virtualDavis

Seth Godin (author of Tribes which is captivating me at present) offers an epic list as “a partial answer” to the question, “How can I drive more traffic to my blog?” Here are my “Top 10” favorites from his list:

1. Share your expertise generously so people recognize it and depend on you.
2. Encourage your readers to help you manipulate the technorati top blog list.
3. Tag your posts. Use del.ico.us.
4. Do email interviews with the well-known.
5. Encourage your readers to digg your posts. (and to use furl and reddit). Do it with every post.
6. Post your photos on flickr.
7. Highlight your best posts on your Squidoo lens.
8. Point to useful but little-known resources.
9. Ping technorati. Or have someone smarter than me tell you how to do it automatically.
10. Write stuff that people want to read and share.

Posted by Seth Godin on June 03, 2006 | Permalink

Read the full post here: sethgodin.typepad.com

“Publishers can complain and wistfully wish for the good old days of blog links and Google juice, or they can adapt to the new reality Twitter represents. Getting your content “ReTweeted” on Twitter (i.e. getting people to repeat what you’ve said, usually along with a link) can drive significant quality traffic to your site, which in turn can boost your subscriber numbers… So, how does ReTweeting happen, anyway? Well, here are the 5 factors you need to take into account when trying to get your content to spread virally on Twitter”:

1. Call to Action
2. Timing
3. Links
4. Social Proof
5. Value

Read the post at Copyblogger.

Photograph via New York Times

Yes, they had come to Bloggy Boot Camp, the sold-out first stop on a five-city tour. It is the brainchild of Tiffany Romero and Heather Blair, the founders of the Secret Is in the Sauce, a community of 5,000 female bloggers. Boot Camp is at once a networking and social event, bringing together virtual friends for some real-time girly bonding, and an educational seminar designed to help the participants — about 90 percent of them mothers — to take their blogs up a notch, whether in hopes of generating ad revenue and sponsorships, attracting attention to a cause or branching out into paid journalism or marketing.

via New York Times

1. Complete Your Profile
2. Increase Your Connections
3. Customize Your Website Links
4. Answer Questions
5. Update Status
6. Join Niche Groups
7. Post Comments In Groups
8. Add RSS Feed to Groups
9. Create a Group
10. Add the Blog Application to Your Profile

(Graphic and list via problogger.net)

2min15 is a video blog to share urban life in different cities around the world. Videos with a length of 1min to 2min15 using digital cameras and basic editing software is the base of the project. This blog was created with non commercial purposes.

2min15 is interested in expressing a personal side of life in cities and the way people live it through different cultural situations. The increase of disposable technology as digital cameras, telephones, iPods and webcams makes it easy to express it without losing its essence and making it accessible for everyone. Every city has its own sounds, colors, languages and even smells. 2min15 would like to create a place where simple videos show their people, streets, cafes, women, architecture, parks, subways and specially, the flow between them.

via 2min15

Photo via copyblogger.com

Brian Clark (@copyblogger) had me at, “confidence is compelling and downright sexy… I’m not talking about arrogance. Arrogance is an indication of fear, not assurance.” If you agree, you might want to read another one of his postings in which he proposes three helpful hints for bloggers, writers, etc. Don’t take criticism/disagreement personally. Finish each writing project. (Get it done!) And push yourself!

via drewsmarketingminute.com

Need to explain social media to your grandmother? Tip: print out this PDF first.

Google graphic via OPEN Forum

If you’re a Twitter “power user” (i.e. you update your status frequently; monitor your brand, business, etc. on Twitter; and/or leverage Twitter’s massive userbase to search for prospects) you should read John Jantsch’s article at OPEN Forum. Here are the highlights:

1) Target by occupation: “you can create a search that plows through Twitter and gives you a list of all the users” that include your specific keyword (attorney, quarterback, etc.) for their username and/or real name in their Twitter profile pages.
2) Target by biographical information: If you want to scan more than just usernames and real names, Google can hep you search for key phrases in Twitter users’ intext attributes.
3) Target by location using http://search.twitter.com
4) Use Google Alerts to track new Twitter sign ups

Learn more about these smart Twitter search techniques and three more at OPEN Forum.

Posted by virtualDavis via web from virtualDavis’s posterous

This news, via ReadWriteWeb.com, claims that “Twitter grew at a rapid pace, peaking at a growth rate of 13% in March 2009”, but has since declined to 3.5% currently. But “18% of all Twitter users have more than 100 followers… Just six months ago, the average user was just following around 40 accounts.” So, what does all this mean? Saturation? Twitter’s improved their spam control? Existing twitter users are taking better advantage of the service?

Posted by virtualDavis via web from virtualDavis’s posterous