Wanna See The Power Of Social Networking?

A few hours ago a young woman was requesting small donations to go to college. I think the starting amount was somewhere around $400. A Twitter friend of Chris Brogan mentioned this cause and Chris jumped into action. Within a few hours, and mostly through Twitter friends, people had donated enough money for the woman to meet her goal. As Chris proclaimed:

chrisbrogan: Raising over $500 in 2 hours? Great work, Twitter nation! I'm beholden to your power.

This was amazing. I'm sure everyone is abuzz over reaching the goal. But as Twitterer davedelaney said "@chrisbrogan: When the Brogan speaks we listen :-)" And I agree. That was the feeling of everyone who was watching and participating.

So my thought is, what else can we accomplish using Social Networking? Chris also started the Grasshopper Network which is a group of people dedicated to helping someone when they need it. All you have to do is ask.

Think what you could do and engage your Network.

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Give Your Blog Readers A Way To Contact You

Build A Better Blog Day 16

Today's tip is a big pet peeve of mine. Besides not having, or hiding, an RSS feed, not having some simple way of contacting the blog owner is very frustrating. Most if not all blogging tools have some type of contact system available; either built in or through a plug-in. It only takes a few minutes to set the system up. At the very lease provide some type of email link on a side bar or on an About Me page.

Some people don't feel comfortable giving out there personal information. Don't. There are dozens of free email options out there. Set up an account on GMail or Yahoo! specifically for someone to contact you. You never have to give out your personal data if you don't want to.

You might be asking why would someone want to contact me? That's a valid question. Let's say there is something wrong with your blog and you don't notice it but a reader does. How are they suppose to notify you there is a problem? What if they wanted to hire you to write blog posts or some other type of business? Give them a way.

As simple as this tip may sound its extremely important, if you want readers to take you serious, to provide some means of contact.

What do you think about getting private messages from your readers?

ProBlogger's day sixteen post: Create a Heatmap of Where Readers Click on Your Blog

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Photowalking Salt Lake City 10/19/07

Tomorrow is the day. The event is on. Photowalking the west side of The Gateway. This is very exciting. If you have a Flickr account and want to join the Photowalking group, here is the link. If you just want to show up, please do. We will be meeting at the corner of 500W. & 200 S. at 5:30PM. Look for all of my photos on Flickr tomorrow night. See you there. Parking might be a little scares so take TRAX if you can.

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Utah Facebook Developer Sells Popular LDS Application

Facebook is fast becoming a platform that Micro ISV's can make a serious amount of money writing and selling applications. Facebook has an established developer program and the API is well documented. This openness makes it very easy for developers to write applications and get it into the hands of Facebook users quickly.

The Facebook phenomenon is unique because it has a very tight nit group of users. When one user recommends an application, group or event, its pretty likely anyone connected with that user will follow. That's the power of Social Networks. A budding entrepreneur may find it easy to enter this market and build a brand leading to bigger and better projects.

The rumor mill is spinning this morning surrounding the private sale of a very successful Facebook application called LDS App. Here is what the author, Jesse Stay, says about the application:

Are you a Mormon? Proudly display your beliefs with this Facebook application! The "LDS" application adds a random scripture verse to your profile, selected from the 4 standard works of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This verse also links back to http://scriptures.lds.org so visitors to your profile can see the context of the scriptures you are sharing.

My sources, who shall remain nameless, but reliable, indicated that More Good Foundation, a Utah Non-Profit whose mission states "The More Good Foundation helps persons of all faiths find accurate information about the Mormon Church on the Internet.", appears to be the purchaser. Of course there's no comment from the organization.

My unnamed sources also speculated the price to be somewhere near $2 a user. Apparently there are around 13,000 users who have the application installed. That's a big audience, and at two dollars a user its a pretty good chunk of change. Again, not verified by the author, but I feel very confident in the rumors I've heard.

Regardless of the terms or the buyer, the point I'm really trying to make here is Facebook does have a strong platform and a consumer base willing to pay for quality applications. I wish Jesse the best of luck in further development of this product and others.

Here is a link to Jesse's original announcement regarding the LDS App.

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Write A Series On Your Favorite Subject

Build A Better Blog Day 15

Today I want to talk about writing a series on your favorite subject. When I decided to write this series, it wasn't because Building A Better Blog was my favorite subject, it was because I wanted to share what I had learned over the past 5 years. I also wanted to learn more about building a better blog.

Writing a series on a subject is great practice. It requires you to think about your subject, plan the titles and content and deliver a quality series. Having a posting schedule and a list of ideas will help, but ultimately you want to write on something you know, understand and are passionate about.

Many of you who read my blog know I'm a huge NASCAR fan. I take a lot of crap for it, mostly from those who just don't understand the sport. It's probably the same as those who are fans of Soccer. I don't understand the rules of the sport let alone why you would want to watch a bunch of guys kick a ball back and forth for hours. OK, so there you go. Something that will invoke passion in someone.

The idea of writing a series should not be taken lightly. Today I'm writing this article very late and if it wasn't for a comment on one of my posts I would have probably forgotten. Sure, I could have written all 31 days in advance and just set the date to show up in the future. But I am trying to write a post everyday. that was one of my goals when I starting this series. Force myself to write everyday. What will your goals be in writing a series?

Your series might be small, something like 3 to 5 posts, or longer. I think Tom Peters has been writing the 100 Success Tips for the past several years. I've always wondered why he didn't just write them in consecutive days. If you know Tom Peters then you know why that wouldn't work. Besides it has given Tom time to think through each of the Success Tips. He may not have known when he started what each tip would be. That's the beauty of a series.

Readers of your blog should expect a few things when you start. For one they should expect to get information or knowledge about a subject they didn't have before. Don't just regurgitate what someone else has written. I have been finishing each of my Build A Better Blog posts with a link to the ProBlogger series which I got my original idea from. And while some of my tips or suggestions may be similar or the same, I have a different outlook and point of view. I don't write like Darren, the author of the ProBlogger series, so I give each day a different voice.

The next thing your readers should expect is an ending. Tidy it up. Create a wrap up post after your series is finished. Everyone wants closure. Honestly I stopped waiting for the next Tom Peters Success Tip because I didn't think he would eve finish them. I got bored and moved on. Don't be afraid to write other posts that aren't on the topic of your series, your readers may enjoy some off topic humor.

Finally, don't write more than one series at a time. Oh you're free to do what you want and maybe you've successfully done this, but my suggestion is to keep all of your focus on one series topic at a time. If you think of more series as you're writing your first one, add them to your list. There is plenty of time to put it all on paper. Good luck and really have fun.

Tell me about some of the series you've written.

ProBlogger's day fifteen post: Make Your Most Popular Posts Sticky

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