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Belated Start...But Still A Start

OK, I would not have expected this to happen in Seattle, but our conference wireless connection broke down for the first couple hours this morning.  The connection's back on and I feel like I just had an oxygen tube put in my mouth. Anyway, in case you are wondering about the buzz around the blog business summit, here's a fun chart.  Courtesy of BlogPulse.

The Art and Science of Blog Writing

Next up: Halley Suitt of "Halley's Comment" and Stowe Boyd of Corante.  Halley is offering lots of excellent tips on how to author blog content.  "The writing must have passion, or no one will care," she tells us.  She also frowns upon CEO's writing blogs, as she questions whether they can make a meaningful commitment.  Some good quotables:

• Brevity..."it is indeed the soul of wit."
• Posting is "do or die. You need to be posting as much as possible."
• "People want to see fresh stuff....the more often the better."
• "The blogs you want to read have a voice....you need to sound alive."

Bloggers in the Crowd

Turns out, this blog is now on the official list of conference bloggers.  In case you want to hear (or read) what others have to say.  Here's the list.

DL Byron

Debbie Weil

Jeff Bar

Renee Blodgett

Brian Chin

Seed Wiki

Darren Barefoot

Comparing the Blog Services

Now I'm listening to a panel featuring Molly Holzschlag and DL Byron.  There are some cons of some of the commercial blog services

• Very few customization features - you rely on th ehost company whims
• Danger -- the content may note be yours. read service agreements carefully
• Association with the main brand weakens the blog brand
• Not scalable to a true professional level
• There more...but I couldn't type fast enough to catch it all.

Also just witnessed DL Byron creating a blog in ten minutes -- this to underscore the simplicity of creating a blog.   Folks, it ain't rocket science.

My own assessment: I'm quite experienced in both TypePad and Blogger. I'm more partial to Typepad because everytime I blink they seem to come up with a new feature to make my blogs look more professional.   Also is very inexpensive for the value provided. 

Faces in the Crowd

OK, my mind is starting to wonder.  Let's detour to some "faces in the crowd." To my left is Rick Murray of Edelman communications, home of one of the first corporate blogs authored by a CEO. He's already intimidating me by offering comments on my blog comments.  I took revenge by quickly capturing him with my "surveillance device" of a camera.  All quite innocuous, but this is what we're facing in the blogging world.  Earlier today, the Cincinnati Enquirer quoted me talking about the implications of this new "Surveillance Culture" on government. 

Molly's 3rd Topic: Content Aggregation

Next in line in the Holy Trinity: Content Aggregation. Feeds, says Molly, are the new push, but they are "here to stay."

• Almost all blog software has some means of implementing RSS or ATOM
• All professional, business-based blogs should offer feeds
• Your job is to determine the way you'll publish: excerpt or full article. 

Trackbacks 101

Molly's now talking about "Trackbacks."  Of note:

• A trackback notification is automatically published to the comment thread corresponding to the post.
• In effect, the two parties are now linked to each other "creating a circle of linkin' love."

Just to balance the commentary, not everyone in the audience is enamoured with trackbacks.  Some argue that the process of setting up track back's isn't terribly user-friendly.  There's also the big emerging concern about spam.   One other person also talked about the "server-sucking" downside of track-backs.  One person noted that this makes pages "30% heavier."

The "Accidental Blogger" Effect

OK, you know it's getting interested when a new phrase or terms is introduced at a conferece.  Molly describes what's known as the "Accidental Blogger" effect, whereby key terms like "Racing Frongs" impact site rankings.  Loosely translated, comments impact site rankings. This of course has led to "comment spam," an issue the major blog providers are debating.  Another term: Google Juice. 

Next Up: Molly Holzchlage

Another fine speaker, Molly Holzschlag, a long-time blogger, is walking through some of the key fundamentals of blogging.  She talks of the "Holy Trinity of Blogging."

• Comment systemes
• Talkback/Pingback
• Aggregation Technology

Importantly, she offers some watchouts about enabling comments.  If you are not positioned to manage comments, don't bother.  A few other notes on comments, taken directly from her comments.

• Comment systems are a powerful means of building community easily
• Regular comments on topics will broaden your ranking scope (the "accidental blogger" effect
• Most blog software makes implementing comments easy
• Be aware of comment system spam and how to manage it
• Do NOT employ comment systems if you can't moderate them or effectively moderate spam.

Dances with Blog Entrepreneurs

The next speaker, Chris Pirillo, is dancing all over the stage talking about some pretty clever techniques for making money via blog content.  He's making real cash.  He's triggering quite a debate.   Much of this deals with how blog content can be monetized.