Bloggers are the new journalist.

I recently started writing for Technorati (blog love baby :-) and I just love the way things are done. It's as if you are a journalist chasing down your next story. This made me consider journalism, as in before Social Media and blogging were popular.  I then realized the blogging and Social Media has made great in roads in taking the place of traditional journalist media coverage. It seems as if bloggers are breaking stories before traditional media channels. Some stories that bloggers cover are never addressed by traditional media channels.

 

Personally, I hardly ever watch the news or listen to the new on the radio because by the time evening news is due to start I’ve read about all of the news and the hottest stories Online, by way of Social Media, Blog or website.  Amazingly, some of the stories that I felt were compelling, interesting and very news worthy never make the cut for the evening news.

 

I wrote a story yesterday about NASA and the lax security of the computer systems. It was really scary stuff and this story was NOT on the news, yet the story was absolutely buzzing online and on blogs. This leads me to believe that it is a possibility that traditional news sources only scratch the surface of the stories that need to be told. Furthermore, as time progresses will people even feel a need to tune in to the local and or world news anymore? So I wonder if Web, Social Media and Blogs really have replaced traditional sources of news and journalism? What are your thoughts? Do you watch traditional news? Or do you catch up on everything online?

 

As usual, I welcome thoughts, opinions and dialogue good bad ugly or indifferent. Feel free to leave me comments on this page, on Twitter, or post directly on my Facebook Wall.

 

Blog Love: Who cares about your stinkin' blog...

 

I never fancied myself a writer although I’ve always done quite well with scholarly writing.  While attending school, the Professor actually understood what the heck I was talking about which was a plus and helped with the grades a bit. However with that said, I never pictured myself as one that wanted to write excessively.  So the initial thought of a blog was like.. "umm…uhhh… Are you kidding me?? "

So imagine my surprise when I started blogging and not only did I enjoy it people started to subscribe, read, talk about and ask questions. Guess what? I love that as much as I am loving to blog.  I recently had the opportunity to speak with some people about blogging that are considering getting started with a business blog. There were three primary concerns of the people that I spoke with, those were:

How do you continue to come up with relevant content?  Relevant content is not limited to only what my business is but what I think would be beneficial to my audience. A prime example is, a food segment that I write called Foodie Fridays, which is totally not relevant to Marketing yet it has become VERY relevant because my readers LOVE the Foodie Fridays segments.  As a matter of fact I just noticed that last Friday's Foodie Friday recipe for Penne with Spicy Vodka Cream Sauce has received over 3,000 post reads in 5 days. WOWzers (yes as a blog writer I can and will make up word like wowzers.. #justsaying) on that number! Food is not relevant to Marketing, but Food is relevant to people in general and in particular to my readers. So finding relevant content for your blog is contingent upon you engaging and finding out what your readers like.

 

Do people care about what you are saying? There is always someone that cares about an issue of importance to them. So the goal is to write about subjects that are both relevant to your audience and that they care about. My thought process before I post anything is, can this actually solve someone’s problem or dilemma? Will they care? Do I actually care? Or is it funny? If I can answer yes to any of these questions I will post, if I answer no then I do not post or write about that subject. Very simple.

 

Does it have to be written in a formal format? I find that the blogs that I write that are the most formal, people DO NOT read. I think there should be a certain degree of formality, as in sentence structure and basic grammar but for the most part people that read my blogs usually want a less than formal view or perspective on something. This is, however a part of getting to know your readers and engaging with them. So I stick with conversational style, it has worked great so far. I keep it simple; I really want my blog to read as if I am talking to the reader over a cup of coffee, not as if I am lecturing them atop a perch. What is a perch anywayzz? How does one get atop it? Sorry, Digression happens. But you get the picture.

The leave behind: Although you are the person providing the content for the blog, the main purpose is to supply information of value to your audience....

As usual, I welcome any and all opinions good, bad, ugly or indifferent. Feel free to leave comments to me on this post, Twitter, or directly on my Facebook Wall.

Social Media is now a part of every day life, but ...wait a minute.....

Social Media as we know it is relatively new but has quickly become a huge part of our every day life. When I say social media I am not just talking about Facebook and Twitter but about the vast array of additional social media channels that we use.

 

People don't really go to traditional media channels as they did, just a short while ago.  We actively seek out a Facebook Page for updated information and Blogs for the perspective of our peers and experts on a variety of topics. I very seldom even go to a website for information. Personally, I have minimal interest in a companies website, because as up to date as the information maybe it is still not as up to date as the status update that was posted to Facebook about an hour ago or the blog post created recently. The ever-growing need for the most up to date information has allowed Social Media to invade our lives and our entire being. Both of which I have absolutely no problem with, as I am a lover of all things technology related and Social Media more so.

 

One of the issues that I wonder about is, what about the people that are not embracing technology as quickly as others. What about the people that are not online? What about those that aggressively resist the thought of Social Media?  A friend asked me a question yesterday that was presented to her about business "How do you connect with people that are not online.  Cold Calls? Print?" More importantly, how are these people gaining their information? Newspapers? Yellow pages? How are they connecting to the avenues and channels that are best for their businesses?

As a person that is technology focused I am constantly thinking of ways to create avenues to merge offline marketing with online marketing because it is essential that if you have traditional brick and mortal location that you not only be online but be heavily involved with social media. It is just not optional anymore. Technology and more specifically Social Media is growing at at rate that companies that are tech savvy are having a hard time keeping up, so how would companies that are tech novices catch up at this rate? How do we as marketers convince companies that are not online, that are using traditional means of marketing and advertising that they are indeed placing themselves behind he 8 ball? Or is that just my opinion? Is there a solution? Is this even a problem that needs a solution? Maybe it’s all good?

 

Curious about your thoughts and opinions? I welcome any and all opinions, questions, and comments, whatever. Good, bad, ugly or indifferent. So feel free to comment here, on Twitter or directly on my Facebook Wall.

 

 

Content Creation vs Content Curation

There seems to be a new wave in Blogging and that is Content Curation, which is providing essential bits of stories.  The goal of content curation is to provide the information that you think your followers would like using various sources of original content. There seems to be a lot of mixed messages and opinions of content curation by creators of original content.

 

As a provider of both types of content I feel that both are very essential parts of providing useful, relevant and essential content to your followers. As an original content provider I love to provide original, what I believe witty and sometimes-sarcastic content in my own tone of voice to people that have an interest in following and reading my dialogue. This original content is not strategically planned but more so created on a whim of what I think would be cool to say, what's relevant and what information is currently int he news that I believe people would be interested in hearing my spin on.

 

On the other hand I am also involved with curating a lot of information because as an Internet Marketer as much as we can sometimes believe we know everything about everything, we do not. I know I am very willing to embrace the ideas and ideologies of others because even If we are on the same page about something’s, peers or other people in your industry can add a different spin or flavor to an idea. This is one of the reasons that I curate information as well as create. It allow me to offer a different perspective on ideas and provides a great source of information to my followers that I feel would be beneficial to them regardless of the source.

 

I love my information to be curated because I feel as if my information has gone beyond just my readers/follower and can then be beneficial to others. The key to curation of others original content is that you should always give credit to the source of the information.

 

What are your thoughts? Should all information provided be original content created by the provider? Or do you not care? Does it minimize the effectiveness of the information if the curator is not the content creator? If you created original content do you care if your information is curated?

 

As usual, I welcome thoughts; opinions so feel free to respond to this post, on Twitter or post directly on my Facebook Page. I love to hear opinions, good bad, ugly or indifferent.

 

 

Technology overload...I know but....I have to...I JUST can't help myself

I planned on creating a bit of a tongue in cheek post about computers taking over our lives. As a giggle, giggle, chuckle, chuckle post and then I started thinking about it as I was talking to my wonderful Facebook friends.

 

I posted that I was in need of a weekend away, so I could catch up on sleep because I only seem to genuinely relax when I am away in a different atmosphere. My friends said, hey Anise, turn off your computer, and cell phone then take a nap. "huh...turn off my computer?" What's that like?  I occasionally turn off the computer, usually when I am trying to grab that elusive uninterrupted 4 hours of sleep per night.

 

I started to think more now about how many other people are on technology overload. I'm not saying that I plan to change it, as I really love to wallow in technological advancements, revel in computer gadgets, bask in the warm to overheated laptop and mentally rejoice at the sound of the cell phone buzz from an incoming text.

 

Technology is evolving and growing, the need to do more, learn more and embrace more will not diminish in my life. As we speak, I am ready to move toward my next project, Blog Post, iFrame App, Second Life Integration..blah...blah...the list goes on. Is that normal? Am I a Tech Zombie? (hehe)

 

Will all of that said, should we all be concerned with overuse of technology? Is it a problem? Like a disorder? <cheap shot coming>If it's a disorder will pharmaceutical companies try to give us a medication for it? </cheap shot over> Should we worry or just go with it?

 

I welcome all thoughts and opinions, good, bad, ugly or indifferent. Feel free to comment or post directly to my Facebook wall.

 

 

Foodie Friday: Penne with Spicy Vodka Tomato Cream Sauce

Penne with Spicy Vodka Tomato Cream Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 pound uncooked penne pasta
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons vodka
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 (3.5 ounce) links sweet Italian sausage

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. In large skillet, heat oil over moderate heat. Remove casing from sausage and add to skillet. Cook, breaking up the meat, until brown. Add garlic and red pepper and cook, stirring until garlic is golden brown.
3. Add tomatoes and salt; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes.
4. Add vodka and cream and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and add pasta, toss for 1 minute. Stir in fresh parsley and serve!

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving  Calories: 435 | Total Fat: 18.4g | Cholesterol: 29mg

 

What to Drink?
	Sangiovese

 

For more recipes go to AllRecipes.com

 

 

 

 

It's NOT a conspiracy, it's Technology..Get over yourself

I am a great lover of the Internet and all things Technology related. So when there is technology to be found, learned, embraced I am all for it. It's exciting to me so I love to share! Technology, Social Media and Internet Marketing is my intellectual soulmate. 

When I share information, I get amazing feedback mostly. However, sometimes I get responses from people that feel as if Technology is a conspiracy created specifically for the government to spy on them. Ummmm....Seriously tho ( YES I SAID THO and spelled it wrong on purpose. )  REALLY? Technology as an entire huge money making industry was created specifically to spy on YOU? One person of many billions in this huge world? Ok, I'm thinking of a nice way to say Get over yourself, really in the spectrum of life and technology, you truly over value your importance. Is there a nice way to even say that?

Technology is something to be learned, embraced not feared. Things are advancing so fast that one month of fear could set you back years in the world of expanding technology. Do we all not feel the urge to just reach out and learn something new, hit the number 2 on the Google page to advance to the next screen, find out What, Why and When in regards to Technology? Shouldn't we all want to know what's next? 

 

 

My philosophy about Technology is "What's next....What's Next...What's next" in the famous words of Drinking With Bob. 

What are your thoughts about technology? Are you affraid?  Do you believe it's a conspiracy from the government to obtain your Private Information? Or do you want to embrace it?

 

<Side note>

• The Government already has your private information.
• They don't care what you're doing.
• Privacy as you know it is over. 
• Get over yourself, you're not that important. 
• I say all of this with love 

</Sidenote over>

Let me know your thoughts, I welcome them with technology embracing open arms. Remember, you can leave me a comment here or post directly on my Facebook Wall. I welcome all opinions, good, bad, ugly or indifferent..