A blog is just another website"

Ahh, I hate to disagree but, no, it's not. A website is built to sell. Only the better one's are interactive enough to engage people. But the general point of a website is to get you there to sell you a company, product, or service. Websites usually focus on company's.

Then what's a blog you ask? It's a place to start a discussion. It's a place that focuses on the personality of an individual or group of people. Blog's are supposed to be thought provoking. Blog's are a communication medium that are not stopped by complicated HTML or flash.

Want a quick comparison? Blog's differ from the following:

-website: A good blog is interactive and frequently updated, unlike most websites
-chat room: A good blog maintains a conversation history, unlike most chat rooms
-bulletin board: A good blog is easy to read, unlike most bulletin boards

What are your thoughts?

How big is this blog thing anyway?

So, you might be wondering, is this "blog thing" just a craze? Will it be here today and gone tomorrow? You know, like they said the internet and website's in general would back in the 90's.

It's big. And it's growing. Fast.

-Over 12 million American adults have created a blog
- Blog readership up 58% in 2004; 27% of all Internet users
- 5% say they use RSS (Really Simple Syndication) to get news, other info
- 12% of internet users have posted comments or other material on blogs

Those numbers are from Pew's Internet Study of American Life.

One more thing. Guess who the number one blog demographic is? Did you guess teens as your first choice? Well you are wrong, it's males between the ages of 30-39. Why should you sit up and take noticBecauseuase these people are YOUR customers and can be your best friend or your worst nightmare.

Moral of today: You may not be blogging, but there are plenty of others that are. You can either dig your head in the sand and wait for the caravan to pass or jump on and enjoy the ride.

Brief History of Blog's

"I feel so lost" is what many of our clients say when we start discussing all the various marketing options available using new technology. Especially, when the term "blog" comes up. I assure whoever I'm talking to that actually they are ahead of the curve. Blog's are still very new. How new? Let's take a look...

1997: Bloggers blogging, but don't know it
1999: The terms "weblog" and "blog" created
2004: "Blog" is Webster's word of the year
2004: Pew Internet & American Life:
11% of net users have read blogs
2-7% have created blogs (2.4 of 8.4M blogs)
2005: One new blog created just about every second, every day (86,400 seconds in a day)

Think about it. If blogging was a person, it wouldn't even be out of Middle School yet.

That's why I love it so much. Because it's still so young and can give businesscompetitive a competetitive advantage for little or no cost.

Have you started blogging yet? If you haven't why not? What's holding you back?

What really is a blog?

Latetly I've heard a few people describe to me what they believe a blog is. Some were close, some, well, not so close. Although a blog can be many things, they have many common factors.

The answer to "What really is a blog" really depends on where you look and who you ask. Some say it's "all about the technology" others say it's about the "networking". I think it's somewhere in the middle. Matter of fact, here's how I define a blog:

•Written in first person. No editors, no rules, topics do not relate to each other.
•Arranged chronologically (usually reverse)
•Created using browser based blog software that is easy for anyone to create, update, use.
•Social phenomenon for interaction, feedback and networking
•Easily updated-usually daily
•Focus on one product or theme
•Thought leading, long term conversations
•Collaborative features (comments, trackbacks, blogrolls)
•RSS (Really Simple Syndication)
•High communication medium due to pure text which search engines, cell phones, browsers, and firewalls love.

So, how do you define a blog?

Check back tomorrow for a brief history of blog's.

Blog's that haunt you

I read an article over the weekend about the content in blog's coming back to haunt the writers somewhere down the road. There were examples of politicians kids, employees at big companies, and of course, regular, every day people.

Blogging is still so new. That means you are pretty much free to do and say whatever you would like. That can be both good and bad. The good side is that we get plenty of open space to define just how much rope we might be able to hang ourselves with.

Part of the excitement about trying something new is the unknown qualities of it. The excitement that you are doing and trying something that doesn't have a set of rules already laid out. For someone like me, it's a dream come true. I like to create and mold things. It's a combination of creativity and a restless need to never be satisfied. I'm sure many of the other bloggers share this quality. Those that would rather wait until the masses have accepted something would really not understand this and should probably stop reading.

Still reading? Good. If you are you are, you need to know something. Blogging can get you in trouble. Re-quote something you shouldn't, well that could be copyright infringement. Slander the wrong person or company that wants to make an example of someone and you could find yourself in more hot water than comfortable. Give out too much personal information and you could garner yourself a nice stalker.

There are always risks. That's part of what makes the "newness" of something exciting. Who really wants something that does not present a challenge? So, the moral today folks, is to blog-on but beware that the whole world is watching.

Camera Winner from Booth

Denise from Trollhaugen Ski Area in Wisconsin won a free digital camera for stopping by our booth at the Midwest Ski Areas Trade Show and registering on the myMarketingGuide.com website. She says she hopes to use the camera to add pictures to her new blog!

Blog Presentation and Feedback

After my speech yesterday, I talked to a variety of people. Many were blown away by a "world" they said they had no idea existed. A handful stated they felt a bit overwhelmed at trying to keep up with new technology and marketing methods and even how fast their customers wants and needs kept changing.

Two things I think that really hit home for many of the people I talked to were the blog I created for one of the people in the room on-the-fly and being able to pull comments from bloggers about many of the ski areas within the last week. (Don't forget the blog speech was for the Midwest Ski Areas Association members). Since this is August, you would think it would be tough to find many people talking about skiing. Not so in the blogosphere.

I really sit on both sides of the fence when it comes to doing a blog to try it out and doing a blog successfully. I really believe you should have a "blog strategy". Just like you would have a marketing strategy or plan of how to use the various marketing tools at your disposal. On the other hand, most people will not know if a blog is a good communication/networking tool for them unless they give it a try.

What I recommended to people, was to try something like blogger to start a personal blog. It's free and easy and gives you a taste of what it would be like to blog on a regular basis. For those people who are ready to commit and want a business blog that will be around for awhile, I believe they should have a plan, research their options, and (of course) get with someone like me to guide them through the process.

The other recommendation I made was to go and keep regular tabs on what's being said about you in the blogosphere. Blogpulse is my favorite. Only thing to keep in mind...once you start it's addictive. Plan to set aside a specific amount of time and then stick to it.

The Blog Presentation

This morning I gave the blog presentation I called, "Blogology 101". As with any public speaking that involves technology, there was a problem.

Even though I arrived at the room in plenty of time to get set up and ready, it still took twenty minutes of speaking time, two computers, and two projectors to finally get the presentation rolling. Luckily, I had two good articles and a page of blog definitions to keep people busy.

Overall it went well. I rushed through it a bit, probably more than I should have with the type and amount of material. Interestingly enough, I would have graded myself a "6" on a scale from one to ten (ten being best). Others in the room said "8".

Before I started, I wanted to get a gauge of blog knowledge in the room of about fifty people. The first question I asked was, "Who has their own blog?" No one raised their hand. Except me of course. The second question I asked was, "Who has posted to a blog?" Two people raised their hands. I figured it was pretty typical of the general population and the baby-boomer crowd that I was in front of.

Overall, people were interested but still concerned about the risks of giving their customers a pen and a voice. I hope was able to convey at least one major point...That customers are already doing it, so they (the audience) can either join in or bury their head in the sand and hope the whole "blog" thing just goes away. Which I also said in my opening, might happen when people start ice skating in hell.

My Blog Slid Down the Page

I can't tell you how frustrating it is when I can't figure out simple technology. Since what I do a good part of the day is figure out how to use really complex technology.

In any case. I like Blogger (at the moment/will change soon I'm sure) for the pure simplicity of what they offer. That's why over the last few days I couldn't believe I was having a problem I wasn't able to fix.

Let me explain. I use both Internet Explorer 6 and Mozilla 1.7.1. In Mozilla my blog looked fine. In IE, my right side navigation was no longer at the top of the page. It had slid down to the bottom, where pretty much no one could see it. Not a huge deal, but it bugged my none-the-less since over 60% (according to my statcounter's add-on report) of the people visiting were using IE.

So, I searched the Help forum and did eventually find the very simple fix for the template design I'm using. My links embedded in the post, on the left side of the page were too long. I made them smaller. Page is back to normal. Luckily I stopped myself from ripping apart the code (my first inclination).

Lesson learned--always go for the simple stuff first AND the answer is always out there, it's just a matter of locating it.

P.S. For the non-geeks in the crowd...you really do not have to put an additional web link in the content section of blogger. As long as you put it in the LINK box below your post title, you will be fine. I do it because I do not believe everyone knows to put their mouse on the title link.

Best Times to Blog

A few years ago I read about a writer that disciplined himself to write at least an hour every morning. Even before looking at the first email or listening to the first voicemail. I've tried to emulate him. I try to write every day. Blog's now let me share some of my inner thoughts beyond my computer. Sometimes my writing develops into something. Sometimes it's trash. Either way, I program myself to write. I believe that's the secret. I rarely have "writers block".

In all my professional roles over the years, I've always written something. Whether it was brochure copy, speeches, articles, or even ski reports. I've tried to stick to a similar morning routine. Sometimes I can, sometimes other things take precedence.

Over the years many people have asked me how I come up with the various types of content or even ideas. A lot of it is research. More of it is just plain reading. The more you read, the more your develop opinions, the more you have to say. It's kind of simple that way.

So, here's the moral of today's story boys and girls--- set a time to devote to your blog, then stick to it. For some people it's the morning before the hassles of the day begin. For others it's a lunch break. And, for a small few, there's the night owl's who like to reflect on the happenings of the day.

How hard is it for you to stay disciplined to blogging/writing? Do you tend to do it the same time each day? Let me know. I'm an inquiring mind...

Getting practical

Blogs, podcasts, and RSS feeds are getting heaps of buzz as cool marketing tactics ... but we seldom hear truly practical advice on using them.

So, I thought I'd give you a handful of hints to making your blog more useful for your readers.

Tip 1: Keep it short.
Readers may be quickly browsing a topic or their news reader. That means they are looking for simple, short, and unique items. If your post takes up more than one screen and lot's of scrolling is involved, consider turning your post into an article somewhere else.

Tip 2: Remember your audience.
Blog readers are generally influential, early adapters who tend to network with their peers, and they're touchy when they think they're being over-marketed to on their favorite blog. The best blogs encourage people to want to come back and read over and over again. Although it's your blog, write about things that your readers will find interesting and timely.

Tip 3: Work with the blog software, not against it.
I've seen quite a gew people try to make programmers re-design the blog code to make it more "website-ish". That's really not the point. Blog's are not websites. Websites are usually static and try to sell. Blog's are interactive and more of a social networking atmosphere. Make the most of what they are and what they have to offer and you will reap huge rewards!

New Blog

If you've been following my blog over the past year, you may notice all the entries seemed to have disappeared. As time allows, I will be re-posting the previous posts in this new format.

In the meanwhile, I hope you enjoy the new digs. They are a bit more "blog-like". So, much for my experiment of using forum software for a blog atmosphere. It kind of worked for the posting but definitely NOT for the search engine optimization. The PHP code was just not search engine friendly.

Oh, well, I live and learn!