Twitter Blogs are Annoying

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So, I also wanted to take a few minutes today to rant about something that has been annoying me for a long time now: Twitter blogs. Basically, there are many ways to feed content from Twitter, a popular micro-blogging tool, into your WordPress blog. Unfortunately, people aren’t writing real content for their blogs anymore; instead, pushing their Twitters onto the world.

What you end up with as a reader are half a dozen or so one hundred and forty character messages, most of which have no meaning or relevance to you as a reader since they are responses or aimed at specific people.

It is really a shame to see so many blogs heading down this road, and that Twitter has captured their attention so much that they don’t continue to work on their real blogging efforts, a type of communication that can’t occur on a platform like Twitter.

Please, turn off whatever you use to feed your Twitter conversation into your blog, and put some kind of widget in the sidebar instead. Then, as your blog becomes decrepit, hopefully it will shame you so much that you come back and post something decent.

By the way, my Twitter information is www.twitter.com/davidcubed if you want to follow me.

Originally posted on February 6, 2008 @ 3:20 pm

Scheduling Things In: Forgetting about Podcasts

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So, I have only been a panel member on one of the five episodes of WordPress Weekly, a podcast being run by Jeffro of Jeffro2pt0. I have had every intention of being on more of them, but what ends up happening is on Friday night, I am busy doing other things, wrapping up my week, and I totally forget about calling in to the podcast.

The amusing part is that I usually remember about two hours too late.

This really brings home the issue I have with scheduling. From week to week my roles, responsibilities and hours change. I am pretty much always tied to a computer though. You would think that I would have an application set up to remind me of such upcoming events, but even if I did, I don’t think I am diligent or organized to constantly keep it up to date.

What’s a blogger like me to do? Maybe I should just get Jeffro to change the recording time to suit my needs? (Joking of course) What do you think?

Oh, and check out Episode 3 if you want to hear me giving out my opinion on a variety of WordPress related things.

Originally posted on February 12, 2008 @ 12:26 pm

8 Bloggers to Network With

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I want to give a huge thanks to Steven Snell of Vandelay Design for including me in a recent post on Pure Blogging entitled “8 Bloggers That Won’t Bite”.

Networking is one of the things I tell everyone to focus on in this ever changing landscape of web publishing, and it is nice to know that people have noticed that I enjoy networking with others. When you work from home by yourself, any contact helps stop me from going crazy.

People listed on Pure Blogging include, Courtney Tuttle, Tay, Jon Phillips, David Culpepper, Adnan, Pearl, and Karen Zara.

A great list of people, some who I have talked to before, and others who I plan on networking with soon.

Originally posted on January 25, 2008 @ 6:46 pm

C.E.O. Blogger Interview with Steven Finch

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David Peralty: So, as with any and all interviews on and off the web, the most pressing introductory question is, who are you, what do you do, and where can people find you online?

Steven Finch: Hi.. well I’m Steven Finch and I’m currently the CEO of a new media company here in the UK named Insomnia. Additionally, you can find me at my personal weblog, Crenk.com.

David Peralty: So, new media means a wide variety of things. Can you tell me more about Insomnia and what they deal with?

Steven Finch: Well Insomnia is a media company. We currently have our majority of assets in the music industry, and we are just about to launch our first web assets, which is also based in the music market.

The first web asset is called Routenote, and is a music licensing and distribution company.

David Peralty: Crenk.com talks a fair bit about what is going on in the online world. It seems like you are joining two very competitive niches. What made you think that you could build a successful company, and blog in the current marketplace?

Steven Finch: Both companies are definitely in two very competitive markets, but two markets that I think are changing very rapidly.

Personally, I have been pretty much living on the Internet since a young age, and I have always taken notice of the Internet and where it was progressing. This, mixed with my knowledge in how business really works, seem to really help in the growth and progression of the company in both sectors.

David Peralty: So, as a CEO of a company, you must have an interesting view on the blogosphere. Do you think it will continue to expand endlessly or have people already reached their saturation point when it comes to blogs and online media?

Steven Finch: Well at this stage, it is definitely growing, but I always believe in information overload. Blogs are about having your say, but sometimes it is very difficult to find voices or publications that are actually worth reading. This will always be an issue when the blogosphere is continuing to grow.

David Peralty: Why did you end up choosing WordPress for Crenk.com? Did you try any other options?

Steven Finch: I tried blogger for a while, but it didn’t seem to have the customizations and plugins that I was after; hence, WordPress. It seems to be the most adaptable, and seemed to get my vote from the moment I started using it.

David Peralty: If other CEO’s are looking to join the blogosphere, what would advice would you give them? Warnings, tips, tricks are all good.

Steven Finch: A warning I would hand out is don’t ever personally attack someone, be it a blogger or even just a user of your site because at the end of the day, the users are always what makes or breaks an internet company, and loyal ones are very hard to come by.

Additionally, make sure you disclose all of your conflicts of interest, with regards to other companies, advertisers, stocks, and etc.

David Peralty: Do you have any blogs that are great inspiration for a new blogger? Be they technology, PR, corporate, or other?

Steven Finch: Well Xfep of course, but I am also a fan of Dosh Dosh for blogging, Read/Write Web for technology and also Centernetwork.com. Additionally, I have learnt a fair bit from Foundread.com.

David Peralty: And lastly, when can we expect Routnote.com?

Steven Finch: We are currently in private testing at the moment and should be opening to the public in approximately two months.

David Peralty: Thank you again for taking this time to talk with me. I would love to see more CEO’s get into the blogging world, be they new media or not. I am looking forward to the increasing build up of Crenk.com as well as the launch of Routenote.com.

Steven Finch: Thank you very much.

Originally posted on February 29, 2008 @ 2:23 pm

300 Posts, 300 RSS Readers and Nearly 60k Unique Visitors

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January is turning into a banner month for me. eXtra for Every Publisher now has three hundred posts in its archives, a goal I was hoping to reach in December, but I got a little busy with the holidays.

According to Feedburner, this blog is hovering around 300 RSS subscribers, which to me, is absolutely amazing. I write for numerous blogs, but they were either established before I showed up, or are multi-author blogs, so I never imagined I would have so many fans willing to subscribe to the content I generate.

And last, but not least, I have had nearly 60,000 unique visitors to this blog in January alone. I am currently sitting at a little over 58,000, with 243,000 page views. That to me is insane for a single author blog in a very crowded niche, but it proves that anything is possible if you work hard enough and are passionate. I owe a heck of a lot of this newfound success to my friends, and of course my employer, Splashpress Media, for all their great support.

I have so much more to say though over the coming weeks and months, so I hope you will all continue to stick with me, and continue to enjoy the content I publish.

For those of you that haven’t enjoyed my technology posts on setting up my network attached storage box, it is almost over, and I will return all my attention to handing out tips and advice related to blogging.

Originally posted on January 21, 2008 @ 12:20 pm