In an interview he gave to Read Write Web, Jeremiah Owyang told something that makes a lot of sense. He answered a problem I had lately. I struggled to find time to read my RSS feeds. Sadly, I knew about the problem but never took the time to review a typical day schedule to see where I went wrong. I told myself that it must be because I write more posts or pass to much time on Twitter although I had the feeling the problem did not lie there.

Owyang told Read Write Web:  “I started my blog as a practitioner at Hitachi. I budget time every morning to read and blog. I do that before I check my personal email or work email. I believe you have to pay yourself first. When you open your email you pay someone else, because it’s usually people reaching out to ask you for something. Taking the time to read blogs, synthesize and add value, that builds your community. That’s paying yourself first.”

When I started blogging and for a long time, I read my RSS feeds first thing in the morning. I then write a post, as it is crucial to have one post out before lunch. I pay myself first. Over the last 6 months, I felt an obligation to open emails first. I received many emails. Most are pitches. I told myself many times that I should revert to my old habit since it helped me grow readership but for some reasons, I felt compel to serve other people first. Not anymore. Thank you Jeremiah for your insight.

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Social media is not only for people. It provides great opportunities for businesses, when done right. Social media allows any business to engage, listen, share and exchange ideas with consumers like you never been able to do it before. Plus, I feel that you can discover way more than with traditional communications and running controlled focus groups. You will discover the truth about what people feels and thinks.

One friend who shares my passion for social media in the business is Lara McCulloch, Marketing Director at Regal Tent Productions Ltd. I met her last year while blogging. We had dinner together last winter after the IDS 09 in Toronto.

Lara produced a blog called Ready 2 Spark but she is also a change agent in her industry. Lara organizes Twitter chat events twice a week where event professionals discuss matters affecting their industry. Her #eventprofs Twitter chat have been noticed by Tim O’Reilly of O’Reilly Media and will be included as a good practice in the The Twitter Book.

I am telling you all this because Lara wrote an article for Special Events Magazine last month about the need for change in business marketing and communications. She made a good argument on why business must adapt and take advantage of the possibility that social media offers to them. She addressed some of the most common fear by management.

MORE:
+ The World is Changing … Why Aren’t You? in Special Events Magazine

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Every publication has a defined scope that they covered. It is important to define the boundaries of what you cover and what you do not cover. To complicate matters, bloggers are more and more solicited by a number of people to write about their story. The first thing I do after I like an idea is to test it against my blog bible. If it passed the test, then I can think about how I could talk about the story or the product. I also evaluate when and if it would fit within my editorial schedule.

Focus on producing a blog that’s great for your readers

Copyblogger gave that advice today. I told you that before: always keep in mind your readers. Your blog should provide a consistent whole experience if you want your readers to come back. Maintaining the content quality is crucial. You should aim for the best all the time. In a design blog, you also need consistency in the style you showcase.

Take my At Home with Kim Vallee’s property. It is about my design style and the way I like to entertain. My readers have certain expectations when it comes to the content and what products or design they will see. I make sure that my stories fit both agenda.

Be Consistent even if you get it for free

A few weeks ago a retailer wanted to host a giveaway for my AHWKV’s readers. The prices were valuable but their products were something that I would never put on my table. My readers would have spotted that right away. Although a giveaway costs me nothing and can attract new readers to my site, I said no because the pictures of the prizes will clash with my style. This would have impaired the whole experience and hurt my brand.

You invest a lot of time in writing your blog. Today’s lesson was to grow your audience and stay at the top of your game, you need to provide a consistent experience.  Having a blog bible helps you maintain the cap.

+ Zen and the Art of remarkable blogging on Copyblogger

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Foodies are amongst the early adapters in the general public to Twitter. It is a vibrant community. People that do not use Twitter often laugh at the idea that we talk about mundane topics like “What you ate for dinner?”. To these detractors, I respond that Twitter is a fabulous tool to:

1. get informed
2. socialize, talk to people with similar interests
3. exchange ideas, add value to the conversations
4. ask questions
5. promote your brand.

Be Creative

Take this cool initiative by Maureen, a 27-year-old from British Columbia who presently studies in Belfast. Maureen found a clever use to communicate on Twitter. Using her twitter account @cookbook, she published entire recipes for 3-4 persons in 140 characters. To my surprise, her recipes are beyond the basic.

Chocolate Cupcakes: cream4T buttr/8T sug; +egg. Sift1/8t soda&salt/6T flour/4T cocoa/.25t bkgpdr. Mix all+4T milk; fill6cups. 20m@375F/190C.

Lemon Lentil Soup: mince onion&celery&carrot&garlic; cvr@low7m+3T oil. Simmer40m+4c broth /c puylentil/thyme&bay&lemonzest. Puree+lemonjuice.

Strudel Pastry: cut 2T butter/1c flour/mash tater. Knead w 2t yeast/2T h2o; rise 1h. On flour cloth gently pull 17×25″; trim-1″/butter well.

Maureen heavily relies on abbreviations so it is a brain exercise to figure out the meaning. You have to admit that what she does is impressive. So far, she posted 243 tweets. 8775 Tweeple, including me, follow @cookbook. Plus, the New York Times published an article about her.

She may have a little help in fine-tuning this idea since she is the partner of Blaine Cook, who was Twitter’s lead architect. But this story illustrates that we only have seen to tip of the iceberg of what is possible to accomplish with Twitter.

If you are looking for more recipes, I talked about three easy living chefs today on At Home with Kim Vallee.

CREDITS:
+ Take 1 Recipe, Mince, Reduce, Serve by Lawrence Downes on NY Times
+ Via Ricardocuisine tweet

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Yesterday I had an excellent meeting with my mentor to review my blog priorities. This is something I encourage you to do if you are serious about blogging.

Find someone you trust. The ideal candidate is an active blogger but someone with hands-on experience in social media can be a suitable candidate. Never forget in your discussions where you wish to bring your brand. Your actions should lead to your ultimate goal.

Bloggers are solicited from everywhere. We receive suggestions from readers and people we meet. It is easy to be tempted to imitate best practices you hear about without putting them in context with your entire blog experience. We analyze what is going on our niche. Therefore, it is easy to get distracted.

Plus the blogosphere is changing with the popularity of Web 2.0. We have to adapt our marketing and our blog to the new reality. For instance, I often receive more feedback for a post on Twitter and on Facebook than the number of comments on the post.

There is a lot to take into account in setting the priorities for your blog. It goes from what your brand stands for up to the importance of unique editorial content and how you will monetize your blog. You have to reevaluate these issues several times a year; I say every season. You also gain a second opinion on what you achieved so far. Did you meet your objectives? If no, why and what solutions are available to you.

I have the feeling that good mentors find you instead of the other way around. Until you find a mentor, have good talks with bloggers sharing similar challenges than you. I met Eden of Bargainista last Saturday for a coffee that extended until lunch. We exchanged on some of our challenges and experiences.

I am lucky to have a wonderful blog mentor that is a perfect fit for me. I hope you will find a suitable fit for yours.

IMAGE:
+ Two amazing bloggers that I admire: Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan of Apartment Therapy and Harry Wakefield of MoCo Loco. I met them after their panel session at IDS 09. We did a tour of the main exhibit attractions, then talked over Champagne at the Veuve Clicquot VIP and Media Lounge together. Harry is my mentor.

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I attended the launching party of a special Webisode series last night. It is special for two reasons. First, this is the adaptation of a mom blog chronicles. Caroline Allard did not imagined when she started her first mom blog in 2006 that it will lead to an award-winning book and now a Webisode series. On top of that, her second book is fresh from the press.

The second reason is that the Webisodes are presented via the Web site of a major TV channel in Canada, Radio-Canada. It is really an accomplishment that the traditional media does an adaptation from the content of a blog. The Webisodes are played by professional actors.

The Webisode series is called Les Chroniques d’une Mère Indigne. Caroline Allard uses humor to talk about her ups and downs of motherhood. Caroline started her blog because she had enough of the perfect mother image that the society seems to impose these days.

The launch was a success. We watched 3 episodes. The series contains 9 episodes of 3 minutes each. The Web series is well-done. If you understand French, I strongly suggest that you go check Les Chroniques d’une
Mère Indigne on Radio-Canada. You do not have to be a parent to laugh or enjoy the depicted situations.

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GeekBrief.TV celebrated their third anniversary on December 23rd, 2008. Impressive! I purposely selected an episode where Cali talked about how they started. It is inspiring. She founded the show with her husband.

On a lighter note, they have been married now for 10 years. Like my husband, her husband Neil’s favorite drink is a Bombay Gin Martini. Except that my husband prefers his martini shaken with olives although he does not mind the lemon twist.

If you are a Mac fan, check out Geek Brief’s Macworld 2009 coverage of cool new products. Cali makes it fun. Remember that you can subscribe to their podcast on iTunes. Download the shows on your iPhone or iPod and watch the episodes whenever you have a few minutes of leisure.

Going back to our story, watch the episode where Cali Lewis explained how they got the idea to start a video PodCast at a time when it was not popular.

Then, watch the two following shows to get the full story.
GBTV #483 | GeekBrief.TV talks until the first 5 months after the launch
GBTV #484 | GeekBrief.TV tells what happened after they quit their day job

An Uncharted Territory for Us

There are only a handful of video podcasters in the women and moms blog community. Video is suited for many topics we covered. You do not have to start as sophisticated as this. But whatever you do, all podcasters will tell you to invest in a microphone as the micro on the digital video camera is not enough. If you wish to learn more, read their podcasting tips.

I will like to host my own video podcast show someday. The first step to be ready is to own your own .tv domain because this becomes your television channel. My answer to Gary Vaynerchuk’s Own your Television podcast is: I do!

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