Broadcasting Brain

Catch the Brainwaves is our ongoing series of interviews with a variety of folks participating in blogging and social media. I ask them ten questions and they respond with their brilliant answers and insights! Today’s Q&A features a journalist, freelance writer, and social media expert - David Cohn aka DigiDave!

Are you ready?  Then, catch the brainwaves! 

1. Briefly: is blogging and citizen journalism a threat to traditional journalism?

That’s a good question. I know some journalists still take citizen journalism as a “threat.” But I would argue against this statement on principle and in practice.

On principle: More citizen journalists and more bloggers means more information. Granted, some of this might be misinformation, but the internet also internal methods of fact-checking. Even social bookmarking is a way to collectively separate the wheat from the chaff. Any journalist that thinks more information is bad shouldn’t be a journalist.

In practice: Most citizen journalists and bloggers aren’t motivated by money. They aren’t professional journalists because they have fulfilling jobs in other sectors. They blog or engage in citizen journalism because they want a certain amount of recognition or to perform some kind of civic duty. In that situation (which again, is the case for the vast majority of bloggers) these individuals can be seen as assets - people journalists can rely on to help them get more information, quicker and of higher quality.

2. I’ve heard from some freelancers that they enjoy writing for the Web more than print. Do you have a preference?

I am a freelancer born on the Web. My first real gig was with Wired News (wired.com, not the magazine). I have written for print before - but the majority of my writing has been online. I like to think I approach writing for print or online in the same manner - but the truth is, I don’t. My first journalism professor at Columbia Journalism School said that a writer should think of their readers as trying to escape from prison. From the second they start reading - they want to run away from your story. You have to grab them in the first four paragraphs.

Did you hear that? The first four paragraphs. Online it feels more like the first four words.

3. How hard is it to make a living as a freelancer (your opinion)?
 

It is definitely not easy. Right now I’m fairly lucky, because I have three steady contracts right now. Before these contracts I was living pitch-to-pitch. Pitching stories to editors is tough, especially if you don’t already know them. Most editors work on a system of trust - they only take content from writers they already know. When I was sending cold-call pitches out I was having real trouble. Another thing to consider: a lot of people think that because you are a freelancer you are your own boss. I suppose that’s true, but like I said, I have three contracts right now — so really I have three bosses. Understandably, they all want as much from me as they can get - so even once you are passed the pitch-acceptence level of freelancing, it’s not a cushy job.

4. Have you ever wanted to write comic book stories?
  I love comic books and visual language in general. I’ve never wanted to write fiction (although I love the sci-fi worlds of Marvel), but I wouldn’t mind doing a great investigation and telling it in comic-book form. In fact, I think that would open up a world of possibilities. The only problem - I can barely draw a stick figure.

5. Would you agree that social news and traditional news outlets are now locked into a symbiotic relationship? If so, do you think either party realizes this?

I think it is a symbiotic relationship, but I don’t know if news organizations realize it. I think many are starting to - but they aren’t taking full advantage of it. News organizations are still the best at providing quality journalism. Right now there isn’t a social news site that champions that, although I hope NewsTrust.net, a non-profit social news site I work for, meets that demand. Until that kind of site exists news organizations will have to compete with bloggers for the front page of Digg - but in truth the two groups often have a different focus: most bloggers are creating content like “how to’s” or “top 10’s.” Journalists aren’t supposed to write this kind of content - so they will “lose” on social news sites all the time.

But on a site like NewsTrust.net - which rates news based on journalistic quality news organizations are suited to do well. Bloggers can do well too - but top 10 lists won’t.

6. Mac or PC?

Mac - born and raised. My first computer was an Apple IIC - I think it was 1989, I was around 7 years old and playing the original Kings Quest.

7. What makes a good blog (or a blog good, whichever you prefer)?

There are two types of boggers: Linkers and thinkers.

A good blog first figures out which one of these it is.

Then a good blog figures out what it is linking or thinking about - it finds a specific subject.

To be a great blog the subject either has to be something that isn’t being covered by anybody else (a unique niche) or it covers a general topic but it does so better than anybody else.

8. Did the Digg Embargo achieve its goals? I believe that Social News Central was formed in part due to that incident. (ED:  this Q&A session occurred before the Digg Town Hall of Feb. 25/08)

It’s too early to tell.

What we wanted to achieve was to open up a line of communication with Jay (Adelson) and Kevin (Rose), because we repeatedly felt as if issues, such as banned users and auto-bury sites, were being ignored despite numerous emails sent through traditional channels. Since Jay and Kevin showed up on the very day we decided to take a step back from Digg, we did achieve our goals: We were able to express to Jay and Kevin our concerns and get feedback.

But the final goal is to have a real mode of communication that is open, honest and allows people to have their answers met.

I hope that Social News Central proves to be a place where people can hang out, old and new diggers alike, to talk about how social bookmarking in general can improve.

9. Do you hope that your social news work will have a legacy? If so, what kind of legacy do you want to be remembered for?

Wow, I never really thought of it as a “legacy.” I hope that I’ve been a conduit of information - that I’ve helped certain people get information that they wanted. In that case it’s not about having a “legacy” but having connected with individuals. I like to think that each time I get a front page story on Digg I help somebody learn something new.

10. What one piece of knowledge, advice, or wisdom do you have to share with our readers?

We are seeing the rapid evolution in the exchange of information. Anything we can do to continue this process will keep the Internet free of coercion and a benefit to mankind.

In other words: This is our culture to make - so participate in a constructive way.

Thanks to DigiDave for sharing his brainwaves!

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Carman Pirie is facilitating a very interesting conversation about social media and community at his blog - you should check it out.  I’ve got some thoughts in the Comments sections.

I’ve got something to say today

Social media are ways to communicate with the world, whether it’s through:

• Blogging
• Voting on social news sites
• Using social bookmarks to recommend things that you like
• Commenting
• Sharing images, video, or audio

People who actively participate in social media want to be heard. We have things that we want to say and we want other people to know about.

This is an incredible time in the history of humanity where people have the ability to be heard by hundreds, thousands, even millions of people though the cost of an Internet connection.

I want to be heard, too. There are times when I struggle to figure out which things I want to say, and how to say them, but I wouldn’t be using a public forum if I didn’t want to be heard.

It seems to me that more and more people are seeing what I have to say. That’s a great thing for me. I get some satisfaction from that knowledge.

I’m reading what a lot of other people have to say, so it’s mutual.

Today’s message is: thank you!

Thank you if you are:

• A friend, colleague, or acquaintance from places like StumbleUpon, Digg, Mixx, Sphinn, Reddit, Social News Central, Team Marketing, Facebook, Twitter, Pownce, etc…
• Someone who’s commented or given feedback to me in some fashion
• Someone who I know in real life (I think there are a couple of you out there… )

Very importantly, thanks to my wife, kids, brother and family, my parents, and my extended family, because you are the ones who have no choice but to put up with me!

But most importantly, thank YOU for reading. I enjoy blogging, which is its own reward, but if I didn’t want to be read, I’d still be handwriting journals and hiding them in a box somewhere. I like knowing that someone out there is reading my writing.

P.S.  “Catch the brainwaves” is back tomorrow!

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I think you can classify social news sites by comparing them to retailers, both online and offline.  This might help provide a good jumping on point to newer users or to people who want to explore beyond the bigger news sites. 

The second most interesting and thought provoking article that I read yesterday was Marshall Kirkpatrick’s Social News: Can the Digg/Mixx/Buzz Model Hold Up Against FriendFeed and Sphinn?  In summary, this is what I took from the article:

• Social news sites are general (many news categories) or specific (focused on a small sample of areas of interest) 
• General sites tend to be bigger (e.g. Digg), broader, less detailed, and slower to bring news to the front page because of the effort required to do so.  They tend to form a large community of sorts, but there’s not necessarily a lot of cohesion and unanimity.
• Specific sites (Sphinn is sited as an example) are more detailed, more attuned to a specific community, and a place to find news that doesn’t get attention elsewhere.  However, stories do get missed because there are fewer people participating on those sites.
• Specific sites have the potential to eat away at the market share of the general sites as people look for specific items that they can’t find.

The concept of general retailer vs. niche retailer can help people understand social news sites and, perhaps in a wider context, social media in general.

Let me offer a few comparisons:

Digg = Wal-Mart:  Wal-Mart is quite possibly the largest retailer in the world and definitely is the largest in North America.  It stocks a broad range of items but, generally speaking, focuses on high-volume, fast moving items that are delivered to the stores “just in time”.  Wal-Mart covers many, many product categories but over time each category becomes dominated by the best selling products in each category as consumers “vote” with their purchases.  Wal-Mart is everywhere and tends to domininate a local market until savvy smaller retailers learn to fulfill the niches that Wal-Mart chooses not to exploit.

Mixx = Target:  my impression of Target is that it’s smaller but hipper than Wal-Mart and it has its own loyal customer base.  It has a lot of the same things as a Wal-Mart, but it probably specializes in other things.  People who get tired of Wal-Mart might like to try Target to see the difference (just like Mixx’s initial user “burst” came from disgruntled Diggers.)

StumbleUpon = Amazon.com:  I make this comparison because of the power of recommendation that’s built into StumbleUpon.  This recommendation functionality parallels the combination of Amazon’s customer reviews and the site’s functionality to recommend similar purchases based on the buying history of other customers.  StumbleUpon uses automated recommendation logic based on your Stumbling history (what you liked and didn’t like) to take you to a different website when randomly Stumbling.  At the same time, as you build up a Friends list in StumbleUpon, you start to see their preferences.  StumbleUpon friends often share similar interests and tell each other about good stories, so to me that’s like the word of mouth between friends who recommend books to each other.

I’m having a harder time classifying sites like Reddit, Newsvine, and Propeller. 

I envision Reddit as a fresh food market where people pick up the merchandise, check it for defects, then toss it back in disgust if they don’t like it or else they pick it up and move on.  Poor quality (or unacceptable, to use a broad term) content tends to be downvoted quickly and has a very low shelf life on Reddit, while the good (read:  acceptable) content enjoys good visibility.

I’d say that Newsvine and Propeller are a combination of the mass-market retailer and the traditional farmer’s market.  Newsvine in particular seems like a farmer’s market approach, particularly when contributors can earn some ad revenues.  Propeller, on the surface, seems more like Digg and Mixx when you consider the breadth of content available, but I haven’t used it enough to comment further.  Someone like Muhammad Saleem could speak more authoritatively about Propeller.

Places like Sphinn and Slashdot seem like specialty retailers to me, with narrower focus but potentially higher quality products/stories for a specific audience.  Whether it’s sporting goods, designer clothing, or high end electronics, these places are where you go when you want depth and selection.  I’m sure other sites fall into this category as well.

Fark:  well, use your imagination.   :)   

The social bookmarking sites like Delicious, Magnolia, and Netvouz are harder for me to classify.  I think of them as catalog-driven retailers like Sears, L.L. Bean, or the like.  Bookmarks are like items in a catalog that stay around for long periods of time.

What do you think?

Am I out to lunch? Am I in line at the wrong checkout counter? Or do you think that retailers are a good metaphor for social news sites? Share your thoughts, please. I have a lovely comment section that’s just waiting for what might have to say.

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Where Digg CEO Jay Adelson and Digg Founder Kevin Rose answered some questions, but not others

Jay and Kevin came from backstage and took an hour or so to address several questions from Digg users in a Ustream TV live broadcast on Feb 25/08.  I watched most of the Ustream broadcast and I was also part of a live chat group (about 100 or so people at its peak, but I don’t have an exact number) during the broadcast.

The guys deserve credit for setting up a public forum (of sorts) to discuss questions about Digg, including some of the biggest and toughest ones out there.  However, a number of people will probably be dissatisfied with the answers that were given, including at least one flat-out refusal to address one of the questions (i.e. is Digg going to be sold?)

Ultimately, these two guys and their team control the Digg interface and functionality and somehow one or more of them own it (Kevin Rose is typically identified as the founder/owner of Digg; not sure what Jay’s ownership role is) and they have some form of funding.

In other words, they can do pretty much anything that they want with Digg, notwithstanding possible backlash from members of the Digg user community.  That’s a fact.

My take on the broadcast is that the Digg team are trying to make the site better and more useful.  They prefer Digg to be a hands-off, self-moderated site and their main concerns are spamming and other TOS violations.  If I were in their shoes, I would imagine that wading into community moderation or control would probably be a heck of a lot more work than anyone would really want to take on.  Maybe that’s why they’ve not taken that path, plus it seems to be consistent with the site’s philosophy.

I disagree with their Bury position - it needs to be a transparent process, IMHO, and people should be able to see who is burying their stories.  Let the “crowd” decide how to deal with the info about who buried what and it will sort itself out.  

As far as the Town Hall itself, it’s a decent start to more and better communication.  The in-person Town Hall concept, however, will be a bigger test.  Will the guys be willing to make it a more open forum, or will it be more controlled like the Ustream broadcast? 

A live, in person Town Hall format should not be run the same as the Ustream broadcast, in my opinion.  They need to be able to take spontaneous questions “from the floor” for it to be effective.  I’ll be interested to see if that happens.  Maybe they won’t be comfortable doing that, especially when they know they’ll really be under the microscope at that time.  I’d feel pretty uncomfortable about it as well.  However, pressing the flesh and getting away from scripts would certainly help distinguish them as new age business leaders, wouldn’t you say?  It would also allow them to really show that they are listening.

A number of people have written some reviews and commentary on the Town Halls, which I’ve included below.  They are much more detailed than my post, so I recommend that you check them out.

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Links to reviews/commentary about the Feb. 25/08 Digg Town Hall:

Nowsourcing (guest post by Esteban Panzera) - Digg Town Hall Summary

Mathew Ingram:  Digg Town Hall:  “No Secret Moderators” 

(Mathew Ingram provided the following links in his post…)

Deep Jive Interests - Digg Town Hall - Spam Catching, Exit Strategies, Focus Groups, and Pimping (Digg’s Features)

The Social - Digg’s Inaugural Town Hall - Too Much Navel-Gazing

MGH Word Of Mouth - Digg Town Hall Webcast Round Up

Digg’s town hall addresses many questions - or the same ones over and over again

Every serious blogger’s got to make at least one resource list post, right?

As of May 17 2008, this list includes 225 blogs that I know or believe to be either:

1. devoted to discussions about social media
2. feature social media prominently within some of their posts
3. active in 2008

(Undoubtedly you’ll get some great ideas on how to get visitors to your blog by reading these.)

I found a number of these blogs through a Google Blog search on titles looking for the term “social media”. I added in a number of additional blogs that I knew of or discovered along the way.

This is not meant to be a complete list! I expect it to evolve and grow over time. I would love to hear about other blogs that I’ve missed so I can add them to the list. Similarly, if you feel that I’ve included blogs that should not be on the list, feel free to say so!

Note: I haven’t included a lot of blogs which might qualify, but I couldn’t easily tell for sure. For example, I didn’t include a lot of blogs that identified themselves primarily as SEO (Search Engine Optimization) blogs. They’re great blogs, but I wasn’t sure if they truly fit on this list or not. I’m willing to take on recommendations, though!

Without further ado, the original 118 225 social media blogs:

1. 10e20 - Social Media Marketing and Search Blog
2. A Journey In Social Media
3. A Social Interaction Design (SxD) Blog on Web 2.0 and Social Media
4. AIM Social Media Blog
5. aimClear (added March 1, 2008)
6. All Sux dot com - Blogging, Writing, Ranting and Randomness
7. Andrew Chen - Futuristic Play (added May 17/08)
8. B.L. Ochman’s Whatsnextblog.com
9. Barefeet Studios (added May 17/08)
10. BazaarBlog (added May 17/08)
11. Ben Metcalfe Blog (added May 17/08)
12. Bentley’s Marketing and the New Social Media
13. Beth’s Blog - How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media
14. Big in Japan
15. Bill Hartzer
16. Blogwrite for CEOs (added May 17/08)
17. Bokardo (added May 17/08)
18. Boxxet - Social Media
19. Brain Juicing (added May 17/08)
20. Brains On Fire Blog (added May 17/08)
21. BrandflakesforBreakfast (added May 17/08)
22. Brendan Cooper - Your Friendly PR Social Media Planner
23. Brent Csutoras (added May 17/08)
24. Britopian.com - Conversational Marketing - Social Media - SEO
25. Broadcasting Brain (by Mark Dykeman!)
26. Bubble Generation (added May 17/08)
27. Buzz Networker - Social Networking (added May 17/08)
28. Carman Pirie’s Blog - hosting and marketing the human enterprise
29. Centernetworks (added May 17/08)
30. Charl Norman dot com - Social Media Entrepreneur
31. Chris Brogan
32. Chris Heuer’s Inystes (added May 17/08)
33. Chris Pirillo (added May 17/08)
34. Christina’s Social Media and PR Blog
35. Christopher S. Penn (added May 17/08)
36. Colin Walker (added May 17/08)
37. Collective Thoughts
38. Commetrics (added May 17/08)
39. Common Craft (added May 17/08)
40. Community Guy - Jake McGee (added May 17/08)
41. Crenk (added May 17/08)
42. Daily Blog Tips (added May 17/08)
43. Dan Zarella
44. Data Mining: Text Mining, Visualization, and Social Media (link fixed on Mar. 10/08)
45. Deborah Schultz (added May 17/08)
46. Des Walsh (added May 17/08)
47. Digital Trends (added May 17/08)
48. Dosh Dosh
49. E-Consultancy (added May 17/08)
50. Earner’s Blog (added March 1, 2008)
51. Emily Chang (added May 17/08)
52. eMoms At Home
53. Esteban Panzera
54. Every Dot Connects
55. Exceler8ion - Speeding Towards The Future With Social Media, Interactive Marketing, and Web Technology
56. Experience Manifesto (added May 17/08)
57. Exploring Social Media
58. Facereviews: Facebook Applications, Reviews, and News (added May 17/08)
59. Factory City (added May 17/08)
60. Favorite {FVRIT} Blog (added May 17/08)
61. Feverbee (added May 17/08)
62. Gauvranomics (added May 17/08)
63. Getting To First Base - A Social Media Marketing Playbook
64. GigaOM (added May 17/08)
65. Global Neighbourhoods (added May 17/08)
66. Go2Web2.0.Net (added May 17/08)
67. Go Big Always (added May 17/08)
68. Greg Verdino’s Marketing Blog (added May 17/08)
69. Grow Your Wiki (added May 17/08)
70. HorsePigCow (added May 17/08)
71. How To Rule The World - By RobDogg
72. How To Split an Atom
73. Ignite Social Media - The Original Social Media Agency
74. ImposterJay - Diary of a Social Media Ninja
75. Instigator Blog
76. Interconnection: Social Media Blog
77. Internet and Social Media in PR
78. Internet Bard
79. Invisible Inkling (added May 17/08)
80. Jacob Morgan’s Marketing Ideas and Rants (added May 17/08)
81. Jeff Lanctot (added May 17/08)
82. Jeff Pulver (added May 17/08)
83. John Burg’s Future Visions (added May 17/08)
84. Katie Lips - Social Media Strategist
85. Know Your RSS From Your Elbow (added May 17/08)
86. Koka Sexton (added May 17/08)
87. Krishna De’s Bizgrowth News
88. Kristi’s Social Media and PR Blog
89. Laura’s Notebook
90. Lava Row - Social Media Consulting, Strategy, and Web Marketing
91. Lead Inspectors (added May 17/08)
92. Leverage Social Media
93. Like It Matters (added May 17/08)
94. Logic + Emotion
95. LouisGray.com (added May 17/08)
96. Managing The Gray (added May 17/08)
97. Marketing Conversation - New Marketing and Social Media by Abraham Harrison LLC
98. Marketing Profs Daily Fix (added May 17/08)
99. Marketing Roadmaps (added May 17/08)
100. Marketing Voices (added May 17/08)
101. Mashable!
102. Mashup Awards (added May 17/08)
103. Media Philosopher
104. /Message (added May 17/08)
105. Metzmash (added May 17/08)
106. Micro Persuasion (added May 17/08)
107. Missi’s Media News
108. Muhammad.Saleem - Social Media Strategy for New Media Entrepreneurs
109. Nate Ritter (added May 17/08)
110. Newest On The Net
111. NewMediaWise (added May 17/08)
112. Nicole’s Social Media and PR Blog
113. Now Is Gone
114. Nowsourcing
115. OnDemand Beat (added May 17/08)
116. Online Attention Seeking - by Dean Hunt (added May 17/08)
117. Pandemic Blog (added May 17/08)
118. Paul Gillin’s Blog - Social Media and the Open Enterprise
119. Paying Attention (added May 17/08)
120. Peter Fasano’s social media strategy blog
121. Pinoy Social Media
122. Poets Life A-Z List Blog (added May 17/08)
123. Power Shift (by Radian6) (added March 1, 2008)
124. PR 2.0 (added May 17/08)
125. Problogger Blog Tips (added May 17/08)
126. Prospero Blog
127. PR Squared (added May 17/08)
128. Publishing 2.0 (added May 17/08)
129. Quick Online Tips (added May 17/08)
130. Rajesh @ Blogworks
131. ReadWriteWeb (added May 17/08)
132. Reality Overlaps (added May 17/08)
133. Robin Good (added May 17/08)
134. Rubber Genius: Online Social Media Marketing Ideas
135. Ryan A Graves.com (added May 17/08)
136. Ryan Moede - Social Media
137. SarahInTampa (added May 17/08)
138. Scobleizer - Tech Geek Blogger (added May 17/08)
139. Scribkin (added May 17/08)
140. Search Marketing Gurus
141. Shai Coggins (added May 17/08)
142. SheGeeks (added May 17/08)
143. Site Visibility
144. Six Pixels of Separation (added May 17/08)
145. SMM Whiz
146. SMogger Social Media Blog
147. Social Butterfly (added May 17/08)
148. Social Desire
149. Social Fish in a Social World
150. Social Impressions (renamed Feb. 27/08)
151. Socialultions (added May 17/08)
152. Social Media - The New Black
153. Social Media / Social Networking
154. Social Media + The CIA
155. Social Media and Green Horses
156. Social Media and the Digital Disruption
157. Social Media class - University of Georgia
158. Social Media Club - If You Get It, Share It
159. Social Media Club Austin - part think thank, part curiosity, all new media
160. Social Media Club Louisville - Champions of Social Media & Those Willing To Learn
161. Social Media Club of St. Louis
162. Social Media Club Phoenix
163. Social Media Explorer
164. Social Media for PR Class
165. Social Media Gestalt
166. Social Media Group
167. Social Media Influence
168. Social Media Marketing
169. Social Media Marketing - A Class Blog
170. Social Media Method
171. Social Media Mom - A work at home mom discusses social media and networking
172. Social Media Optimization
173. Social Media Optimzation Tips
174. Social Media Power
175. Social Media Release
176. Social Media Report
177. Social Media Show - Podcasts on Social Media in Business
178. Social Media Systems.com
179. Social Media Today
180. Social Media Trader
181. Social Media University, Global (SMUG)
182. Social Media Websites
183. Social Media with Bud Caddell
184. Social News Watch
185. Social Tech - Lena West
186. SocialMedia.biz
187. socialTNT (added March 1, 2008)
188. Somewhat Frank (added May 17/08)
189. Soshable.com
190. SquareOak - Search Engine Marketing, Optimization, Social Media & Web Solutions
191. Stayn Alive - (added May 17/08)
192. Tamar - The Search Conversion Agency
193. Tantek’s Updates (added May 17/08)
194. Techipedia
195. Tech News Source (added May 17/08)
196. Technosailor (added May 17/08)
197. Terrainnova.org (added May 17/08)
198. The Blogging Times (added May 17/08)
199. The Buzz Bin
200. The Center for Social Media
201. The Columbus Social Media Cafe
202. The Leader in Buzz Marketing, Social Media Marketing & Killer Bunnies
203. The Marketing Minute (added May 17/08)
204. The Palace of Social Media
205. The Relationship Economy (added May 17/08)
206. The Social (cNet) (added May 17/08)
207. The Social Customer Manifesto (added May 17/08)
208. The Social Media Marketing Blog
209. The Social Media Revolution (in 15 minutes per week)
210. The Social Times (added May 17/08)
211. The-Trukstop.com
212. The Virtual Handshake Blog (added May 17/08)
213. Tom Raferty’s Social Media
214. Trendspotting Blog (added May 17/08)
215. tweetpr (added March 1, 2008)
216. Twitter: Tweet Your Heart Out (added May 17/08)
217. Typepad Hacks (added May 17/08)
218. ViperChill
219. Visinsights (added May 17/08)
220. Web 2.0 & Social Media - Dean Whitney’s Blog about online transformation and emerging technology
221. Webware.com (added May 17/08)
222. Web Strategy by Jeremiah (added May 17/08)
223. Wolfstar - Public relations, social media, and word of mouth
224. Zac Johnson - Inside the Secret Life of a Super Affiliate (added May 17/08)
225. Zantay - Social Media Marketing Consultant

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Image by David Fraiz.

February 2008 brought me to a new personal milestone: I had an article published in an honest-to-goodness magazine. With pages. And paper!

My article, “Toastmasters in Rural Areas”, was published in Toastmaster magazine in their February 2008 issue (the downside is that the magazine is only available to Toastmasters members, but at least there are over 200,000 of us…)

It was a long road to get to this milestone, probably much longer than it needed to be. At the same time, there are a few valuable lessons from this experience for me to share with you.

Almost… but not quite

The last time that I came close to getting published in a magazine was in 1995. The periodical in question was a short-lived Canadian publication called Onset. I worked hard on that article (about career prospects in the telecommunications industry), only to have it pulled and dumped before the magazine went to press. I didn’t do much non-business writing for ten years following that. I have to admit I was rather crushed when I was told that the story wouldn’t run, especially at a time when I was looking at changing careers.

When you experience a disappointment like this, you tend to wonder whether one of two things happened:

1. Did random circumstance screw up this opportunity?
2. Was this event the result of destiny or planning by unseen forces?

It’s tempting to think that 2. was the reason why I didn’t get published in 1995. I could think “Gee, the stars and planets weren’t in proper alignment,” or “God didn’t want me to get published”, or “Maybe I broke the Law of Attraction somehow,” or…

But I highly doubt those were the reasons. It probably was a random collection of events that led me to where I was. Nonetheless, I didn’t push ahead any further with writing. It’s quite possible that I wasn’t ready at that moment, regardless of whether or not fate was involved.

Quitting… to do other important stuff

The main reason why I gave up on the writing dream was to focus on things like career and family. Quite honestly, it was the best thing that I could have done at the time, because that decision put me on the path to marriage, family, and career advancement. You tend to learn a heck of a lot about life by following this path.

So why am I messing around with writing again?

Put simply, things change.

Years of neglecting my creative side caused frustration and desire to build up to the point where I had to try again. It was time to resume climbing up Maslow’s hierarchy.  I started with fiction writing, but found that it wasn’t quite gelling for me. I blundered into user generated content sites like Helium and Triond and from there to social media to blogging and… well, we’ll see where this winds up.

Get a life (I mean hobby!)

This time around, my hobby led to my article. I joined Toastmasters in early 2005 as a way to get back in touch with my creative side. Since Toastmasters was very goal and acheivement oriented, it gave me some objectives to sink my teeth into. I earned the first two Toastmasters communication certification, became part of my club executive, and generally learned a lot about Toastmasters while meeting a number of great people. This experience gave me the raw material to create the article and, after a fair amount of work, it was published.

It did take nine months from start to finish, including one major rewrite, but the article did get published.

I’ll tell you, there’s nothing like seeing your first article in print. Some of you probably know what that’s like, but if you don’t… it’s like winning the best award ever. My heart lifted and I grinned like a fool for at least fifteen minutes (which is a LONG time for me).

Lessons learned

1. Subject matter experience is a huge advantage: I probably couldn’t have written that article without my Toastmasters experience. At the very least, it would have been much harder to research and write the article without being a member of Toastmasters. Writing about what you know is clearly a smart thing to do.

2. Membership has its rewards: Toastmasters membership gave me an automatic advantage over anyone who wasn’t a member. Membership automatically conveyed a certain amount of authority and credibility.

3. Find the right outlet: Toastmasters is very receptive to articles about Toastmasters! The article wouldn’t have worked for Rolling Stone, Wired, or Newsweek because Toastmasters doesn’t tend to have the mass appeal of politics, current events, technology, or pop culture.

4. It’s never too late to try: there’s no doubt that I did quit writing for many years. However, the dream never died. If anything, I’m a better writer today because of the knowledge and experience that I’ve gained in the past 13 years.

5. Don’t be afraid to try again: I never completely abandoned the idea of getting published, despite my previous failure and my “break”.

In conclusion

Generally speaking, I don’t recommend waiting 13 years to try something a second time. At the same time, don’t let the passage of time discourage you, no matter how long it seems. Just look at the people who successfully graduate from educational programs later in life! What about anyone who has the guts to try something new and different long past the time when common wisdom says it makes sense?

If there’s something that you want to do badly, but you’ve never had the courage to try, don’t let time scare you away. If you have the capability and the drive to pursue a milestone that you are theoretically capable of doing, then try it! Don’t worry about the consequences of failure; worry about the consequences of never trying.

Just wanted to share some links to some great Canadian blogs that I’ve discovered during the past month or two:

Search Engine People (I got to meet Jeff Quipp this week; great guy!)

Itty Biz (starring Naomi Dunford writing about small business and working from home)

Men With Pens (James Chartrand and Harrison McLeod - excellent writing about writing)

Bow. James Bow. (discovered James some time ago, great writer and blogger)

They’re all writers and bloggers, eh? (I’m Canadian, I am allowed to write like that. You hoser.)

Edit:  you will find some amazing ideas for your blog from these folks.

Catch the Brainwaves is our ongoing series of interviews with a variety of folks participating in blogging and social media. I ask them ten questions and they respond with their brilliant answers and insights! Today’s Q&A features a master of social media who really knows how to “Digg” his way to the top.

Today we’re featuring Andrew Sorcini aka Mr. BabyMan of Digg and The Drill Down podcast as our guest.

Are you ready to catch his brainwaves, including:

The TRUE story behind his user name?

Then let’s begin!

1. I’m sure you’ve explained this one million times, but what’s the origin of your user name?
It’s actually a pet name given to me by my girlfriend at the time (who’s now my wife). It’s a reference to my arrested development and general refusal to grow up and act like a serious adult. I began to use it as a username (for lack of a better one) when I would go online. Honestly, if I knew it was gonna be so notorious, I probably would’ve picked something more intimidating.

2. Do you get hit by millions of messages, E-mails, Digg requests, etc. the minute that you go online?
Less than you’d think, but mostly when I show up on IM. I’m open to all emails and Digg shouts, as long as they’re not spam.

3. Some might say that you are an on-line celebrity. That brings up another question: why do you think people put so much value in being a celebrity?
Former Photobucket marketer MJ Kim once told me, “Andy Warhol said that in the future everyone will be famous for 15 minutes. Well, when you’re ‘internet famous’, you’re famous to 15 people.” While I certainly don’t consider myself a celebrity (even an ‘internet famous’ one), I think celebrity is significant to some people as a public validation of success.

4. Does being the top Digger something you cherish or is it that big of a deal to you?
I’m proud of the honor, but I never sought out to be top digger. Many people consider Digg to be like a game, where the goal in competition is to try and get the most submissions to the front page, or to have a perfect submission record, or to be the most prolific thread commenter. Digg has never been about that for me. My only goal in submitting to Digg is to find the most interesting sites & articles and expose them to the broadest audience possible. In that respect, there is no goal of completion for me. I’ll keep submitting to Digg as long as there are great stories to submit.

5. Can you single out any one Digg submission or story that will be etched into your memory for the rest of your life?
Oddly enough, the stories that really stand out for me are the ones that I really felt passionately about, but failed to make the front page. The real tragedy of Digg is how many amazing stories are submitted, but never make the front page for one reason or another. I would recommend to any digg user that they take the time to look past the front page and onto the Upcoming page, where the real gems are.

6. Is it easy for you to keep up with all of your social media contacts? Do you use software, a notebook, or memory exercises to keep track of it all?
Keeping track of my social media contacts is actually my weakest point. I seem to be often too overwhelmed to engage in regular communication with my social news contacts. I don’t IM that often, so if you’re not on my friends list, the best way to get my attention is to email me or ’shout’ to me.

7. What’s the next step for social news? What is it going to evolve to be?
You’re going to see social news become more ubiquitous and more integrated into mainstream media. The walls between the two will eventually break down completely. User commentary will share space on the page with journalist-written articles in The New York Times. CNN video coverage of momentous events will share space with live video streaming from users’ cellphones of the same events. As people realize they can contribute to the collective voice and be heard, the news space will evolve to be richer, more eclectic, and better informed.

8. Pretend the Internet is destroyed overnight. What do you do the next morning?
Focus my free time on my other passion, watching and studying movies. It would probably mean going to Blockbuster instead of Netflix, but what are you gonna do?

9. Do you hope that your social media work will have a legacy? If so, what kind of legacy do you want to be remembered for?
More than any one particular act, I would hope the body of my work would serve to highlight the significance of the social bookmarker. A tremendous amount of time and effort is volunteered by scores of talented people with the knack for uncovering the best content, and it’s very easy to forget that it doesn’t just anonymously appear of the front pages of everyone’s favorite social news sites. Content is always king, of course, but the social bookmarker is the one who delivers it.

10. What one piece of knowledge, advice, or wisdom do you have to share with our readers?
The most often question I’m asked regarding social bookmarking is “what is the best way to get my stories seen?” To which I say two things: Be choosy about what you submit, as you will be judged by your content. And make lots of friends and support each other by promoting each others’ stories. Often this is the only way to insure your story rises above the scores of other submissions.
The other advice I’d offer is not to take it all too seriously. It’s supposed to be fun.

Thanks to Mr BabyMan for sharing his brainwaves!

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Catch the Brainwaves is our ongoing series of interviews with a variety of folks participating in blogging and social media. I ask them ten questions and they respond with their brilliant answers and insights! Today’s Q&A features the incomparable Shea Gunther, who can be found here, here, here, and here! 

1. How cool is Maine?

Maine is pure awesome. I grew up in neighboring New Hampshire but lived right on the border, so I got a lot of exposure to Maine as a kid. Portland is the hippest little city in the country and is an up and coming destination for entrepreneurs. It wasn’t quite the case even just 10 years ago but the last decade has seen a lot of cool things pour into the city. We have new arts colleges that have pulled in new smart and creative young people as well as the expected bars, restaurants, book stores, and boutiques. Whole Foods just moved in last year. You can drive an hour and be on your snowboard up in the mountains or go 15 minutes to the beach. There’s world class rock climbing just two hours away in New Hampshire and Boston is an equal amount of time down I-95. We have a nice airport and the cost of living is low.

2. If you could live in a different country, which one would it be and why?

I’ve been hearing really good things about Norway, but I’d probably have to go with Canada. (ED:  I did not put that in, Shea wrote it!  )I’m pretty lazy when it comes to learning other languages so the fact that I could get away with English there is a plus. They have a lot of water, tons of beautiful wilderness, and haven’t started any disastrous and expensive wars lately.

3. Is the world going to change in January 2009, when the new US president takes office?

Fuck yes. We’ve had an amazingly bad last 8 years and I don’t pull any punches when I label Bush as our Worst President Ever. The guy has messed up this country in so many ways I think it’s pushed us down like a spring ready to explode under the leadership of anyone who isn’t the evil retarded fish frog that George W. Bush is. I’m a Barack man and think he will get this country back on track in every way when he takes office in ‘09 including getting us out of the clusterfuck in Iraq.

4. Is it tough to be a US citizen these days, knowing that the US government is extremely unpopular in several different parts of the world?

He’s not my President, I voted against him twice and always thought he was a shifty incompetent of a leader. I hope that people around the world are able to distinguish between Americans and the American government. The American people, for the most part, are downright friendly folk. Our (current) government is a bunch of wackjob corrupt politicos lead by a very dumb man with very bad friends. We’ll get a Democrat in office next year and we’ll start the work of rebuilding our standing in the world.

5. What do you think about the increases in travel restrictions for entering or leaving the US?

I think immigration and travel security laws are reactionary, inefficient, xenophobic, and ignorant as to the realities of the world.

6. Do you think that fuel cell technology will ever hit the mainstream? Should it?

Yes, and yes. It’s good technology and will be an important part of helping us break away from burning a fossil fuel to do everything.

7. What makes a blog good?

The writers. You have to get the mechanics of good blogging down- proper linking and image use, great design, a well coded template, feeds and email subscriptions and such, but it’s the writers that will really capture and grow an audience.

8. Are social media and social news providing more than entertainment value?

Social media and news are connecting people in a way that’s never happened before. When you connect more smart, creative, driven people you are going to get an increase in the cool things those people do. We’re going to see more innovation in business, technology, and the arts because of social media and news.

It will also mean big changes in politics as more people hook up along shared political and social views and flex their power within the parties. If anything could facilitate the creation of a viable third party candidate it’s the net and social media. The Ron Paul phenomenon was just the tip of the iceberg as to what will be possible in the coming decades.

9. Pretend the Internet is destroyed overnight. What do you do the next morning?

Cancel my DSL line and cry. Then I’d go outside and build a tree fort.

10. What one piece of knowledge, advice, or wisdom do you have to share with our readers?

Go after your dreams with everything you have. Failure should be expected and embraced. Learn the lessons of failing and wear your wounds ands scars proudly. Don’t be content with being a sheeple and never ever give up.

Thanks to Shea for sharing his brainwaves!