Nettie Hartsock

Blogging for Music

There is an extraordinary story called "Sex, Drugs and Updating Your Blog" on music and blogging in the New York Times Magazine. The online link is here but hurry because they take these stories down after a couple of days. As a music and author publicist, I can tell you that every one of my clients is being sent this article as a link so they understand how amazing the blogosphere is and how it can impact you and all that you can do.

Not only that, but read the story because it will also help you understand how blogs can be amazing tools for creation and how you can use them to stay inspired and inspire others!

On writing for blogs

Here are my favorite things about writing a blog:

1. Instantaneous gratification after you've finished a post.

2. No writers' block allowed or "blog block." If you don't have something to blog about - then take time out to thank or link to all those other peer blogs who inspire you.

3. Freedom from an editor or story slant - although note, this never means your blog should be sloppy and not congruent.

4. E-meeting tons of other bloggers who are supportive and active in the blogosphere

5. Reaching out to potential readers and establishing a rapport.

6. Interviewing other bloggers

7. Writing anything keeps you creative and focused. It's too easy as a writer, to get lazy and not challenge yourself. Writing blogs keeps you challenged!

8. Hoping someone will comment on your blog. (Someone...anyone...Mom?)

9. Getting feedback that you're on the right track and you're helping folks view the world at a better vantage point.

10. Blog carnivals - they're fun and festive and you get to meet other like-minded folks!

Ted Demopolous' little purple book

I think Ted Demopolous is smart! And he just sent me what I will now refer to as "the little purple book" which is in essence all the brain candy on blogging reduced to a highly functional and packaged "little purple book."

The book "101+ Tips for Blogging More Efficiently, Effectively and Profitability: Secrets of Successful Blogging" is a pint-size (did I mentiona purple) power-paged font of information.

Order it, read it, put it on your desk and use it! And by way of full disclosure, I'm not working for Ted, with Ted, or on behalf of an affiliate fee, I just like the darn book and think you might too!

It's for sale at http://www.demop.com/store/secrets.html as well as on Amazon.

Ted is also recording 3 CDs of audio to accompany it that he says will be done soon.

Blogtipping Albeit Late

Ok! I'm late on celebrating the official one year anniversary of Easton Ellsworth's amazing blogtipping revolution! But so it goes.

I'm not too late to Blogtip however so here are three I'm crazy about currently and a few suggestions:

Lois Kelly's blog - is funny, energetic and insightful. Chock full of good tips for "word-of-mouth" marketing and suberb engaging conversational style.

Tip: Where's a picture of Lois? Would love to see one on the page by the blog!

Marcia Hoeck's Meaningful Marketing blog - I loved the post on beehiving. Marcia always has a new take for old and new marketers and the great thing is her blog lives up to its name by being evocative, meaningful and marketing-focused.

Tip: Categorize your blog posts so when you write a book - you'll be all set with chapter headers!

Crawford Kilian's Writing for the Web 3.0 Blog - I cannot say enough good things about this blog and its focus. It's full of resources and Kilian is a very seasoned and inspiring writer. I read it all the time to remind myself how long a writer's life can be and how you constantly must re-engage, reimagine and reinvigorate your writing purpose! Kilian's blog feeds the writer's mind!

Go to the link below and read his article too on Mark Twain -http://thetyee.ca/Books/2007/01/08/MarkTwain/ - see his take on whether Mark Twain invented the internet. (Samuel Clemens - of whom I'm distantly and gratefully related to.)

Tip: No tips! Just that I hope he keeps blogging and teaching!

Pitching Your Book to Bloggers

B.L. Ochman has a great treatise on how to pitch to bloggers. Pay attention to it - it's a very good primer on what bloggers need to perhaps cover your books, your music, your art or even your navel. (Yes, there are blogs dedicated to belly button topics.)

Don't be afraid to pitch to bloggers, really -we're nice folks, just keep in mind how to pitch. If traditional PR folks would learn some of these same techniques the whole world would be a better place. As a journalist, I still get tons of pitches about things I haven't covered in years. Can you say Biotech sector?

So really read up on the folks you want to get covered by and that goes for online, offline, bloggers etc.

Need a real world example? I saw Isabelle Allende last week at a wonderful university event. At the end there was an open 30 minute Q & A - hundreds of folks were at this event, so people that had questions had to go to a mike.

Now imagine the whole crowd's surprise when the first student poses this question, "I haven't read any of your books and am not familiar with your work. A friend brought me here. Can you tell me why I should read your books and what the best one to start with is?"

Hmm. Ms. Allende was more than gracious to this question. Good spirit.

But imagine reaching out to a blogger and basically with the pitch you're sending them saying the same thing, "I haven't read your blog, a PR flak dragged me here - or I'm a PR flak, and I don't have time to read your blog - but will you write about me?"

Not so good.

Make it a goal to read a new blog a week - by the end of the year you will have a read 52 blogs in your peer arena and you will have probably made a relationship or two with at least five of them if you're wiling to reach out to them.

Think of it as speed dating - only with blogs, no drinks and no uncomfortable pauses where you realize even in two minutes or less that you never want to see the person across from you again!

Read a blog a week - don't get obsessed with it and I guarantee you'll make some new friends and find some blogs to frequent and exchange news, links or blogtipping with.

Bloggers...Meet Outpost-Earth

If you haven't yet registered your blog at Outpost-Earth, I would urge you to take a look at it and join the blogging minions who are registered there. It's quite an eclectic group of bloggers and it's growing by "earthly" leaps and bounds on a daily basis! I'm registered and so are many other bloggers. No feed is the same at Outpost Earth so it makes for quite an interesting and diverse representation of worldwide blogging!

For folks who really want to get their blog exposed, this is an ideal way to join a directory that is dynamic, thriving and innovative. The design itself of the site is very cool and the registration process takes less than two minutes and it's FREE!

Blogging Tips

One of my personal heroes, Mahatma Gandhi said, "Be the change you want to see in the world."

I've been thinking about this quote alot lately, it was often quoted to me by my Mom (who is 70 years old and still a reading teacher at a economically-challenged high school) and really is a living example of this statement.

And tonight, as I'm up in the middle of the night working and my husband and amazing two children are sleeping, I think this statement could also be applied to the blogging world as well.

Blogs are a powerful way to effect and engender change - don't miss the opportunity you have for communicating deeply to the world.

So to all of you bloggers, no matter what your blog's goals, I would urge you to truly, "Blog the change you want to see in the world."

Tips for Blog commenting

Brian Solis writes a very compelling blog on commenting on blogs and what is going on in that realm on the PR side. It's a must read.

What's interesting to me on the opposite side as well is that there are bloggers who still don't get the "conversation" part of blogging. For instance if you're going to post a question that engenders comments and that is your goal, then the last thing you want to do at the end is wrap up those comments with a post on how you already knew the "correct" answer to the question and all the other commenters have it wrong.

This is not called conversation. And blogs aren't classrooms with a teacher at the lecturn - soley spouting off from his/her knowledge base with no room for discussion. Let me ammend that by saying good blogs are not classrooms with a teacher at the lecturn.

To really get readers and those comments on your blog you have to be willing to also understand and embrace that it's ok for others to disagree with you and it's ok to have an open discussion on a topic and not make it about being right.

A really good blog is very conversational. And how many of us really enjoy conversations that end with "That's why I'm right." How many of us return to converse with someone who "knows everything?"

It's much more engaging and frankly, more edifying if you're willing to put yourself out there in the midst of the conversation - not always as the leader. And actually it can be a very powerful way to learn new things from other bloggers that you might not otherwise learn.

SOBCon "07

I'm late in posting! But don't miss this conference!

SOBCon '07

Take Your Blogging to the Next Level

A Relationship Bloggers' Conference and Networking Event

Community, Friday, May 11, 2007, 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM

• Christine Kane, popular guitarist, singer, blogger LIVE
• Open Mic Night Cocktail Party – Live community event (multiple microphones) Take the conversation out of the comment box!

Speakers, Saturday, May 12, 2007, 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM

• Phil Gerbyshak, Make It Great! Relationship Geek
• Liz Strauss, Successful-Blog SOB and BAD Blogger
• David Armano, Logic+Emotion
• Terry Starbucker, Ramblings from a Glass Half Full ; Rodney Rumford, PodBlaze; Ben Yoskovitz, Instigator Blog 
• Mike Sansone, ConverStations & Iowa Marketing Bloggers
• Chris Cree, Success CREEations; Scott Rafer, MyBlogLog; Janice Myint - Technorati
• Wendy Piersall, eMomsatHome

There will be interactive presentations on publishing, design and branding, tools, analytics, social networking, marketing, and coaching -- all from the perspectives of the relationship blogger and the audience. Only 250 attendees will be accepted.

Great Niche-focused Blog

And just when you thought blogs were only about blah-blah-blah business and buzz, I came across a great blog that covers all things "mob-based." Just in time to ease the pain of not having the Sopranos back yet.

This blog is a great example of how engaging, innovative and still full of fantastic resources for a "targeted" reader a blog can be.

This blog is the Linguini code of all things mob. So enjoy!

"I like intelligent women. When you go out, it shouldn't be a staring contest.”(Frank Sinatra)