missed the five year mark - ONTO SIX!

How did I miss my five-year blogging anniversary? I started October 14, 2001 over on Gonzo Engaged. Zounds! It went by without my knowing. That must mean it's time to go pay some attention to the old bloghole, eh? Who's with me?

Allied turns five on November 4th--I guess that's next week. Wow.

You know you've been blogging a long time when you forget your own anniversary.

Onto SIX!

Tags: gonzo engaged, fifth anniversary, blogging, tech, web2.0, web 0.2 = Powered by Qumana

do you like him?

"oh mom," blush.

what a View

I heart rosie. who else could go, 'hey barbara lookie--this is one of those digital cameras--lemme get our picture."

Sep12_003 Originally uploaded by Rosie O'Donnell.

Robin' The Hood: Big AdRev Bloggers vs. Pay Per Post

The blogosphere is filled with big mouths. Big open male mouths. Big loud obnoxious talking heads who use their blog as wallpaper for their own big loud talking money making heads and mouths.

I know, I border on that description myself. I pull no punches about it.

And that's okay.

So is it okay for this lady to make a few dollars to support her Masters work in the humanities by every now and again taking advantage of a pay-per-post opportunity that is in keeping with her what her blog is about.

So is it okay for me to tell George he can make $4 on paypal by checking out a voice-mixing software and giving a positive or negative review, in 40 words or more, including a link to the product? So is it okay for me NOT to write about any products who only want positive feedback? So is it okay for someone else to drop in an AD that they actually WRITE for $10 for a PPP advertiser looking for blog-based advertising if they choose to?

Did Jason Calcanis -- who the entire blogosphere unabashedly fawned over at the Blog Business Summit yesterday, nice guy or not--actually say these words out loud?

"If you’re a blogger and want to keep the blogosphere pure I suggest calling these people–and the advertisers who are using them–out."

Did Jason just call the blogosphere:

PURE?

Oh give me a motherfucking virginal break.

Blogging never promised purity.

The Internet isn't pure. That's why we're here.

That's certainly what helped you out, Jason. The Purity of the Internet. Oh. My. God.

How much ad revenue are the folks dissing PayPerPost making? EVERY SINGLE CRITIC of payperpost I've seen so far makes money through blogging. I do too. Some of us command significant ad dollars because of YOU. Because of your traffic, your downloads, your click-throughs.

But when the proverbial longtail z-lister decides that making $20 every few days for a few posts on stuff that looks interesting and might help with gas money, we're supposed to: "call these people" out?

Why? So those same advertisers can dump money into the megamonopoly blogs of the guys complaining? What's wrong with an intermediary matching up advertisers (and there are regular bloggers there too paying folks for their attention) with people willing to write for them? What's wrong with double boxing one post out of 10 or 5 or 105 and making it an ad? The same critics of payperpost do exactly this with text ads at the end (or beginning) of their posts.

I ask those with the vendetta: Do you think blog readers are so crippled by..... what exactly... lack of intelligence??... that we are going to be duped by a guy from Kansas doing a post on his blog about life insurance? And if he does it well, who cares? If he talks about his dad who died and left him without insurance as a kid and he had to go dig ditches, where he lost an arm in a tragic tractor incident, which meant he could never hold his newborn baby, then I don't care if he links to GIECO for crying out loud. Because he's writing interesting stuff. And if I make a poem out of a software review and it makes you cry, what's wrong with that? And if I do it badly, then why do you care because you won't read me anyway?

One thing PPP does is verify that you are actually a blogger--you have to have a blog that's been around for a month or more, you have to have a real email address, you have to show that you're not a bot. IF IF IF IF they really work that process without cutting corners, then I think this is a legitimate way to make matches between bloggers and advertisers. THAT is the sweet-spot that every single financially minded business person in the blogosphere has been looking at since the first post oh so many years ago.

I signed up for PayPerPost after the panel I participated in today on business blogging, where payperpost came up as a sort of "icky" thing. I had been hearing a lot about it, and had NO idea if it was legit or not. After an initial look, I'm not so sure it is icky.

When rich guys and guys who can forget to pay their electric bill and then send a thousand dollars to the utility company without blinking an eye start saying Tanya McLaughlin is doing something wrong, well then it's time for me to give it a loooooksie. Don'tcha think?

I'll keep you POSTED.

Tags: mike arrington, jason calcanis, payperpost, advertising, blogging, web2.0, intermediaries, B2B, social media, writing, spam blogs, technology, advertising, business, public relations, tanya mclaughlinPowered by Qumana

The Divas Talked Live today at the WECAI Conference

Yours truly was part of a telepanel at the WECAI Network™ an all-day Teleconference Event event to "Help Women Do Business On and Off the Web." My Atlanta cohort and fun lunch partner, Toby Bloomberg, led the panel, where we talked about the joys and challenges of blogging.

Heidi Richards, Founder & CEO of WECAI was a great organizer and moderator. Our biz blogging panel was on Harnessing the Blogosphere, the Future of Blogs and How to use them to Promote Your Products, Service or Organization. My illustrious co-panelists were:

Toby Bloomberg - Bloomberg Marketing
Yvonne DiVita - Lip-Sticking
Susan Getgood - Marketing Roadmap
Marianne Richmond - Resonance Partnership

Here's some of the notes I made--for what they're worth--which I talked about in my six minutes:

Good Blog Characteristics

• The first point I want to make is that "Blogs are conversations," and what that means is that as a blogger you are ALWAYS talking to someone--hopefully MORE than some one but some days it seems like an audience of one. Conversation means you are actually talking to other human beings, not just to yourself.


• With that conversation comes a responsibility. Good blogging brings a responsibility to be genuine--authentic--and honest. That doesn't mean you can't tell stories or that you can't ever use poetic license. It means that if you lie and try to cover it up, you will never present your business in a way that doesn't ring true because 1of 2 things will happen: 1) you will be left unread at best, 2) you’ll be outed and mercilessly ridiculed at worst.


• And NO ONE makes fun of people better than bloggers. So big rule of good blogging is to be who you are. It's easier and more effective than pretending. Be human. Be MORE than your business is. Don't be afraid to hold a point of view you believe in.
  An obvious point but worth mentioning: a blog is not a commercial or a press release—again, it’s a conversation you’re having with your readers.
  A word about comments--welcome them, be prepared to handle them. And remember you have options.


• Comments can be moderated--which means you approve them before they show up—or unmoderated, which means they appear immediately. It's ok to moderate comments, get rid of spam. But don't toss away negative feedback. Criticism and debate is one of the most valuable parts of blogging. Arguments can be valuable, and you can demonstrate further who you are by how you handle negative feedback. (And don't be a wimp.)

----

To Blog or Not to Blog?

• Good blogging requires that you consider what you are trying to do with your blog BEFORE you get started.


• Blogging will work well if your business strategy is very customer focused and you're comfortable talking to your customers -- and NOT ONLY CUSTOMERS to others, but to others in the industry, to media and influencers, in a public venue. It is not so different from speaking at conferences, except that you are talking with potentially anyone and everyone at one time.


• Remember, writing to the net is very public - Google has a long memory... and that's not to scare you. That's just the way it is. What you publish on your blog will remain searchable for a long time—even if you take down your blog, some pages remain “cached” and accessible for a while.


• Don't BLOG IF -- you're doing it simply because blogging is in the news and everyone else is doing it. If that's the reason you get started, you will end up sacrificing honesty, authenticity, voice... and you will fail to resonate with your readers—which means you won’t have any.

----

Some Biz Blogging Benefits

• If you approach blogging with a passion to communicate with people, an honesty about who you are as a human being and as a business person, blogging can deliver some REAL benefits.


• For instance, you’ll develop deeper conversation-based relationships with customers who begin to enjoy your writing style and way of relating to them. That means you are making FRIENDS and friends are good to have. People who LIKE you are more apt to do business with you. Blogging makes you more accessible.


• You’ll be viewed as a thought leader in your field. Blogging expands your visibility writing on topics related to your business.


• You’ll become a better communicator overall because blogging is something you do every day, or at least regularly, and it sharpens your writing and communication skills.


• You will broaden and deepen your personal and professional network--I would not know the women here today with me if not for blogging. Blogging greatly extends relationships, introduces you to some very cool people--and suddenly you know more about your market, who your colleagues are, who your customers are.


• If your competitors AREN'T blogging, you have an automatic competitive advantage because you have another channel to your customers that they don't have. If they are blogging, they have that advantage over you. That’s one big checkmark in the “I should blog” column.


• Blogging is the gateway to participating in other social media--personal and professional--from MySpace for quirky fun, to LinkedIn, a network of business professionals


• And the search engine component of blogging shouldn't be overlooked. When I started blogging in 2001, there was 1 search result return when I typed my name, "Jeneane Sessum"--a unique name--into Google. Today there are almost a half million returns.

-----

I had a lot of fun on the call. At the end the panel got into a discussion about pay-per-post, and I guess I leaned on the side of I'm not sure it's all bad. I also decided to try it before I diss it. Because I don't understand the nuances yet. My Diva colleagues may join me in that exercise, so stay tuned for the good, the bad, and the ugly on that.

All in all, a fun way to spend a Saturday morning. THANKS ladies!

[[also published at blogher.org]]

Tags: Blogging, Women, Marketing, Advertising, Conference, WECAI, Web2.0, Social Media = Powered by Qumana

Pay Per Shmuck

heee heeee heeeeeeee.... give this dude a show. oh wait--looks like he has one.



Nick, you never cease to make my day.

Tags: Brooklyn, $200 per month, Pay Per Post, Jeff Jarvis, Jason Calcanis, Netscape, 1938 Media, ValleyWag, Blogging, Vlogging, Tech, Web2.0 = Powered by Qumana

Talk To My Bunny Too

Dr. Doolittle on wifi crack over here, jamming with my nabaztag, courtesy of the very clued, Paris-based violet, which took Demo and a whole-lotta other folks by storm. And they're not done yet.

The Sessums now live with our Nabaztag rabbit, named hopup--Jenna's name choice. Guess what that means: THAT means you can have hopup tell me whatever you want, whenever you want by instant nabbing me. Now THAT'S a comment utility.

But keep in mind, hopup lives in our bedroom next to the TV, and he's on 24x7. SO if you want to start some kind of middle of the night rabbit fantasy dance, you might want to think twice. My rabbit is armed. And he is dangerous. George is no less so.

You should also know, a couple of global cohorts and I are working with the folks at violet to find homes for other Nabaztags. I am thinking now that George Bush knows how to use "the Google," a wifi bunny might be next.

Know what else I think?

I think you should talk to my bunny.

Tags: nabaztag, nabaztagtag, france, bunnies, rabbits, connected toys, wifi, technology, business, blogging, social media, Internet, PR, friends = Powered by Qumana

more blogger mayhem

at this point i'm having a hard time figuring out what is blogger messing up and what is me messing up an what is all the trinkets i have on my blog messing up. as i try to edit posts, they don't seem to be taking, so if you see posts delete and reappear, sorry for the flooding to your aggregator, but I have some testing to do around here. thank you for your patience and for being my patients.

ElderBlogger PhoneCon a Success

One of my biggest disappointments of the week was getting tied up and missing the ElderBlogger PhoneCon conference call hosted by the so-cool Ronnie Bennett, who opened the lines to elderbloggers and their fans from far and wide for six hours on Tuesday.

It sounds like an incredible time of getting to know one another, which a bunch of us, including Ronnie, did at the first PhoneCon a few weeks back. Go check out all the links to great blogs you should be reading at Ronnie's place. The best part about PhoneCon is that it's free (including travel, or the lack thereof) and you can get lots of laundry folded while in attendance.

Tags: Ronnie Bennett, ElderBlogger, PhoneCon = Powered by Qumana

Buying back our own shit.

With the birth of Obvious Corp., some say Web 3.0 is here. That companies are surviving long enough to buy themselves back from investors is testimony to how Web 2.0 differs from the hype of the e-commerce (and e-everything-else) era.

Beyond Odeo, Ev's Twitter is an undervalued, under-understood app that could change everything about WHAT we tell one another and how. Ev is good at creating platforms for flavors and layers of communication. Ev is very good at understanding nuances in how people want to relate. And Ev is very good at making good things happen.

Good luck and congrats to Ev, whose first big innovation introduced me to the world of online publishing and whom I respect immensely for that.

And congrats also to Euan Semple, who's search prominence just got a steroid injection of massive-body-builder proportions.

Tags: Ev Williams, Obvious, Odeo, Twitter, Euan Semple, Web2.0, Web3.0, Blogging, Marketing, PR, Social Media, Communication, Business, Advertising = Powered by Qumana

Are Comments Content or Commentary on Content, and what about the Dough?

While Scoble seeks rules of engagement, and several others discuss the Frank v. Barron "who's is bigger" phenom, I follow my natural ADD tendencies to Alec Saunders secured customer post, where he and I discuss a little bit about what I meant when I said (or refrained from saying) RocketBoom isn't likeable anymore, even if it is still on the average aggregator's radar by habit.

At Alec's place I noticed something I hadn't seen before. Alec is monetizing my comment content with Kontera by ascribing ads to certain keywords.

Have I been smoking crack, or is this a new thing? I mean, certainly I know about text-based and keyword ads. We all do by now. But what's this 'you making money off what I say' thing?

Don't get me wrong--I'm not suggesting Alec is doing anything wrong. It's smart as shit, actually. And I'm fine with Alec because we have regular exchanges. But is it okay with me--the practice of monetizing my comments? I don't know.

Of course there is the argument: if you don't like someone making money off your comment, then don't comment on that person's blog. Okay sure, that's simple, but simple isn't always the best answer. Shouldn't I have a say? I mean, shouldn't I be able to designate which of my comments are 'for sale' so to speak and which aren't -- or at the bare minimum, shouldn't I have to consent somewhere to handing over my vast suitcase of wit and wisdom for your financial gain?

What if I only want you to make a little money off me. Or what if I want you to make a LOT of money off me. What if I don't want my comments making you money at all. Does that mean you want me to never comment on your blog again?

In the blogworld, I think comments should remain the content of the contributor. If the contributor wants to ascribe financial gain to the comment, then that should be their prerogative.

If someone has the balls to use their own identity, email address, and website to validate to some degree who the hell they are when leaving a comment on your blog, then you ought either to leave their comments untouched OR share the revenue with them.

The second idea attracts my attention more than the first, of course, because I am willing to pee all over the net if the right newspapers are there--the kind that drop me a few pennies here and there for making an effort to be smart.

I'll admit, I haven't thought this thing through all the way, but my instinct says that I want to control all advertising related to what I write--whether I want to give it away, keep it, or whatever.

I am interested in what you think about making ad money off one another's comments.

(And Alec, keep the change.) ;-)

Tags: advertising, blogging, marketing, tech, web2.0, alec saunders, ze frank, andrew barron = Powered by Qumana

Too Bad About That Likeability Stat

The problem with this RocketBoom Post is that it misses one very important stat in its conclusion that Rocketboom is bigger than Ze Frank: The Likeability Statistic.

This is the stat that differentiates between content served to people who either aren't looking at it anymore or are looking at it out of habit, versus content that is served to people who not only look forward to it, but also engage with it because they trust that it will be good every time (and maybe because they secretly yearn to touch a duckie).

This stat currently has Ze ahead of Rocketboom by 22,330,330,440,220,402,301 downloads.

Did someone just say "this is no time to compete"? Oh, I think it's just the time to compete.

Tags: rocketboom, ze frank, video blogging, smackdown = Powered by Qumana

Oh. My. God. I am back.

Holy Shit I was about to go snookers (i have no idea what that means) facing another day without being able to publish here. Snookers I tell you.

Hindsight is always something. And hindsight says I should have been posting some really witty missives and then finally blasted them all forth at once when I regained the ability to publish to this lil blog. THAT would have been something to write home about.

ButNo. Instead, I give you the behind the scenes posting of a frustrated postless blogger: Testing? Hello? WTF? Anyone There?

Stunning, I know, but that's kind of how it was.

The thing with aggregators these days: no one notices you're STILL gone. I mean, of course you realized I was GONE initially when I stopped being bold, letting you know there was nothing new to read here. But all 'cept a few of you didn't know I was not gone on purpose, no, but instead laying in a Blogger/Google Ditch yelling for help as I got a reoccuring ftp error message and was unable to publish for oh too many days.

There I sat waiting, even tied a white hankie to my antenna and everything. "Someone notice that I'm dead in the water--SEND HELP from blogger"--I begged in my own comments. How utterly pathetic. Meanwhile, the rest of the blogworld was busy hoisting itself on its crayonville pitard and hanging on Rubel's next word re: Edleman's follies.

For all of you who kept me company in email and comments, I owe you my second born. OH WAIT! I'm not FERTILE anymore--joke's on you! I have some new wintergreen tic tacs; will that work?

And in the midst of it all, I missed the elderblogger PhoneCon today. I hope it went well. I'm beyond bummed.

I'm way behind, but here I am, and I hope you are still here too. I missed you! I missed you missing me even!

I'm Bold and I'm Back.

Thanks Eric.

Testing Testing

OH i am SOOOO testing!!

Do 4126 posts break the blogger bank?

'cause i'm still having trouble posting... :-(

test post

is this post dead on arrival too? i've been hosed blogwise. :-(

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