Mitch Joel's Blog: Six Pixels of Separation, page 355

Co-dependency In The Age of Facebook

It's hard to imagine that there is a Facebook killer somewhere around the next tech innovation, but there probably is.

Granted, in the end, it won't look much like a "killer" but probably closer to something new, shiny and different that has enough new whiz bang boom to garner attention. Many thought that this was what would become of Twitter. It just seemed so much easier and simpler than the more complex neediness of Facebook. Who couldn't create a 140-character message? Twitter was (and still is) a much more mobile-friendly experience. On top of that, it's easy to add, find and share with friends, and there was something about the limitation of the message that made the barrier to entry fairly low (even though many who jump on the Twitter bandwagon find themselves struggling to understand how to find and follow people while grappling with the new language of hashtags, retweets and URL shorteners). What we've learned in the online social networking world of Facebook and Twitter is that there is more co-dependency between the two platforms than walled gardens that users are not allowed to cross.

The truth is that it's hard to beat Facebook at this point.

With over 750 million registered users that cross all demographics, psychographics and gender, one could argue that Facebook is an Internet unto itself. Yes, there is some fatigue (a few weeks back, Inside Facebook - an organization that reports on everything Facebook - showed that there was either a plateau effect or a decline in the number of new accounts being created in places like the U.S., Canada, UK, etc...). Yes, many people (and some governments) still have a bug about Facebook and their privacy settings. Yes, with anything this big there are many thousands of people who still complain and gripe about the service. But, for all of those warts, many people are heavily invested in the platform (and I'm not talking about those who are waiting for Facebook's pending IPO). People like you and I have created our social circles within Facebook, we've spent time nurturing our profiles, updating our status, linking our social graphs together, uploading pictures, tagging them, following events and more. We're there. Our friends are there, and not being there leaves us - somewhat - out of social loop.

Twitter seems to augment the Facebook experience and vice-versa and that's where the interesting business applications kick in.

Last week, Google launched a brand new online social network called, Google +. Currently, it's a closed environment that can only be accessed if you're invited, and by the looks of the online chatter, Google is allowing people with significant Social Media experience in first to see how it stands up, performs and gets chatted about prior to opening the flood gates for all to use. There is widespread skepticism about Google's ability to be successful in the online social networking space. In the past, they've made strong attempts with Orkut, Wave and Buzz but the overall results paled in comparison to the success of Twitter or Facebook. With Google + users can create "circles" that allow them to segment their connections (i.e. friends, family, co-workers, etc...), they can follow or create an area of shared interest called a "spark" (let's say you're into Thai cuisine or mixed martial arts or eating Thai cuisine while watching mixed martial arts), you can share your images or even create a live get-together known as a "hangout," and the integration between the Web and mobile experience looks seamless (with the one exception being that the iPhone app is not available yet).

So, how does Google + stack up?

They've clearly learned from what Facebook and Twitter have done to keep people engaged, and the platform is simple and easy to navigate and connect with. Will it be a Facebook killer? My general motto is "everything is 'with' not 'instead of'," but with so much similar functionality, it's hard to believe that the average user will feel the need to have two environments that ultimately do the same thing: allow me to creep on my friends, family and co-workers. On top of that, users will have to feel that Google + is so superior that it's worthy or rebuilding all of the connections that have already been consummated in the Facebook platform. From the businessperson's perspective, it's important to know and play with Google + (if you're lucky enough to get an invite or once it opens up for the general masses) as the audiences and the type of engagement that happen in different online social networks is usually unique to the platform (i.e. the discussion around some of my Blog posts is very different when you compare the comments section of the Blog to Twitter and then to Facebook). Much like LinkedIn is skewed towards the business professional, the types of people who engage in Google + may be very different from the average Facebook user (but only time will tell). Google + would be much more interesting if it was co-dependent on Facebook. While that may sound like heresy, just imagine if you could port your information and data from one to another and the stuff that Google + does would augment your Facebook experience (or vice-versa).

In a world of co-opertition (competition + cooperation), it may be Google's best play at actually slaying the Facebook giant.

The above posting is my twice-monthly column for the Montreal Gazette and Vancouver Sun newspapers called, New Business - Six Pixels of Separation . I cross-post it here with all the links and tags for your reading pleasure, but you can check out the original versions online here:

Montreal Gazette - New Google + doesn't add up to a Facebook killer .

Vancouver Sun - not yet published.

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Bored

When do the best ideas strike?

Do the most original ideas come to you when you're working around the clock, not eating properly and struggling to sleep or when you are bored... bored stiff? Why do the best ideas hit you while you're in the shower? I have a theory (and it's probably going to ruffle some feathers): Being bored is fantastic for creativity. Have you ever played with a young child and you suddenly run out of ways to keep them stimulated? What's next? More often than not your creativity kicks in and you're able to pull together a grand adventure with some toilet paper rolls, a handful of pipe cleaners and elastic bands. What about when you're sitting around with friends on the deck and the small talk subsides? What comes next is usually some kind of fun game about stories or telling jokes that create the more powerful memories years down the line.

Get bored more often.

I'm often asked if I ever take a break. What most people fail to realize is that I spend a lot of my time bored. Not de-motivated. Not from a lack of something to do. Not because nothing gets me excited, but because I know that it is in those moments of boredom that some of the clearest and most lucid ideas come creatively crashing in on me. Spending my time scouring Blogs, Twitter feeds and RSS readers does not generate the best ideas for a concept for a client, Blog post, magazine article or book chapter. Those ideas usually strike when nothing else is happening. When it's quiet. When everything isn't flowing like a river of news in a real-time Web... but when I'm bored.

Boring isn't bad.

Sadly, most people believe that being bored is bad and dangerous. It's only that way if you're constantly in a slump (or a high school student without summer plans). Think about being bored in a much more pragmatic and proactive way: what would it take for you to bring yourself (and your mind) to a place where you have nothing to do or think about? Where there are no distractions (TV, Web, whatever) and to a place where you can just breathe, look around and have absolutely nothing to do?

You can be bored right now.

Close your computer. Shut down your mobile device. Turn off the television. Put on your shoes and walk over to a park. Don't sit near anybody. Sit by yourself. Don't bring anything with you. Nothing (not even a notebook). Try sitting there... and sitting still for an hour. You will be bored. You will spend the first 30 minutes recounting your past few days and all of the things you have to do at home and work. You'll then start thinking about all of the others things you would like to do (read a book, take your nephew out to a movie, etc...). You will... at some point... run out of things to think and worry about. You'll have nothing to do. You'll just sit there. Good. Sit there. Keep sitting. Sit there until you're no longer thinking about all of that stuff (including the part where you'll be thinking about why you're even sitting there in the first place)... sit there until you have nothing else to do. You will get bored. Once you're beyond bored, you'll see something will happen. Ideas will flow. You will get creative because you have nothing else to do. In that boredom you will find and create much more memorable times.

When people ask you, "aren't you bored?" Just smile and wish you were bored more often.

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Twitter, Celebrities And People In Power = Big Mess

Episode #260 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to.

Joseph Jaffe is widely regarded as one of the top Marketing Bloggers (Jaffe Juice) and Podcasters (both Jaffe Juice in audio and Jaffe Juice TV in video). He is the author of three excellent books (Life After The 30-Second Spot, Join The Conversation and Flip The Funnel). A long-time friend (and one of the main inspirations behind the Six Pixels of Separation Blog and Podcast), we've decided to hold monthly conversations, debates and back-and-forths that will dive a little deeper into the Digital Marketing and Social Media landscape. This is our 15th conversation (or, as I like to affectionately call it, Across The Sound 15.20), and this one focuses on Twitter and how brands, individuals and people in power are using it, abusing it, screwing it up or getting it perfectly right. Yep, you guessed it, it's a mixed bag of emotions and dissent. Enjoy the conversation...

You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via iTunes): Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast #260.

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across the sound

advertising

bite size edits

blog

blogging

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cast of dads

cc chapman

chris brogan

christopher s penn

digital dads

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facebook

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flip the funnel

hugh mcguire

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itunes

jaffe juice

jaffe juice tv

join the conversation

joseph jaffe

julien smith

librivox

life after the 30-second spot

managing the gray

marketing

marketing over coffee

media hacks

new marketing labs

online social network

podcast

podcasting

pressbooks

six pixels of separation

social media 101

social media marketing

strategy

trust agents

twist image

Twitter, Celebrities And People In Power In Power = Big Mess

Episode #260 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to.

Joseph Jaffe is widely regarded as one of the top Marketing Bloggers (Jaffe Juice) and Podcasters (both Jaffe Juice in audio and Jaffe Juice TV in video). He is the author of three excellent books (Life After The 30-Second Spot, Join The Conversation and Flip The Funnel). A long-time friend (and one of the main inspirations behind the Six Pixels of Separation Blog and Podcast), we've decided to hold monthly conversations, debates and back-and-forths that will dive a little deeper into the Digital Marketing and Social Media landscape. This is our 15th conversation (or, as I like to affectionately call it, Across The Sound 15.20), and this one focuses on Twitter and how brands, individuals and people in power are using it, abusing it, screwing it up or getting it perfectly right. Yep, you guessed it, it's a mixed bag of emotions and dissent. Enjoy the conversation...

You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via iTunes): Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast #260.

Tags:

across the sound

advertising

bite size edits

blog

blogging

blue sky factory

book oven

cast of dads

cc chapman

chris brogan

christopher s penn

digital dads

digital marketing

facebook

facebook group

flip the funnel

hugh mcguire

in over your head

itunes

jaffe juice

jaffe juice tv

join the conversation

joseph jaffe

julien smith

librivox

life after the 30-second spot

managing the gray

marketing

marketing over coffee

media hacks

new marketing labs

online social network

podcast

podcasting

pressbooks

six pixels of separation

social media 101

social media marketing

strategy

trust agents

twist image

Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #54

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (BitCurrent, Year One Labs, GigaOM, Human 2.0, the author of Complete Web Monitoring and Managing Bandwidth: Deploying QOS in Enterprise Networks), Hugh McGuire (The Book Oven, LibriVox, iambik, PressBooks, Media Hacks) and I decided that every week or so the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person "must see".

Check out these six links that we're recommending to one another:

Google and the Gang of Four: Eric Schmidt's Full D9 Interview - All Things D . "Two videos for the long weekend, whichever side of the border you live on. (but if you're not in Canada or the US, you'll just have to chug some maple syrup, fire a gun, and pretend) First off: the tech world was abuzz this week with Google + , a new entrant into social networking from a giant that seems to have learned the lessons of Buzz and Wave . According to Google chairman, Eric Schmidt , Apple , Amazon , Facebook and Google are the 'gang of four' that dominate consumer technology today. This is a nearly 90-minute video from last month's D9 conference , but if you want to understand the world we're going into, watch it." (Alistair for Hugh).

Everything Is A Remix . "The third part of this four-part series on the history of sampling and repurposing is now out. 'Nobody starts out original,' says producer Kirby Ferguson . Having seen the first three, I'm waiting for the fourth to come out so that I can screen them as one." (Alistair for Mitch).

How China Sees The World - Boston Globe . "There is a big internal debate in China between moderate internationalists and hard-line unilateralists, jockeying over foreign policy direction. The road China chooses will shape global politics for years to come." (Hugh for Alistair).

The Joy of Secularism: 11 Essays for How We Live Now - New Statesman . "Whether or not you are interested in the debate between religion, humanism, and atheism (I am), this article/review is worth reading just because it is so well-written." (Hugh for Mitch).

Branding Is About Creating Patterns, Not Repeating Messages - Fast Company Design . "For a long while, I've been saying that branding and great advertising is no longer about one big idea, but rather many big ideas in many different spaces. There is a new brand narrative and it's not the same old story. 'Brands today exist in multiple mediums, defined by multiple voices. The media brands inhabit is iterative, with no beginning, no end, and little permanency. In that context, adherence to a big idea and endless repetition of centralized, fixed rules can make a brand seem unresponsive and out of step with its audience. But without repetition, how does a brand create consistency? And without consistency, how does a brand maintain value?' It turns out this article argues that a great brand is about the patterns that it weaves. Data is also about patterns and I'm beginning to wonder if data and branding are becoming more intrinsically connected." (Mitch for Alistair).

Thumbs Up for Rock and Roll! - YouTube . "This short, home video requires no description or commentary. It's a slice of life. We often forget that the best stories and most compelling pieces of content usually wind up as stories told at family reunions or collecting dust on our shelves at home. When people ask what makes the Internet so amazing, the answer is simple: it's the ultimate archive... and this is proof of it." (Mitch for Hugh).

Now it's your turn: in the comment section below pick one thing that you saw this week that inspired you and share it.

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advertising

alistair croll

all things d

amazon

apple

bitcurrent

bite-sized edits

boston globe

brand narrative

branding

china

complete web monitoring

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d9 conference

eric schmidt

everything is a remix

facebook

fast company design

gigaom

google

google buzz

google plus

google wave

great links

home video

hugh mcguire

human 20

kirby ferguson

librivox

link

linkbait

managing bandwidth

media hacks

new statesman

online social network

pressbooks

rednod

secularism

the book oven

thumbs up for rock and roll

year one labs

youtube

The Ultimate Question: Self-Interested Or Interesting?

Do you want to know if your content is working for you?

There is a constant slew of articles, Blog posts, tweets and conversations (online and offline) about how to define success in Social Media. In the past few weeks I've come to one conclusion: you can't measure success if you're unsure of the quality of what the initial input is. What does that mean? You can't be looking at the end result and ask if something was successful in Social Media. You have to look, first, at the content that you're putting into the machine. More often than not, the end result is a function of the quality of the content - and how it connected.

Is there one, ultimate, question that will help you answer this?

Yes. Ask yourself this (and be honest): is what we're doing self-interested or interesting? It may seem like an obvious question to ask (and even easier to answer), but you may well be surprised. Most brands that struggle with Social Media are much more self-interested than interesting. In fact, I would argue that the majority of their interesting content is hampered by a veneer of self-interested undertones.

What does this look like?

You're a plumbing company and you're Blogging about home improvement. You do a Blog post on the ten most important things you need to know about renovating a bathroom, and within that post, the biggest learning/takeaway is that the reader can contact you to help them with the work. While the content may be somewhat interesting, that slight slant to making the content self-interested skews it at a macro level. Last May, I published a Blog post called, Will A Brands Next Big Move Be A Journalism Department? that dovetails into this perfectly. A journalist will not write a self-interested piece. They will (hopefully) write something interesting. It's not just about Blogs. Think about Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and even Foursquare. The content that conquers is the content that is interesting. People are smart. They are able to not only be able to figure out where this content came from, but they will build a level of loyalty towards a brand... any brand... that is interesting, valuable and relevant to them.

Don't confuse Social Media Marketing with Social Media Advertising.

They are not the same thing. Fred Reichheld wrote the bestselling business book, The Ultimate Question, about customer experiences. The ultimate question - according to Reichheld - is: "How likely is it that you would recommend this company to a friend or colleague?". Perhaps Social Media has a different ultimate question, and it's this: "is what we're doing self-interested or interesting?"

It would be interesting to see how brands would self-assess themselves with this kind of question.

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Marketing Lessons From Seth Godin

The best businesses have the marketing baked into the product and/or service.

That seems rudimentary enough, but leave it to Seth Godin to say it in such an easy to understand way. Godin's been thinking, writing and talking this way for a very long time, but he lives it as well. Have you been following his latest venture, The Domino Project? His newly launched publishing company (in partnership with Amazon) was created to re-energize a lagging book publishing industry and he's definitely been shaking things up. This week, The Domino Project launched their fourth title, Anything You Want, written by CD Baby founder, Derek Sivers. I ploughed through the book in about an hour. I smiled the whole way through. I took notes. I thought of many people that would benefit from reading it. I felt like I needed to buy my three other business partners at Twist Image their own copies of the book. I'm begging you now to buy the book and read it (yes, it's that good).

The marketing of Anything You Want is built into the book.

The other three books out on The Domino Project imprint (Poke The Box, Do The Work! and Self-Reliance) are also pretty amazing. In thinking about it, Seth Godin is not only churning out best-seller after best-seller, he's also giving a master-class in the art of marketing. And, here are some of the lessons...

Quality is job one. The books are all great - from top to bottom. Godin knows the business (he has countless best-sellers of his own), so he's curating the content to ensure that if someone picks it up, they won't be let down.

Relevant to the times. In a world of Blogs, tweets and Facebook pages, it's hard to get people to commit to reading a 300-page work of non-fiction. The truth is that it was hard to do this long before Twitter. The Domino Project books are in and around 100 pages each (they take about an hour to read). They're also portable. How many books have you bought with the best intentions of reading, but they're simply to big to lug around?

Available in as many formats as the consumer demands. Print, audio, digital, in bulk and with bonus features. How ever you want to consume the content in Anything You Want, you can. They're not hung up on making people jump through hoops to consume this content. It's available... and waiting for you. Oh, and they're very fairly priced too.

Word of mouth trumps mass advertising. If a book is good, the right people will talk about it and that will connect the content to more like-minded people. These books are not for everyone and they can't be marketed the same way that a Harry Potter book is launched. This means that the majority of people may never even find out about these books... and that's the point. These titles aren't for the majority of people, they're designed for a select group, so the marketing and communications is aimed at that group. As Godin says, "great ideas spread."

The conversation continues. The book doesn't end on the last page of the last chapter. The Domino Project encourages conversation and gives readers access to a myriad of places where they can either contribute to or start their own discussion about the book, but The Domino Project does it in a very non-invasive way. They're less pushy and much more encouraging. Yes, it's a question of tone and sentiment... and they nail it.

Classy. Everything is both simple and classy. You feel like you're getting your money's worth and you don't feel like you're being marketed to. A restaurant with great service is a restaurant where the service is next-to invisible because everything is being taken care of without interrupting the guest's conversation and enjoyment of the meal. Everything about The Domino Project books are this kid of classy.

Begging for more. When a book is done, you're begging for more. The book - in and of itself - is perfect. It's complete. It needs nothing else added to it, but you still want more. That's power. That's powerful.

Great Marketing is about telling great stories and making those stories easy to share. Brands could learn a lot from The Domino Project.

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self-reliance

seth godin

the domino project

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word of mouth marketing

The Best Piece Of Writing Advice

What is the best piece of advice you ever got about how to get better at writing?

For me, it wasn't so much a piece of advice as it was a self-realization. I got better at writing (much better, in fact) by reading books that we were written by comedians... and that's no joke. Just this past week, I finished reading Tina Fey's book, Bossypants and I'm currently in the middle of Adam Carolla's In Fifty Years, We'll All Be Chicks (yes, I realize the polar opposite sides of the comedic galaxy that these two geniuses orbit). It's not just about dick jokes or how these people scrapped and fought to get their ideas out in front of an audience (but those were also powerful business and marketing lessons), it's in the creation of the words, the flow of the story and how ultimately, it all leads up to some kind of punchline (by the way, not all of the punchlines are funny. In fact, the best lessons often come from the more serious, smart or heartfelt conclusions).

There is truth in comedy.

Marketing is about telling a story. Brands all have narratives. Great advertising tells an amazing story. Great writing is the ability to grab and keep an audience's attention. Nobody knows how to construct and move an audience more than a comedian. From improv groups to telling jokes on stage and from writing bits for morning radio to trying to sell an idea on Saturday Night Live, if these people don't know how to grab an audience's attention, who does? In the past, I've read books like Steve Martin's Born Standing Up and Dennis Miller's The Rants - again, two very different books that both helped me to realize that great stories need to have a unique personality (or voice) leveraged with references that will help the audience understand the story on a personal level.

It's not always the content... sometimes it's just the style. 

The generalization is this: the best comics are even better writers. They spend time tinkering with each word, the punctuation, the flow and how it all comes together. The difference between a joke that kills and one that dies can be the placement of a comma or the use of an adjective. It is subtle and it is nuanced. If comedians know this and constantly focus on writing and re-writing a joke or story until it's perfect, it's equally important for writers, Bloggers and Marketers to do the same.

The big trick.

The best piece of writing advice is not to read the jokes of comedians. The best piece of writing advice is to read the books that these comedians have written. Writing a book is a beast of a job. It's the concentration effort and flow that these comedians are putting into their books that will give you a much better appreciation for what it takes to be a great writer (and yes, I also realize that some books written by comedians are weak and boring, so guide yourself accordingly).

What's the best piece of writing advice you ever received?

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the rants

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writing advice

The New Media Pecking Order

There's a new measurement in town, and it's all about how relevant and influential you are - as an individual.

This past Sunday, the New York Times' Sunday Review ran an opinion piece called, Got Twitter, You've Been Scored, by Stephanie Rosenbloom that looked at the emerging trend of brands using social media analytics platforms like Klout, PeerIndex and Twitter Grader to see how "influential" individuals are. The output of this social media meets popularity contest has many people's panties in a knot. "It seems so unfair that certain individuals are being offered free upgrades in hotels or free promotional flights just because they have a lot of Twitter followers"... That's the growing concern you'll hear from those who don't have a significant following on Twitter (the ones that do, don't seem to be complaining too much about all of this new-found attention while they're being fawned over). It may sound snarky, but it's true.   

It's always about the numbers. It always has been. 

Here's some framework for you: I spent close to 15 years in the music industry. Along with that, I spend more time than I care to admit on airplanes. Those worlds never collided... until recently. Like most people, I buy a cheaper flight and if things need to be changed, I approach the customer service staff at the gate with a smile and hope that I won't be charged the price of a small condo in Florida to make a flight change. I've had mixed results. Sometimes, the staff will take pity on me, but more often than not, I'm told that my flight fare doesn't offer me the luxury of changing. Recently, I was traveling with a well known singer from a rock band (we're still friends). We got to the airport and realized that there was an earlier flight. I approached the gate and asked for a flight change: no luck. The singer approach the gate and the two attendants lit up and changed both of our flights with a smile (and upgrade).

Newsflash: the world is one big pecking order. 

My friend - the rock star - travels infrequently by plane. I'm a loyal customer of the airline. It doesn't seem fare and it doesn't make sense. C'est la vie. Klout, PeerIndex, Twitter Grader and others simply bring to light something we've all known for a very long time: it's always been about the numbers and who we all - individually - influence... now we're just starting to see where we all sit. Pushing this further, if everyone has their own media channel (because of our own, individual Twitter feeds, Facebook friends, personal Blogs, etc...) that are published for the world to see, why shouldn't they be subject to the same public rating systems and reviews that traditional media channels have to endure?

It's actually quite humbling.

Advertising Age has a digital platform called, Power 150, that ranks all of the marketing blogs in the world. On any given day, I'll rank somewhere between #20 to #30. Is it perfectly accurate? Who knows. It's humbling to know that I rank so highly, but even more humbling to know how far I have to go to crack the top 10. I can think that my blog is as good as they come for marketers, but the public nature of my ranking is both a slap in the face and a pat on the back depending on my level of humility and how I'm feeling on any given day. And yes, the same can be said for your Twitter account and how many people (or which people) like your brand on Facebook.

Whether we like these new tools of measuring influence or even if we grapple with the true definition of what an influencer is, this is going to be an increasingly powerful way for brands and individuals to better understand who they're connected to and what those groups of people do.

The above posting is my just-launched/twice-monthly column for The Huffington Post called, Media Hacker . I cross-post it here with all the links and tags for your reading pleasure, but you can check out the original version online here:

The Huffington Post - The New Media Pecking Order .

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social media analytics

stephanie rosenbloom

sunday review

twitter

twitter grader

The Most Overrated Piece of Blogging Advice I've Ever Heard

"Blog every day."

It's a real fear that both individuals and brands have when it comes to Blogging. They think that Blogging is a never-ending churn of content in an attempt to appear both relevant and fresh to their readers, consumers and community members. There was a great Blog post today called, The Most Overrated Piece of Blogging Advice I've Ever Heard, on Daily Blog Tips (hat-tip: Chris Brogan) that helped to better frame for individual Bloggers how to both better pace themselves and how to think differently about what value their Blog brings to an audience. The message is just as valid for brands as well, but I have some differing/different perspectives.

Blog every day...

Even if no one is reading. In the beginning, it's not about readership and audience. It's about practice and building experience. Think about a hugely famous rock band. They jammed for years in the basement and in crappy clubs. The best stuff happens over time, so Blog everyday and get there faster.

Even if you have to force yourself. The resistance to not to do it will go away over time. Forcing yourself will create a habit. Habits are very hard to create (they can take weeks or even months), but once you have the habit, it will become that much more natural and an integral part of your development. A Blog is to your brain what the gym is to your body. Getting into the habit of working out is tough, but the benefits outweigh the struggle to get there.

Unless it's about self-promotion. A Blog is an amazing tool for self-promotion, but that's the by-product and not the reason to do it. If the sole purpose of your Blog is self-promotion, odds are it will be doomed from the beginning.

As an act of critical thinking. Blogging is the period at the end of the last sentence of my day. It's an opportunity for me to reflect on something that struck me on my daily journey and a creative exercise in explaining it and thinking about it. Use your Blog as a sketchpad for you day and the industry that you serve.

Unless you're really stuck on what to Blog about. A Blog can be an amazing expression of what's on your mind and should not be an exercise in grasping at straws. Blog posts without substantive content read that way, and it's impossible to build credibility if all you're doing is grasping at straws.

Unless you're doing it for the SEO. It's hard to believe, but some brands have a Blog simply to appear higher up in the search engines. Can you imagine creating content for the sole purpose of trying to game the search engines? If the content isn't authentic, what's the point?

And don't worry about the length. Some say you have to keep it short and simple others believe in long-form content. I don't think either directions are accurate. For once, the male readers can sigh a sigh of relief because it's not about the size (really, it's not). It's about the quality. A Blog should be no longer or shorter than it takes to get a great idea across.

"Be brilliant. Be brief. Be gone."

I love that quote (I wish I knew who said it, but it's something that one of my business partners at Twist Image always says). Ultimately, Blogging is not easy, it's not obvious and it's hard (very hard) to get real traction with as a Marketing engine. Nothing happens unless you are consistent in your effort and work. It has to be relevant to your audience and yes, you need a high level of frequency in your publishing habits. But, you have to define what "consistent," "relevant" and "frequency" means to you and your audience. Nobody can do that for you.

What would you add to this list?

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