Monday, April 26, 2010

Why Do I Follow A Blogger I Despise?

Nearly everyday I subject myself to reading posts by a blogger that ticks me right off.

The content he publishes is ok (I would say a 7/10 – pretty good right?) and he is definitely knowledgeable about certain topics. And I have to say he works hard because there is a stinking post nearly everyday.

So everyday I see the post, I try not to read it, but the next thing you know it's up on my screen, I am reading it and getting bent sideways and making scoffing noises – bleh, whaaat, argh!

What ticks me off is that it is all about self promotion. Sure there are a lot of kudos given to business partners and clients he serves – so that seems quaint, but it’s a feeble attempt to try to hide what is really happening.

WHY does one have to mention their business, their title, their history and their expertise every single time they write a post?


Come on, I read certain blogs for a reason. I think they are either entertaining or they provide information I am seeking. When we want to know someone’s credentials we seek that out, but normally we just want to read the post. And if the post is well written we will know the person has some credentials, no need to flap them in my face every single day.

It may be for SEO (search engine optimization) reasons, if we determine winners by that alone I guess I will say this blogger wins. Let’s hope he is different in person than online.

For now I will continue to subject myself to this pain and misery, I think I can learn something from it, how not to blog.

by Shannon (aka: SBK)
Twitter: @sbkelsick
contact me: sbk@MondayMarketingTools.com

photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/dantaylor/ / Flickr Creative Commons:






Mitch Joel and the Media Hacks Must-Listen-To-Podcast

Mitch is a published author (Six Pixels of Separation: Everyone Is Connected. Connect Your Business to Everyone. affiliate link) and runs Twist Image, a Marketing firm out of Montreal. Mitch produces some of the best marketing and tech content out there, his blog: http://www.twistimage.com/blog/

My favourite content that Mitch produces is a podcast called Media Hacks (free to download from iTunes or listen to from his site http://www.twistimage.com/podcast/ - make sure you look for the Media Hacks casts...). He now has three different podcasts, but Media Hacks is my must-listen-to-cast.

Media Hacks has five core individuals (Mitch Joel, Chris Brogan, C.C. Chapman, Hugh McGuire and Julien Smith) that join a conference call, and they essentially have a “fire-side” chat about what is happening in marketing and tech. Watch out though, this is not necessarily a cast rated for the whole family, depending on who’s on the call there can be a stream of (often hilarious rants by @julien) curse words.

Mitch will be in Calgary on June 14, 2010 at the Art Of Marketing “Innovation and Marketing Conference” at the Epcor Center.
http://bit.ly/aRsmCX

Hope you enjoy it all,

by Shannon (aka: SBK) Twitter: @sbkelsick
contact me:
sbk@MondayMarketingTools.com

Friday, April 23, 2010

Free Calgary Marketing Association Ticket with Arlene Dickinson

So I was pumped to attend the upcoming CMA event on May 6th @ 5pm in Calgary, Arlene Dickinson is speaking. But now I can’t attend! So I am giving away my ticket – it’s worth a whopping $89.

If you want the ticket all you have to do is tell me why YOU should win it. Are you a starving student? Arlene Dickinson is your idol? You want to schmooze with someone attending? You need somewhere to wear your new baby blue suit to?

Connect with me:

And entertain me with your story! (hint: I looooove humor and personality) I will post the winning write-up to my blog. Deadline to submit is noon on April 30th.

Cheers and have fun!

by Shannon (aka: sbk)

More Info on CMA event:
http://www.calgarycma.com/

Thursday May 6th, 2010
Speaker: Arlene Dickinson, CBC’s Dragon’s Den and CEO of Venture Communications
Topic: From the Future of Social Media to the Secrets to Her Success

picture from Flickr Creative Commons







Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Calgary Marketing Blogs


In the search for marketing and social media knowledge, I have found some fabulous resources online; websites and blogs like Mashable (an app is available!), Twist Image, ReadWriteWeb and TechCrunch. These sites have more information than I can possibly take in on a daily basis, I do my best to absorb as much as I can, when I can.

But there is something about getting information from "locals". I thoroughly enjoy and value information I get out of the local network I have access to (Calgary). There is something real and relate-able about local content creators.

Here is a short list of some local content creators that I learn from and enjoy. These publishers, and the above publishers create a lot of free, accessible and valuable content, soak it up if it floats your boat.


Share and enjoy.

by Shannon (aka: SBK)
Twitter: @sbkelsick

picture from Flickr Creative Commons:
 
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