Category Archives: Weblogs

From Zero to Launch in 3 Hours, or Behold the Power of Blogs

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First a little background:  I was looking for an index of publicly traded companies in Winston-Salem and I couldn’t find it anywhere.  I figured there weren’t that many publicly traded companies in W-S so I wondered if I could create one myself.  That’s when the fun began.

First I logged onto the Forsyth County Library’s research site, which is free by the way.  Then I used the ProQuest feed from Hoovers to look up all Winston-Salem companies that they track (about 30 total).  Of those I found seven publicly traded companies and I created my own little tracking index on my.yahoo.

I was going to leave it at that, but then I got to wondering if there was any way to get a script that would allow me to post the index on my blog.  Within a few minutes I found a free service called barchart.com. All I had to do was input those same seven companies’ trading symbols into their system and it kicked out a piece of javascript that I could post on my site.  Pretty cool.

Then I thought a little more about it and decided that I’d like to create a blog focused solely on business related information for Winston-Salem.  I’ve been in W-S for about a year and in that time I’ve been doing a lot of reading and research on the local business community and I figured a blog would be as good a way as any to keep track of this stuff.  That led me to create the Winston-Salem Business blog.

Over the course of about 2 1/2 hours I set up the template, built some link lists to local publications, business groups, etc. and wrote a couple of fairly generic posts.  Then I thought it might be fun to see if I could set up a newsfeed for Winston-Salem and Forsyth County business.

Back to my.yahoo I went.  I set up a news search for "winston-salem"+"business" "forsyth county"+"business", and copied the "rss.xml" link.  Then I found a free service called rss-to-javascript.com that allows me to put in any RSS feed and it spits out a piece of javascript.  I can then paste the javascript into my site and voila, I have my own customized newsfeed.

This is pretty amazing.  I’ve essentially built my own customized business news site for next to nothing (I use Typepad which gives me three blogs for a flat fee, so technically I guess it’s costing me about $4 a month).  If I wanted to I guess I could commercialize it with very little effort, although to build readership would take lots of effort and keeping it relevant and fresh even more blood, sweat and tears. 

I guess what I’m most amazed at is how quickly and easily I could physically pull together a business news site.  It just drives home the fact that a properly motivated entrepreneur could pop up almost out of nowhere and start eating the local business press’s lunch.

**Update** While Barchart.com seems to load every time, it looks like by rss-to-javascript.com service is worth what I paid for it (0).  It only loads about 20% of the time.  I’ll try and find a better feed at some point.

**Update #2**  It doesn’t look like it was the fault of rss-to-javascript.com for the non-loading. It seems that Yahoo!’s feed was iffy, so I went with Craigslist for jobs and the Biz Journal for the business feeds.  Only negative is that those "Triad" focus, not the more defined "Winston-Salem" focus I was looking for.  If I can get a more focused, customizable feed I will, but for now this will do.

Reporters are Using Blogs, But They Don’t Trust Them

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From Steve Rubel at MicroPersuasion:

ClickZ reports
that a new study by Euro RSCG/Columbia University shows that more than
51 percent of journalists use blogs regularly, and 28 percent rely on
them to help in their day-to-day reporting duties.

What’s more the study found that journalists mostly used blogs for
finding story ideas (53 percent), researching and referencing facts (43
percent) and finding sources (36 percent). And 33 percent said they
used blogs to uncover breaking news or scandals. The only nit is,
despite their reliance on blogs for reporting, only one percent of
journalists found blogs credible, the study revealed.

He goes on to point out that there is no excuse for not monitoring blogs, and that those companies that start and maintain positive blogging conversations will get more press.

On another note the study should be good grist for the ConvergeSouth conference in October.

For New Members of the Blog Reading Universe

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This is a post I’m creating for the sole purpose of having something I can point my friends, family members and associates to when they ask about any of the "new" web based technologies and services. Basically it’s an overview of things like blogs, RSS (real simple syndication), RSS readers, podcasts, wikis and some p2p (peer-to-peer) applications.  I plan on updating this post regularly.

Blogs
Definition: A weblog (usually shortened to blog, but occasionally spelled web log) is a web-based publication
consisting primarily of periodic articles (normally in reverse chronological order). Although most early weblogs were manually
updated, tools to automate the maintenance of such sites made them accessible to a much larger population, and the use of some
sort of browser-based software is now a typical aspect of "blogging". (source: wikipedia)

RSS
Definition: RSS is an abbreviation for:

Here’s a good article to read from Business 2.0.  The author explains RSS this way:

RSS, or real simple syndication, is a way to subscribe to a website’s
regularly updated content without actually visiting that site. It
allows you to look at headlines and stories from as many blogs or news
sites as you like, all in one place. As simple as this sounds (indeed,
because of its simplicity), it is going to change the way you consume
information on the Web.

Robert Scoble, a famous blogger that works at Microsoft, provided a nice four step overview of the software you can use to subscribe to RSS feeds:

There are three basic types of RSS News Aggregators:

 

1) Server-based aggregators. Some, like Newsgator cross the lines
since Newsgator has a server-side service too. Other server-side
aggregators are Feeds.scripting.com, MyYahoo, Bloglines, and MyMSN.

 

2) Standalone client-side aggregators. RSS Bandit. FeedDemon. SharpReader. Radio UserLand. Among these, my favorites are RSS Bandit and FeedDemon (REX NOTE: FeedDemon has Nashville connections – use it).
You’ll need to download and install these. They don’t depend on any
other application being loaded, and are browser-independent too (for
the most part). On the Mac, NetNewsWire is the one most of my friends like. (REX NOTE: I use NetNewsWire.)

 

3) Built in the browser. OnFolio 2.0 adds onto IE or Firefox. Optimal Access adds onto IE. The Mozilla team offers Sage for Firefox users. Pluck adds onto any browser. My favorite here is OnFolio. Pluck is pretty good too.

 

4) Dependent on Outlook. NewsGator is my favorite here (it’s still the aggregator I use most), but there’s also IntraVnews.

Podcasts
Definition: Podcasting, a portmanteau of Apple’s "iPod" and "broadcasting", is a method of publishing files to the Internet, allowing users to subscribe to a feed and
receive new files automatically. It first became popular in late 2004, used largely for audio files.

Podcasting is distinct from other types of audio content delivery because of its subscription model, which uses the RSS 2.0 file format. This technique has enabled independent producers
to create self-published, syndicated "radio shows", and has given broadcast radio programs a new distribution channel.

Users subscribe to podcasts using "podcatching" software (also called "aggregator" software) which periodically checks for and
downloads new content. It can then sync the content to the user’s portable music player. Podcasting does not require an iPod or
iTunes; any digital audio player or computer with the appropriate software can play podcasts. The same technique can deliver
video files, and by 2005 some aggregators could play video as well as audio.
(Source: wikipedia)

Here’s a list of Podcasting directories from Loosewire (added to this post 6/25/05):

Wikis
Definition: A wiki (pronounced
[wɪkiː],
[wiːkiː] or
[viːkiː]; see Pronunciation below) is a web application that allows users to add content, as on an Internet forum, but also allows anyone to edit the content. Wiki
also refers to the collaborative software used to
create such a website (see Wiki software).

Wiki (with an upper case ‘W’) and WikiWikiWeb are both used to refer specifically to the Portland Pattern Repository, the first wiki ever
created. A lower-case ‘w’ for ‘wiki’ is generally used by savvy wiki proponents. The name was based on the Hawaiian term wiki wiki, meaning "quick" or "informal." It is used
commonly in Hawaii as part of its rich "pidgin English"— the native language of the
islands.
(Source: wikipedia)

The first wiki I’ve been a part of is for the ConvergeSouth conference planning.

P2P Applications
Definition: A peer-to-peer (or P2P) computer network is a network that relies on
computing power at the edges (ends) of a connection rather than in the network itself. P2P networks are used for sharing content
like audio, video, data or anything in digital format. P2P network can also mean grid computing.

A pure peer-to-peer file transfer network does not have the notion of clients or servers, but only equal peer nodes that simultaneously function as both "clients" and "servers" to
the other nodes on the network. This model of network arrangement differs from the client-server model where communication is usually to and from a central server. A typical example for a non
peer-to-peer file transfer is an FTP server. One user uploads a file to the FTP server, then many others download it, with no need for the uploader and downloader to be
connected at the same time.

Some networks and channels, such as Napster, OpenNap, or IRC @find, use a
client-server structure for some tasks (e.g. searching) and a peer-to-peer structure for others. Networks such as Gnutella or Freenet, use a peer-to-peer
structure for all purposes and are sometimes referred to as true peer-to-peer networks, though Gnutella at least is greatly
facilitated by directory servers which inform peers of the network addresses of other peers.
(source: wikipedia)

Winner’s of Best (Business) Blog Competition Announced

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MarketingSherpa announced the winners of their best business blog competition, and you can find the list (with links) here.

I had the pleasure of working with Anne Holland when she was getting MarketingSherpa up and running.  I’m continually amazed with her foresight and innovation as she continues to grow the company.  If you have any interest in online media, marketing (b-to-b or b-to-c), or PR you should definitely check out her stuff. You won’t be disappointed.

A Cool Application for Blogs – Kid Tracking

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I’ve been reading the Kenya Blog being hosted by the Winston-Salem Journal, and I’ve noticed that most of the comments are from parents of the kids who made the trip to Kenya and are the blogs contributors.

It never occured to me that one of the great applications for blogging could be staying connected with your kids.  As a parent who will be seeing his kids off to summer camp for the first time next week I can tell you that I would love for them to have the chance to post pictures and write a paragraph or two about their day so that Celeste and I could share their experience without getting in their way.

Please do visit the Kenya Blog as I think you’ll agree that these kids are getting the experience of a lifetime, and their parents (not to mention the rest of us) get to share it with them in a way that would have been inconceivable a couple of years ago.

Now where’s that number for the summer camp…we have to talking to do!

W-S Journal Launches First Blog

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The Winston-Salem Journal has launched its first blog, The Kenya Connection, which is a group weblog done by 16 students and five adults who have traveled to Kenya to help fight AIDS.

My personal opinion is that this is a great way for the Journal to dip its toes into the blogging water.  A community-focused weblog that actually helps the paper cover a far-flung story about local kids venturing out to another community that could not be more different from their own. In other words the paper is sticking to its traditional knitting: content with a community focus and also a window to the larger world.

Thanks to Joe for the link and the update.

Blogging for Associations

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Rex Hammock, one of the leading bloggers out there, is doing some guest blogging for American Business Media (ABM), a trade association of which he is a member.  In his introductory post on the ABM blog he shared this nugget:

As a note of transparency, my company works with several large national
associations in publishing their member magazines and providing online
editorial services to them. (ABM is not one of these.) And
so, in addition to my willingness to serve in another voluntary role
for ABM, I also have a professional interest in trying to understand
the role of participatory media (I call it conversational media) in the
context of associations. I believe associations have a unique
opportunity to serve as neutral platforms for conversations — they
certainly do so when they host meetings. I’ve spent the past decade
trying to encourage clients and other publishers to embrace ways to
amplify the voices of those they serve, rather than view those voices
as threats or competition. I hope the blogging committee and this blog
can help me keep ranting on discussing that topic.

Having “Hooker” in a Headline Will Help Drive Traffic

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My hometown paper, the Winston-Salem Journal, probably saw a nice traffic spike yesterday (Saturday, May 14, 2005).  Since there’s a local furniture company named Hooker they were able to run this article with the headline "Hooker expects up to 7% drop in sales." 

Of course this caught the attention of my favorite sophomoric-humor-weblog, Fark.com, which linked to the story with its own, somewhat more suggestive headline: "Hooker expects up to seven percent drop in business due to wood shortage."

Links from Fark.com have been known to crash sites due to the traffic crush, so my hat’s off to the webguys at the Journal. (Hi Joe.)