Disqus - Latest Comments for Michael Martine

Re: Paid Comments – They Can Be 100% Ethical

Michael Martine — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 16:11:17 -0000

Linkbait. Really, really good linkbait, but linkbait nonetheless. If paid posting is ethical, it's possible that paid commenting could be ethical. But I think Darren Rowse's assessment is correct and at that pace there's no way that service, hitting those numbers, would be ethical or even worthwhile. Great article, Andy.

Re: Paid Comments – They Can Be 100% Ethical

Michael Martine — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 16:11:17 -0000

Re: Jason Calacanis Mahalo Diggbait – Lies Or Credit?

Michael Martine — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 22:41:50 -0000

If he did realise it, then in the podcast he wasn't telling the whole truth about his future plans to publish diggbait.

I suppose that depends on how long it would take implement the change.

You and Graywolf and the others all had some great criticism of Mahalo, but you're not doing yourself any favors now by looking for something that isn't there. Makes you look like a bit of a whiner.

Re: Jason Calacanis Mahalo Diggbait – Lies Or Credit?

Michael Martine — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 22:41:50 -0000

If he did realise it, then in the podcast he wasn't telling the whole truth about his future plans to publish diggbait.

Re: Keyword & Link Tools (& How To Confuse The Google Bot)

Michael Martine — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 10:57:07 -0000

Some of your image links in the gadgets don't appear to be working, Andy. Aside from that, Google has said that paying for editorial review, such as Yahoo directory, is acceptable. It's still all rather hypocritical and self-serving, but they make a distinction between editorial review and paid links.

Re: Keyword & Link Tools (& How To Confuse The Google Bot)

Michael Martine — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 10:57:07 -0000

Re: Keyword & Link Tools (& How To Confuse The Google Bot)

Michael Martine — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 13:26:28 -0000

Yeah, I know, Andy. You're arguing against something I didn't say. Google's punishment of PPP is the same kind of hypocrisy I'm talking about. Do you think Google will punish botw.org? It's a paid directory. Oh... but it uses Google Checkout! Well, I guess it's okay, then! See what I mean? Hypocrites. Google should go after them, but they won't. I'm on your side about this.

As for the bugs, both gadgets appear perfectly in my browser in both iGoogle and on this page using Firefox 2.0.0.6

Well, that's nice for you, isn't it? >:)>

Re: Keyword & Link Tools (& How To Confuse The Google Bot)

Michael Martine — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 13:26:28 -0000

As for the bugs, both gadgets appear perfectly in my browser in both iGoogle and on this page using Firefox 2.0.0.6

Well, that's nice for you, isn't it? >:)>

Re: Blogrush – 7 Critical Mistakes

Michael Martine — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 12:10:55 -0000

Some folks are spreading FUD about Google banning AdSense because of BlogRush. BlogRush does not violate AdSense policy, however.

On an analytics note, my stats are showing referrals from widget.blogrush.com.

Re: Blogrush – 7 Critical Mistakes

Michael Martine — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 12:10:55 -0000

Re: Blogrush Testing and Tracking (Updated – John Reese Quote)

Michael Martine — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 22:02:31 -0000

I'm glad to see these issues being addressed. The headlines were so spammy and atrocious that I dropped the widget because nobody could possibly want to click on them. I had a lot of respect for John, but this was so disappointing. At the end of the day, you have to ask yourself, do my readers want this? Not, will I get traffic?

Re: Blogrush Testing and Tracking (Updated – John Reese Quote)

Michael Martine — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 22:02:31 -0000

Re: Important – Take Specific Actions Today

Michael Martine — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 22:31:34 -0000

Andy, that looks fantastic. I am so subscribed. Looking forward to all the collective thoughts.

Re: Important – Take Specific Actions Today

Michael Martine — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 22:31:34 -0000

Andy, that looks fantastic. I am so subscribed. Looking forward to all the collective thoughts.

Re: Big News, Small News And Interesting Tidbits At Angie’s Copywriting

Michael Martine — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 17:21:28 -0000

Thanks for the kind words, Angie! The name of it is no secret, really, but it's not available just yet. Keep an eye out towards the beginning of the year! ;)

<abbr>Michael Martine - Remarkablogger’s last blog post..Three Obvious Sources of Great Blog Posts You Haven’t Thought Of</abbr>

Re: One Month of Remarkablogger

Michael Martine — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 00:07:15 -0000

Pretty cool to see it laid out in a timeline! Thanks! This is the part where I say the best is yet to come...

Re: Who Are You People Anyway?

Michael Martine — Tue, 27 May 2008 00:45:24 -0000

Great examination of the issues. To really answer your last question, the answer is NOTHING. Remarkablogger focuses quite heavily on business bloggers (people who have a business and blog to market it--not people who blog about business). So the professional image thing is important in that case. And even then, crafting the image you want to present takes a lot of work and a lot of restraint.

Thinking through the consequences of our actions is important. You never know what's going to happen with that picture of your daughter you just posted online and didn't keep private. People confuse privacy with transparency.

Re: Online Marketing Glossary: Cost per Lead

Michael Martine — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:51:36 -0000

Thanks, I'm really liking these "marketing glossary" posts. So many similar terms to try and remember... sheesh!

Re: Fun, Do You Have It At Work & In Life?

Michael Martine — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 14:55:20 -0000

Jim, great point about passion vs. fun. The word passion is so overused anymore it doesn't even mean anything to most people. But fun will always mean FUN.

Remarkablogger's last blog post..Knowing Your Way Around the WordPress Write Screen

Re: Search Everything Wordpress Plugin at Scattered

Michael Martine — Sun, 28 Aug 2005 15:02:40 -0000

Nice plugin! Thank you so much. It's hard to do dark on a site but you did a great job.

Re: Is blogging for the introverted soul?

Michael Martine — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:00:57 -0000

The web is a great way for introverts to interact in many ways, including some older methods like email and forums. In the physical world, it would be almost impossible to run a successful business and make good money as an introvert. You would have to deal with too many people (unless you're also just a crank, then you can be cranky and everyone expects it). But online, your interactions are mediated by the technology.

For introverts, attending live events is like getting dropped into ice-cold water. This is still an issue because a lot of high-quality networking and advancement happens at live events.

Re: Hyperconnectivity shakes up six degrees of separation

Michael Martine — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 08:40:31 -0000

I don't think any particular communication method alters the 6 degrees phenomenon, but I enjoyed the different types.

Re: http://broadcasting-brain.com/2008/08/21/promotion-ide-repetition/

Michael Martine — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:00:20 -0000

Mark, could you say that again? LOL. One very good reason to repeat yourself on your blog is the "new to you" syndrome. New visitors haven't read your old posts where you already wrote about something.

And, truly, we often need to hear or read something a few times before we deeply understand it.

Re: What does getting smarter really mean?

Michael Martine — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 12:07:20 -0000

Mark, I love this post! Is a library smart? HA! I think that "consuming" does make you smarter, provided you "consume smartly" like how Brian Clark recently wrote about on Copyblogger.

A simple way to be smarter about this is to not ever take in anything passively after the first go-through (yes, read/watch more than once). I take notes as I watch, read, or listen, and it has made a huge difference in my retention and in how I act on information.

And there is yet one more level above smarts and that's wisdom, which comes (hopefully) from doing, not reading. You have to put the book down and make things happen.

Re: Self-linking could make you go blind

Michael Martine — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 18:03:11 -0000

Linking to yourself is awesome, and if you don't do it you're not doing yourself any favors. There's no point in doing it where it's not relevant, because that helps nothing and no one. So that means it's practically never wrong or unethical.

What Techcrunch is doing is also what the New York Times and other large sites are doing: creating an SEO "black hole" by sucking in PageRank and not letting any escape. It's annoying, but not unethical in the slightest.

Re: Breaking: Assistant Editors take over blogosphere! | Broadcasting Brain

Michael Martine — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 11:58:40 -0000

Fiendishly clever! A great laugh. :D

Re: YouTube is my Wayback Machine

Michael Martine — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 08:45:54 -0000

I find myself watching old videos, too. The Cure, Bauhaus, Missing Persons, Duran Duran, Public Enemy, Run DMC... it really takes me back to the times of big hair and fluorescent pink. And parachute pants. OK, I guess we could've done without those, LOL.

Re: A page full of thank yous for some great people | Broadcasting Brain

Michael Martine — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 08:27:40 -0000

I'm grateful that you're thankful! (we could have a politeness war, but let's not! :) ).

Re: The Price of my Dreams - $60 a Week

Michael Martine — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:29:38 -0000

Makes a lot of sense the way you break it down. Very smart! Now you got me thinking... :)

Re: Who is Michael Schneider?

Michael Martine — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 20:31:36 -0000

Great read. Subscribed. When you another person shares your name and keeps showing up with you in Google search results (as though there were any other kind) that person is called a Googleganger (like doppelganger). Creepy, huh? For me, it is Father Michael Martine, which I find completely smirk-worthy.

Looking forward to what you will do here.

Re: The 2008 TwitterStache Awards

Michael Martine — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 22:40:19 -0000

jonathanhong for the win. THAT's a freakin' mustache.

Re: 2006/08/17/fruit-signs-offering-branded-myspace-layouts/

Michael Martine — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 22:55:07 -0000

That is one of the stupidest things I've ever seen. If that's inspired, I'd hate to see what blind exploitation looks like to them.

Re: 2006/09/15/fliqz-launches-fliqzster-avoids-youtube-comparisons/

Michael Martine — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 00:37:44 -0000

Ugliest thing I've ever seen except for some new age sites.

Re: 2007/07/07/what-should-technorati-do/

Michael Martine — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 16:23:10 -0000

I guess it depends on what you think blogs are about. Blogs used to be about written posts, but they no longer are. They are about images and video. Does anyone think Ze Frank or Rocketboom are unhappy with the new T'rati? I doubt it! To view T'rati as becoming a multimedia hub, as though blogging itself hadn't evolved, is to miss the big picture. I don't see how this is any kind of a "me too" move.

Re: 2007/07/27/chocolate-rain/

Michael Martine — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 13:46:06 -0000

I made a video playlist of some of the better spoofs and remixes if you want to see them: http://gvod.blogspot.com/2007/07/chocolate-rain...

Re: Depression: How You Label Determines How You Feel

Michael Martine — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 08:57:36 -0000

I'm sorry that you have lost friends. It's odd how some celebrity deaths can really affect us. I was surprised to find myself crying when Princess Diana died, for example.

I find it really interesting and helpful that you make a distinction between depression as unactionable and other labels as being more actionable. I have always found action of any kind the best way to alter an emotional state.

Re: Test Driving the Unreleased Audi R8, the Supercar Even Women Fantasize About (Plus: A Favor)

Michael Martine — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 00:06:25 -0000

Whatever you do next, launch it from here, which means you might want to redesign around that. Other than that, a kind of NR education center (wiki?) would be great way to sustain and grow your audience. Awesome web resources/destinations are powerful magnets. Ditch the silly old-school book promo site.

Keep it free and stuff it to the digital rafters with real good info. Give it away. You want mindshare. You want community, let the community edit/create. When you get ready to drop something new for sale, you will have an eager audience ready for it.

First thoughts and random neurons firing, anyways.

Re: Beginners Guide to Driving Web Traffic

Michael Martine — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 09:18:52 -0000

If you've never had a blog before, reading this makes you thing that a blog will help. It does... but there are a ton of articles out there about how to drive more traffic to your blog, too! Blogs are their own world, in a sense.

Taking advantage of social media, especially StumbleUpon.com and the like will help. There are even social media sites specifically for creatives.

A blog does indeed help, but like anything else, only if you do it right! Luckily, there is plenty of terrific how-to info on getting started with a blog.

Re: 5 Ways To Make Money On Facebook

Michael Martine — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 20:31:15 -0000

I've been wondering a lot about facebook, too. On the one hand, I can see how social networks like facebook and myspace could replace blogging 1.0. It's pretty meaty food for thought.

On the other hand, Jason Calacanis recently declared "facebook bankruptcy" after getting over 900 friend requests in a single day.

As the old Chinese curse says: May you live in interesting times...

By the way, facebook is how I found about your blog, which I like, and to which I have just subscribed.

Re: Five Models For Internet-Based Small Businesses

Michael Martine — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 12:11:41 -0000

Great idea, but I don't think you've thought this through in the details. A business model is how you make money. Everything else is marketing. A content site is not a business model, advertising sales is. Affiliate sales is a business model for a blog, but the blog has content. If you do both, then your business model is advertising and affiliate sales.

A portfolio site is not a business model. The business model is the sale of services (whether online or offline). The portfolio site content is marketing.

A community site is not a business model, and for this one you didn't even offer a suggestion for how a community site could make money. The business model commonly applied to community sites is advertising, which usually ineffective, because the community is immune to the ads. A better business model to apply to a community site is a continuity program (a recurring fee).

<abbr>Michael Martine - Remarkabloggers last blog post..How to Use Windows Live Writer</abbr>

Re: Marketing Your Content – Take Two

Michael Martine — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:33:42 -0000

The whole post is worth the one point about top bloggers controlling the quality of traffic online, but I also like your idea of using sponsorship as a way to really open the door. Good stuff.

<abbr>Michael Martine - Remarkabloggers last blog post..What’s Your Blogging Creed?</abbr>

Re: A Sunday Newspaper Strategy for Traditional Companies

Michael Martine — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 10:50:23 -0000

Good analogy. The only reason why I ever wanted the sunday NYT was for the magazine. Is there a category for that? :)

Best line in here for me: "Make it about the space where your company plays."

Right on. I've noticed lately that one big company that really gets that is HP (and no I'm not pimping for them, just noticing).

Re: Facebook and the Social Graph- Who Benefits

Michael Martine — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 21:39:06 -0000

I deactivated my facebook account. That should tell you something. WordPress has been using XFN data in its blogroll for years. Plugin developers are working like mad to create ever more socialized plugins for WordPress. I'd love to see WordPress become more social over the next coupla years. That would be situation in which we all benefit.

Re: The Power of Links

Michael Martine — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 12:59:59 -0000

I'm pretty sure Google is doing this as a preventive measure against the hordes of spammers that are going to try and use the service to artificially boost search rankings for their lame made-for-adsense and affiliate sales sites.

Re: Lets Write 100 Conference Sessions WE Want to Attend

Michael Martine — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 01:19:14 -0000

How to really blog for your business

Forget the blogging advice you think you know. What works for affiliate spammers doesn't work for your business. Learn real strategies.

Re: The Power of Links

Michael Martine — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 01:23:04 -0000

hanks for reminding me that I didn’t close THAT loop.

I don't know if I'm the Christ, or the Anti-Christ. I'm just here to help.

Re: The Power of Links

Michael Martine — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 01:23:54 -0000

And perform cut-and-paste errors, apparently. :)

Re: New Site Design Launched

Michael Martine — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:38:14 -0000

Looks great, Chris! I like that you got more content above the fold and I like the lighter palette.

Re: A Foul Bastards Tale - RATED PG13

Michael Martine — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 23:55:24 -0000

I'm sure you could have all kinds of crazy fun with Twitter in ways it wasn't originally designed for... that's half the fun!

Re: Why SOBCon Should Be on Your Calendar

Michael Martine — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 12:35:27 -0000

I'm really looking forward to this conference and to meeting everyone. That's so cool that Wendy just got added! I can't wait to make some videos and do some interviews! I'd love to chat with you for a minute on video, Chris!

Re: Social Media- Talk is Cheap for Businesses

Michael Martine — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 12:41:34 -0000

Basically what you're pointing out here Chris is that most businesses are not ready for their own future. And if they're not ready now, and they don't get ready soon, they will be dead.

And who wants to work with dead businesses? I'd rather work with businesses that get it. There are enough of them and their number is growing.

Re: Social Media- Talk is Cheap for Businesses

Michael Martine — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 18:53:51 -0000

@ Chris - It depends on where you live. I can't even hardly explain what I do for a living to the people walking down the street of my town. As William Gibson said: the future's already here, it's just not evenly distributed. Luckily for us, we can be there online for the ones that need us. It's really like two different worlds. People are starting to wake up to the existence of the other world. It's tougher than learning a whole new language for them. People don't even know where to start, man.

Looking forward to meeting you at SOBCon.

Re: The Community Ecosystem

Michael Martine — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 20:19:52 -0000

Those Zulu greetings were cool. There is a Zulu saying that I'm really fond of: there is no such thing as truth, only stories.

You know, it's funny that it's called SOCIAL media, and yet people don't want to do the work of being social! Hey folks, your audience isn't going to just land in your lap! You have to go out and get 'em. I have a post on this coming out this week, but your post Chris touches on the same thing, so had to chime in on this one.

Re: Bowing to Our Twitter Robot Overlords

Michael Martine — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 01:08:43 -0000

Some people on Twitter I wish were robots. Then maybe following CNN would be worth something. Or maybe an Amanda Chapel random insult generator would be cool (with a high percentage of the words "pabulum", "masses", and "kool-aid").

On the other hand, as much as I respect Tom, if he can't be bothered with really being on Twitter, then maybe I can't be bothered with following the wowbot.

Re: Corporate Takeover - Web Style

Michael Martine — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 19:56:12 -0000

Thanks for introducing Twingly. I hadn't heard of it, before. But you know, T'rati is so lost, anymore, that if I were Twingly, I don't think I would want to be bought by them. If Twingly's all that, better that they make it on their own.

Re: Business School for Bloggers

Michael Martine — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 01:19:09 -0000

SOBCon absolutely rocked. Liz knows her stuff--it's all about the relationsips.

Re: How to Create Business From a Blog

Michael Martine — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 21:12:47 -0000

I covered this a while ago: Create a Business Out of Your Blog and Make Real Money. I'm sure it'll make for an interesting comparison to your post, Chris. Great idea for a post! ;)

Re: Gatekeepers vs Gatejumpers

Michael Martine — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 15:42:54 -0000

I love the "gatejumper" idea! It's perfect.

Here's mine:

Gatekeeper: CNN/MSNBC/FOX News
Gatejumper: Qik (other live mobile video) and Twitter

Gatekeeper: Big Oil
Gatejumper: DIY Biodiesel

Gatekeeper: Utilities
Gatejumper: off-grid DIY utilities

Gatekeeper: Food supercenters
Gatejumper: Small scale/urban gardening

Re: Make it Easier for Your Audience

Michael Martine — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 16:25:28 -0000

Heh, I actually will be giving advice to Vicky in a few days, so I will save it for the call! ;) You'll get to hear what it is, because it's going to be recorded and available from my blog.

I will let one little thing slip now: the hyperlinks are not high-contrast enough against the white background. :)

Talk to ya soon, Vicki!

Re: The Basics

Michael Martine — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 20:54:30 -0000

Great list, Chris! I might be able to add to it a little:

- Know what it is you're really selling, in both the ephemeral terms and the practical/logistical terms (i.e., sizzle AND steak).

- Have a process and make it the DNA of your unique value proposition. You have to be able to easily explain the process to others in a way that presents a business case.

Re: Announcing Dad-o-Matic

Michael Martine — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 21:00:08 -0000

This is a sweet idea! Going over to check it out now...

Re: Two Important Speaking Tips

Michael Martine — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 19:22:11 -0000

Not only is this bang-on for speaking, but for just about any kind of communications, such as blogging. Every blog post can address the want and provide actionable take-aways.

You could even apply this to Twitter... it just might take a few tweets to really do it. ;-)

Re: How Did Personal Video Eclipse Entertainment Video

Michael Martine — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 12:35:20 -0000

Seesmic didn't want to cooperate with me when I tried to record a reply, which is interesting because right now I'm using web video as more of a one-way platform. I've used Ustream, but the glitchy Seesmic performance just know shows these technologies need to stabilize before they have a chance to truly replace entertainment video. Skype is another problem: it crashes constantly.

Re: Set Your Blog On Fire

Michael Martine — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 20:26:37 -0000

Outstanding, Brogan. Here's a thought I'd like to share that I feel can add to this: provide opportunities for others. It's an amazingly powerful thing to do, with massive rewards for the people who take those opportunities and run with them. And that comes back to you in the form of good karma and further opportunities for yourself.

Re: Get More From My Posts

Michael Martine — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 10:05:57 -0000

Great idea, Chris. I think most bloggers agree in theory with the idea of CC, but secretly they hope nobody takes their content and does something with it.

As Cory Doctorow has said, the greatest threat facing artists online (or bloggers) is not piracy, but irrelevancy.

Re: Namecalling

Michael Martine — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 11:57:46 -0000

LOL on "throw a few extra people under the bus". I can see how a person could justify "nominating" someone else besides themselves for inclusion to a list, but to suggest oneself is ego-whining at its best (well, worst, actually).

Besides, THAT'S WHAT COMMENTS ARE FOR. Just a simple line in the post like: "If you can think of anyone else who should be on this list, please add their name in a comment."

Re: Namecalling

Michael Martine — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 12:20:39 -0000

@Chris - Call me "Captain Obvious"! :)

Re: Quick PodCamp Starter Kit

Michael Martine — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 01:01:20 -0000

Well hell, this list is great for any kind of small-ish event. No frills, all thrills! Thanks, Chris!

Re: Guest Post- On Being Shy

Michael Martine — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 08:55:54 -0000

I'm actually a pretty shy person. I can "do" big social gatherings if I mentally prepare for it in advance. I do this because I know how important it is to make connections and get to know others. I want to improve my relationships with those around me, but at the same time, the crush can get a bit overwhelming. Simply leaving the scene a bit early often helps if I feel like I've had enough sociablen-ness (Is that even a word? It is now!).

Re: Using Outposts in Your Media Strategy

Michael Martine — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 10:47:56 -0000

Two things I always advise people on with blogging and social media: provide value and engage. There are many possible specifics for accomplishing this, and your list is great for that!

Re: My Letter Policy- Circa 2008

Michael Martine — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 14:49:41 -0000

The "email bankruptcy" problem requires a 700 billion unread emails bailout! :-)

Re: Social Media Tools Are Like Phones

Michael Martine — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 16:31:00 -0000

Wow the phone analogy is great, but I think you're wrong about one thing. When phones first started coming into use, we did have to tell people to dial them. It wasn't hard to do, because dialing was all you could do.

Try showing TweetDeck or Plurk to your grandmother, and you'll see what I'm saying.

Re: A Counterpoint to the Branding Craze

Michael Martine — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 10:21:49 -0000

I think it's more useful and profitable for everyone concerned to think in terms of creating and strengthening relationships. Then the line between branding and behavior disappears.

Re: 25 Ways to Build Your Community

Michael Martine — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:55:11 -0000

Nice list! The details of #24 are the sticking point, it seems to me. I would add: make an effort to connect with people and meet them halfway. Community takes work.

Re: Privateers- Backing Your Pirate Ships

Michael Martine — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 15:59:27 -0000

Nice, dude. Congrats! If you think we can work together on something, hit me up on twitter.

Re: Homeless Nation Gives a Digital Place to The Displaced

Michael Martine — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 21:10:09 -0000

I hadn't heard of this at all! Thanks for bringing attention to what these people are doing, Chris. Important stuff.

Re: Advertising and Trust

Michael Martine — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 13:47:38 -0000

Well, jeez, after 116 comments, I'm kind of a drop in the ocean here, but I'd like to add that it's well-known that growing your audience, reach, and influence makes it easier to make money in all kinds of ways.

If some of those ways hinder your audience growth, they should be abandoned. I don't care what the methods are, I care what the results are. And notice I didn't say "upset your audience" I said "hinder its growth."

What this means is that for some people, sponsored posts will work and for some, they won't. Results, not methods (don't confuse these with means/ends--not the same thing).

Keep exploring, Chris.

Re: 12 Things to Stop Doing in 2009

Michael Martine — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 15:08:04 -0000

Here's number 7 for your to-do list: Laugh, love, and play more.

Love it, Brogan. Awesome stuff.

Re: How Important Is Copywriting To Bloggers?

Michael Martine — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:07:35 -0000

Copywriting is absolutely the best thing I have ever learned. It is responsible in large part to my success. I would suggest learning about page designs that convert is essential, too. Goes beautifully with great copy.

<abbr></abbr><abbr>Michael Martine - Remarkabloggers last blog post..WordPress SEO Secrets - The Doors are Open NOW</abbr>

Re: MSN Search geeks on Channel 9

Michael Martine — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 20:28:12 -0000

After reading all your posts on search, I went and gave MSN search a try (I was using Google out of habit), and I was pleasantly impressed with its smooth performance and the search results page. More importantly, I felt the results were more thorough and accurate than Google's. I've now added MSN search to my firefox search box.

Re: Silicon Valley got my attention: the future of Web businesses

Michael Martine — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 20:17:13 -0000

Attention? A lot of people would say it looks more like an invasion of privacy when everything you do is tracked across multiple sites and services in order to shove ads in your face. Woohoo! More ads in my face! Bring it!

If "attention" in the way that you're using it is to ever succeed, the most important thing that will have to happen is that we get past advertising, period. Laugh if you want to, but a post-advertising world would be one where service replaces advertising. Don't tell me you want to do something for me... do something for me that's so great I'm going to communicate and spread it throughout my social network. Trust and reputation are everything.

Re: #30: Eric Rice is banging on the window

Michael Martine — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 07:09:14 -0000

Robert, you may be interested in Ultimate Tag Warrior, a WordPress plugin. You can use it instead of categories (don't know how it would fare in conjunction with wordpress.com, though). I use it on my blog.

Re: Corporate and political blogging — get rid of the fear, be yourself!

Michael Martine — Fri, 16 Dec 2005 19:03:26 -0000

MarketingSherpa has its head up its ass. They are totally old-skool marketing-trained. Their idea of a conversation is they talk and then they take metrics. They don't get blogs at all, because their approach is the same as if it were a one-way advertising channel.

Re: Video comment plugin for Wordpress

Michael Martine — Sun, 09 Jul 2006 10:24:58 -0000

My new favorite just became Votio. I'm going to use it on Video Bubble.

Re: The “river” versus “folder” RSS approach

Michael Martine — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 20:00:29 -0000

I dig bloglines. I know it's ugly and has problems, but nothing else I've tried even comes close to meeting my needs: portability and with folders I can direct my attention where I want. I like that I can make the feeds public but have private ones, too.

Re: Sigh. Microsoft’s marketers will never learn

Michael Martine — Sat, 22 Jul 2006 08:11:01 -0000

The original point of my post was about Microsoft trying to be cool... and almost making it--but not quite. I give them points for heading in the right direction. Robert latched onto the RSS thing, but that wasn't in my post.

Email signups are less trustworthy than RSS. I can delete a feed and know it's been deleted. Once a megacorporation has your email, however, you can never be sure what will be done with it.

It was Zune's marketing message that bugged me, not whether the signup was email or RSS. If I hadn't been so turned off by the forced "We're all friends" BS, I might have signed up. I've got Gmail. I can label, filter, and trash anything I want and not worry about it.

Microsoft hasn't learned their lessons even in traditional marketing, let alone the kind of real person unmarketing that we're shifting to. The Office 2K7 team's blogs are great! And yet Microsoft goes and does this lame old-school marketing thing--ironically for a product aimed at an audience that would respond better to blogs. They should've given Zune to a bunch of kids and let 'em loose on MySpace and YouTube: influencers, indeed.

And Robert, I have been reading your blog for a couple years, now, and I think your comments on this post seem a bit harsh. We all have bad days, but you'll be a better man if own up to it.

Re: Sigh. Microsoft’s marketers will never learn

Michael Martine — Sat, 22 Jul 2006 08:13:12 -0000

Sorry: I meant to say "if you own up to it."

Re: Sigh. Microsoft’s marketers will never learn

Michael Martine — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 10:28:41 -0000

Things spread from the edges to the mainstream virally. We trust recommendations of our friends. Things do not spread when they are carpet-bombed directly into the mainstream. We mistrust that, and rightly so.

Email went from edge to mainstream, and RSS is doing the same. Heck, it's the story of the whole damn interwebs.

Zune would have done better if it had started at the edge and been allowed to grow toward the center. Maybe Microsoft wouldn't have had a great holiday sales season this year, but in two years they would be flying off the shelves.

Too late! They already dropped their bomb and ruined any chance of that.

Re: Trying to hire Amanda

Michael Martine — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 21:30:39 -0000

I’ve never seen that happen at a male-dominated tech conference.

The more you learn about how women relate to businesses, products, and services, the more you realize that blogging for women is going to get really, really huge. Check out what Tom Peters has to say or google lipstick marketing.

Man, I loved Martha!

Re: Zillow and housing prices

Michael Martine — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 14:30:26 -0000

But, the lesson here is that Zillow’s prices are a guideline...

To me, it seems the lesson is that it's who you know, not what you know. Human relationships (between you and your agent, you and your network) are what drive everything. That's why social software is such a big deal (though we've barely scratched the surface) and why it's so maddening when you look up office furniture and get stores. The web is still just a big, dumb library full of "books." What it needs to become is a big, smart library full of books that understand their relationships to each other and to the people that use them.

Re: A week in Montana did me some good

Michael Martine — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 21:36:05 -0000

geekstorm.tv is available.

Re: A week in Montana did me some good

Michael Martine — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 21:36:47 -0000

Hope you check your comments quick!

Re: A week in Montana did me some good

Michael Martine — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 23:38:01 -0000

Is Myriam a geek? Sorry, but go with the geeks on this one.

Re: The big tech cos grabbing up advertising distribution networks

Michael Martine — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 16:59:35 -0000

YouTube gets YouTube. Why does nobody understand YouTube? Nobody will ever buy YouTube. YouTube will continue to chart its own unique course and will continue to invent itself. They are exploring groundbreaking revenue/ad deals (celebrity channels being only the latest) and doing things no other service is doing.

In a few years, we'll be asking "will YouTube buy __________?"

Re: Apple, marketing blogging and podcasting bigtime in its stores

Michael Martine — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 21:53:16 -0000

Couple of thoughts:

Most people are not producers or participators. They are still very much just passive takers-in. Consumers. That will change. Don't forget that most of the rest of the world lives outside the echo chamber of the blogosphere. Edge leads into mainstream and all that.

Also, I find it interesting that tons of Microsofties blog, while almost nobody at Apple does, while tongs of Apple users blog and few Microsoft users blog with evangelical passion about Microsoft (comparitively--think about the proportion of Win vs Mac people and of course the Win numbers will be higher, so don't jump on me).

Re: Newsflash: 98% don’t use RSS

Michael Martine — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 13:55:12 -0000

The thing about rss is you can explain it all you like but what really gets people to grok it is to just use it. If you can get somebody to use a good reader for a couple weeks, they will experience the value of it in the same way you do. Explaining it just doesn't explain it.

Probably the biggest thing to happen with rss will be Outlook 2K7. That will also be its biggest problem in the workplace. I can just see a bunch of CEOs and presidents scratching their heads over this. They still see computers as fancy typewriter replacements. They're going to see this as a new way for people to not do their work.

And by the way, isn't Flickr just wildly popular, these days? Surely it wasn't because the kewl kids and early adopters were using it? You can't tell me it was all popular and mainstream right from the beginning. How about Google? Google wasn't mainstream at first. How about email? How about listening to mp3s? The cycle of adoption from edge to mainstream may not turn at a constant rate, but whether it applies to RSS certainly is not arguable. It applies to everything.

Re: It’s the small things at Google that impress

Michael Martine — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 12:40:07 -0000

Doing searches like that is incredibly smart and necessary today. Better is the fact that there was a response.

Re: Microsoft ships beta of latest Web site builder (Expression)

Michael Martine — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 01:17:19 -0000

FrontPage had something of a split personality: street-level consumers could use it html-free and get typically deplorable cookie-cutter results or... somebody who really knew the tool could use it to build high-end Microsoft-based stuff, like for intranets.

And, funny enough, FrontPage is becoming SharePoint Designer.

My tool of choice? Notepad++ :)

Re: Color tagging in video, potential YouTube cleanup?

Michael Martine — Sun, 10 Sep 2006 21:33:28 -0000

I wonder when we’ll see them in real products

You mean, like, the news?

Re: My link blog and why Blinkx didn’t get YouTube deal

Michael Martine — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 12:05:02 -0000

AOL's video search is best I've seen, believe it or not. I spent a couple hours yesterday comparing them. I liked Blinkx the least out of all of them. Too bad Windows Live is using it as the basis for its video search!

Re: Cisco dots the “i” on Apple

Michael Martine — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 01:03:59 -0000

Blogging is indeed corporate warfare, and deception isn't necessary for it to be. Good observation.

So... if I called something an "i" anything, who would sue me faster, Apple or Cisco?

Re: Why Mahalo, TechMeme, and Facebook are going to kick Google’s butt in four years

Michael Martine — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 23:22:34 -0000

Google is already killing itself with its self-protective, anti-competitive, and hypocritical stance on reciprocal and paid links.

Re: How You Can Help End the Problem of Blogs With Great Content and No Readers

Michael Martine — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 18:49:08 -0000

I'm down. Found this through Chris Brogan's tweet. I posted about in on Remarkablogger, but I wanted to leave a comment anyways to get the email and be involved. I've done some traffic-building stuff for new blogs in the past, so it's really cool to see someone else's take on the problem and possible ways to overcome it.

Re: Zoë’s Exit Interview and Previewing the Next Blog

Michael Martine — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 08:41:30 -0000

Wait... I'm famous? LOL. Zoë, your guest post is welcome any time at Remarkablogger.

Re: Getting more traffic to your blog

Michael Martine — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 10:33:39 -0000

Thanks for sharing with your readers, Janet! Hope they enjoy the link frenzy. :)

Re: Choosing a forum

Michael Martine — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 10:25:17 -0000

Janet, this is really is an overlooked gem. I'm looking for a forum that can be a members-only environment for customers who purchase a particular product. The idea is that only buyers of the product get in. Any thoughts?

PS - It would be great if you added a subscribe to comments plugin here! :)

Re: Take Action Against Poverty

Michael Martine — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:06:53 -0000

Great list of resources, Janet!

Michael Martine - Remarkabloggers last blog post..How to Measure Blog Traffic: Web Analytics

Re: Blood and Chocolate

Michael Martine — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 14:44:58 -0000

I think the word you're looking for is Lycan or Lycanthrope. Or, perhaps in the case of this film, Loser.

Re: Video Post: Blog Vs. Website - Connecting With The Tribe

Michael Martine — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 16:09:01 -0000

Blogs are a lot like transformers, for sure: more than meets the eye! Ask your friend how easily he can change his website without going through a big hassle.

Re: Don’t F**k With The Natural Laws Of Social Media

Michael Martine — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 21:09:35 -0000

John, you've totally nailed it with this. Really good. These are the laws that people with traditional marketing and PR backgrounds have such a hard time with. Social media is NOT a propaganda broadcast channel. It's a relationship facilitator.

Re: How To Get The Universe To Promote You On Twitter

Michael Martine — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 17:49:32 -0000

Late to the party here, but I totally agree with the concept of enlightened self-interest. Social media is a wonderful vehicle for this. You can't think about what you get out of it, or that kills it. You just give to others knowing that in some form, in some way, it will probably come back to you. But even if it doesn't, the experience has still taught you something valuable.

Re: Grant Griffiths Shoots Dorothy, Sells Toto On Ebay

Michael Martine — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 11:26:27 -0000

Grant is indeed an all-around awesome dude. Awesome headline on this post. :)

Re: Video Post: Website vs. Blog - Search Engine Rankings

Michael Martine — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 11:28:07 -0000

That Michael Martine... what a poseur!

Re: Video Post: Website vs. Blog - Search Engine Rankings

Michael Martine — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 13:52:37 -0000

@John - Yes, I know, and your assessment of it I read in a comment elsewhere was very positive. I wanted to explain it a little bit for the benefit of your readers. :) The final version will have video and an expanded ebook.

Re: Re-emergence

Michael Martine — Sat, 19 Nov 2005 11:42:43 -0000

Welcome back. I could tell you're a lawyer when I read your TOS page. Jeez! ;)

Re: To Register or Not Register?

Michael Martine — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 10:45:32 -0000

As someone who both downloads and will be creating white papers (why I'm visiting this blog!), I wonder about this myself. Here's what I think about it currently, but I'm open to suggestion: I think reducing friction increases conversion. A downloaded white paper is the "foot in the door," not the information gained during any registration process.

I've seen white papers and other ebook-type files (I know you would probably draw a distinction between the two) that do a masterful job of inviting participation or feedback (not pressure to purchase) back at the original site. If the paper's content is valuable enough, it seems to me that anything else other than polite invitations is ham-fisted.

Re: To Register or Not Register?

Michael Martine — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 12:39:41 -0000

In your case Michael, the bigger question is what are you trying to accomplish? Lead nurturing, thought leadership, grow your opt-in list??

Good question, Michael. That's something I'll have to think about. My original instinct was to provide an alternative method to connect with readers and "be with them" when they can't be online. Sometimes you just want a nice printout. My goal is to help people be better bloggers, and to do that it makes sense to me to provide a variety of formats that connect with different learning styles, different preferences that people have. In the same vein, I'm thinking about recording audio versions of some of my content, and may even produce screencasts and video.

Thanks for prompting me with the right questions!

Re: Nominate Your Favorite Writing Blog for 3rd Annual Top 10 Blogs for Writers Contest

Michael Martine — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:01:01 -0000

I nominate http://menwithpens.ca .

Harry and James are the best writers on writing on the web because of their storytelling, their style, and that rare combination of breadth and depth.

Re: Google penalizes Video Bloggers for Keyword Stuffing

Michael Martine — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:20:45 -0000

I didn't do it, nobody saw it, you can't prove a THING.

Oh, that, and I'm suing. SUING, I tell you!

<abbr>Michael Martine - Remarkablogger´s last blog post..Why Can’t I Be You? Why Comparisons Are Bad For Your Blog Health</abbr>

Re: How to lose friends and uninfluence people

Michael Martine — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 12:04:24 -0000

Ugly Twitter page backgrounds that only work look right on a 30-inch monitor. Best of all: tile some garish image that makes my brain hurt to look at it.

<abbr>Michael Martine - Remarkablogger´s last blog post..The Revolution will be Twitterized - Twitter Revolution Book</abbr>

Re: The Battle for Our Minds

Michael Martine — Mon, 05 May 2008 23:12:09 -0000

Wow, I liked you immediately when I met you at SOBCon, but I had no idea your blog was this good! I am so subscribed.

Re: The Alternative Productivity Manifesto

Michael Martine — Wed, 07 May 2008 23:32:27 -0000

Wow this so rocks. I loved the point that what's good for humans is often bad for productivity. If you can kick ass and make the money you need to without being "productive" in the usual sense, then more power to ya.

Also, just thought I'd mention that the word itself has had its meaning distorted a bit. People use the word productive when the really mean efficient. Really its meaning is closer to prolific. Think artist, not cubicle slave.

Re: The Life Hack Misnomer

Michael Martine — Sat, 10 May 2008 23:33:13 -0000

Wisdom is quite the anti-hack, too. As something of a Taoist, I love this stuff. I see a book deal in your future, my friend. Y'all heard it here first.

Re: Investigative Report: Tracking Down the Productivity Ninja

Michael Martine — Fri, 23 May 2008 00:04:28 -0000

Well if I had a productivity ninja name it would be "Mr. Productivity Depends."

And if you're thinking, "depends on what?" you didn't get it.

Oh, and Sonia: of course it's a tool. Just like Budweiser is really beer.

Re: Project Liberation

Michael Martine — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:52:39 -0000

Donated, and worth it. Although I would prefer it if you spent it on booze and strippers.

Creating my own life and work has been the most exciting and rewarding thing I've ever done. No matter what happens, Clay, a life where every second is yours with no regrets is a life worth living.
--------------------
Response:
Thanks a ton, Michael. You know what I've earmarked your donation for :-).

Re: Why The Job-ification of Your Passion Can be the Ticket to Hating Your Life

Michael Martine — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 20:06:36 -0000

Absolutely, totally, spot-on wonderful! Except for one point:

When you are blogging to promote your service-based business and get clients, then your blog is probably a soft opportunity that is generating almost no clients for you (blogs are one of the least effective ways to get high-paying clients for your service business; there are some exceptions).

There are quite a few exceptions, I'm afraid. I realize that one statement isn't the point of your post, but I'm curious what information you have to back that up. I can point you to many business people who use their blog effectively to get clients, including myself.

But about people job-ifying instead of business-ifying, or even having the guts to any of it, you're dead on. A lot of people need to hear something that cuts through the happy la-la crap out there.

Re: Why The Job-ification of Your Passion Can be the Ticket to Hating Your Life

Michael Martine — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 13:27:54 -0000

Clay, thanks for the response. Believe it or not, I don't have an email list for Remarkablogger. I get a lot of client inquiries that begin with: "I've been reading your blog for a few months now, and..." My SEO kicks ass. I am on the first page of SERPs for my keywords with the 3rd and 4th listings.

The whole thing I'm going to be teaching in my Gateway Blogging program is what Brian mentioned: blogging for the right people, with the right content. Most people get this wrong, but it's not blogging itself that is to blame. A blog is the shallow lip of the sales funnel.

However, I am going to move into information products to give me more flexibility with my time. Your breakdown of the money was dead on.

Looking forward to the rest of this series. :)

Re: The Whole Scoop: Why I Almost Shut Down The Growing Life

Michael Martine — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:17:08 -0000

This is so cool. Looking forward to it, my friend.

Re: Should Newspapers Become Local Blog Networks?

Michael Martine — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 22:25:12 -0000

It's too late for that. It's not that newspapers should become blogs. It's that blogs are already the modern newspapers. Until newspapers quit thinking like newspapers, what they need to do is keep dying, only faster.

Re: Steam Wars – Dream Project and Future Film?

Michael Martine — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 16:10:51 -0000

I would so love for this to made into a film. And also a series. And a videogame.

Re: The Battle for Our Minds

Michael Martine — Mon, 05 May 2008 23:12:09 -0000

Wow, I liked you immediately when I met you at SOBCon, but I had no idea your blog was this good! I am so subscribed.

Re: The Alternative Productivity Manifesto

Michael Martine — Wed, 07 May 2008 23:32:27 -0000

Re: The Life Hack Misnomer

Michael Martine — Sat, 10 May 2008 23:33:13 -0000

Wisdom is quite the anti-hack, too. As something of a Taoist, I love this stuff. I see a book deal in your future, my friend. Y'all heard it here first.

Re: Investigative Report: Tracking Down the Productivity Ninja

Michael Martine — Fri, 23 May 2008 00:04:28 -0000

Re: Project Liberation

Michael Martine — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:52:39 -0000

Re: Why The Job-ification of Your Passion Can be the Ticket to Hating Your Life

Michael Martine — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 20:06:36 -0000

Absolutely, totally, spot-on wonderful! Except for one point:

When you are blogging to promote your service-based business and get clients, then your blog is probably a soft opportunity that is generating almost no clients for you (blogs are one of the least effective ways to get high-paying clients for your service business; there are some exceptions).

Re: Why The Job-ification of Your Passion Can be the Ticket to Hating Your Life

Michael Martine — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 13:27:54 -0000

Re: The Whole Scoop: Why I Almost Shut Down The Growing Life

Michael Martine — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:17:08 -0000

This is so cool. Looking forward to it, my friend.

Re: Perhaps Britney should manage England?

Michael Martine — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 13:48:03 -0000

Thanks for the mention! Britney makes great fodder for just about anything, really. Hard to go wrong with that. ;)