Lorraine Ball

Thanks to Kyle Lacy I found out it is Blog Day.  This world wide celebration is designed to introduce great bloggers to each other, and novice bloggers to some of the best writers and thinkers on the net.

Kyle has already commented on some of my favorites:

Mike Fruchter at My Thoughts on Social Media:

Erik Deckers. The Laughing Stalk.

The Marketing Technology Blog by Douglas Karr.

They would all be in my top five, but the point of this activity is to introduce new blogs, so check out Kyle’s description of those, and then here are some others that make my top list.

1. Kyle Lacy – Ok, so I am not sure I would even know what a social network was if it wasn’t for Kyle.  An avid, possibly compulsive web junkie, he is continually trying out new sites, and sharing his opinions.  Which may include humor, attitude, and more than a little sarcasm.
2. Louis Gray - Who describes his blog as a Silicon Valley Blog for early adopters, technology geeks, RSS addicts and Mac freaks. Ok, so I have to admit, sometimes I have no idea what he is talking about, but his writes, and favorite picks are a great way to learn about what is new on the net.
   
3. Patric Welch – Alias Mr. Noobie boils down technology for the very, very novice.  I love his sense of humor when he describes his battles with technology. On the complete opposite end of the spectrum from Louis, but equally fun to read.
4. Is This Stupid? – Tina (aka stupid blogger) defines her site as an outlet to poke fun at some of the stupidest things she comes across. While much of the posts are about tech she doesn’t stop there.  As she says, the Internet doesn’t have a patent on stupid.  whether she is taking on Monkey Spankers or people who want to follow their houseplants on Twitter, she does it with attitude and a great sense of humor!
5. Ok, I’m done..   I know I should have another one, but honestly, by the time I am done reading these four, and the three above..  misc posts on SI and FriendFeed the day is over!

New Words for 2008 – Every now and then I come across a list of new words that have entered, or should enter the English language. Here are some of my new favorites….

Do you have others?

BLAMESTORMING.
Sitting round in a group, discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible. One more reason I am no longer in corporate

Sitcoms.
Single Income, Two Children, Oppressive Mortgage. What yuppies turn into when they have  children and one of them stops working to stay home with the kids or start a ‘home business’. Wait, stop laughing, I think this is me!

404.
Someone who’s clueless. From the World Wide Web error message ‘404 Not Found’ meaning  the requested document could not be located. Can someone say McCain?  Oh wait, this was not going to be a political post!

OH – NO SECOND.
That minuscule fraction of time in which you realize that you’ve just made a BIG mistake (e.g. you’ve hit ‘reply all’).

SEAGULL MANAGER.
A manager who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps on everything, and Then leaves. Again, one more reason I don’t have a day job.

CUBE FARM.
An office filled with cubicles.And finally the last reason I don’t work for someone else.   My unconventional office, filled with art, animals, and people I genuinely like suits me just fine!

So there you have my favorite new words.  Feel free to share some of yours.

The newest addition to my GoogleReader is HarvardBusiness.org.  The topics of the posts range from politics to leadership strategies in a down economy.  Well written, and thought provoking, I have found myself skipping many of my usual favorites to see what is new here.

Today’s article :Hard Times Demand Teamwork, painted for me the sharp contrast between my life as an entrepreneur and my days in corporate America.

Author Tammy Erickson’s suggestions might seem uncomfortable for the average corporate executive:

Ask great questions. Challenge the organization to meet goals that are intriguing, complex and important.

Build relationships and trust deep in the organization.

Challenge the status quo.

But for those of us who own our business, in a collaborative business community, like Indianapolis, it makes perfect sense!

For the last six months I have been reading about the recession and how it is affecting businesses of all sizes.  And despite what I have read, I have decided to not to participate.  It doesn’t really sound like all that much fun.

And based on a report from the Harvard Business Review, I may be in very good company.   Author Greg Vanourek writes:

During our interviews with 55 successful business and social entrepreneurs worldwide, we were struck by the fact that many had started their enterprises during a recession or in the wake of one. …

Many people assume that entrepreneurs are allergic to recessions. It turns out that downturns can be times of tremendous opportunity–and, yes, profit–for entrepreneurs. But only if they play their cards right.

So what does playing your cards right entail?   For me, it is about ramping up marketing activities – more pr, more blogging, more visibility at local networking events.  We even added a little direct mail to the mix.   And the result …

Sales are good, we are about to close our biggest deal, and possibly hire another person later this fall.  Yes our costs are higher, but so are our sales.   We expect to out last this recession, and we will be ready when the economy turns around.  How about you?

My husband found this quote at the bottom of one of those cheesy inspirational emails. I trashed the email, but kept the quote, and added the image.

This may very well move to the top of my favorite quote list.  What’s yours?

About two months ago I dove into FriendFeed the same way I dive into most social network platforms and tools, because Kyle Lacy sent me a link and said check it out.

Initially I loved it.   Friending lots of folks to get a sense of what was going on, driving all my links to the site as well.  See my first post on the topic,  I thought it would be a great time saver.  Then  I was overwhelmed by the content and backed away.

I have found a balance point, diving into the stream, then following  the trail to individuals who write about things which interest me.  And one of the things which is always of interest to me is whether or not a particular tool has a buiness application.

FriendFeed is a great resarch tool, a bit disjointed, but a good way to track trends and new technology.  i definately knew more about Cuil within hours of it’s launch then I ever thought possible, so it feeds the info junkie part of my nature, but back to the basic question is there a business application for FriendFeed and does there need to be?

I just finished reading a wonderful book: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Ann Barrows.

The story of the people of Guernsey is told in a series of letters  – and it is the writing style I found so appealing.  Even though it is fiction, the writing style gives the book a feeling of authenticity.

In contrast, most of my recent marketing communication seems flat, and without personality. And so, this morning my challenge to myself, is to bring back the authentic feel to this blog.  Why? Because it will be more interesting, and because – if you believe Seth Godin, and I do, it is a great way to avoid the Dead Zone

As a Networking Junkie, I love building relationships and partnerships.  And teaching others how to do that as well.   Not all my ideas are original.  Actually I have mixed my own experiences with best ideas from a number of people and made them part of my routine.

Check out this post from DuctTape Marketing talking about getting creative with partnerships. With it’s emphasis on strategic relationships, it sounds like the writer is truly a networking junkie!

So who are your most creative partners?

Although I am decidedly pro Obama, it isn’t for his singing or dancing skills.

This is a clever, and fun mashup of Barak and the 1987 Rick Astley song “Never Gonna Give You Up.”

I’m not your typical blogger. I write on a variety of subjects for different readers and I don’t believe all the information belongs in one place. As a result, I have multiple blogs. Well to be perfectly honest I have one blog, this one, (www.lorraineball.com) and several sites built on a Wordpress platform, where I write and post content for specific niche groups.

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