2008 Age of Conversation Author List Finalized

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Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton have finalized the list of contributing authors for the 2008 edition of the Age of Conversation. Natural attrition pared down the original list of 275 to 237 finalists. And the list reads like a who’s who of the blogging, social media and online marketing realm.

This means the book is one step closer to final publication, currently slated for later this summer. In the meantime I can offer you a sneek peek inside.

Check out some of these blogs from the list below. Be sure to subscribe to the any that strike your fancy. Read more

Don’t Make this Traffic Killing Mistake

One of the big reasons we have web sites and blogs is to generate traffic. I mean why put up a site unless want people to see it, right?

Yet some people insist on adding this traffic repellent to their sites and then wonder why they never see more than a handful of visitors.

Smelling Fishy

When folks do this to their blogs or web sites it’s like the owner of a high end clothing store who chooses to intentionally have an overpowering smell in their store that’s just a little offish.

Perhaps that store has a nautical theme to its branding. Maybe the owner is even an avid boater. Perhaps he loves the smell of the sea. So he has figured out a way to bring that smell into his store. The idea is that he’ll boost sales because people will feel like they are shopping by the ocean.

Sure a small percentage of folks will like it. But the trouble is, to a whole lot of people the ocean just plain smells fishy. And those people almost never come back to the store.

Sound like a silly example? Well some people do exactly the same thing with their blogs and web sites. Read more

15 Ways to Attract Comments Like an A-Lister

Whether we are blogging to support our business or blogging simply to rant about, well, just about anything, we all crave comments on our blogs. Not only do comments show us that somebody, somewhere out there is interested enough about what we wrote to respond, but comments also can help build traffic as well.

If content is king where blogs are concerned then comments are evidence of the power behind the throne.

Mitch Argon of FreeNevadaMove.com asked a good question yesterday over on Business Blogging 101 - Comments post. He said,

I’ve been blogging for about 9 months. I’ve tried different techniques on writing posts to get more comments from readers but am still searching for the ’secret sauce’ to create more community.

Any thoughts on some good resources to accomplish this?

As I said, it’s a good question. And the answer is both less of a secret and harder to achieve than most people are willing to admit. I say “harder” only in respect to actual effort being involved. Don’t be misled into thinking attracting comments is overly complicated. But it does take some concentrated effort.

So here’s a list of things you can do to attract more comments to your blog and build blog traffic at the same time. Read more

The Lonely Entrepreneur

This post is a little personal. And it’s been a little hard to write for a couple of reasons.

Starting your own business can be a bit of a lonely affair, as I’m finding out. Sure Gorgeous also works out of our house. I go out to meetings, do outside local networking and I am a social media guy so there are people around most times.

Even so, when push comes to shove it all rests on me. Unlike a traditional job, when you work for yourself  there is no one to pick up the ball if you should fumble.

And that loneliness can be insidious. It can sneak up on you when you lest expect it.

At least it did with me. Read more