Happy 10th Birthday to my BLOG

2015- CELEBRATING 

TEN YEARS BLOGGING

March 2, 2015 marks ten years since I launched my blog. Wow, time flies.

(The first post from 2005 is here.)

I would like to believe that I have come a long, long way over a decade.  It has been a great experience.  This blog has been a major part of my life and has lead to the writing of eleven books, speaking to over 450 audiences, and the launch of the "Cool Things Entrepreneurs Do Podcast".  

At the time I started writing this blog I dreamed of earning my income as a speaker, trainer, and professional EmCee.  Today that dream is a reality, and I have had the honor to speak all over the world, including in China.  

I am very fortunate because of the amazing people in my life: Family, friends, clients, other speakers, etc... all have shared in my journey.  I am enthusiastic about the next decade!

Have A Great Day

thom singer

Cool Things My Friends Do (Week #116)- Kelby Carr and the Type-A Parent Conference

In this post I am blogging about bloggers!

Each week on this blog I enjoy highlighting some of the cool things my friends do in their personal and professional lives.

I recently had the opportunity to be a keynote speakers at an event hosted by my friend Kelby Carr.  I met Kelby at a conference in 2013 in Washington DC.  We kept in touch, and through a series of connections she selected me to be one of the presenters at the 6th Annual "Type A Parent Conference".  (I spoke on "The Power of IRL"...AKA: In Real Life).

The Type A website was established in 2007 and combined with the yearly conference Kelby and her team have created the first online community for mom and dad bloggers.  This is a place for influencers  and super-influencers to come together to learn, share ideas, and network.  

It was an honor to be part of the 6th annual conference in Atlanta.  The event attracts major corporations and hundreds of parents who blog on a variety of topics.  The community is awesome.  Those present were engaged and engaging.  

Many people try to start conferences, but Kelby had done something special with this event.  Not only has it sold out year over year, and continues to grow.... but she has a circle of people who are there to support her efforts at every turn.  It was exciting to share in the experience.

If you blog about parenting (or pets... I met several parents of four-legged kids), you need to sign up early for the 7th Annual event in 2015.

Have A Great Day.

thom

The Good-Old Days of Blogging

In the early day of blogging it was common for bloggers to read something on one blog, and then use that as inspiration for their own post.  They would link back to the muse, give credit to the other blogger, and then add their two cents.  Bloggers would comment on each other's sites and look for ways to help promote others who were also writing blogs that caught their attention.

Early blog guru's like Darren Rowse of ProBlogger and Brian Clark of CopyBlogger got their start being a peer to others who were exploring blogging.  It was not a competition, nor about being a self-focused activity.  Blogging was about community.... really, it was!

Those days are long gone.  Most bloggers seem to only promote their own thoughts and ideas while they pontificate.  There seems to be few outbound links to other writers of blogs, and rarely do people seem to site their inspiration...., unless that other person is famous.  There seems to be a mistaken notion that famous people will see a post and "discover" the person who wrote about them (yeah, it doesn't happen that way too often).  I still see people link out to the most well read blogs, but it is no longer common for bloggers to promote their peers.  (See my Blog Roll on the right side of this page, and click through to see some great blogs!!!).

It also seems like with the addition of so many blogs, that few people are as interested in reading what others have to say as they were in the past.

I miss the old days.  It was fun.  There was a feel of the Wild West, but it was a community of people seeking to learn, share, and connect.  Lots of people were blogging about blogging.... and there was something cool about having a blog.

It was the topic and the writers opinion that mattered, not the flash of who was the cool kid on the block.  But then it all got stale.  Too many corporate marketing consultants pushed a ton of non-bloggers into creating their own portals.  This shifted blogging to be more promotional, and the intrigue of finding an interesting blogger who could be shared with friends vanish in the over-crowded sea of pre-scheduled posts.

And yet I still write.  It is cathartic for me, and it allows me to explore thoughts. ideas and observations.  I try to promote others (which is why I created the weekly "Cool Things My Friends Do" posts), but I do not link out as much as I did in the past.  I wish that culture of quoting and linking was still active.

It is still exciting for me to read posts by the people who I admire, but I rarely find new bloggers that catch my attention.  By reading posts on other platforms I am encouraged and inspired and I plan to seek out some thought provoking sites and use them as my muse.  Look for more posts here where I that take concepts I find elsewhere and add to the conversation.

Your thoughts?

Have A Great Day

thom singer

Google + // Blogging About Blogging All Over Again

When I first started writing "The Some Assembly Required Blog" in 2005 blogging was fresh (not brand new, but new enough that it was interesting to others).  I can recall being at industry conferences and "experts" would ask the crowd if they had even heard about blogging or were reading any blogs.  Few hands were raised.  Fewer hands went into the air when asked if the had a blog. 

Many bloggers wrote about blogging.  I did here and here. Blogging was an popular topic with bloggers in 2005.  Their words were mainly read by other blog enthusiasts and the few rock-star bloggers had the masses at their feet waiting to hear what they would say.

Then came Twitter.  We tweeted about tweeting (so much that it became a verb). It was common in the early days to talk about the tool to others who were exploring the new medium.  Others did not know or care what was going on in 140 characters or less.

Now comes Google +.  I have jumped in and am relishing the nostalgia of the newness.  The only difference between the early days of blogging and Twitter and today's Google + is that Chris Brogan is the new Robert Scoble.

Will Google+ take a bite out of Facebook?  I have no idea.  It has some parts that are much more interesting (the ease of setting up circles based on interests is great).  When FB opened up beyond the college crowd it murdered MySpace.  People like something new and shiny.... and will go hang out where the cool kids call home.

Pop culture (TV, movies, etc....) work Facebook and Twitter into every script they can, so when you start seeing the characters on True Blood talking about setting up "Vampire Circles", "Fairy Circles" and "Shifter Circles" on Google+ you can kiss Facebook good-bye.

Have A Great Day.

thom singer

Six Reasons Why I Write A Blog

Why do I write this blog?

This question was asked the other day by someone who is considering taking on the commitment of a blog (yes, there is a commitment involved). His concerns were many, and he pointed out that there are too many blogs already in existence. He thought he would just be part of the noise. He was wondering about how many readers he would get initially. He feared writing his blog and nobody would show up to read it. He wanted my advice how to gain traffic fast.

There was no answer provided, as I do not write this blog for statistics. I write this blog as a conduit to share ideas, focus thoughts, improve my skills, to promote my speaking career, and to create a body of work. My own reader statistics are all over the map. Some posts are barely noticed, others are widely read and shared.

Do not get me wrong, I like having people read my blog (thank you, by the way), but I did not create or continue the blog for numbers. I am not "famous", so people do not flock to my every word. That is okay.

I write for several reasons. Below are six reasons (in no order):

1. Blogging makes me be a better writer. Writing is a skill that needs to be practiced. In the end, a writer is not real unless he or she writes. If one just thinks about writing they are a thinker, not a writer. By committing to this blog, it forces me to fine tune my abilities.

2. Writing helps me focus. I customize every speech I give to an audience. The presentations I give are constantly morphing from week to week based on what is happening in the world, the experiences I have, and the people I meet. Thus, many of my blog posts are directly related to crafting a presentation for an upcoming speech. It also makes me think about what is important to the audience, and not only about the things important to me.

3. The words might help someone. I get a lot of emails and other feedback from people who have read my blog and said that they needed to hear the message I wrote that particular day. If in some way something I put on here helps another person, then the time it takes to write is worth the effort.

4. Search Engine Optimization. I started the blog before the release of the first book. There was a lot of "buzz" about blogs 5 1/2 years ago, and I wanted to make sure I was getting all the online love that was available in cyberspace. It worked. People have discovered my books by finding my blog via search. A client recently contracted my services as a sales meeting facilitator after having found me via a "Google Search" that lead them to my blog.

5. Creating a library of rough drafts. My blog serves as a farm for other products. Speeches, articles, books, videos, etc... have all had their birth on the pages of my blog. When I am asked to work on any type of information product I can go into the archives of this blog and find nuggets of an idea that I can then develop further.

6. Keeps me reading and learning. If you want to write you must be exposed to new ideas, thoughts, points of view and perspectives. Because I write this blog I must force myself to observe the world around me more. It is easy to get myopic and not seek inspirations. Wanting to write makes me read other blogs, books, and follow the news in the areas that I cover.

Have A Great Day.

thom singer

Link Building with Bloggers: What 'Relationship' Actually Means

I was quoted in an article on SearchEngineWatch.com that was written by Jeremy Bencken about the importance of building relationships online and not just begging strangers for links or to promote your products or services.

I often remind people that you would not show up at the door of a stranger and hand them 1000 fliers promoting your business and ask them to pass them out to their neighborhood. However in the online world people do the equivalent all the time.

Read Jeremy's article HERE.

Have A Great Day.

thom

Does Everything You Blog About Need To Be An Original Idea?

There is a comment on yesterday's blog post that is worthy of its own discussion.

A reader named Ari Herzog, whom I do not personally know, but have corresponded via social media for over a year (I like him, and respect his efforts in life. He is a media strategist, consultant and an elected official on the city council of Newburyport, Massachusetts - pretty impressive guy), left a comment on my post titled "Strike While The Iron Is Hot", which was inspired by Chris Brogan's blog post the same day titled "While The Iron Is Hot".

Ari says:

"...but by different irons, Thom, never the same. It's great you credit someone for an idea, but the credit only works if it's your idea, not his idea that you're trying to use for yourself.

Ideas come and go but they only become successful if they are unique."

This begs the question of Does Everything You Blog About Need To Be A Unique Idea?

First, I have always believed that what makes blogs successful is not solely the brilliance of the blogger to have totally original and unique ideas in each post.... but instead their ability to take nuggets of information, concepts and theories to extend the discussion. Adding perspective, spin or highlighting minor points that might have otherwise been over looked in the piece that was the inspiration. They key here is to give credit to who or what was the catalyst for the writer.

Too often people take concepts and run with them, disguising them as original thought. This is bad. I see lots of bloggers who work hard to make themselves look really smart.... all the while they are ripping off others. But is being inspired by someone and adding your two cents a bad thing?

Second, if you look at my post, I mention (with links) that I had written about this same topic on my blog (twice) and on Twitter in recent weeks. It was already a topic that I found important to discuss, and thus I was NOT ripping off Chris Brogan's idea, but instead extending the discussion by crediting his post and writing more. I agree that Chris Brogan is a much bigger deal in the blogging / social media world than am I, but that does not diminish my ability to write about similar subjects .... or to be inspired to write because of him.

I am not picking on Ari.... as he is a smart guy with his own track record of successes. But his comment did get me thinking about how quick people are to jump to conclusions about the motivations of others. Heck, I did when I read his comment (as I felt he was calling me a fraud). Can one only be authentic if they were the first one to have an original thought? If another blogger (especially someone famous) writes about a topic, is that topic off limits to the rest of us (or we look like a copycat?)

And is it true that, as Ari said, that "Ideas come and go but they only become successful if they are unique". Hmmmmm... I see lots of ideas (and people) that are wickedly successful which are not necessarily unique.... but instead made successful through hard work and tenacity.

What do others think?

Have A Great Day.

thom

Motivational Speaker for a Business Conference - Google Pointed to ME!

Today I spoke on the phone with a potential client who is interested in having me to speak at her company meeting in 2010. We had a delightful conversation, and I am a good match for the needs of the firm.

At the end of our talk I asked her how she found me, as I always like to know who is referring me business opportunities. Her response was; "I did a Google Search for something like 'motivational keynote speaker for a business conference'. It was Google that took me to your blog, and I liked what you had to say".

I searched the term she mentioned and could not find myself in the mix. While I do not know what exact words she used to find me, I do know that having my blog as a Google destination for search has paid off several times. Two weeks ago I got an inquiry on a similar search for "motivational speaker for a professional services firm", and with those words I did show up in the few pages on Google.

The purpose of sharing this is that I often consult with professionals who question why I write a blog and participate in other social media activities. These intelligent and motivated business leaders claim they could never dedicate the time to a blog, as they are too busy. But in the past two weeks I have received two inquiries about my services as a keynote speaker from this exact activity... so I wonder how why in the world I would NOT blog.

Having online real estate that is searchable is necessary for business development. The hardest part is to realize the time frame involved with creating a recognizable social media persona can take several years. I started blogging in 2004 and have never stopped. Only recently has the blog begun to produce financial results (although it has paid off many times over in other ways).

If you want the advantages that come from blogging or other social media platforms, you must get started now. As if it takes two years to build up the momentum... and you wait two more years to start, then you are four years away from the success you desire.

There are no shortcuts to building an authentic online reputation. Content, consistency and longevity are all needed to make search engine optimization work for you.

Have A Great Day.

thom

Twitter Etiquette Rant

I am constantly amazed that people I do not know will ask me to "Re-Tweet" their messages on Twitter...OR... they write me and ask me to blog about their products and services. If I do not know anything about these people, why would I endorse their causes?

You would not show up at my house, introduce yourself, and immediately hand me 1000 brochures about your business and ask me to hand them to my neighbors (would you?).

But in the "social media" world too many people have forgotten the "social" part. The rules of etiquette and creating real friendships still apply. Establish a relationships first. Take actions to help them in some way. Make it something BIG, not some trivial thing (so that you can guilt them into helping you). After you have created and cultivated a mutually beneficial connection you have the right to ask for favors.

And to the total stranger who both asked me to Re-Tweet and Blog about them today... YES, you did inspire this rant!!!

Have A Great Day.

thom

Blogging As Part of Self

I find writing this blog to be very good for my soul. It allows me to voice my thoughts, opinions, pontifications, ideas, points of view, advice (solicited and unsolicited!) and observations. It enables me to share a part of myself that would not otherwise exist. It has become part of how I discover who I am.

In my youth I imagined I would have it all figured out by 40. Turns out that we are always learning -- about the world and about ourselves. I feel sad for those who do not look at themselves and seek improvement. It is through this work on myself that I discover more about humanity.

My hope is along the way my writing has an impact on others.

I never worry about if people read my blog. The number of readers continues to grow, so I assume that most of it must matter. If you do read it regularly, THANK YOU. If I ever offend you on occasion, then I AM SORRY. If I ever help you, I AM HONORED.

When someone criticizes me or this blog I pay attention. I enjoy hearing feedback (positive and negative). I see this blog as a work-in-progress, as am I as a person.

While criticism hurts, it is never un-welcomed. Life is a journey down a river that takes many turns. This blog helps me navigate the rough patches. I make mistakes and I can course correct. I want to become more tomorrow than I am today.

Thanks for reading.

Have A Great Day.

thom

Thank You For Reading This Blog

Greg Nemer at the Internet Business with Purpose Blog is participating in Darren Rowse's Problogger.Net 31-Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge. He left a comment on Darren's blog that he was going to follow his advice and make today, April 10th, "Reader Appreciation Day" on his own blog.

Dang, that is a good thought! So I am going to copy that idea right here at the Some Assembly Required Blog. Not all ideas have to be original. Inspiration should spread organically!

WELCOME BLOG READERS - AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR PART IN ASSISTING ME IN PURSUING MY LIFE'S DREAM!

Four years ago I began blogging. I was anticipating the release of my first book, "Some Assembly Required: How to Make, Grow and Keep Your Business Relationships" and I began the blog to help extend the message and reach of the book. I was not sure how to blog, what to say, or if anyone would come to read these little ditties I was writing.

But readers did come, and then I felt an obligation to keep writing. I hope that this blog has inspired others. For me it has helped fine tune my skills as a writer and has served as a type of communal therapy. For that I can never properly say thank you to all of the regular readers, subscribers and those who just drop in via a random Google search. This blog and the dialogue with each of you has guided me toward being a better person.

We have come a long way at New Year Publishing since the release of that first book and the start of this blog. My life-long friends and business partners and I have left full-time jobs to work in this company. We have ten books that have been completed by a variety of authors, and many more being released in 2009. Additionally, we all actively have business consulting engagements and I have my career as a professional speaker.

None of this could have happened without all of you who have read this blog and have purchased my books. I am not sure that "Thank You" are even strong enough words to express the gratitude.

I wish you all a wonderful weekend. May the spirit of joy fill your hearts.

Have A Great Day.

thom

Social Media and the Land of Misfit Toys

No matter how much things change, some things remain the same.

Take high school. Most people, no matter where they grew up, had similar experiences when it came to how social cliques took shape. This is the reason the movie The Breakfast Club is such a timeless classic - We all had popular kids, brainiacs, freaks, jocks, thugs, etc.... in our graduating classes. Everyone saw the experience from their own vantage point.

The majority of "too cool for school" people toned down their personal levels of self love and inflated egos after moving onto the real world. Observing people attending a 20 year reunion, there seems to be a great equalizer that takes over. Maybe this happens because they get older and fatter (and thus realize they are just human), or are so too tired to care about being the coolest kid on the block from five years of fighting aging - hello Botox!).

No matter what the reason, the older people get, the less seemed to care about cliques.

Until now. Welcome to the world of social media. Some of the "popular kids" in this new medium have begun to believe their own press. The levels of "full of self" and "full of shit" are reaching epic proportions.

I enjoy the interactions on Twitter, Blogging, Facebook, etc...., but there are some who have proclaimed themselves as the royal court and they look down their noses at those who are not part of the "Twitterati" (etc...). These self proclaimed "social media stars" are as phony as any pimply faced, Clearsil-covered teenager I have ever seen. Oh please.

I stopped following one guy because he is nasty. Sure 6,500 other fawn all over him, but the times I have seen him interact with others online there is a since of arrogance that I have not seen since sitting next to the homecoming queen in math class.

But to "unfollow" jerks comes easily in a social media world. You could not do that in high school. Wow, this is refreshing.

I also unfollowed anyone on Twitter who said mean spirited things during the United States Presidential Campaign. Sure, people can have differing opinions about political issues, but if they crossed the line and said mean and hateful personal stuff about Barak Obama, John McCain, Hillary Clinton or Sarah Palin...I just stopped following them. There is no time and no room in my social media world anybody who is dark in their soul.

I stopped reading the blogs of two popular bloggers that are seen as "all that and a bag of chips" in the blogosphere. They had clearly begun to believe that they were enlightened beyond the masses. Think Marie Antoinette. I don't want cake. At first I was curious what sparky outlandish things they might be saying, but within a week I no longer cared. I am not trendy-cool enough to be caught up in their wave anyway.

Today I read a tweet that said "I've noticed most guys who love talking about tech, Twitter, etc. actually have nothing to say. All megaphone and no message". I don't want to call the person who said it out by name, as that would be rude. His statement made me ponder about his message for a long time. Who is he judge the next guy's value? When was he appointed king of the internet? I must have been sick that day.

I am convinced that much of Twitter is just "noise", anyway, but so what. Sprinkled between the 140 characters of noise are powerful pieces of profound pontification. If you don't think someone adds to the stimulation of your brain, simply delete them from your Twitter Stream or stop reading their blog. Poof, they are gone from view, and their empty megaphone is no longer your problem. Why spend the time complaining about them, unless it is the superior feeling of the incessant whiner that you desire!

I tell my followers on Twitter that if I am just noise, they are free to unfollow me - no hard feelings. When I make such terse tweets I do see my numbers decline. But that is cool, because I only want to be connected with those whom there is a mutually mastered motif that magnifies the momentum of each other's mastery. If we cannot have a conversation, then we have nothing anyway.

We should all enjoy the ride that is the social media super highway. Moving fast and changing lanes is the name of the game. There are a lot of fun things to see along the way. But it is open to all, and we must not be overly judgemental of the others who have now come to play.

No matter how cool we think we are, we are all really living in the Land of Misfit Toys. And proud of it.

Have A Great Day.

thom

Blog Post Piracy

I received many emails about my post about "The Treasury of Human Intelligence". People seemed to like the concept, and the name / term "The Treasury of Human Intelligence".

Several folks asked me if came up with the term or if I borrowed it. I had come up with it, but as many things, I was not sure if I had read it someplace and subconsciously recreated it while writing my original blog post.

Thus, I googled the term to be sure I was not plagiarizing some other person's catchy phrase (as I have been asked to expand upon this short article for a presentation by the same title to a group this fall). Besides my post, there was only a single unrelated reference to something written in 1909. (apparently 99 years ago someone else used the words "The Treasury of Human Intelligence" as a title --- interesting!)

Alas, I had not stolen the term (the 1909 article or book was not on my reading list!), and it did not show up on any other websites, with the exception of some random blog, Qassia, who had lifted my entire blog post from four days ago - VERBATIM, and did not give me the credit as the author. They had even submitted the post to Digg under their own byline.

Holy Blog Piracy, Batman!

They even left the "Have A Great Day" at the end of the post, which is how I end every post on this blog. Arrrrrrrgggggg, Pirates!!!

Now I doubt that the term "The Treasury of Human Intelligence" will catch on as the next great theory of interpersonal relationships, business development and networking.... but just in case it does, I want to make sure that Oprah Winfrey has ME on her show and not this "Qassia" person.

Anyone who has produced creative products will have sensitivity to those who would steal their intellectual property. When people lift other's work (without giving them proper credit) they are not making deposits into the treasury of human intelligence. In fact, it is just the opposite. Plagiarism creates a situation where they are in a karma overdraft, with no overdraft protection issued by the treasury. This is not an action that helps the original author, but instead it causes pain and frustration.

The Blogosphere is populated by a variety of unique and giving souls who bare their hearts and spin their words to challenge, inspire, entertain, and educate others. But the dark side often rears its horns and spoils the pool for everyone. Piracy on the high seas or on the internet is equally evil.

I challenge all who read this post to make deposits to The Treasury of Human Intelligence and find ways to encourage and support other people to overcome obstacles and achieve success. Be the catalyst that help somebody win. When you give, you will get.

Have A Great Day.

thom

Blogging Dirty Tricks

I know this will get me in trouble, but I am posting it anyway!

Friday I got the following email:

Currently, we have your site Some Assembly Required, listed on our blogroll at www.phcconsulting.com/WordPress

We are going to delete those links on the blogroll that do not have a reciprocal link for us.

Please put a link to us and let us know so we can keep you in front of our readership!!!

Thank You!

Yikes. I do not know these people and I NEVER get traffic to my blog from them. I have always hated the concept of maditory link backs on blogrolls. I list many great blogs in my blog roll, but never do I want those writers to feel obligated to link to me. Sure, I love links as much as the next blogger....but this made me so mad that I blogged from my vacation.

It makes if fake if you demand the other to link to you...and if you threatten to delete them, is that not like payolla of some kind? It is just icky.

Have a great day.

thom

You Get What You Pay For - The Problem With "Free" Internet Tools

I have blogged on The Some Assembly Required Blog for over three years. Many bloggers and other social media gurus have criticized me for being on the "Blogger" platform, as they seem to think that there are better outlets that one can utilize, however I have found the service to work for my needs. I can post, people can read, and life happily goes on every day.

Until last Friday. When I woke on Saturday I was reminded that you get what you pay for in life and blogs. You see, while Blogger.com has been great, it is a free service, and free services have limited access to any human customer service and support.

Late on Friday my blog was "Locked" by Blogger.com's electronic computer robots that patrol their system to limit "spam blogs". While my complaint is not that I was wrongly tagged as a suspected "spam blog" and prevented from posting, (I actually appreciate the fact that they are patrolling their system to eliminate abuse!), but I was saddened that there was no quick way to remedy this situation.

We live in a society that has come to expect instant gratification, and an email telling me that my request to be unlocked will be processed in two business days just seems wrong (especially on a Saturday morning). I wanted to talk to someone immediately.

Yikes, the facts were clear that it would be Tuesday before I could post again.

I tried to see if there was any way to contact a live person in customer service, but there was no manner for me to remedy this situation other than to wait. I did find a Blogger Help Group in "Google Groups" that appears to be monitored by live humans who work for the Google owned Blogger.com, but I was skeptical that this would speed me to a solution.

I began searching the web and found this is common for Blogger.com users to get locked out via a random spam inquiry. The scary part was when I discovered that many spend much more than 48 hours waiting to be reinstated. I could write posts and save them as a draft, but not actually communicate with the outside world through this blog until they decided to get around to a review. Three years ago that would not have mattered, but now my blog is part of my personal identity.

You see, the social media revolution that is taking place changes the way we behave, and many have come to expect all of these online social media / social networking tools to always be available to us, regardless of any other factors.

I started thinking...most of these sights that are so popular and pervasive in the lives of their users are also "free" sites. Since I pay nothing to Blogger.com, Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, and the rest, do I really have any rights to expect them to be there for me every day when I wake up?

I wonder if those power users of Twitter would be relaxed if they woke and found that Evan Williams and his buddies just shut down the whole operation. Poooof. Gone. No more tweets. When the system currently experiences short technical interruptions, many go crazy and restless.

What if Mark Zuckerberg closed Facebook to pursue his professional speaking career? (I know, that was unfair). But if the company just shut down one day, they would take the away much from the users who are now socially hooked on their service.

And what if Blogger.com (or other blogging platform) locked you out from making posts on your blog. How would you feel?

I feel sad. Frustrated. Pissed that it is impossible to reach a real person via the Blogger.com site to expedite getting this issue solved. I also feel vulnerable that I have come to rely on these free social media tools as part of my life and that I am just one of millions of users who possess zero ability to garner their attention. Since I pay nothing, I am not sure that they would care if I started over and moved this blog to WordPress (who would also have the ability to shut me down on the whim of a computer algorithm).

Would we be willing to pay all of these sites just for guaranteed access to a live human beings when we have a problem on a Saturday morning? Some sites yes, some no.

I am a spoiled brat who has gotten very accustomed to 24 hours customer service. I am ashamed to write this paragraph, as I know that my grand-father was born with no electricity (my god, Al Gore had not yet been born, so no internet was invented!) in the 1800s. In fact, Grandpa was born on a farm where their mode of transportation was a covered wagon. I should just be grateful that I even have running water, much less a free blogging service!

I wrote this post at 7:15 AM on Saturday, April 5, 2008. I probably cannot post it until Wednesday based on what they have told me via the blogger website.... but it will be interesting to see how long it does actually take to get this resolved.

My opinion of Blogger will be higher if this is resolved sooner rather than later.

Have A Great Day

thom
www.thomsinger.com

YEAH......by 5 PM on MONDAY I had the ability to post again. I am very pleased with Blogger.com for this being resolved quickly. I am still sad and concerned about the lack of live customer service options, but I realize that you get what you pay for and Blogger.com is free.

I would like to praise the Google / Blogger employees for getting to this quickly and not letting me get lost in a sea of nothing-ness. I am concerned about how the world of free online social media tools leaves the user dependent - yet powerless. I had a lot of time to think about this and is does make me uneasy.

I would like to say "Boooooo" to the fact this had to happen at all, but I am not one who is quick to anger over situations like this. I am pleased that companies like Google are taking steps to limit abuse of their systems.

New Survey - Austin Is The Top City For Bloggers

I just read this on the Austin Start-Up Blog: A new survey by Scarborough Research, the leading local market research firm for identifying consumer and retail behaviors in the United States, finds that Austin, TX, Portland, OR, San Francisco and Seattle are the top markets for people who read or contributed to blogs.

The report finds that 15% of Austinites have read or contributed to blogs in the last 30 days. That puts them well above the last city on the list, Pittsburgh, PA where only 2% of adults have recent experience with blogs.

These top cities have both tech-savvy and youth in common, with 37% of Austin adults being between the ages of 18 and 34, and the technology business community is a centerpiece of the area's economic growth.

Have A Great Day.

thom

She Called Me An "SOB" - And I Liked It (Successful and Outstanding Blogger)

Each week Liz Strauss calls a list of bloggers "SOB's". And it's a good thing!

Her ongoing list of "Successful and Outstanding Bloggers" is nearly two years old (this is week 101) where she honors blogs that "take the conversation to their readers, contribute great ideas, challenge us, make us better, and make our businesses stronger".

It made me smile. Thanks Liz.

thom

Some Assembly Required Radio Show - Week #4

This week I had no guest on the Blog Talk Radio Show, but instead took 15 minutes to discuss the importance of having a blog as part of your strategy to create your personal brand.

I have had some feedback that 30 minutes is too long for listening to a podcast, so I am experimenting with different ideas. I think on weeks with no guest I will stick to 15 minutes, but 30 minutes still is probably best for an interview. I welcome your feedback.

Click here or for one week on the button to the right to hear the replay of this week's program.

thom

Good Morning Honolulu

I am quoted in an article about blogging in today's Honolulu Star-Bulletin. A reader of The Some Assembly Required Blog from Hawaii e-mailed me this link.

The writers (John-Paul Micek and Deborah Cole-Micek) quote me from an article I wrote over a year ago for ProBlogger.net. At the time my blog only had about 100 regular readers via RSS, but I was happy with this because the purpose of the blog was not to dominate the blogosphere, but instead to help promote my books and help me get corporate speaking engagements. These goals are still being met, and my RSS readership is now much larger....and so I keep on bloggin'.

Micek and Cole-Micek's advice for business professionals who blog is to remember that success is not based solely on traffic and RSS feeds. The success of your blog should instead be measured on how well it helps you promote your business. Very true!

Anyway, it was fun to know that I am in the Hawaiian newspaper today....although it would be more fun to actually be in Hawaii! I think a goal for 2008 is to speak at a conference in Honolulu.

Have A Great Day.

thom

Gotta Get Goals - The Ripple Effect Guy Tagged Me

I am a believer in setting goals. Big goals, little goals, goals that grow on trees!...you gotta have them or you are just adrift.

Steve Harper, author of The Ripple Effect and blogger extraordinaire, had been tagged by another blogger to post his goals. Then in keeping with the bloggy tradition of passing on the love, he "tagged" me to do the same.

I thought about this for a few days, and below I am going to list some of my goals. Not the BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) or my personal goals, but rather some goals for The Some Assembly Required Blog.

Here we go.

1. To have the gumption to continue to write often. I hate it when blogs go stale, but it is not always easy to figure out what to write on a daily basis. I like blogging, it clears my head, focuses my writing efforts, helps sell my books, and I have made a lot of friends in the blogosphere...thus, I want to keep doing it for years to come.

2. I want to improve and empower the impact of my blog posts. I desire to discover how to be BOLD. I long for those who read this blog to find inspiration, to share the posts regularly and to come back day after day.

3. I want to write something profound and important, and be quoted by one of my favorite "uber-bloggers": Seth Godin, Robert Scoble, Tom Peters, Guy Kawasaki, etc...

4. I would like to have day where I get over 2000 individual visitors to this blog, which I assume will be a result of the successful execution of goals 1-3.

5. I desire all who read this blog would buy a copy of my new book, The ABC's of Networking, and share it with a friend. Writing a book is hard work, promoting a book is even more difficult. But having someone read what you wrote is amazing, so it makes it all worthwhile.

There you go. Nothing un-attainable, yet nothing easy.

What are your goals?

I will tag Mike at The Simplenomics Blog, Jason at The JibberJobber Blog, Tom at The Legal Marketing Blog, Monica at The Common Scold Blog, and Seth Godin at Seth Godin's Blog (Hey, why not?). I hope they will participate in the perpetuation of the Gotta Get Goals series.

Have A Great Day.

Thom Singer
www.thomsinger.com