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Guy Kawasaki is wrong...YES I said it!

I have been thinking a lot about if blogs should be used to make money or not. Now, before I continue, I know that many people may have blogs and indirectly making money. Meaning they show their expertise and perhaps people contact them through their blog and make a business deal. This is fine, but I have a problem with those who are running a blog, have Google Ads, and using their blog to market products/services like crazy because they want to make money! Honestly, this really irritates me!

Stowe Boyd agrees that blogs should not be used to make millions, rather blogs are more like diaries. However, Guy Kawasaki disagrees and believes that blogs are more like a book. In his post "How To Evangelize a Blog" he mentions several "strategies" to running a successful blog. Yet, I hesitate and honestly, I grinded my teeth while reading it. For some reason this sticks out at me and the majority of the strategies Guy talks about totally goes against the purpose of a blog (from my point of view).
Here's a breakdown of the key points from both Guy's and Stowe's posts. Read on and let me know what you think.

Guy's Blog:

• Think book not diary


• blog = product


• "If you want to evangelize your blog, then think “book” not “diary” and market the heck out of it."


• diary = collection of spontaneous thoughts and feelings


• Answer the little man


• "It's tough to market crap, so make sure you have something worth saying. Or, write a diary and keep it to yourself."


• Collection email addresses


• "When I started this blog, I sent out 10,000 email announcements."

Stowe Boyd

• It's more like a diary than a book


• "It's bottom-up, a world of people writing their daily thoughts, individuals whose thoughts and writing could influence you, push you."


• It's not a book, it's not a sermon, it's a dance. (Jeremiah Owyang agrees)


• Find your voice. Takes sides, write about what matters to you, don't give up, and sharpen your pencil every day.

To me, it seems like Guy is 100% committed to marketing, while others strongly believe that blogging is NOT about marketing, becoming an online blog celeb, or making money. Yet, it's more about writing one's thoughts about interests that may disagree or agree with others.
I am really irritated when I hear a blog being used to market "the heck out of" a product, or a bragging medium "I have X-amount of visitors" or even about sending out "10,000 emails" marketing a blog. Is it just me?

I could be wrong here, but all this talk about making money from a blog really creates a bad taste in my mouth. Even the WSJ posted an article about this.
Blogging CAN, but SHOULD NOT BE USED TO MAKE MONEY!

I would like to end on a good note though. Below is a nice exerpt from lazygeek:
"Blogs are fun for someone who wants a pulpit and does not care about making money. Blogs are really the "diaries" of yesteryear. Social historians of the future will have a field day mining blogs for nuggets of the mores of present day civilization."

Here are a few links so you can get involved with this conversation. Let me know what you think or what you find:
Jason Calacanis, Alan Meckler

Your Guide to a Well Balanced Blog: Shish Kabob

Jeremiah Owyang posted a rather unique entry on his blog discussing how writing in the style of a shish kabob provides a service to readers. Ah ha! Finally something I can relate too...yet another food analogy.

Throughout grade school I remember always being taught the "hamburger" essay. You have the buns (opening and closing paragraphs), the lettuce/tomatoe (the topic sentences), and the meat (the main points). This draws a very similar resemblance to the funnel essay (but hamburgers are better!)

And now the teachings continue as I learn the shish kabob style of creating a blog. Here's how to create a well balanced meal...I mean blog (taken directly from Jeremiah's post):

• Shorten everything.
• Separate content into easy simple 'chunks'.
• Format the text, making it easy to scan.
  
• Put the most important stuff in titles.
• Use visual stimuli to draw the eye between the meat (images, indentations, quotes).
  
• Reduce and boil it down

I believe these guidelines can be used for everything from emails to proposals. Print these out and when you finish your blog posts, check off every point.

Hey, I'm not the only one who likes shish kabob, besides Jeremiah, others agree.

Blogging for the Future - Are you "Wiifme"?

There has been some talk about the MySpace generation someday moving on to the professional blogosphere once they “graduate” and enter the corporate world. However, instead of arguing whether or not this will happen, I would rather talk about the benefits of blogging for the new interns and/or new hires entering the workforce.

Wiifme… “What’s In It For Me” you ask? Here are some key benefits:

1. Enables you to venture out into the Corporate World
As a new hire/intern you are not particularly familiar with corporate “lingo” or even what’s going on in the workforce. Blogging is YOUR vehicle to learning about yourself, your company, and business in general. It’s important to think past the theories you learn in school, and start paying attention to reality—what’s really happening in Corporate America.

2. Strengthens your ability to write and articulate your thoughts clearly to your key audience
We all learn how to articulate our thoughts in school, but figuring out who your audience is and writing for them is the real battle. This is an on-going challenge that you will face throughout your professional career. Especially in business, you will need to learn how to write proposals, online documentations, analysis, and “how to” documentations. Blogging helps you develop these skills so you are prepared. I have noticed that my writing skills have improved since my first few posts and I look forward to improving them post by post.

3. Immerses you into the world-wide network
The beauty of the blogosphere is the scalability of the internet. Wherever there’s internet, you can blog. How is this different from MySpace, Xanga, or Facebook? Well, for one, a professional blog allows you to connect with other business professionals (most have several years of experience in their career). So instead of engaging in conversations with classmates (who may or may not work after college), you can start building your own professional network. I have found that building a network is an essential key to success and blogging makes it so much easier. You have access to millions of people around the world, why not take a chance and immerse yourself?!?!

4. Allows you to participate in the business conversation
I briefly touched on this a bit earlier, but engaging in business conversations is MOST important. Not only are you conversing with others, but this forces you to think BUSINESS. Rather than just thinking micro, you will start to think macro…about the business world! It is very important for new hires/interns to step out of their comfort zone right away and get the head start. The business world is highly competitive, but starting early will give you the edge. You might not think that blogging has much benefit, but once you blow your coworkers/managers away with your experience in “business conversations”…you will shine!

5. Can be used in interviews to impress your interviewers
Although this never occurred to me when I first started my blog, I have heard from several other people that my blog can be used in future interviews. How? Every interviewer wants to get to know a little more about YOU, so talk about yourself, then offer them an opportunity to visit your blog and see how you really think. This shows dedication and interest in Corporate America, beyond textbooks. You are making an attempt to not only read about business, but process the data and make your own conclusions/assumptions. In my opinion, that’s the sign of a true “go-getter.”

There are several other benefits of blogging, but I want to leave that up to you! Here are some questions for you to think about:

1. What have I missed?
2. Do you not agree with some of my conclusions?
3. Will professional blogging benefit the MySpace generation?

Please, talk back. Let me know. Let’s have a conversation!

Lunch at eBay was great - THANKS!

I had lunch at eBay the other day with a close friend of mine...THANK YOU!

Anyways, as an intern I do not have many opportunities to visit other businesses besides my current employer, so this was a new experience. I definately wanted to make a good impression, so I made sure to wear a suit and tie and I got my smile ready. But, I soon observed that eBay is a very informal company. Everyone was dressed in jeans and plain shirts, nothing fancy. This surprised me a bit since I am used to at least seeing people wearing "nice" clothes.

So, I walked into eBay with a shirt and tie and I felt good. Others looked at me like I was "someone" because of the way I dressed. This made me realize how appearances make a big difference. Yet, I am not talking about how others look at me, but how a professional appearance affects my productivity at work.

Wearing a suit and tie really keeps me motivated and makes me "hungry" for learning. My hunger for learning increases and I find myself liking my job. This is important for everyone, especialy us INTERNS. It's a known fact that some interns will get the "grudge" work, but we need to start somewhere. So what! YOU NEED TO STAY MOTIVATED! For me, it's dressing up like I am the CEO...one day I might be.

Besides, its difficult for interns to be remembered (especially our names), but even if I am remembered as the intern who always wears the suit and tie...that's good enough for me.

Rule of thumb: Always dress 15% better than everyone else!

If I were you, I would take every opportunity to visit another company so you can start your network and observe the rest of corporate america outside of your comfort zone.

With that said, anyone want to take me to lunch? To pay back the favor, I would gladly bring you to my company. In fact, we have a "4-star chef"...(as one of my close friends of work likes to say)...hahaha.

See you soon!