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Clearing Up the Confusion E-Zine Vol 03 Issue 04
------- Clearing Up the Confusion E-Zine -------
Vol 3, Issue 4
One of the great wonders of having a 15-month-old around the
house is just watching her play. As with most children, Kaylie
has a number of toys scattered about the livingroom. Oh, each
night they are gathered to their respective homes, but somehow
they seem to spread back out through the course of the day.
At any rate, as she has grown, toys, which once held great
fascination, slowly are replaced by those which are a bit more
advanced. She had one which looked something like a brightly
colored miniature sawhorse with flashing lights and music that
would play and play and play and play and ... well, you get my
drift. That -- once her favorite -- has now been replaced by a
purple riding cart which plays insipid fairytale music over and
over and over and over and ....
Sorry. Where was I?
As Kaylie has devloped, the toys she chooses to play with have
changed. Similarly, as my life and business have changed, the
tools I have found useful out on the net have also evolved. Some
have continued to be useful, while others have fallen by the
wayside. I'll be talking about one of the bigger changes in this
issue.
Oh, and it's come to my attention that there are one or two of
you out there who only read this newsletter in order to hear
about Kaylie. I'm fine with that as she is by far the most
interesting thing in my life. For those who count themselves
among that host, you can read more about my darling daughter on
her website at:
http://kaylie.cyberdatasolutionsllc.com/
You may, in particular wish to check out the "Blog" tab where you
can see Kaylie's first haircut.
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In This Issue...
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1. Article: As Easy as Falling Off a Blog
2. Shameless Self-Promotion
3. The Fine Print
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1. Article: As Easy as Falling Off a Blog
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At the very beginning of the Internet, we had email -- a simple
mechanism designed to allow people to communicate with each
other. Some would argue that things only went downhill after
that. Still, through Usenet, gopher, WAIS, and the Web, one of
the most interesting technologies has been the idea of a blog.
For those who've been living under a rock for the past decade or
so, a blog is a means for an author or group of authors to write
periodic articles -- anything from a few lines to multiple pages
of content -- about anything in particular. The best and most
popular even manage to make some sort of living for those who
create them. Starting in March of 2006 and running through the
middle of last year, I actualy maintained a blog
(http://clearing-confusion.blogspot.com/). I don't any longer,
though, and here's why.
It wasn't doing what I wanted it to do.
Or more accurately: I didn't know what I wanted it to do, so
couldn't maintain the effort necessary to write on a regular
basis.
And it is an effort.
Here's the thing. The blogs I most enjoy reading are relatively
focused. The author has found a topic and pursues his or her
writing with a specific purpose in mind. My good friend, Scott
Ginsberg writes about approachability and personal branding
(http://www.hellomynameisscott.blogspot.com/). My mom, Debby
Peters, writes about business and social networking
(http://cnpofohio.blogspot.com/). Both do it with the purpose of
being recognized as experts That recognition has a purpose in
itself -- to drive their businesses.
My lovely wife, Lisa, and our dear friend, Larc Bogdan, each
maintain a blog devoted to talking about family and the news of
the day (http://kayliekimiko.blogspot.com/,
http://larcb.livejournal.com/). The purpose for this, of course,
is completely different from my mom's or Scott's. In this case,
the goal is to keep friends and family up to date about what's
going on with quickly growing children and the changing dynamic
of those involved.
Herein lies the problem that I had with my blog. It wasn't about
anything in particular. Some days I wrote about a project I was
working on. Other days it was about my personal life. Still
others would be about a book I read, or a general concept in Web
development, or even a fun toy I had discovered. With that
scattered an approach to a topic, you can imagine that I wasn't
achieving my goals. In fact, the truth of the matter is that I
had never had a goal in the first place.
If anyone is considering starting a blog out there, that is the
one piece of advice I would give: Decide first why you are doing
it and make sure that ultimate goal is a strong one. That's the
only thing that will carry you through when no one is reading
your pearls of prose. Everything you decide after that, from the
look of the page to the contents therein must be in service to
that ultimate goal.
Ironically, this newsletter has now almost fully supplanted my
writing efforts. It achieves my goals of maintaining contact
with those I know and like. It puts my name in front of
potential clients. It even allows me to share information
about the toys I've found out on the Web.
Even if I don't play with some of them any longer.
So, what toys haven't come out of your toy chest in a while?
Drop me a line at gpeters@cyberdatasolutionsllc.com and left me
know.
Copyright 2009, Greg Peters
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2. Shameless Self-Promotion
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The "Clearing Up the Confusion" E-Zine is a production of Greg
Peters, owner, chief cook, and bottlewasher of Cyber Data
Solutions. CDS has been helping website designers develop better
web presence for their clients for more than a decade. Visit us
on the Web at www.cyberdatasolns.com to see how we can help your
webmaster.
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3. The Fine Print
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