Thinking Blogging by a Thinking Blogger

I can remember how excited I was when I received my very first link to this blog. It was as if I had made a new friend on the other side of the planet. And I know that many others continue to feel this excitement — the joy of connection, a meeting of minds or a discussion in the offing.

So today I was excited to see a link from the very clever Mark Hancock (who has exceptional taste in guitars) nominating me as a "thinking blogger". He says some very kind words and makes me sound way smarter than I really am. But now, as a thinking blogger, I am now entitled to nominate five bloggers who drive me crazy with their powerful minds make me think.

The way it works apparently is as follows:

  1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think
  2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme
  3. Optional: Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote

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So, my nominations go to:

  • Leigh Himel — Must have a brain the size of the ecosystems that she writes about. Even a cursory glance can humble.
  • Robyn McMaster — Goes deep into the brain to explain how logic and emotion works works scientifically. Take a look at what she says about the colour of your blog!
  • Jen Stumbles — If you need a dose of insight then you can’t go past the Innovation Feeder.
  • Tim Longhurst — Because those good looks and long eyelashes dazzle you while his brain run rings around your ideas.
  • Darren Herman — Because he sent me a link to his blog today and I found this great post on the Expectation Economy — right when I wasn’t expecting it.

How Do They Do It?


Trophy Cupcake Holiday Cupcake
Originally uploaded by cakespy

There are some bloggers that continuously amaze me with their content, thinking and energy. Just when I think that I cannot write anything more or spend any more time writing (most of my blogging is done late at night), I will find some piece of inspiration that gets my brain ticking over and my fingers tap, tap tapping.

Inspired by this post by Kris Hoet, my nominations are:

Meg Tsiamis — not only does she run her own blog and the Top 100 List of Australian Blogs, Meg also runs her own business, looks after her family and is one of the driving forces behind the Aussie Bloggers Forum.

TempAdventure — Jen’s blog is an explosion of ideas and analysis. If you are in need of a tasty snack, the Innovation Feeder is your perfect destination.

The Kaiser — if you have not visited Marcus’ site, then you are missing out on one of the most creative voices in the blogosphere. Through his personas, Marcus takes us on a whirlwind journey of the digital landscape, showing us its humour, bleakness and possibility. Never afraid of an argument, this is strategy+execution at its best.

Mack Collier — another who never stops delivering the spark of imagination, "Mr Community" keeps many of us on the straight and narrow. Want a balanced view of your blog? Want some insight into the social media impact of a campaign? Mack always seems to be able to articulate what many of us think, but can’t quite express in words. Oh, and he created and maintains the benchmark by which all other marketing blog ranking lists measure themselves.

Who’s Next?
Feel free to join in this meme or leave a comment. Who are YOU amazed by? I always love finding a new blog or two!

My Media Week


HINES_digestion.jpg
Originally uploaded by printzerostudios

Neil Perkin tagged my on this interesting meme — which asks us to look at our media consumption over the past week. So, let’s take a look at what I ate, drank and osmosed over the last week:

Books
I have been snack-reading a number of books for the last month or so. I am previewing Michael Port’s new book which is good so far (but I am yet to get into the meat). I have John Grant’s Brand Innovation Manifesto by my desk and I am now searching around for a new novel to read (though I am on a Ned Kelly kick at the moment so I may go back and re-read Peter Carey’s brilliant story.

Like Asi I have been digesting a lot of excellent blogging via a feed reader yet feeling like I am missing out on the main meal. There is nothing like context to make you feel more satisfied.

TV/video
Last night I saw Stardust which I loved — especially de Niro’s astonishingly flamboyant pirate captain. And if you are in the mood for some great Australian drama with a twist, check out Clubland. Top stuff from a great cast.

On TV, I am watching Jam & Jerusalem and The Bill and anxiously awaiting the end of the summer go-slow.

Music
I am loving Missy Higgins’ new album and Miss Connie ‘s awesome vocals for the Sneaky Sound System. You can check out my other musical tastes and interests here.

Next Up
Next up on this meme, I tag the Hostess with the Mostest, CK, Stan (though I don’t know if he participates in memes), Jayne, Sharon, Diana and Jen. Looking forward to it!

Confession Time – 8 Things in 08


Confession
Originally uploaded by Heather.Isabel

Normally I am all over a meme. I have willingly joined in the Eight Random Things, Z-list, O-list and the Zombie Apocalypse (as well as many others). I find them a great way to discover new links, sites and content as well as a great opportunity to disclose something new about yourself. After all, blogs are, in many ways, a slow striptease where the writer reveals ever more pieces of personal and professional information until the readers have built a strong and even compelling sense of the author.

Now, my long term readers will know that I started out being quite reticent about my identity and its disclosure. But over time this changed … I began to openly write under my own name, include personal photos, audio and even video casts. Yet each time, I do so I feel like I am confessing something about myself … that in displaying, writing or "performing", some element of my true nature is revealed. This is both frightening and liberating.

Over the last few weeks I have been tagged by both Wonderwebby and Jon for the "Eight Things" meme. In this meme, my challenge is to confess eight things that you probably don’t know about me. So, in an effort to frighten both you and me, I will dig into the annals of my personal history:

  1. I have a fascination with the supernatural. It scares me off and draws me closer. I can never entirely escape it.
  2. My scariest experience was with a ouija board and some friends at high school. We tapped into something that knew too much about us all.
  3. I once felt close to madness after not sleeping for three days and nights. It seemed like a choice, and thankfully I was able to resist (these points are not all related).
  4. I used to be a full-on vegan. It was political. I wanted to change the world.
  5. Now I am a fairly "normal vegetarian", but I have not eaten red meat in over 20 years. It’s not really political anymore, it is just the way I am.
  6. As a child I loved the idea of having an office. I used to hide behind the louvre doors at my grandparents house and work on my colouring-in. By the time I entered the workforce it was all open plan … this remains one of my greatest disappointments 😉
  7. I am a font of ideas. I can come up with a million great ideas with ease.
  8. Despite a high level of output, I still procrastinate terribly. I wonder whether this is linked to the number of ideas, a fear of failure (or success) or just part of my personal creative process.

Recognizing Outstanding Bloggers

I love the smell of the end of the year. There is a mixture of tension, as we all begin to focus on the final weeks of the year in an attempt to reach our targets, deliver our projects or finalize the last elements of our budgets. But there is also the beginning of relief and play … last year, about this time, Mack Collier kicked off the Z-list. This year it is Troy Worman’s turn, with the Outstanding Blogger meme.

This one is already exciting, with well over 200 blogs, many completely new to me, promising an avalanche of holiday reading. My additions to the massive list (already included) are Innovation Feeder, The Kaiser Edition, Get Shouty, Tim Longhurst and Dipping into the Blogpond.

Enjoy!

UPDATE: Troy has an updated list here.

  1. 100 Bloggers
  2. 37 Days
  3. 3i
  4. 43 Folders
  5. A Clear Eye
  6. A Daily Dose of Architecture
  7. The Agonist
  8. All Things Workplace
  9. All This Chittah Chattah
  10. Angela Maiers
  11. Antonella Pavese
  12. Arizona High Tech
  13. A Writer’s Words, An Editor’s Eye
  14. Badger Blogger
  15. Bailey WorkPlay
  16. Being Peter Kim
  17. Brett Trout
  18. Best of Mother Earth
  19. Beyond Madison Avenue
  20. Biz and Buzz
  21. Bizhack
  22. BizSolutions Plus
  23. Blog Business World
  24. Bloggers Showroom
  25. Blogging for Business
  26. Blogher
  27. Blog Till You Drop!
  28. Bob Sutton
  29. Brain Based Business
  30. Brains on Fire
  31. Brand Autopsy
  32. The Brand Builder Blog
  33. Branding and Marketing
  34. Branding Strategy
  35. Brand is Language
  36. BrandSizzle
  37. Brandsoul
  38. Bren Blog
  39. Business Evolutionist
  40. Business Management Life
  41. Business Pundit
  42. Business Services, Etc.
  43. Busy Mom
  44. Buzz Canuck
  45. Buzz Customer
  46. Buzzoodle
  47. Career Intensity
  48. Carpe Factum
  49. Casual Fridays
  50. Change Your Thoughts
  51. Chaos Scenario
  52. Cheezhead
  53. Chief Happiness Officer
  54. Chris Brogan
  55. Christine Kane
  56. Church of the Customer
  57. Circaspecting
  58. CK’s Blog
  59. Come Gather Round
  60. Community Guy
  61. Confident Writing
  62. Conversation Agent
  63. Converstations
  64. Cooking for Engineers
  65. Cool Hunting
  66. Core77
  67. Corporate Presenter
  68. Crayon Writer
  69. Creating a Better Life
  70. Creating Passionate Users
  71. Creative Think
  72. CRM Mastery
  73. Crossroads Dispatches
  74. Cube Rules
  75. Culture Kitchen
  76. Customers Are Always
  77. Customer Service Experience
  78. Customer Service Reader
  79. Customers Rock!
  80. Custserv
  81. Craig Harper
  82. Daily Fix
  83. Dawud Miracle
  84. Dave Olson
  85. David Airey
  86. David Maister
  87. David S Finch
  88. Design Your Writing Life
  89. Digital Common Sense
  90. Director Tom
  91. Dipping into the Blogpond
  92. Diva Marketing
  93. Do You Q
  94. Duct Tape Marketing
  95. Empowerment 4 Life
  96. The Engaging Brand
  97. Essential Keystrokes
  98. Every Dot Connects
  99. Experience Architect
  100. Experience Curve
  101. Experience Matters
  102. Extreme Leadership
  103. Eyes on Living
  104. Feld Thoughts
  105. Flooring the Customer
  106. Fouroboros
  107. FutureLab
  108. Genuine Curiosity
  109. Get Shouty
  110. Glass Half Full
  111. The Good Life
  112. Great Circle
  113. Greg Verdino’s Marketing Blog
  114. Hee-Haw Marketing
  115. Hello, My Name is BLOG
  116. Holly’s Corner
  117. Homeless Family
  118. The Idea Dude
  119. I’d Rather be Blogging
  120. Influential Marketing
  121. Innovating to Win
  122. Innovation Feeder
  123. Inspiring & Empowering Lives
  124. Instigator Blog
  125. Jaffe Juice
  126. Jibber Jobber
  127. Joyful Jubilant Learning
  128. Joy of Six
  129. The Kaiser Edition
  130. Kent Blumberg
  131. Kevin Eikenberry
  132. Learned on Women
  133. Life Beyond Code
  134. Lip-sticking
  135. Listics
  136. The Lives and Times
  137. Live Your Best Life
  138. Live Your Inspiration
  139. Living Light Bulbs
  140. Logical Emotions
  141. Logic + Emotion
  142. Make It Great!
  143. Making Life Work for You
  144. Management Craft
  145. Managing with Aloha
  146. The M.A.P. Maker
  147. The Marketing Excellence Blog
  148. Marketing Headhunter
  149. Marketing Hipster
  150. The Marketing Minute
  151. Marketing Nirvana
  152. Marketing Roadmaps
  153. Marketing Through the Clutter
  154. Mary Schmidt
  155. Masey
  156. The Media Age
  157. Micropersuasion
  158. Middle Zone Musings
  159. Miss604
  160. Moment on Money
  161. Monk at Work
  162. Monkey Bites
  163. Movie Marketing Madness
  164. Motivation on the Run
  165. My 2 Cents
  166. My Beautiful Chaos
  167. Naked Conversations
  168. Neat & Simple Living
  169. New Age 2020
  170. New Charm School
  171. Next Up
  172. No Man’s Blog
  173. The [Non] Billable Hour
  174. Note to CMO
  175. Office Politics
  176. Optimist Lab
  177. The Origin of Brands
  178. Own Your Brand
  179. Pardon My French
  180. Passion Meets Purpose
  181. Pause
  182. Peerless Professionals
  183. Perfectly Petersen
  184. Personal Branding
  185. The Podcast Network
  186. The Power of Choice
  187. Practical Leadership
  188. Presentation Zen
  189. Priscilla Palmer
  190. Productivity Goal
  191. Pro Hip-Hop
  192. Prosperity for You
  193. Purple Wren
  194. QAQnA
  195. Qlog
  196. Reveries
  197. Rex Blog
  198. Ririan Project
  199. Rohdesign
  200. Rothacker Reviews
  201. Scott H Young
  202. Search Engine Guide
  203. Servant of Chaos
  204. Service Untitled
  205. Seth’s Blog
  206. Shards of Consciousness
  207. Shotgun Marketing
  208. Simplenomics
  209. Simplicity
  210. Slacker Manager
  211. Slow Leadership
  212. Socially Adept
  213. Social Media Marketing Blog
  214. Spare Change
  215. Spirit in Gear
  216. Spooky Action
  217. Steve’s 2 Cents
  218. Strategic Design
  219. Strength-based Leadership
  220. StickyFigure
  221. Studentlinc
  222. Success Begins Today
  223. Success Creeations
  224. Success From the Nest
  225. Successful Blog
  226. Success Jolt
  227. Talk to Strangers
  228. Tammy Lenski
  229. Tell Ten Friends
  230. That Girl from Marketing
  231. Think Positive!
  232. This Girl’s Weblog
  233. Thoughts & Philosophies
  234. Tim Longhurst
  235. Tom Peters
  236. Trust Matters
  237. Verve Coaching
  238. Viral Garden
  239. Waiter Bell
  240. Wealth Building Guy
  241. What’s Next
  242. Writers Notes
  243. You Already Know this Stuff
  244. Zen Chill

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Am I Leaving Media Snackers Hungry?

I have been tagged by Valeria Maltoni and Drew McLellan on the topic of media snackers. The video above (thanks to Jeremiah Owyang) describes media snackers as "young people", but in my view, media snackers are a style of behaviour, not an age group. I, myself, am a media snacker when it suits me … and I know of many in the business community who would also fit this description. But this meme is about whether I cater for media snackers … and specifically, where I can improve to cater to their minute attention spans.

As Valeria points out, for media snackers one of the most important determinants of their media consumption is RELEVANCE. How does one have relevance? I have a feeling that it is all about being interesting, but this could be wrong. It really depends on whether a PARTICULAR media snacker is a Winker or a Nodder. So how can/do I make myself relevant to media snackers?

I don’t … and I agree with Cathleen Rittereiser — "we show respect for all social media consumers by assuming they possess the intelligence and faculties to decide for themselves how, when and where they want to consume media".

And this is the important point — Media Snackers will CHOOSE you. They will choose you because:

So now after his tasty meme-rant, it is my turn to tag five others. So, I tag the five NEW additions to my blogroll:

  • Neil Perkin … because he has a tasty, bite sized blog full of punch
  • Anne Simons … because every snack needs some sizzle
  • Chris Bernard … because we should all snack by design
  • Meg Tsiamis … because sometimes an Aussie snack is full of flavour
  • Kris Hoet … because he thinks the term "conversation" isn’t over used (and I agree)

Facebook and the Z-list

Card1015 Here is an interesting experiment. With yet another round of Z-list fever starting to take hold, I thought it might be worth taking a new tack. Sure, there is the wiki that Sharon, Becky and I setup … but there have been precious few updates. Why not a Facebook group?

Now I KNOW that many people jumped onto the Z-list bandwagon as a way of driving traffic to their blogs — and yes, it will do this. It will, undoubtedly, also increase the number of inbound links coming to your site, thereby driving up your Technorati ranking. BUT social media is not just about links and clicks (note to the “make money from your blog” folks) — it is firstly about connection and conversation. If you take care of these two points, then the rest will follow (remember it is not just the intention that you have, it is the power you have to serve your audience — a combination of content and context).

So, if you have somehow arrived here thanks to the Z-list, go to Facebook and join this group. From there, use the features and functions of Facebook to reach out to your readers. Get to know them, “friend” them, write on their walls and find out their needs. Then use this to serve them, provide them with content, context and value. But most of all, show yourself — claim the unique difference that is YOU. I hope to “see” you sometime soon!

The latest version of the Z-list I could find is this one (sorry for the long list):

FoodLover
Flapy In Japan
KKJM
Dynasty Chow
Yvy
RyeUrn
MervKwok
Aida
Pelf
Chiwi
Simple American
eastcoastlife
A Journey Called Life
Dead Boredom Seeking Freedom
maverick
fishtail
lynnee
Lucia
Doris
Andy’s Anything Goes
Beng Beng
Kleio
Paris Beaverbanks
Rojaks
Melting Wok
Rasa Malaysia
Organic Income
My Mothering Corner
Mummy In Vain
Lovely Mummy
Desperate Mummy
Judy
Lillian
Ainee
Anonymous
Adam
ToilAh Pek
Blank Canvas
Home Office Women
Shoppingmum
Cyberpartygal
Hochiak! Delicious Asian Food
Blueapron
Make$ Money$
Owen of Ugh
Jules is Utterly Geek
Internet. Serious Business
The Sabahan
Critical Thoughts
Blog-Op
Carols Vault
Blog About Your Blog
Monetize Your Blog
Cosmin PTR
Make Money On The Net
Successful Online Money Making
Turn One Pound Into One Million$
Work at Home Blog
Blogging For Beginners
How to earn money online?
Dosh Dosh
Money Money Money
Money Making Quest
Connected Internet
Mike’s Money Making Mission
Time to Budget
Can I Make Big Money Online
Blogtrepreneur
Flee the Cube
Blogging Secret
Blogging to Fame
Million Dollar Experiment heads Down Under
Quest to make money on the internet
Kumiko’s Cash Quest
Calico Monkey
Internet Bazaar
Shotgun Marketing Blog
BrandSizzle
bizsolutionsplus
Customers Rock!
Being Peter Kim
Pow! Right Between The Eyes!
Billions With Zero Knowledge
Working at Home on the Internet
MapleLeaf 2.0
Two Hat Marketing
darrenbarefoot.com
The Emerging Brand
The Branding Blog
CrapHammer
Drew’s Marketing Minute
Golden Practices
Viaspire
Tell Ten Friends
Flooring the Consumer
Kinetic Ideas
Unconventional Thinking
Buzzoodle
Conversation Agent
The Copywriting Maven
Hee-Haw Marketing
Scott Burkett’s Pothole on the Infobahn
Multi-Cult Classics
Logic + Emotion
Branding & Marketing
Popcorn n Roses
On Influence & Automation
Bullshitobserver
Servant of Chaos
converstations
eSoup
Presentation Zen
Dmitry Linkov
aialone
John Wagner
Nick Rice
CKs Blog
Design Sojourn
Frozen Puck
The Sartorialist
Small Surfaces
Africa Unchained
Perspective
gDiapers
Marketing Nirvana
Bob Sutton
¡Hola! Oi! Hi!
Shut Up and Drink the Kool-Aid!
Women, Art, Life: Weaving It All Together
Community Guy
Social Media on the fly
Mo-Chuisle
Yuitsumuni
Wuching
Narrowband
DanielNeo
che-cheh

Say Hello — Z-listing and My Heart Skips a Beat

Like many bloggers I have a healthy curiosity about how and where links come in to my site. But for me, the fascination is to do with the apparent randomness of events and connections — what prompts someone to link to my site, why do they choose that particular post … and for the readers — which links are popular and why. Then, of course, there is the strange world of Google search (I am sure that the person searching for “presentation” and “porn” is hugely disappointed to arrive here).
It was all this randomness that originally interested me in the Z-list. It single-handedly achieved its creator’s intention — to turn Technorati’s system of ranking authority “on its ear”. And, if you are one of the many hundreds who benefitted from the Z-list, then you will know that it has had a number of incarnations — including this effort that was compiled by Becky Carroll, Sharon Sarmiento and myself.
I have noticed over the past couple of weeks that there are a few new inbound links courtesy of a “new” Z-list. But then, today, while checking out one of the new additions I found that it was not just me noticing this. You see, many sites have installed the MyBlogLog widget that shows the photos of recent visitors. So here I was reading a recipe for Creme Caramel and there was a photo of David Armano. I was literally following in his hypertext footsteps. Another pattern in the chaos.
So it seems that, once again, the Z-list is starting to ramp-up — this time in the food and fashion category … and I have a feeling that if it takes off again, this category shift could generate even more links and traffic than all the previous efforts. But is this a good thing? Do we really want more links?

The challenge, of course, is to have already existing content on your site that is going to make new readers return (check out this recipe for Mint sauce). So, if you are new to THIS blog, here are some of my favourite posts (though not necessarily the most popular):

Oh, what made my heart skip a beat? Recognition. It’s not WHERE we go on the web that is most interesting … it is where we find our friends. The Internet is still a growing and changing landscape which can be fun to explore — but the more we seek, the more we also secretly desire connection. It is the reward for exploration and risk. And on the web, the symbolism of tools like Twitter and MyBlogLog are not to do with the inanities of everyday life — they are the visible traces that we leave in our wake (or as Katie would say, the digital footprints) and they provide another means to connect the ambient dots of our everyday intimacies — giving substance to our thought and communication patterns.

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From Inspiration to Action

It is easy to see something and THINK about it. We can be outraged in our own chairs, behind our desks, in front of our computer screens. We can be weighed down by the challenges of the world and our own inability to effect change. And the longer we sit with our thoughts, the more difficult it becomes to move. To change. To act.

But there is real opportunity now available to you. You can turn your back on the morose and embrace the light.

Vote for Boney M.

8 Random Things About Me


Ling 8
Originally uploaded by vertigini76

Ryan tagged me on the 8 random things meme, so here they are:

  1. I have always loved cars and motorbikes. (Actually boats too.) I have owned a string of motorbikes on and off since I was in my teens … and in my early 20s spent every weekend touring around the Australian countryside. There truly is something wild about one’s state of being whilst riding.
  2. I also love storms. As a teenager I was fascinated by storms and at the first hint of rough weather I would head out into the lake near my home or to the beach to watch the fury of nature. Brilliant. Scary. Like life.
  3. When I first left school I worked as a trainee accountant and studied at night time.
  4. I used to be quite an avid rockclimber. Then, a few years ago, I visited one of my favourite climbing venues only to find that I was quite frightened of looking down.
  5. My most nervous blogging moment was just before leaving my first comment on Russell Davies’ blog.
  6. I would like to think that I am as good looking as Luc.
  7. I still like to listen to Michael Jackson’s music, especially the songs by the Jackson 5, but always wonder what happened to that little boy.
  8. Biggest blogging high was receiving a comment from Johnnie Moore.