Conversations Used as Marketing
At the recent Bakersfield Business Referral Network meet up–there were discussions started regarding what marketing and tools other owners use to find new business and clients.
There was some great brainstorming going on, but not nearly enough time to discuss the massive changes and shifts happening on the Internet. Thus, the reason I was inspired to share some ideas about what I see coming.
How do you deal with Content Overload?
Lately, I’ve been trying to figure out how to deal with personal content overload. I searched for similar articles and found a couple here and here. And while tools to make it easier is one solution, I’m coming to the realization that it’s more of a discipline issue more than anything.
What I mean is that while I find myself using iPhone applications such as Tweetie and FaceBook to quickly upload some content, that doesn’t work when taking pictures with my SLR, shooting video with the Vado, or recording audio with my iRiver.
So until I have a device that has both quality and the ability to instantly upload to the cloud in an easy way, I’m going to have to focus of making myself process the content.
And one thing I have realized when it comes to processing content, is the longer I wait to deal with it, the less chance this task has of being completed.
In other words, for me, what I’ve found that works best is to transfer and upload the content as soon as possible afterwards. If I wait longer than 2-3 weeks I usually won’t deal with it.
For example, WordCamp San Francisco was almost 3 weeks ago as of this writing, so unless I process the audio and video I captured this coming weekend, more than likely it will never get done.
I guess this is not much different from other tasks in life–but it just seems like with so many devices and content becoming part of our daily lives, it makes it seem so overwhelming sometimes. So how do you deal with content overload?
WordPress Plugin for DonorsChoose.org
I recently found the website, donorschoose.org, which allows educators to create proposals for classroom project materials. Once the proposal is approved, it is posted on the donorschoose.org website, where individuals can then fund the project by donating money.
WordCamp San Francisco State of the Word Audio
It’s funny as I type this, as I had been ocassionally searching for the video that John Pozadzides shot at WordCamp 2008 in San Francisco, but I couldn’t find it (yet), which I totally understand. Then I did a search tonight after posting this, and many of the sessions are now available on video.
Meanwhile, I recorded some audio from the event, including Matt Mullenweg’s The State of the Word session, and this weekend I finally got around to processing it.
Although John’s video from The State of the Word is the real deal, if you are interested, you can download the audio portion of the talk here, or you can play it below.
As for the specs, I recorded it using an iRiver iFP-890 (internal mic), sent it through Levelator, and exported it using Audacity.
WordPress Digital Scrapbook Example
Created by Mike Pilley
I wrote an article earlier this year about using WordPress as a digital scrapbook. Although it has been a while, I finally put an example together based on my original thought.
My son and I recently went camping, so I put some of the content from the trip together in a post. The elements of the post included using an embedded Google map based on the GPS location I took at the campsite; an information balloon within the map that contains information about the campsite, weather during the trip, and links to a Picasa album; scanned PDF of the campsite map; and a narrative of our trip and some highlights.
Below is the Google map and a link to the campsite map. I used the Google Maps Quicktag by Daniel Denk, as I regularly use the Google My Maps and this plugin was the easiest to incorporate the embed link to display the map.
Here’s a slideshow:
To take the digital scrapbook idea to another level, you could create a My Maps of a larger area (say the United States) with markers of event locations that would link to smaller focus maps.
By combining available content such as pictures, video, GPS coordinates, and Google maps within WordPress, you can easily create a digital scrapbook to capture life events in a format available to family and friends.
Below is a narrative of day one of the camping trip.
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Afterthoughts of Creating and Producing a Podcast
Stockcarzone, a Podcast for NASCAR fans, was a great experiment. I had ideas of grandeur when Corey Costelloe and I first started the podcast–but reality was, it was a lot harder to make money than I thought. The podcast really turned out to be more of a hobby than a money maker, and this year Corey and I decided not to continue the show. Regardless of the outcome, I wanted to share some afterthoughts of the experiment. Read more
Using WordPress as Digital Scrapbook
At one point during WordCamp 2007, there was a woman sitting in one of the front rows who explained that she was using WordPress as a blog to capture moments in her niece’s life. I thought, how cool is that! WordPress could be used like a digital scrapbook. Read more
Google’s Local Business Center Good for Bakersfield Companies
Bakersfield companies would be wise to take advantage of adding a map listing in Google’s Local Business Center (LBC). It’s currently free and an easy way to give your company more exposure on the Internet when it comes to mapped searches. In addition, Google has other new and innovating uses of this data which will help your company stay up-to-date with emerging search technologies.
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Using WordPress for Nonprofit Websites
Websites no longer have to become static, stale and outdated, or having to rely on web designers/developers to update content. With publishing platforms such as WordPress, many organizations could move to updating their own sites and creating their own content.
I realized I had to update my website, especially with all the web 2.0 hype. My previous site was static HTML, no CSS, very plain-Jane, and very outdated. As a small-business owner, I fit into the categories of limited budget and resources, like free and easy to use.
After searching customer and content management systems (CMS) via google, low and behold, WP showed up as a possible solution. I say that because some may consider WP as only a blogging application, but soon, I found many articles related to other small businesses and nonprofit organizations whom were searching for the same solution.
