Things you didn’t know about Marquette University

Posted on by under Etc.

I am again drawing from a college alumni magazine for a post. I graduated from Marquette University here in Milwaukee in 2002 with my MBA. You might know MU for its basketball program under Al McGuire and more recently and currently Tom Creen.

Here are the things you probably don’t know:

  • The campus has the 16th century Joan of Arc Chapel – “The Chapel is, to our knowledge, the only medieval structure in the entire Western Hemisphere dedicated to its original purpose: Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam.”
  • The Raynor Memorial Libraries Special Collections and University Archives is home to the original manuscripts of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
  • Matt Lesko is a 1965 graduate of the School of Business Administration. Lesko is the guy you always see on wearing the question mark suits and selling manuals on how the government will give you grants to start companies and buy real estate. He has published 70 books, two of them New York Times bestsellers.

What are you talking about?

Posted on by under Blogging, Business Blogs, Personal

The headline is not meant to be said with a classic Different Strokes emphasis. I was thinking about what it is I have been talking about lately on the blog.

If you look down the page, you’ll see less posts. I think that is driven by my work over at 800-CEO-READ and my many side projects.

I have been talking more about blogging than business. I think that reflects where I am spending my time right now. I don’t do the searching I use to for interesting business stories. I am going to try and get back to that a bit. For example, did you see there is a shortage of high quality audio tape? [WSJ, sub. needed]

I also find I am talking more about life events. I was a little hesitate about that, but today’s post from Evelyn reminded not to be. I don’t know if what I am doing is compelling, but the things I talk about I am interested in and I think some passion comes through. So, expect more of that too.

I am also going to launch a linkblog devoted to business posts. I hear lots of people say that they can’t read all of the blogs I do. I understand that. So let me offer to a way to see the things I see that are interesting, but don’t have time to post. There really isn’t any linkblog that offers you a pure business feed now. I will have that up and running in the next week.

So, there is my thinking on the blog right now. Hope you like it and keep on reading…

Lots of Reasons

Posted on by under Blogging, Business Blogs

As we head into Blog Business Summit next week, I thought I would post some of the recent blogging links for marketers, advertisers, and PR people.

It started with Bob Cargill at Brand Republic stating his ten reasons “Why advertising, marketing and PR pros should blog”.

Then Tony Walsh at Clickable Culture responded with this ten reasons for “Why advertising, marketing and PR pros should not blog”.

I then ran across an older article from webpronews.com, where Linda Burton gives 6 reasons for marketers to get out there blogging.

If you are unclear about my position after all of that, I think businesses need to be blogging.

Tag Search on Technorati

Posted on by under Blogging

The hot thing in social computing is tags. If you are not familiar, the idea is that you can associate words with a piece of data (i.e. hyperlink, photo, etc.) Del.icio.us pretty much started the idea. Flickr and 43 Things allows users to make heavy use of of them too.

Llike a good search engine, Technorati is now allowing you to search on tags. Here is their take on the term business. They are pulling from del.icio.us and flickr. The blog results need some work.

I’d put this in the “something to watch” column.

[via Scoble]

I am attending Blog Business Summit

Posted on by under Blogging

I have been debating for about a month about attending Blog Business Summit.

I decided to pull the trigger today.

For those of you going, I can’t wait to meet all of you in person.

For all of you on the fence, do it. It is worth it just to meet all of the wonderful people who are going to be there. The discussions are going to be great. The presentations look interesting. What other reason do you need?

Now , I can’t wait.

For those getting there Sunday, I am thinking we need to put together a little trip to the library and/or sci-fi/music museum. Anyone?

BBS 05 Badge 1

Tax Tribulations

Posted on by under Marketing, Personal

I have always been a TurboTax guy. I find it amazing how they have simplified a very complex process.

With the creation of Astronaut Projects, LLC this past year, I thought it might be time to seek professional help. I put a post up looking for a little help and didn’t get much of a response. So, we’ll running errands yesterday stopped by a local CPA. I stepped into the office and asked if I could set-up an appointment to see in accountant. The front desk person asked what I wanted to talked about and I said I think I need some help doing my taxes this year. She suggested I gather all my materials and do my taxes all in one meeting.

The trouble was that I wanted to meet the person who was going to help me. I wanted to see if I liked them. I wanted to thin-slice them and see if they were competent. I wanted to start a relationship.

After consulting my free agent friend Cathy, I regained my confidence and bought TurboTax Premier today. I went the Premier because it gives extra help on the Schedule C, which is where I am going to need it. I should also mention that my mom is a corporate controller and we have a great friend who manages money for very wealthy people. I am betting I can get help if I need it.

As an aside, I bought my copy at OfficeMax today. It was being sold at the suggested retail price of $69.95. There is a $20 mail-in rebate in the box. Also, if you buy the Deluxe or Permier version by Friday, Officemax will give you a $20 giftcard. Did I mention that you get the State TurboTax and e-filing for free? I didn’t see this one on SlickDeals.

The Squished Penny Museum

Posted on by under Pennies

You know I can’t resist penny links.

Today, Angie McKaig linked to the The Squished Penny Museum.

Where will you find the most squished penny machines per capita in the U.S.?

Wisconsin Dells, WI with 3.63 machines per thousand residents – They have nine machines and a population of 2,481.

Number three on the list is also a Wisconsin town – Spring Green at 2.09 machines per thousand residents.

I was thinking I should have some made and give them away as my business card. I can’t think of a better tie-in to the blog.

Building a Better Blog

Posted on by under Blogging

Brian Bailey from Leave It Behind has a post titled “Building a Better Blog”.

I like this post alot. I think is it time to think a little about how you are communicating with others with your blog. You can make improvements.

Here is his list with my thoughts:

  1. Use categories – I was just talking about this with Ben and Jackie yesterday. If you blog covers a wide range of topics, I think you should use categories. It lets your readers see what you talk about and lets them key in on the things that interest them.
  2. Use Titles – I am trying to get better at this. I think it is really important. Generic titles tell you nothing when you are reading RSS feeds. We are looking at using our blog content better at 800-CEO-READ and good titles is a key to readers being able to see what content will be of interest to them.
  3. Publish During High Traffic Times – I haven’t thought much about this one. I am going to experiment with this a little
  4. Syndicate Your Entire Post – PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do this. If you have Typepad, go find the box to click to syndicate full posts. For others, find out how to modify your template. For those of you who are intentionally showing partial posts, you are losing readers. I know you want people to see your site and bump up those advertising measurements. I think you are going to have the opposite effect in the long-term.
  5. Click Your Own Links – I don’t do this enough. It is link verification and it helps others see you.
  6. Develop an Authentic Voice – I think this is something everyone does over time. Write about what interests you and you will be fine. The right people will find you.
  7. Tell Us Who You Are and How to Contact You – This really important. People are always looking at your about page and often want to talk to you one-on-one. Make it easy to do that.
  8. Don’t Be Afraid to Promote – I am mixed on this one. I rarely send others’ emails introducing or promoting my blog. I do try to create community events that draw bloggers and readers. I guess that promotes my blog in a slightly different way.
  9. Commment on Other Sites and Your Own – I think this is important. It is part of what blogging is about. It is creating conversation.
  10. The More You Write, The More You Will Have to Write About – I pretty much agree with this point. I know that when I have an idea, I have to write the post right away or else it is lost. Saying you will write it next week, rarely working. Just start writing.

Bonus:Content Brings Google – Absolutely. It happens all of the time.

[via Scoble Linkblog]

To My Milwaukee Area Readers

Posted on by under Personal

To my MKE readers,

First, how about all the snow! I am waiting for it to stop before go out and plow the driveway, but I bet we have at least six inches on the ground. I love it!

What I really need your help with is finding an accountant/CPA. Our taxes are going to get a little more complicated this year and I am going to need some expertise. Any recommendations would be highly appreciated. You can leave them in the comment or send me a note.

Thanks and welcome to winter.

Announcing The More Space Project

Posted on by under More Space

So, I have this idea. There are all of these great bloggers talking about the subject of business. The trouble is the format of blogging only allows for maybe 500 words in a post before most readers lose interest.

What happens if you gave these writers more space?

I know you have a ton of questions about the project. Here are the major points:

  • There will be 10 writers.
  • The essays will be published online in text and audio and we are going to publish a really cool book.
  • The project starts today and will drop sometime in April.
  • Everything will be done in the open. Bloggers are going to write their essays on their blogs. We are going to publish everything we do from vendor selection to costs to sales. The project is going to be as transparent as it can be.

The More Space blog has been started. You will find an extensive list of FAQs. Subscribe to the feed and watch the project unfold.

New Season of the Business Blog Book Tour

Posted on by under Business Blog Book Tour

The first Business Blog Book Tour of 2005 is going to start on January 24th. We will be having Robert Spector and his new book Category Killers. You might know Robert from a little book he did called The Nordstrom Way. The schedule of stops are below:

We also have our February tour lined with with Wayne McVicker and his book Starting Something. More on that soon.