Every week I compile list of the noteworthy news (Buzz) from my week of reading. I like to balance news with commentary, but it has to be really valuable for my readers (Brilliance). The links that follow are to sites and blogs that I read on a regular basis - consider them recommended reading for you too. Or you can just come back here each week for a taste of what stuck out to me.
Buzz
I haven’t heard a whole lot this week that was big news and not also big rumor. One item going around is that Facebook will begin rolling out Timeline for Pages in the next few weeks. I really hope it’s true. I’ll let you know when I hear.
Facebook has announced that it will verify accounts for certain “famous” users now. Their process is better defined than Twitter’s, but there will be no visible identification of verified accounts, which actually makes the process useless to the average user who wants to know if that really IS Lady Gaga they just subscribed to.
StumbleUpon is offering users a way to hide the StumbleUpon bar, which takes up some pretty significant real estate on a wide screen. They’ve also added original link to reviews so that content creators get proper attribution. These two moves have restored my desire to use this tool that I’ve all but abandoned since the changes took place.
The darling of the social media world these days is clearly Pinterest. Everyone is talking about this beautiful tool and how it’s revolutionizing the way we share. As much as I love the tool, I must admit to being a little Pinterested out. Do you want to know more about Pinterest? How about how to “trick out” your boards?
And if you’ve had enough of the comparisons of Facebook to Google+, don’t worry. Apparently we’ve switched to comparing Google+ and Pinterest.
Brilliance - Blogging Edition
I’ve been blogging for three years, which means I’ve been around a while, but I’m still a relative newbie compared to some of the bloggers that I respect. This week, as I was going through the many brilliant posts I get to read, there seemed to be so much good stuff about blogging. So, welcome to the Blogging Edition of Brilliance. You can learn a lot from these five articles!
What is one of the first pages a new visitor will check out on your web site? You guessed it - the about page. They want to know who you are and what you do. This handy list will help keep you from making mistakes on the page that could frustrate visitors.
Of course, you can’t realistically expect to write an adequate about page if you don’t know the answers to these three questions. In fact, it could be argued that one shouldn’t begin (seriously) blogging unless you do answer them.
Something I have a hard time with is writing through writer’s block. Christopher Penn’s post this week spoke to me. Just keep going. He writes a lot about digital marketing, but it applies to anything you’re doing - just keep pushing that snowball.
The best writing tip on this list is “Write the way you talk. Naturally.” This might seem to be in conflict when you think about business writing versus personal writing, but it isn’t. We adopt different modes of speech based on the situations we’re in at any given time. It only makes sense to do the same in our writing.
If ever there was a guide to better blogging, this is it. How appropriate that it comes from Problogger.
And a bonus for the business owners out there, here’s a comprehensive list of non-financial benefits of blogging. Now, do you still need to ask why you should blog?
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The #MediaMeshBBC is not going to meet this week after all. I’m going to set a new date in March because February has been too busy for much reading. But the busyness is going to bring some exciting news that I can’t wait to share with you!