Blogging resources

We're not ashamed to publish Antonio's list of resources on our blog so that you have to visit it to view them!

The Social Network Makeover: Resources

"Listening"
http://reader.google.com: The best RSS reader in my opinion.
(There are others)

Reading blogs:
Get out there and find them!
http://technorati.com: Great blog search engine. Find the blogs that
are talking about what you're interested in.
http://google.com: You can also use the Google Blog Search

Blog Examples:
http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/: Excellent blog on worldwide art
http://techcrunch.com: Good one for new tech stuff - won't always be
interesting but they do cover all the new, major social networking
sites.
http://wishfulthinking.co.uk: A great example of a creative industries blog. Useful content, regularly updated.

Writing blogs:
Clear Blogging By Bob Walsh:
http://www.amazon.com/Clear-Blogging-People-Changing-World/dp/1590596919/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-3198394-4972417?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1183409076&sr=8-1

Blogging Platforms:
http://wordpress.org (if you want your own domain name)
http://wordpress.com (easier and simpler but you can't use your own
domain name unless you do a simple redirect)
http://blogger.com (Very simple blogging platform)

Online Video:
http://youtube.com : Great for all-round use.
http://www.brightcove.com: More professional setup, more versatile but
harder to use. Enables you to sell online
http://www.jumpcut.com: Great for beginners - you can edit the video online

Podcasting:
http://odeo.com/ : Good place to start
http://www.channel4.com/4talent/feature.jsp?id=127: Intro to
podcasting - also check the videos for more!

Social Networking:
http://myspace.com
http://facebook.com: I have a feeling Facebook is going to be very
important over the next few years. At the moment it's a personal
networking tool but I think they could be very successful in bringing
it into business.
http://del.icio.us/: Use this whatever you do. It's brilliant.
http://squidoo.com: Definitely worth checking out - could be a big
player in the future.
http://flickr.com: For photography but you can also use it for other
sorts of visual imagery.
http://shapeshifters.net: Interesting online community for creative people

Miscellaneous Tools and Links:
http://analytics.google.com : Find out who's visiting your site.
http://feedburner.com: For the more technical of you - soup up your RSS feed
http://antoniogould.com : Check out the "Articles" category - most of
them should be relevant. If you have a comment, please leave it and
let me know!
http://www.channel4.com/4talent/feature.jsp?id=181: New Media 4Casts -
a series of podcasts I've produced over the last year on new media for
creative people
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.10/tail.html : The original Long
Tail article

Other misc. pages used in presentation:
Global Microbrand: http://www.gapingvoid.com/Moveable_Type/archives/001976.html
Long Tail Diagram: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Long_tail.svg
English Cut Tailors (example of a Global Microbrand): http://www.englishcut.com/
Si hunt: http://www.brightcove.com/channel.jsp?channel=452336500&firstVideo=0
The Black Apple Blog: http://www.theblackapple.typepad.com/
Dismantled on Boing Boing: http://dismantleddesigns.com/index.php/?page_id=17
Rebecca's Flickr Profile:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rebba/sets/72157594157565155/

Blog revamp!

Four months on from our first inspiring meeting with Antonio Gould, social media consultant, our blog has begun, but it's not quite working out. Today, three of the Launchpad team sat in on Antonio's blogging seminar, similar to the talk he did at Etsy in New York. During the seminar, Antonio asked the team how we felt the blog was going, and more importantly he asked our audience what they wanted from our blog. Two great suggestions were an opportunity to feedback and respond to the service we provide and the training sessions we put on, as well as a list of useful resources that we commonly refer people to. Well, I'm at home so I don't have access to the resources at the moment, but I'll add them soon. In the meantime, the twenty people that attended all promised to visit our blog and comment on it... and let's hope they do!

Take the entreprenuerial route and stop living in a box!

The “just do it” approach is something Richard Branson is famed for. His can do approach now means he is one of the best loved and most successful entrepreneurs in the UK, possibly even the world. Being himself and enjoying every moment is key to his success.
After reading his autobiography and actually meeting him in the flesh last week it’s clear that even the most inspirational and successful entrepreneurs have self confidence issues. However we don’t grow unless we take risks, which in turn allows us to gain the confidence we need to pursue our dreams and “Screw it, Just do it”