Sometimes when you want to share something, it’s often easier to draw from the good ideas of others. I always tell our clients that when blogging, you are not necessarily trying to create the most unique, most clever, most amazing blog post every single time. Rather, you are simply trying to engage in the online community. And as in any community, who enjoys the guy who likes to act like he’s got the very best, most unique ideas every time? No one . . . we all prefer conversation and community.
As in all social media, consider yourself sitting around at the coffee shop or even your family’s dining room table and exchanging ideas. At times, you really do have an opinion or thought that has never been voiced before and is worth hearing (so that others can share your idea with others who can share it with others, etc…). But most often, we simply are sharing what we’ve heard from others. There’s nothing weak about that as long as you participate authentically in the community with correct attribution (not trying to claim every great idea as your own).
One of the greatest tools in my arsenal is my Bloglines. If you are not familiar, try on this definition: “a web-based news aggregator for browsing weblogs and other news feeds via syndicated feeds utilizing technologies such as RSS.” In simple terms it is your bulletin board that is automatically fed updates on a variety of blogs and websites that YOU are interested in hearing about. In the old days, you would click on your “Favorites” and peruse all your favorite blogs only to find out “nothing new there.” But with RSS feeds, you can subscribe and be alerted when new posts have been made. It’s been around for years, but I have only started using it within the past 12 months. It’s transformed how I stay in touch, radically improved my efficiency when I am reviewing 70 different “favorite” blogs (yes, 70 and growing!), and opened up an easy portal of information that I can then repurpose on my blog or share with clients.
When my identical twin brother and I are interested in going out to lunch, it’s rare that we don’t end up at a Chinese food buffet. We love the choices and variety and I love to get something different each time. I look at my Bloglines in the same way when wanting to hear a variety of ideas. So when from time to time, I simply open up my Bloglines and look through the buffet of choices! Ideas are everywhere and it’s hard to choose, but there are some that just stand out. Today, I share these few with you:
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If social media hasn’t caught on with you yet, read Adrianne’s blog over at Tornado Marketing. I think she lays out pretty well some good reasons (ROI!!)
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David over at Marketing Integrity shows why he took up blogging. If you’re wondering why you should blog, see what David has to say.
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Are you out of ideas for blogging today? Need a jolt in the creative department of your brain? Chris Brogan offers 50 blog post ideas for anyone marketing their company.
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Copyblogger gives all of us bloggers a dose of reality: why saying “content is king” is NOT the way to drive traffic to your site! Find out what will do the trick (some great nuggets of information for everyone blogging and wondering why their Google Analytics is not smokin’!!)
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Austin creatives over at the Church of the Customer blog share this video for you to marvel at people’s ability to amazing things with video. Funny stuff!
Hi Randy, I too would encourage everyone to implement an RSS reader (I use Google Reader). It is a great way to have information you are interested in delivered direct to your computer so you can read it when you are ready. It saves time and keeps you connected to the online conversation of your favorite blogs and also keeps you up-to-date on breaking news. The other nice thing is that it keeps it compartmentalized in its own “space” so that your in-box doesn’t get clogged up more than it already is!