Going, going...

GONE.

You can find the updated blog over at http://www.mandemagency.wordpress.com see you there.

We're moving...

This blog has run it's course i'm afraid to say but stay tuned for the rebirth in a day or two when it shall arise like a phoenix from the flames over at that there Wordpress looking all jazzy in it's new clothes.

Link to come.

Money, money, money...

Must be funny,

In a rich man's world.

To see more of Mark Wagner's work visit: smokeinmydreams.com

Type is Art

This has to be my new favourite thing. It would have been nice if someone had told me about it before as it's been around for about 6 years... ach well, we're here now, let's get busy.

"Parts Of A Character is a typography project that originated as an educational print, aimed at typography students, created by artist and designer Susanne Cerha. The print in turn inspired José Rodriguez of JRVisuals to create www.typeisart.com. Here, visitors are invited to create their own visuals, using parts of characters as abstract elements, removed from their communicative capacity."

Basically you use bits of letters to make your own pictoor, aye?

I just find it fascinating the amount of different outcomes and the endless possibilities that can crop up from using the same set of shapes. It's in much the same way that I like collage art and I also enjoy the fact that I don't have to draw any of them myself. It's all in the manipulation... Away and have a wee go.

If you have a look through the galleries you can find some pretty nifty stuff. Also if you leave the screen inactive for ten minutes it will start to randomly generate past creations. There are two different versions on the site so make sure you have a look at both.

Here's my first couple of attempts with these strange, abstract efforts:

Mother, tell your children not to Blog my way.

December came and December went, now it's nearing the end of January and without a blog post to be seen... sorry bout that. My dog ate it... my sister spilt juice on it... my pipes burst? One of those excuses is at least true.

Now i can afford to do this because i'm not a company and I'm not really looking to take over the Blogosphere with my amazing content (I wish i was a company, would make getting a job a lot easier). If you look at it from a business perspective then blogging in relation to your product or service can be hugely beneficial providing another platform for lead generation, increased traffic and search results, building conversation and making your voice heard within a community. However, the golden rule is to do it regularly (at least weekly) and in line with a strategy about who you are talking to and how you want to say it.

The following were proposed by smartbugmedia to be the top ten lame excuses for not blogging consistently along with a suitable rebuttal to each:

Lame Excuse #10: "I don't have the time."

Yes I know we're all busy, but this is an empty excuse. There are myriad ways to save time, such as assigning blog posts company wide or working with a freelancer or agency. One special tip is to have an agency conduct blog interviews with experts at your company and then write up blog posts using that content and paying special attention to the expert's voice.

Lame Excuse #9: "I can't think of anything to write about."

Take your top keywords and phrases and set up RSS feeds, bookmarks on sites like Delicious.com and trigger Google alerts around those words. This will generate a constant stream of new ideas, blog posts and articles to write about. Google blog search and Twitter Search are two more useful tools to find out what people are talking about in your industry and blog about those topics.

Lame Excuse #8: "Nobody cares what I have to say."

Actually, Google cares what you have to say. Google treats every blog post like a new page on your website. Every post you write can be SEO optimized for keywords and links. The more you blog, the more content Google indexes and the better your search traffic and page rankings become. Also, the more you blog around targeted keywords, the more likely it is for qualified leads to find your site.

Lame Excuse #7: "I am not the right person at the company to be blogging."

If you are not the best voice or personality to be blogging, then go after the right people. Look in every department or silo, for those extroverts and social media savants who have a lot to say about the industry or their role at the company. Incentivize these people to blog with contests for whoever gets the most traffic or comments.

Lame Excuse #6: "I've never been a great writer."

Blogging is conversational. The best bloggers write in their own voice. Pick a topic and pretend you are writing an email to a client about a new development in your industry. This will help you find the perfect business casual voice.

Lame Excuse #5: "I don't want to invite negative comments."

Usually the negative blog comments, where a reader respectfully disagrees with your post, are the ones that spark the interesting and productive conversations. A debate happening in your blog comments will gain you new followers and traffic. A negative comment is simply another opportunity to position yourself and reinforce your brand values. Use some comment judo and turn a negative into a public positive.

Lame Excuse #4: "I work in a highly regulated industry."

That's no excuse. Get on the phone to your legal contacts and find out if there are any parameters for blogging. See if legal will vet new blog posts before they go live. Finally, develop a boiler plate disclaimer to tack on the end of each post to cover any liability concerns.

Lame Excuse #3: "My customers don't read blogs."

I'd venture to guess your target audience DOES read blogs. If they are online, they are likely consuming content--often in the form of a blog. Blogs are no longer for tech geeks. They are now a widely read and trusted source for news and opinions.

Lame Excuse #2: "I don't know how to get started."

There are so many tips and how-to's out there for starting a blog. Many blog solutions have free or low cost versions and user-friendly set ups. If you want to blog but don't know how to get started, broach the subject with your whoever hosts your company website. This way you can integrate the blog into your existing website to better capitalize on blogging's SEO benefits.

The #1 Lamest Excuse: "What's a blog?"

When I hear this question, I am tempted to welcome the person to the year 2001, but sarcasm really doesn't get you anywhere. So here's a straight answer:

The word blog comes from "web log" and is a more organic part of a website where users can update content daily with posts and let readers comment, share and interact with the material. Blogs are a great venue to incorporate video, photos, polls, sharing and other Web 2.0 features. For many companies, blogging is a secret weapon, used to increase traffic to the company's website, improve visibility in search rankings and convert visitors into leads.

Social Media Abides

Well our old pal myspace seems to be finally accepting the dominance of facebook and has introduced Facebook Connect across the site. The service is called 'Mashup with facebook' (ironic as myspace is a bit of a mashup these days).

Not only can you now use myspace to publish updates to twitter and facebook (in a kind of teetdeck fashion) you can also opt to share information between the two services to allow myspace to create a customised page with your favourite music, TV shows, movies, celebrities etc, and also suggests related content you might like. You can expect to see that wee 'like' button spreading like a rash over myspace any minute now. This fits in with the new direction that myspace have taken, moving the emphasis from the 'friends' aspect it pioneered to a "social entertainment destination" sharing videos, music and games. To be fair the only people i know who still use it are people in bands and the more hardcore of music fans.

Whether this is going to lure users back to the ghost town of social networking past is doubtful. Some have speculated that the owners (News Corp) are getting ready to sell off the service. Would facebook be prepared to move in and buy the carcass? It would certainly create quite a monopoly in the social networking world.

Speaking of monopoly... (ahem, sorry)

In other news, I had always suspected that the 'Big Lebowski' holds the answers to all of life's problems and it's starting to ring true. Here's some advice from the flowtown.com blog on how to handle your social media, taking insights from the DUDE:

Social Media Insights from the Big Lebowski

Without a hostage there is no ransom.

Wizard Smoke

This is a short skate video from SALAZAR in Vancouver. Having been around for a while i'm really suprised no one has turned this into an ad yet. If you get bored by the skateboard stunts then skip to around 5.40 for the water jumps. Great simple idea and really well executed.

Featuring: Bradley Sheppard, Alien, Nate Lacoste, Chris Connolly, Nate Roline, Stacy Gabriel, Mike Klinkhamer, and Rob Rickaby

Directed By Liam Mitchell
Shot By Nathan Drillot and Liam Mitchell