K is for Knowledge

January 2, 2012

One of my favorite sayings is, “Life is an open-book test.” It is not important that you know everything, either in life or in business. But it is important to know where to find the answers you need. If you have set up your web presence correctly, chances are that even if you don’t know the people personally who could answer your questions, you know how to get in touch with them—through work contacts, mutual friends and associations. This network is the beginning of your knowledge base.

A knowledge base is the network of people you are connected to whose expertise you can draw from, and whose ideas and actions you respect. Most of us make decisions in our careers based on a combination of good and bad advice from the people we know. If we are lucky, we figure out pretty quickly which advice is which, and correct our mistakes before things get out of hand. So the first step in broadening your knowledge base is to take stock of your existing circle of friends and colleagues, and notice which have given consistently good advice. Make a point of thanking these remarkable people for their expertise, and stay in touch with them as best you can.

One of the obvious ways to expand our circle of wise friends is to get to know the people our current wise friends admire and like to hang out with. This is one of the great benefits of actual face-to-face social networking, but it is not always possible. While there is no real substitute for relationships cultivated in person, there are three very good ways that you can use the social web to much the same effect. If you are not yet growing your knowledge base online, here is how to start. [click to continue…]

An Artist’s View of Tumblr

December 16, 2011

If you’ve never heard of Tumblr (or its closest competitor Posterous), welcome to the world of short-form blogging! Tumblr is a vibrant platform and community, where authors post entries that are larger than a tweet (140 characters) but significantly shorter than the 600-800 words of a typical blog post. Many Tumblrs consist exclusively of photos, video, or links that contribute to a visual or thematic aesthetic, with very little written explanation.

In order to get a fuller understanding of the ways in which Tumblr is used, and the community that contributes so much to the success of the platform, I interviewed Chicago-based comic and film artist Lyra Hill (who also happens to be my daughter). Lyra produces a series of performative art events called Brain Frame, and successfully uses Tumblr (and Facebook) to promote it.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

If you listen to our entire 12 minute conversation, you will have a good idea of Tumblr’s strengths compared to a full-featured blog platform such as Blogger or WordPress. There is a great FAQ about Tumblr here. And if you’d like to pick up one of Lyra’s excellent limited edition comix, you will find them here. As she says at the very end of our talk, “Tumblr is all about the images.”

Web Presence Strategies for Authors

November 21, 2011

In my role as co-host of the Bay Area Blogger’s Society, I gave a presentation recently on marketing platforms for authors. It makes sense to think of your web presence as needing two or more platforms to really get “lift.” For most authors, one platform is their personal website or blog. The talk was intended [...]

Read the full article →

J is for Juggling

September 23, 2011

The most frequent complaint I hear from clients is that they are juggling too many things at once. It is a familiar refrain, though the picture shifts slightly from one profession to another. Meeting with clients, managing projects, marketing, keeping up with billing and bookkeeping—there is too much of everything to do. When time gets [...]

Read the full article →

5 New Tips for Facebook Business Pages

July 25, 2011

Lots of changes have been happening behind the scenes at Facebook. The platform now has a lot more functionality for business and professional users. If you have a Facebook Page for your business, now is a great time to try out some of these new tips and tricks for increasing your exposure and reach on [...]

Read the full article →

SEO, SMO, and Content

June 11, 2011

Search engine optimization (SEO) is an important component of a successful web presence plan. If you already have a website, SEO basics involve making sure each page on your site achieves the highest ranking in Google and other search engines. Often, making small changes to your page “metadata” is enough to increase your visibility to [...]

Read the full article →

Facebook’s Growing Problem

May 28, 2011

I had this post half written when I went away last weekend for my daughter’s college graduation. When I returned, I read these comments made by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg at the e-G8, bemoaning the fact that people are still concerned about privacy on Facebook despite all its benefits for social change worldwide: We see this [...]

Read the full article →

New Media and the Future of Radio

May 17, 2011

In addition to covering changes in social media and digital publishing, I have an active interest in radio and internet broadcasting. Radio and television are both undergoing huge transformations, as live broadcasting becomes something we can all do sitting in front of our computers, or even using our smartphones. The technology is affordable, the platforms [...]

Read the full article →

How to Write and Market a Successful eBook

April 24, 2011

Having a publishing house market your book used to be one of the big advantages of signing with a major publisher, but not anymore. Established authors have understood for years that they need their own publicist and marketing plan for every new release. Meanwhile, the internet is abuzz with puzzled and frustrated writers trying to [...]

Read the full article →

To Kindle, With Caution

April 13, 2011

By all accounts, the publishing industry is in tough shape. Sales are down, bookstores are closing, and many authors are leaving traditional publishers in favor of publishing ebooks. I have been watching these changes with growing interest, as have most other authors I know who have either entered or are considering entering the burgeoning world of [...]

Read the full article →