In the Global Online Society, Blogging Will Be a Critical Differentiator in Font

Creator Code-128 in Font In the Global Online Society, Blogging Will Be a Critical Differentiator

As more of the economy from the things we buy, to the people we work with, to the ways we interact continues to move online, blogging becomes a critical skill for defining who you are. Whether it s posting reviews at Amazon or a thousand other online stores, participating in the nascent citizen journalism movement, blogging for friends and family at Vox or Blogger, or having your say on TypePad all of these forms of blogging are discoverable online. To a large degree online, you are what Google can find about you.

If you Google Bob Walsh (also known as ego-surfing), the first and third entries are my main blogs at ToDoOrElse.com and mymicroisv.com, which is an experience I think most bloggers who have been at it for more than a year would share. And that s fine by me. Whether you are in a business or profession where you define yourself or you work for a company or organization, blogging can profoundly accelerate your career. Consider Marshall Kirkpatrick, who got noticed because of his blogging skills, or Microsoft s Don Dodge, who had this to say about how blogging has enhanced his career: Blogs are the easiest way to gain a company-wide reputation at Microsoft. Of course, there are more than 3,000 employees blogging, so it takes a lot to get noticed. My blog has been picked up by BusinessWeek, CNN/Money, Business 2.0, Seattle Post Intelligencer, Fortune, Barron s, and many others, so my blog has definitely built a reputation inside Microsoft and outside as well. There is no way I could have gained as much visibility in the normal course of my job. Blogging is a great platform to express your views and influence public perception. Blogging is now part of my performance metrics as a technical evangelist and business development executive. It is a critical part of my job. The bottom line: Simply put, for those of us lucky enough to be part of the emerging online society and economy, the problem is too much choice. Blogs and blog writing can be the critical factor for deciding who to hire, who to work with, and who to listen to.

Of course, every brave new world has its own brave new problems. At the top of the list of problems for the blogosphere is that there isn t enough attention to go around. I could spend every hour of every day reading great incisive posts by blogging giants across the world, and nothing else. How do you cope with information overload when the overload is exponentially growing The short answer is you can t do it alone. No matter how good your computer information skills are, no matter what software gets designed, there is no way to keep up with most of the information flow we increasingly float around in, let alone all of it. That s where a little help from your online friends and their online friends comes in. I predict one strong trend in blogging will be the growing importance of blogging networks whose goal is to provide above-average information and content. On one hand, sheer numbers will mean each of us in the blogosphere will need to become highly selective in who we read, listen to, and watch. On the other hand, being able to rely on trusted others who have spent some of their attention creating something becomes a powerful way of leveraging your time. Visit some of the 9rules network of bloggers, whom you met in 13. Or have a look at the eighth most linked-to blog Technorati ranked today (74,862 links from 14,217 blogs on December 1, 2006): The Huffington Post (www.huffingtonpost.com). Or take a quick look at a blog network I came across just yesterday, TheGoodBlogs network (www.thegoodblogs.com), as shown in Figure 15-3. Now it s not just one blog raising its hand and asking for my attention, it is entire networks, which I can choose to pay attention to or ignore.