We Blog - What are you going to blog about?

Here's our sixth slideshow RAP of We Blog: How to Create Your Own Media Channel.
It's derived from Michael A Bank's Blogging Heroes.

This RAP looks at "Blog About": What should you blog about?

The answer: Whatever.

There’s a global readership out there and a virtual market for every topic.

Just get started!

Here’s a dozen clues to narrow your focus and heighten your arousal, well, your readers’ arousal levels.

1. Help People
   
2. Rock Your Socks Off
   
3. The Long and the Short
   
4. Regular Features
   
5. Special Features
   
6. Media Swap
   
7. Problem Solving
8. Updates and Revisits
9. Interview Me
10. Scour the Web
11. The Weird and the Wacky
12. Trendspotting
    

Have a click through, it'll only take 4 minutes and let us know what you think.

Book Rapper We Blog 6 Blog About

View more presentations from Geoff Mcdonald.

Apple iPhone Apps and the Future of Gaming

As we sing Happy One Billionth Download to the Apple iPhone Apps store, up pops a new spin on the future of gaming.

Rob Murray, head of Melbourne game developer Firemint has just hit the big time.

Their game ‘Flight Control’ has just become the top-ranked iPhone application in the world.

Flight control lets you play Air Traffic Controller. As the planes approach you direct their flight paths with your finger on the touch screen.

It’s so simple even Rob’s mother in law is hooked! Flight Control is one of the first Apple iPhone app games to use the touch screen as the key navigation device in a game. It prophets a new era in gaming...

In The Age article, Murray suggests, with these new controls, the future of gaming is mobile! He says,

“The fact that you can carry your iPhone or iPod Touch around with you and have good games digitally distributed that's the big bonus and we think mobile with digital distribution is the ultimate form of gaming.”

"Personally I think it's going to cut the knees off lounge room entertainment in time just the same as the Walkman did for music in the lounge room... eventually games on mobiles, if the user interface is sorted, then there's no reason they shouldn't grow to become the dominant entertainment form."

So if music has left the lounge room, games have too, then what’s next?

Live sporting events are already on your phone.

Books have become audio or YouTubio.

We’ve already got newspaper websites.

Soon we won’t need a lounge room at all. Everything will be portable and mobile.

I’m still waiting for my Dick Tracy watch though!

To follow or unfollow on Twitter?

Guess who’s following me on Twitter… she’s young, early 20’s, world famous, pop star…

I guess you recognized her photo... Yep, it's Britney Spears!

Just when I thought I was out of it and over the hill, along comes my dream girl!
I just don’t know how she could have found me on the web.
May be she searched for ‘handsome young men’ and my page came up by mistake…

Well, actually… I’ve got another explanation.
It probably wasn’t Britney.
As dismayed as I am, it might just have been someone working for Britney – like the Twitt working for Hugh Jackman who called the Sydney Opera House the Opera Centre.

It seems two things have happened at Twitter recently.

One, it’s become a mainstream bandwagon.
Oprah has just jumped on it.
This might go down in history as the day Twitter became mainstream.

Two, it’s become inauthentic already.
It’s become a game… to see who can get the most followers.

I wonder which came first? Perhaps this is what happens when something becomes mainstream? Or did Twitter have to become inauthentic to become mainstream?

You might have seen the news that Ashton Kucher has become the first Twitt to reach one million followers. He beat CNN by about 20,000 followers or a day or two.
I’m guessing Britney wants to join in game, thus her personal invite to moi!

My response… get a life!
A million followers on Twitter is an inauthentic and meaningless game.
See my earlier post and Seth Godin’s comment with regard to Facebook friends – the same applies. A friend is only useful if they are friend. Not another number.

It’s no surprise that the backlash has already starter.
Mashable have flagged the ‘unfollow’ campaign.

Early adopter, The Shaq, who’s been on Twitter before it was mainstream, is one who started a campaign to ‘unfollow’ Oprah. This follows others who have been unfollowing Ashton Kucher to take him below a million followers.

It just shows the game can be played both ways: To follow or unfollow?

So, should I take up Britney’s offer just so I can brag that she follows me. Or, is there more cred to snub Britney and be known as the ‘guy who said “no” to Britney Spears’?

What do you think I should do?

Why your personal brand is everything

In an age of change, the one thing that remains solid is your reputation. Well, if your reputation is solid... If it's not you're in deep trouble...

Gary Vaynerchuk is one of the Social Media A-listers.
He's a star. An offbeat, in your face and absolutely authentic star.
He's his own man and that's what I love.
His keynote style is not one to copy literally. But, please do copy his 'be yourself' attitude. I guess that means, don't copy anything. Just be yourself.

One of my favourite Gary videos is his keynote at the Web 2.0 Expo New York (Feb 2009).
It's the third vid from the top on this page.
Or, here's a direct You Tube link.
Either way, check it out.

Keep your eyes peeled for these three standouts:

1. Legacy Versus Currency. Your legacy is way more important.
2. You only get to play this game once - one life!
3. And, self-brand equity. The real power of social media.
   

How you can apply this to you?

Decentralized Twitter sidesteps Central Control

The internet is decentralized.
No one controls it.
There is no centre.

Previously, with centralized media whoever controlled it could decisively shape public opinion.
All information has the potential to be propaganda. The key is not to give your opponent a chance to respond.
Communist state-run, centrally controlled media was a key platform in managing their masses.

Events in Moldova overnight, show the landscape has changed.
Decentralized Twitter has sidestepped Central Control.
After mobile phone networks went down and cable TV did too, protestors turned to Twitter. Whilst free TV around the world showed the protests, State controlled TV in Moldova showed the opera.

In an update on flashmobs created by texting, we now have the twitmob.
Central Control everywhere, beware.

How to create a winning blog attitude

Here's our fifth slideshow RAP of We Blog: How to Create Your Own Media Channel.
It's derived from Michael A Bank's Blogging Heroes.

This RAP looks at "Blog Being".

As in any good conversation your way of being in the world shapes what you say and the response you get. In the blogosphere, the same applies. Here’s a list of seven personal qualities that you can use to enhance your blogging success.

1. Be Opinionated
2. Be Passionate
3. Be Original
4. Be Regular
5. Be Transparent
6. Be Strong
7. Be YOU!
   

Have a click through, it'll only take 4 minutes, and let us know what you think of the new format.

We Blog 5 Blog Being

View more presentations from Geoff Mcdonald.

The Financial Berlin Wall Comes Down!

Book Rapper has been following closely the Global Financial Meltdown. I still haven't found a definitive book on this to RAP and today's events explain why... It's all still unfolding.

G20 SUMMIT

At the G20 summit, world leaders have announced a financial plan that's the equivalent of the Berlin Wall being dismantled.

Their plan signals the end of Bretton Woods!

SHORT HISTORY

In short, during WW2, major countries created new financial rules for the world economy in an agreement known as 'Bretton Woods'. They set up the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other elements that became the World Bank.

Later, the US separated their currency from the gold standard - Richard Nixon in 1971. These were the seeds that produced our current credit crisis.

Today's events put a new agreement in place. A new world order! Very significant.

That's the short view and here's the bigger picture...

THE BIGGER PICTURE CAUSE

There are two big issues here: the financial problems and its cause.

The immediate cause is pretty obvious: too much credit was given to too many people who couldn't afford it.

The bigger picture cause is more interesting. Simply put, America's role as economic superpower is diminishing.

If you think of a relay race, London held the 'financial centre of the world' baton up until the end of the first World War. They were basically broke after WW1, so the US bailed them out and took over the baton.

Breton Woods was the next big milestone - an agreement lead by the US during WW2.

In 1971, another decisive step was made: the US separated their currency from the gold standard. This effectively meant that 'finance' became 'credit' in the sense that it wasn't tied to anything physical.

This was the start of our current crisis - credit gets out of control, the domino effect takes over and we all fall down.

THE POST-AMERICAN WORLD

There are a number of books discussing these issues - and no definitive one here either. For example: Fareed Zakaria's The Post-American World

Today's agreement is a bid to create a new world order. In The Age article, note the opening line: "British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has declared the end of the "old Washington consensus"".

The baton has been taken from the hands of the US!

WHERE TO NEXT?

This brings us to where do we go next.

The US is not disappearing as an economic power, they simply won't be holding the baton.

Similarly, London is still a major financial centre, just no longer the world centre.

One view suggests that China have bailed the US out of the current situation, which puts them in charge of global finance.

Another view suggests David Thomas' favorites BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China), along with London and New York will share the mantle as global centres.

In others words, there won't be a single holder of the baton, more a united holding.

This makes sense in terms of globalization and interconnected economies.

A FRESH BEGINNING

Today's agreement is a financial landmark.

It's signals the end of one era and the beginning of another.

It might also mean the beginning of the end of our current recession.

In terms of when this whole thing turns around... my opinion...

Innovation is the key driver for business development and growth. Currently innovation is occurring at a faster rate than ever before. And it's accelerating.

I suspect we'll be back on path sooner rather than later and today's agreement will provide the platform for this to occur.

Our Must Read Business Books List

Hopefully, by now you've worked it out.

Our previous post 12 Must Read Business Books was an April Fools Day Hoax.


Hope you got a laugh, I know I did creating the list.


If you want more, here's a link to the Top 100 April Fools Hoaxes of All Time or here's our 10 Hot Books for 2009 list.

12 Must Read Business Books

Here's the Book Rapper 12 Must Read Business Books for April 2009...

Good to Broke: Why some companies completely mess things up and others don’t
Jim Collins

The Zero Hour Work Week: How to spend your time waiting for the Post-Global Financial Meltdown recovery
Timothy Ferriss

Book Yourself Silly: The fastest, easiest and most reliable system for getting more work than you know what to do with at prices you can’t possibly make a living from
Michael Port

The One-Minute Managers Guide to Wasting Time on Facebook
Ken Blanchard and Mark Zuckerberg

Tipping Points for Blinking Outliers
Malcolm Gladwell

Purple, Spotted Cows with Yellow Stripes, Football Boots and Long Tails
Seth Godin and Chris Anderson

The L Myth: Why most bosses don’t have a bloody clue about Leadership and what to do about it
Michael Gerber

The Vista Story: How I became addicted to my Apple Mac
Bill Gates
(Gates tells the real reason he quit as CEO of Microsoft.)

Feigned Optimism: How to fake interest in your current job until you get your next one
Martin Seligman

Out of My Whole New Mind: How my right-brain took over from my left-brain
Daniel Pink

The Hitchhikers Guide to your next Job Interview
Douglas Adams
(Includes a bonus chapter on taking the bus.)

Cheatonomics – How to bankrupt your company through Accounting Fraud
Kenneth Lay, former CEO of Enron

Let me know which ones we should RAP as our next book.