Social Karma (Part 1)

An effective social media strategy is essential for organizations as well as individual professionals.

Using social media effectively, including blogging and social networking sites (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn), can definitely help promote you, your expertise, your company, and its products and services. 

However, it is sad—but true—that too many people and companies have a selfish social media strategy. 

You should not use social media to exclusively promote only yourself or your business. 

You need to view social media as Social Karma. 

If you can focus your social media and social networking efforts on helping others, then you will get much more back than just a blog reader, a LinkedIn connection, a Facebook friend, a Twitter follower, or even a potential customer.

I am not a Social Media Expert—but I play one on the Internet

I am not a social media “expert.”  In fact, until late 2008, I wasn't even interested enough to ask people what they meant when I heard them talking about “social media.”  I started blogging, tweeting, and using other social media in early 2009. 

Please let me do the complex math for you—I still have less than one year of actual experience with social media.

I don't know how you define expertise—and I do acknowledge the inherent difficulty in vetting expertise in such a new and rapidly evolving field—but less than one year of experience with anything does not an expert make, in my humble opinion.

However, I have spent over 15 years in computer science and information technology related disciplines, as a software engineer, consultant, and instructor.  I have considerable experience and expertise applying technology in a business context in order to implement solutions for Global 500 companies in a wide variety of industries. 

Therefore, I am not a complete moron—but I will leave it to you to determine the actual percentage.

I am currently a full-time writer making all of my income from social media—mainly from blogging and mostly from ghostwriting for corporate blogs.

I am not trying to sell you anything. 

I am going to freely share what I have learned so far, including what I have learned from people with far more experience using social media.  As I stated previously, I hesitate to call anyone an expert in such a rapidly evolving discipline, but I will mention several resources I have found helpful. 

I have absolutely no affiliation or any paid relationship with any person, website, event, product, or book that I recommend.

About This Series

The primary reason that I am organizing my thoughts about social media involves my preparation for an upcoming conference presentation about using social media effectively for business purposes (more details in the next section).

I am publishing this content as a series on my blog, not only to provide supporting material for the small group of people that actually attend my conference session, but also because I have learned firsthand how the two-way conversation that blogging provides via comments from my readers, greatly improves the quality of my material.

Throughout this series, I will combine traditional blog posts with presentation slides, podcasts, and videos, in order to build a multimedia library of supporting material—all freely available, no registration required.

Enterprise Data World 2010

Enterprise Data World is the business world’s most comprehensive vendor-neutral educational event about data and information management.  This year’s program will be bigger than ever before, with more sessions, more case studies, and more can’t-miss content, providing over 200 hours of in-depth tutorials, hands-on workshops, practical sessions and insightful keynotes to take you to the forefront of your industry.   

Enterprise Data World 2010 will be held March 14-18 in San Francisco, California at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square.

The full conference agenda can be viewed by clicking on this link: Enterprise Data World 2010 Conference Agenda.

The registration options can be viewed by clicking on this link: Enterprise Data World 2010 Conference Registration. 

Use the discount code of EDW10SPKR for a $100 discount off your registration fees. (Discount code expires on February 26.)

On Monday, March 15 from 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM, I will be presenting (30 minutes of material and 30 minutes of Q&A):

Social Karma: The Art of Effectively Using Social Media in Business

In Part 2 of this series:  We will discuss leveraging social media for “listening purposes only” as a passive (and safe) way to determine what (if any) type of active involvement with social media makes sense for you and/or your company.

Related Posts

Social Karma (Part 2) – Social Media Preparation

Social Karma (Part 3) – Listening Stations, Home Base, and Outposts

Social Karma (Part 4) – Blogging Best Practices

Social Karma (Part 5) – Connection, Engagement, and ROI Basics

Social Karma (Part 6) – Social Media Books

Social Karma (Part 7) – Twitter

So Long 2009, and Thanks for All the . . .

Before I look ahead to the coming New Year and wonder what it may (or may not) bring, I wanted to pause, reflect on, and in the following OCDQ Video, share some of the many joys I was thankful for 2009 bringing to me.

If you are having trouble viewing this video, then you can watch it on Vimeo by clicking on this link: OCDQ Video

Thank You

Thank you all—and I do mean every single one of you—thank you for everything.

Happy New Year!!!

Will people still read in the future?

This question and debate was motivated by my comments on the recent blog post The Future of Reading by Phil Simon.

In the following OCDQ Video, I share some of my perspectives on the future of reading, specifically covering three key points:

1. Books vs. e-Books
2. Print Media vs. Social Media
3. Reading vs. Multimedia

  If you are having trouble viewing this video, then you can watch it on Vimeo by clicking on this link: OCDQ Video

A Very Brief History of Human Communication

Long before written language evolved, humans communicated using hand and facial gestures, monosyllabic and polysyllabic grunting, as well as crude drawings and other symbols, all in an attempt to share our thoughts and feelings with each other.

First, improved spoken language increased our ability to communicate by using words as verbal symbols for emotions and ideas.  Listening to stories, and retelling them to others, became the predominant means of education and “recording” our history.

Improved symbolism via more elaborate drawings, sculptures, and other physical and lyrical works of artistic expression, greatly enhanced our ability to not only communicate, but also leave a lasting legacy beyond the limits of our individual lives.

Later, written language would provide a quantum leap in human evolution.  Writing (and reading) greatly improved our ability to communicate, educate, record our history, and thereby pass on our knowledge and wisdom to future generations.

The Times They Are a-Changin’

The pervasiveness of the Internet and the rapid proliferation of powerful mobile technology is transforming the very nature of human communication—some purists might even argue it is regressing human communication.

I believe there is already a declining interest in reading throughout society in general, and more specifically, a marked decline across current generation gaps, which will become even more dramatic in the coming decades.

Books vs. e-Books

People are reading fewer books—and fewer people are reading books.  The highly polarized “book versus e-book debate” is really only a debate within the shrinking segment of the population that still reads books. 

So, yes, between us book lovers, some of us will not exchange our personal tactile relationship with printed books for an e-book reader made of the finest plastic, glass, and metal, and equipped with all the bells and whistles of the latest technology. 

However, e-book readers simply aren't going to make non-book readers want to read books.  I am truly sorry Amazon and Barnes & Noble, but the truth is—the Kindle and Nook are not going to making reading books cool—they will simply provide an alternative for people who already enjoy reading books, and mostly for those who also love having the latest techno-gadgets.

Print Media vs. Social Media

We continue to see print media (newspapers, magazines, and books) either offering electronic alternatives, or transitioning into online publications—or in some cases, simply going out of business.

I believe the primary reason for this media transition is our increasing interest in exchanging what has traditionally been only a broadcast medium (print media) for a conversation medium (social media).

Social media can engage us in conversation and enable communication between content creators and their consumers.

We are constantly communicating with other people via phone calls, text messages, e-mails, and status updates on Twitter and Facebook.  We are also sharing more of our lives visually through the photos we post on Flickr and the videos we post on YouTube.  More and more, we are creating—and not just consuming—content that we want to share with others.

We are also gaining more control over how we filter communication.  Google real-time searches and e-mail alerts, RSS readers, and hashtagged Twitter streams—these are just a few examples of the many tools currently allowing us to customize and personalize the content we create and consume.

We are becoming an increasingly digital society, and through social media, we are living more and more of both our personal and professional lives online, blurring—if not eliminating—the distinction between the two.

Reading vs. Multimedia

I believe the future of human communication will be a return to the more direct social interactions that existed before the evolution of written language.  I am not predicting a return to polysyllabic grunting and interpretive dance. 

Instead, I believe we will rely less and less on reading and writing, and more and more on watching, listening, and speaking.

The future of human communication may become short digital bursts of multimedia experiences, seamlessly blending an economy of words with audio and video elements.  Eventually, even digitally written words may themselves disappear—and we will communicate via interactive digital video and audio—and the very notion of “literacy” may become meaningless.

But fear not—I don't predict this will happen until the end of the century—and I am probably completely wrong anyway.

Please Share Your Thoughts

Do you read a lot of books?  If so, have you purchased an e-book reader (e.g., Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook) or are you planning to in the near-future?  If you have an e-book reader, how would you compare it to reading a printed book?

Do you read newspapers and/or magazines?  If so, are you reading them in print or online? 

How often do you read blogs and other publications that are only available as online content?

How often do you listen to podcasts or watch video blogs or other online videos (excluding television and movies)?

What is the future of reading?

Recently Read: December 21, 2009

Recently Read is an OCDQ regular segment.  Each entry provides links to blog posts, articles, books, and other material I found interesting enough to share.  Please note “recently read” is literal – therefore what I share wasn't necessarily recently published.

Data Quality

For simplicity, “Data Quality” also includes Data Governance, Master Data Management, and Business Intelligence.

• Welcome to DQ Directions – In this blog post, Dylan Jones of Data Quality Pro formally announced the DQ Directions online conference, which will debut in Q2 2010, and will feature presentations from experts and industry thought leaders specializing in data quality, data governance, and master data management.
• Ways to 'Communivate' your Data Issues – In her Purple Cow of a blog post, Jill Wanless (aka Sheezaredhead) explains that ‘Communivate’ is a combination of the words communicate and innovate, and it means to communicate in an innovative way, which she does regarding the importance of data quality.
• ’Tis the Season for a Data Governance Carol – Part 1 and Part 2 – In his excellent two-part series, Rob Paller of Baseline Consulting uses a Dickensian framework to explain the importance of data governance and data quality – and the fact that there isn’t a simple framework to blindly follow for Data Governance.
• The “Santa Intelligence” Team – An excellent Christmas-themed blog post from Paul Boal, in which we learn that Santa does indeed have a Business Intelligence team.
• Data quality is for life not just for Christmas – In this Diary of a Marketing Insight Guy blog post, Simon Daniels reminds us data quality can be a gift that will keep on giving—if data quality management is built into the heart of an organization’s processes and operations.
• Finding a home for MDM – In his second post on the DataFlux Community of Experts, Charles Blyth examines where master data management (MDM) fits within your overall enterprise architecture.
• The Decade of Data: Seven Trends to Watch in 2010 – In his blog post on Informatica Perspectives, Joe McKendrick examines some up-and-coming trends that he predicts will shape the data management space in 2010.
• Are we ready for all this data? – In his blog post, Rich Murnane uses some recent news stories to ponder if even us experienced data geeks are really ready for the amount of data we're going to need to manage due to the unrelenting increases in data volumes.

Social Media

For simplicity, “Social Media” also includes Blogging, Writing, Social Networking, and Online Marketing.

• Why James Chartrand Wears Women’s Underpants – In this Copyblogger guest post, James Chartrand, who is an awesome writer and blogger, revealed that he is also—a woman writing under a male pseudonym.  Samuel Taylor Coleridge once wrote that “the truth is, a great mind must be androgynous.”  James will continue to teach me about writing and blogging.
• How to combine personal and professional online without pissing people off – Monica O'Brien, author of the new book Social Pollination, offers some sage advice on personal branding, explaining there is no way to separate our personal lives from our professional ones, and shares her thoughts on how to handle this common challenge.
• Seven rules of blogging from a legend of the craft – In his guest post on The Punch, Darren Rowse provides a list of seven great blogging tips, including building a foundation of helpful content and building a community.
• How to Promote Your Work – Chris Brogan explains that when using social media channels to promote your work, it’s really important that you are participatory in the social space, and he explains the basics of a simple presence framework.
• Should We Be Worried About Fast Food Content? – Copyblogger's Sonia Simone examines the bad assumptions underlying the concerns raised in Michael Arrington's recent blog post on TechCrunch: The End Of Hand Crafted Content.

Book Quotes

An eclectic list of quotes from some recently read (and/or simply my favorite) books.

• From Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuk – “Your business and your personal brand need to be one and the same...Your latest tweet and comment on Facebook and most recent blog post—that's your résumé now...It's a whole new world, build your personal brand and get ready for it.”
• From A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink – “Empathy is neither a deviation from intelligence nor the single route to it.  Sometimes we need detachment; many other times we need attachment.  The people who will thrive will be those who can toggle between the two.” 
• From Connected by Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler – “Just as brains can do things that no single neuron can do, so can social networks do things that no single person can do...our connections to other people matter...most of all it is about what makes us uniquely human...To know who we are, we must understand how we are connected.”

Podcast: Stand-Up Data Quality

December—the last month of the year when we hustle and bustle to finish our work, while visions of sugar-plums dance in our holiday shopping heads.  During this time of year, little attention (and rightfully so) is paid to the blogosphere—especially the neither naughty nor nice, but simply niche-y corners of the blogosphere.

As I have often joked, data quality is not just a niche – if technology blogging was a Matryoshka (a.k.a. Russian nested) doll, then data quality would be the last, innermost doll.  This doesn't mean that data quality isn't an important subject – it just means its extra-niche-y-ness all but guarantees December (and usually January and most of February too) will be a very cold month – when all niche blogs struggle to rub two random RSS readers together in order to start a cozy fire, keeping them warm until their blogging hope springs eternal once again come springtime.

Niche blogs can either shutdown during this blogging lull, or use it as an opportunity to experiment.  I have chosen the latter, which explains why four of my last six blog posts have used either a Podcast or a Video. 

Not to worry though, I haven't given up writing more “traditional” blog posts.  I simply plan to use more podcasts and videos in 2010 as a way to add more variety (and more of a personal touch) to my blog content.  They may not appear as frequently as they have recently, but more is to come in the new year.  For now, I am experimenting with how best to produce them.

Stand-Up Data Quality

In this OCDQ Podcast, I discuss using humor to enliven a niche topic, and revisit some of the stand-up comedy aspects of some of my favorite written-down blog posts from earlier this year.

Humor can be a great way to start a conversation and hold your readers' attention for those few precious additional seconds while you are getting to your point.  Obviously, there will be times when the seriousness of your subject would make comedy inappropriate, and if you are not naturally inclined to use humor, then you shouldn't try to force it.

You can also download this podcast (MP3 file) by clicking on this link: Stand-Up Data Quality

Related Posts

The Tell-Tale Data

Data Quality: The Reality Show?

Data Quality is People!

All I Really Need To Know About Data Quality I Learned In Kindergarten

The Mullet Blogging Manifesto

Video: Twitter Search Tutorial

In this OCDQ Video, I provide a brief tutorial on Twitter Search.

Key points about Twitter Search covered in the video tutorial:

• Unlike other social networking sites (e.g., Facebook, LinkedIn), you don't need an account for read access to Twitter content
• This is a safe way for you or your company to start leveraging Twitter for “listening purposes only”
• You can save Twitter Search queries as RSS feeds (e.g., for viewing within Google Reader)

If you are reading this blog post via e-mail or a feed reader, then to view this video, please click on this link: OCDQ Video

For more help finding data quality content on Twitter, click on this link: Data Quality on Twitter

Related Posts

Live-Tweeting: Data Governance

Brevity is the Soul of Social Media

If you tweet away, I will follow

Tweet 2001: A Social Media Odyssey

Recently Read: December 7, 2009

Recently Read is an OCDQ regular segment.  Each entry provides links to blog posts, articles, books, and other material I found interesting enough to share.  Please note “recently read” is literal – therefore what I share wasn't necessarily recently published.

Data Quality

For simplicity, “Data Quality” also includes Data Governance, Master Data Management, and Business Intelligence.

• Data Quality Blog Roundup - November 2009 Edition – Dylan Jones at Data Quality Pro always provides a great collection of the previous month's best blog posts, which covers most of the my “recently reads” for data quality.
• The value of Christmas cards – In this Data Value Talk blog post from Human Inference, we learn about how sending Christmas cards can optimize your data quality.
• Santa Quality – Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus—as well as a Saint Nicholas, a Père Noël, a Weihnachtsmann, and a Julemand.  In this blog post, Henrik Liliendahl Sørensen explains some ho-ho-holiday data quality issues.
• Some TLC for Your Data – Data really needs some tender loving care.  Daniel Gent explains in his latest blog post.
• Determining data quality is the first key step – In the second part of a blog series on data migration, James Standen explains that a data migration project will be required to actually improve data quality at the same time, and therefore it is really two projects in one.  The post contains the great line: “data quality sense tingling.”
• Data Chaos and Five Truisms of Data Quality – In his debut post on the DataFlux Community of Experts, my good friend Phil Simon provides a quick case study and five universal truths of data quality.

Social Media

For simplicity, “Social Media” also includes Blogging, Writing, Social Networking, and Online Marketing.

• Beware Social Media Snake Oil – In this BusinessWeek article, Stephen Baker examines the value of wikis, social networks, and blogs, and the hordes of “experts” promoting the hype that may obscure the real potential of social media.
• Measuring Social Media Marketing – Chris Brogan provides a nice counterpoint to some of the (definitely legitimate) issues raised in Stephen's Baker's BusinessWeek article (see above).
• 10 Things I Wish I Knew when I Started – ProBlogger guest post by Nathan Hangen of Making it Social, which lists ten things that new (and experienced) bloggers can use to elevate their game to the next level.
• The Force is Strong With This One: 10 Ways to be a Copywriting Jedi – Copyblogger guest post by Sean Platt and David Wright of Collective Inkwell, which lists ten tips for direct response copywriting that are equally applicable to all writing.

Awesome Stuff

An eclectic list of articles, blog posts, and other “non-data quality, non-social media, but still awesome” stuff.

• The Greatest Book Of All Time? – Josh Hanagarne (a.k.a. the “World’s Strongest Librarian”) recently reviewed a book he received from Ethan.  Josh has a simple philosophy of life — “Don’t make anyone’s day worse” — if you are having a bad day (like I was the day I found this), then check this out.
• Cute Apple parody from The Sun – Rob Beschizza on Boing Boing shares a great one minute video of a recent commercial from The Sun about “The UK's best handheld for 40 years.”

Podcast: Your Blog, Your Voice

In this OCDQ Podcast, I discuss the importance of blogging in your own voice. 

The best way to produce unique content is to let your blogging style reflect your personality.  Make your readers feel like they are having a conversation with a real person – not just someone who is blogging what they think people want to read.

Your Blog, Your Voice

You can also download this podcast (MP3 file) by clicking on this link: Your Blog, Your Voice

Related Posts

The Mullet Blogging Manifesto

Collablogaunity

Brevity is the Soul of Social Media

Live-Tweeting: Data Governance

The term “live-tweeting” describes using Twitter to provide near real-time reporting from an event.  I live-tweet from the sessions I attend at industry conferences as well as interesting webinars.

Recently, I live-tweeted Successful Data Stewardship Through Data Governance, which was a data governance webinar featuring Marty Moseley of Initiate Systems and Jill Dyché of Baseline Consulting.

Instead of writing a blog post summarizing the webinar, I thought I would list my tweets with brief commentary.  My goal is to provide an example of this particular use of Twitter so you can decide its value for yourself.

As the webinar begins, Marty Moseley and Jill Dyché provide some initial thoughts on data governance:

Jill Dyché provides a great list of data governance myths and facts:

Jill Dyché provides some data stewardship insights:

As the webinar ends, Marty Moseley and Jill Dyché provide some closing thoughts about data governance and data quality:

Please Share Your Thoughts

If you attended the webinar, then you know additional material was presented.  Did my tweets do the webinar justice?  Did you follow along on Twitter during the webinar?  If you did not attend the webinar, then are these tweets helpful?

What are your thoughts in general regarding the pros and cons of live-tweeting? 

Related Posts

The following three blog posts are conference reports based largely on my live-tweets from the events:

Enterprise Data World 2009

TDWI World Conference Chicago 2009

DataFlux IDEAS 2009

Recently Read: November 28, 2009

Recently Read is an OCDQ regular segment.  Each entry provides links to blog posts, articles, books, and other material I found interesting enough to share.  Please note “recently read” is literal – therefore what I share wasn't necessarily recently published.

Data Quality Blog Posts

For simplicity, “Data Quality” also includes Data Governance, Master Data Management, and Business Intelligence.

• What’s in an eMail Address? – Henrik Liliendahl Sørensen examines different types and uses for e-mail address as a master data attribute, as well as issues relating to real-world duplication and multi-channel marketing and sales.
• Are You Really Ready for Data Governance? – Jill Dyché explains the difference between disruptive and non-disruptive data governance, and why you're really ready for data governance only when you're really ready to get out of your comfort zone.
• Another web form of shame – Graham Rhind continues his personal crusade to bring better data quality to web forms.  In this post, his latest example (trust me, you don't want to be used as an example by Graham) is the B-eye-Network.
• A data geek's list of things he's thankful for... – An excellent Thanksgiving-themed post from Rich Murnane.
• With Gratitude – An excellent Thanksgiving-themed post from Dan Power.
• Data Governance at the Front Line – Charles Blyth explains how pushing data governance to front line business processes and applications must be the ultimate goal.  The post includes a description of the five front line resource categories.

Social Media Blog Posts

For simplicity, “Social Media” also includes Blogging, Social Networking, and Online Marketing.

• Blogging Business Models – the actual title of this ProBlogger guest post by Kelly Diels is much longer and more enticing to click on.  This post contains great advice and useful links about how, if you want to make blogging a business (i.e., if you want to make money from blogging), then you really need a business model.
• Social Networking in the Workplace – Phil Simon discusses the value proposition of social networking in the workplace.  This great post is made even better by the excellent comments it received (and not at all diminished by my comment).
• The Serendipity Engine – Chris Brogan's keynote speech from the Web 2.0 Expo – great ten minute YouTube video.
• Are You Getting Off Track With Your Readers? – in this Copyblogger guest post, James Chartrand discusses the common blogging problem of going off on tangents that, although somewhat interesting, don't really relate to the point of the post.
• Five Social Media Predictions for 2010 – On Social Media Today, Joel Postman shares some very interesting predictions.

Book Quotes

An eclectic list of quotes from some recently read (and/or simply my favorite) books.

• From The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki – “Refuse to allow the merit of an idea to be determined by the status of the person advocating it.”
• From Purple Cow by Seth Godin – “We mistakenly believe that criticism leads to failure.”
• From How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer – “The best decision-makers don't despair.  Instead, they become students of error, determined to learn from what went wrong.”
• From The Whuffie Factor by Tara Hunt – “Whuffie is the residual outcome—the currency—of your reputation.  You lose or gain it based on positive or negative actions, your contributions to the community, and what people think of you.”
• From Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith – “You accrue social capital as a side benefit of doing good, but doing good by itself is its own reward.”

Commendable Comments (Part 4)

Photo via Flickr (Creative Commons License) by: ella_marie 

Today is Thanksgiving Day, which is a United States holiday with a long and varied history.  The most consistent themes remain family and friends gathering together to share a large meal and express their gratitude.

This is the fourth entry in my ongoing series for expressing my gratitude to my readers for their truly commendable comments on my blog posts.  Receiving comments is the most rewarding aspect of my blogging experience.  Although I am truly grateful to all of my readers, I am most grateful to my commenting readers. 

Commendable Comments

On Days Without A Data Quality Issue, Steve Sarsfield commented:

“Data quality issues probably occur on some scale in most companies every day.  As long as you qualify what is and isn't a data quality issue, this gets back to what the company thinks is an acceptable level of data quality.

I've always advocated aggregating data quality scores to form business metrics.  For example, what data quality metrics would you combine to ensure that customers can always be contacted in case of an upgrade, recall or new product offering?  If you track the aggregation, it gives you more of a business feel.”

On Customer Incognita, Daragh O Brien commented:

“Back when I was with the phone company I was (by default) the guardian of the definition of a 'Customer'.  Basically I think they asked for volunteers to step forward and I was busy tying my shoelace when the other 11,000 people in the company as one entity took a large step backwards.

I found that the best way to get a definition of a customer was to lock the relevant stakeholders in a room and keep asking 'What' and 'Why'. 

My 'data modeling' methodology was simple.  Find out what the things were that were important to the business operation, define each thing in English without a reference to itself, and then we played the 'Yes/No Game Show' to figure out how that entity linked to other things and what the attributes of that thing were.

Much to IT's confusion, I insisted that the definition needed to be a living thing, not carved in two stone tablets we'd lug down from on top of the mountain. 

However, because of the approach that had been taken we found that when new requirements were raised (27 from one stakeholder), the model accommodated all of them either through an expansion of a description or the addition of a piece of reference data to part of the model.

Fast-forward a few months from the modeling exercise.  I was asked by IT to demo the model to a newly acquired subsidiary.  It was a significantly different business.  I played the 'Yes/No Game Show' with them for a day.  The model fitted their needs with just a minor tweak. 

The IT team from the subsidiary wanted to know how had I gone about normalizing the data to come up with the model, which is kind of like cutting up a perfectly good apple pie to find out how what an apple is and how to make pastry.

What I found about the 'Yes/No Game Show' approach was that it made people open up their thinking a bit, but it took some discipline and perseverance on my part to keep asking what and why.  Luckily, having spent most of the previous few years trying to get these people to think seriously about data quality they already thought I was a moron so they were accommodating to me.

A key learning for me out of the whole thing is that, even if you are doing a data management exercise for a part of a larger business, you need to approach it in a way that can be evolved and continuously improved to ensure quality across the entire organization. 

Also, it highlighted the fallacy of assuming that a company can only have one kind of customer.”

On The Once and Future Data Quality Expert, Dylan Jones commented:

“I recently attended a conference and sat in on a panel that discussed some of the future trends, such as cloud computing.  It was a great discussion, highly polarized, and as I came home I thought about how far we've come as a profession but more importantly, how much more there is to do.

The reality is that the world is changing, the volumes of data held by businesses are immense and growing exponentially, our desire for new forms of information delivery insatiable, and the opportunities for innovation boundless.

I really believe we're not innovating as an industry anything like we should be.  The cloud, as an example, offers massive opportunities for a range of data quality services but I've certainly not read anything in the media or press that indicates someone is capitalizing on this.

There are a few recent data quality technology innovations which have caught my eye, but I also think there is so much more vendors should be doing.

On the personal side of the profession, I think online education is where we're headed.  The concept of localized training is now being replaced by online learning.  With the Internet you can now train people on every continent, so why aren't more people going down this route?

I find it incredibly ironic when I speak to data quality specialists who admit that 'they don't have the first clue about all this social media stuff.'  This is the next generation of information management, it's here right now, they should be embracing it.  I think if you're a 'guru' author, trainer or consultant you need to think of new ways to engage with your clients/trainees using the tools available.

What worries me is that the growth of information doesn't match the maturity and growth of our profession.  For example, we really need more people who can articulate the value of what we can offer. 

Ted Friedman made a great point on Twitter recently when he talked about how people should stop moaning about executives that 'don't get it' and instead focus on improving ways to demonstrate the value of data quality improvement.

Just because we've come a long way doesn't mean we know it all, there is still a hell of a long way to go.”

Thanks for giving your comments

Thank you very much for giving your comments and sharing your perspectives with our collablogaunity.  Since there have been so many commendable comments, please don't be offended if your commendable comment hasn't been featured yet. 

Please keep on commenting and stay tuned for future entries in the series. 

Related Posts

Commendable Comments (Part 1)

Commendable Comments (Part 2)

Commendable Comments (Part 3)

Brevity is the Soul of Social Media

“Why day is day, night night, and time is time,
Were nothing but to waste night, day and time.
Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit,
I will be brief ...”

Within the wide world of social media, one of the most common features is some form of social networking, microblogging, or short message service that allow users to share brief status updates.  Some social media sites are almost entirely built on only this feature (e.g., Twitter) whereas others (e.g., Facebook, LinkedIn) include it among a list of many other features. 

Either way, these status updates have created a rather pithy platform many people argue is incompatible with meaningful communication, especially of a professional nature.  I must admit this was also my initial opinion of social media.

However, I now believe not only is it the soul of wit, brevity is the soul of social media – and, in fact, a very good soul.

Short Attention Span Theater

I doubt attention deficit will still be considered a disorder ten years from now.  We are living increasingly faster-paced lives in an increasingly faster-paced world.  The pervasiveness of the Internet and the rapid proliferation of powerful mobile technology is making our world a smaller and smaller place and our lives a more and more crowded space. 

We have become so accustomed to multi-tasking that the very concept of focusing our attention on only one thing at a time somehow seems inherently wrong to us.  All the world's a stage within this short attention span theater.  And all of us are not merely players, we have been cast in several simultaneous roles.

Time management has always been important, but nowadays it is even more essential.  This is especially true when it comes to social media, which, if we can effectively and efficiently use it, has great personal and professional potential.  Amber Naslund recently provided an excellent blog series on social media time management that I highly recommend.

The Power of Pith

I admit I am a long-winded talker or, as a favorite (canceled) television show would say, “conversationally anal-retentive.”  In the past (slightly less now), I was also known for e-mail messages even Leo Tolstoy would declare to be far too long.

Therefore, it may be surprising to learn I am addicted to Twitter.  How could I possibly constrain myself to only 140 characters?  No, I don't use ellipses to extend my thoughts across multiple tweets (although I admit I am often tempted to do so). 

I wholeheartedly agree with Jennifer Blanchard, who explained how Twitter makes you a better writer.  When forced to be concise, you have to focus on exactly what you want to say, using as few words as possible. 

The power of pith means reducing your message to its bare essence.  In order to engage in effective dialogue on the stage of our short attention span theater, this is a required skill we all must master – and not just when we are on Twitter.

For those who argue this simply regresses human communication back to our days of monosyllabic grunting, I invite you to read the excellent recent blog post Is Twitter a Complex Adaptive System? written by Venessa Miemis. 

Although you should read all of it, the point I need here will be found under Insight #4 toward the end of the post.  Miemis shares a study that reveals using Twitter can not only improve communication, but actually build intelligence. 

The collaborative communication enabled by social media platforms can actually contribute to a growing collective intelligence made up of all of us.  The power of pith is the wisdom of crowds.

Blogging with Brevity

Brevity is the soul of all social media and yes, this includes blogging as well.  Some view blogging as social media's last bastion of robust communication.  You can take your time and use all the words you want on your blog, right?  Sure, as long as you have no interest in anyone actually reading your blog.

Some bloggers get cranky with me when I emphasize the Three C’s – meaning your blog posts should be:

1. Clear – Get to the point and stay on point
2. Concise – No longer than necessary
3. Consumable – Formatted to be easily read on a computer screen

Concise is usually the main cranky causing culprit because everyone interprets it to mean “write really short posts.” 

One blogger told me he has “never met a subordinate clause he didn't like,” thereby expressing his fondness for writing compound-complex sentences.  For the non-writers, this means really long (but grammatically correct) sentences oftentimes requiring you to read them three or four times before truly comprehending their full meaning.

Don't get me wrong.  This particular blogger is an incredibly gifted writer known for his absolutely brilliant blog posts.  My only true criticism of his writing style is it truly requires a significant time commitment.

Michelle Russell does a great job explaining how to write with a knife.  No, not literally.  Writing with a knife means writing for yourself, but editing for your readers.  Editing is the hardest part of writing, but also the most important. 

Blogging with brevity doesn't necessarily mean “write really short posts.”  Being concise simply means taking out anything that doesn't need to be included.  For example, you really didn't need to read the additional jokes and Shakespearean references included in the first draft of this post.

The Future of Brevity is Bright

Some predict the size limits of message service standards and status updates will be increased.  Others predict new social media platforms will be based on different paradigms.  Either way, innovation will eventually deliver an ability to be more verbose.

However, barring some major scientific breakthrough (or some major breakdown in the space-time continuum), there will still only be 24 hours in a day.  Therefore, no matter what happens, I am certain the future of brevity is bright.

Neither the world nor people in it are likely to slow down.  Our attention spans will remain short.  Our time management skills will remain vigilant.  We will communicate through the power of pith, brevity will remain the soul of both wit and social media, and hopefully, we will all “live long and prosper.”

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Collablogaunity

The meteoric rise of the Internet coupled with social media has created an amazing medium that is enabling people who are separated by vast distances and disparate cultures to come together, communicate, and collaborate in ways few would have thought possible just a few decades ago.  Blogging, especially when effectively integrated with social networking, can be one of the most powerful aspects of social media.

The great advantage to blogging as a medium, as opposed to books, newspapers, magazines, and even presentations, is that blogging is not just about broadcasting a message. 

This is not to say that books, newspapers, and magazines aren't useful (they certainly can be) or that presentations lack an interactive component (they certainly should not).  I simply believe that, when done well, blogging better facilities effective communication by starting a conversation, encouraging collaboration, and fostering a true sense of community.

Mashing together the words collaboration, blog, and community, I use the term collablogaunity — which is pronounced “Call a Blog a Unity” — to describe how remarkable blogs do this remarkably well.

Conversation

Blogging is a conversation — with your readers. 

I love the sound of my own voice and I talk to myself all the time (even in public).  However, the two-way conversation that blogging provides via comments from my readers greatly improves the quality of my blog content —  because it helps me better appreciate the difference between what I know and what I only think I know.

Without comments, the conversation is only one way.  Engaging readers in dialogue and discussion allows some of your points to be made for you by those who take the time to comment as opposed to you just telling everyone how you see the world.

Blogging isn't about using the Internet as your own personal bullhorn for broadcasting your message.  In her wonderful book The Whuffie Factor, Tara Hunt explains that you really need to:

“Turn the bullhorn around: stop talking, start listening, and create continuous conversations.”

Respond to the comments you receive (but never feed the troll).  You don't have to respond immediately.  Sometimes, the conversation will go more smoothly without your involvement as your readers talk amongst themselves.  Other times, your response will help continue the conversation and encourage participation from others. 

Always demonstrate that feedback is both welcome and appreciated.  Make sure to never talk down to your readers (either in your blog post or your comment responses).  It is perfectly fine to disagree and debate, just don't denigrate.  

In a recent guest post on ProBlogger, Rob McPhillips explained: 

“If instead, you are all the time only seeking praise and approval from everyone, then there is nothing solid, consistent or certain about your blog and so ultimately it will never gather a sizeable core of die hard fans.  Only drive by readers who scan a post and never look back.” 

Collaboration

Blogging is a collaboration — with other bloggers.

While conversation is primarily between you and your readers, collaboration is primarily between you and other bloggers.  Although you may be inclined to view other bloggers as “the competition,” especially those within your own niche, this would be a mistake.  Yes, it is true that blogs are competing with each other for readers.  However, sustainable success is achieved through collaboration and friendly competition with your peers.

Brian Clark has explained in the past and continues to exemplify that strategic collaboration is the secret to 21st century success.  Clark has stated that if he had to reduce his recipe for success to just three ingredients, it would be content, copywriting, and collaboration.  And if he had to give up two of those, then he'd keep collaboration.

In their terrific book Trust Agents, Chris Brogan and Julien Smith explain that although people in most cultures view themselves as the central hero in their life's story, the reality is that you need to build an army because you can't do it all alone.

Collaboration between bloggers is mainly about networking and cross-promotion.  You should network with other bloggers, especially those within your own niche.  This can be accomplished a number of ways including e-mail introductions, Twitter direct messages (if the other blogger is following you), LinkedIn connection requests, or Facebook friend requests.

As with any networking, the most important thing is being genuine.  As Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett explained in their highly recommended ProBlogger book, when you network with other bloggers, keep it real, be specific, keep it brief without being rude, and explain why you are interested in connecting.  They rightfully emphasize the importance of that last point.

As we all know, although content may be king, marketing is queen.  Networking with other bloggers can help you get the word out about your brilliant blog and its penchant for publishing posts that everyone must read.  Adding other bloggers to your blogroll, linking to their posts when applicable to your content, and leaving meaningful comments on their posts are not only recommended best practices of netiquette, they are also just the right thing to do.

Too many bloggers have a selfish networking and marketing strategy.  They only promote their own content and then wonder why nobody reads their blog.  I am fond of referring to all social media as Social Karma.  Focus on helping other bloggers promote their content and they will likely be more willing to return the favor.  However, don't misunderstand this technique to be a pathetic peer pressure tactic – in other words, I re-tweeted your blog post, why didn't you re-tweet my blog post?

One last point on collaboration is to set realistic expectations — for others and for yourself.  You should definitely try to help others when you can.  However, you simply can't help everyone.  Don't let people take advantage of your generosity. 

Politely, but firmly, say no when you need to say no.  Also extend the same courtesy to other people when they turn you down (or simply ignore you) when you try to connect with them or when you ask them for their help. 

Mean and selfish people definitely suck.  But let's face it, nobody's perfect — we all have bad days, we all occasionally say and do stupid things, and we all occasionally treat people worse than they deserve to be treated.  So don't be too hard on people when they disappoint you, because tomorrow it will probably be your turn to have a bad day.

Community

Blogging is a community service.

If you truly believe and actually practice the principles of both conversation and collaboration, then viewing blogging as a community service comes naturally.  You will truly be more interested in actually listening to what your readers have to say, and less interested in just broadcasting your message.  You will see your words as simply the catalyst that gets the conversation started, and when necessary, helps continue the discussion. 

You will see friends not foes when encountering your blogging peers.  You will help them celebrate their successes and quickly recover from their failures.  You will help others when you can and without worrying about what's in it for you.

As James Chartrand says, you will welcome people to your blog because you view blogging as a festival of people, a community strengthened by people, where everyone can speak up with great care and attention, sharing thoughts and views while openly accepting differing opinions.  Blogging is a community service providing a wealth of experience, thoughts and knowledge being shared by all sorts of participants.

In the closing keynote of this year's BlogWorld conference, Chris Brogan explained (from notes taken by David B. Thomas):

“Make it about them.  Stop looking at this as a cult of me. 

It has to be about your audience.  Turn them into a community. 

The difference between an audience and a community is the way you face the chairs. 

The difference between an audience and a community:

One will fall on its sword for you and the other will watch you fall.”

Collablogaunity

Pronounced: “Call a Blog a Unity”

There are literally millions of blogs on the Internet today.  Your blog (to quote Seth Godin) is “either remarkable or invisible.”

Remarkable blogs primarily do three things:

1. Start conversations
2. Encourage collaboration
3. Foster a true sense of community

Remarkable blogs are collablogaunities.  Is your blog a collablogaunity?

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The Mullet Blogging Manifesto

Blogging is more art than science.  My personal blogging style can perhaps best be described as mullet blogging.  No, not the “business in the front, party in the back” haircut that I tried to rock back in the '80s (I couldn't pull it off, had to settle for a “tail” and had to cut that off because it made me look like an idiot – OK, more idiotic than usual).  By mullet blogging I mean:

“Take yourself and your blog seriously, but still have a sense of humor about both.”

As a mullet blogger, I hold the following truths to be self-evident, but I decided to write them down anyway.

Blogging is All about You

Not you meaning me, the blogger — you meaning you, the reader.

Blogging should always focus on the reader and provide them assistance with a specific problem, even if that problem is boredom or simply a need for entertainment.  Don't worry about your readers agreeing with you.  They will either thank you for your help or tell you that you're an idiot – either way, you have started a conversation, which should always be your blogging goal.

Brian Clark recently shared something to think about using the following quote from Robert McKee:

“When talented people write badly it’s generally for one of two reasons:

Either they’re blinded by an idea they feel compelled to prove,

Or they’re driven by an emotion they must express.

When talented people write well, it is generally for this reason:

They’re moved by a desire to touch the audience.”

B = U²C³

Blogging = Unique and Useful content that is Clear, Concise, and Consumable.

The conventional blogging wisdom is to be both Unique and Useful.  Although I normally like to defy conventions, I have to agree with the wise ones on these fundamentals.

One of the most important aspects of being unique is writing effective titles.  Most potential readers scan titles to determine whether or not they will click and read more.  There is obviously a delicate balance between effective titles and “baiting,” which will only alienate potential readers. 

If you write a compelling title that makes me click through to an interesting post, then “You Rock!”  However, if you write a “Shock and Awe” title followed by “Aw Shucks” content, then “You Suck!” 

Therefore, your content also has to be unique – your topic, position, voice, or a combination of all three.

One of the most important aspects of useful is “infotainment” – that combination of information and entertainment that, when done well, can turn potential readers into raving fans.  Just don't forget about the previous section – your content has to be informative and entertaining to your readers.

The key to good blogging is to follow the Three C’s – Clear, Concise, Consumable. 

The attention span of a blog reader is not the same as a reader of books, newspapers (they still exist, right?), magazine articles, or the audience for presentations.  Most people only scan blogs, rarely read a full post and even more rarely leave a comment – regardless of how well the blog post is written. 

Write blog posts that get to the point and stay on point (i.e., clear), are no longer than they need to be (i.e., concise), and are formatted to be easy to read on a computer screen (i.e., consumable).

Laugh, Think, Comment

The three things that you want your readers to do.

Although it is not as blatantly formulaic as the title of the previous section, here is another method to my blogging madness:

1. Open with a joke
2. Say something thought provoking
3. End with a call to action

It's as easy as 1-2-3!  In my defense, I didn't say open with a good joke.  But seriously, humor can be a great way to start a conversation and hold your readers' attention for those few precious additional seconds while you are getting to your point.  Obviously, there will be times when the seriousness of your subject would make comedy inappropriate, and if you are not naturally inclined to use humor, then you shouldn't try to force it.

Thought provoking content doesn't have to mean deep thoughts.  There is no need to channel Jean-Paul Sartre, for example.  However, to paraphrase Sartre: “Hell is other people's boring blogs.”

Obviously, comments are not the only type of call to action.  However, blogging is a conversation facilitated by the dialogue and discussion provided via comments from your readers.  Without comments, the conversation is only one way. 

I love the sound of my own voice and I talk to myself all the time (even in public).  However, the two-way conversation provided via comments not only greatly improves the quality of my blog content — much more importantly, it helps me better appreciate the difference between what I know and what I only think I know.

As Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett explained in their highly recommended ProBlogger book: “even the most popular blogs tend to attract only about a 1 percent commenting rate.”  Therefore, don't be too disappointed if you are not getting many comments.  Take that statistic as a challenge to motivate you to write blog posts that your readers simply can not resist commenting on. 

Respond to the comments you do receive.  This continues the two-way conversation and encourages comments from other readers.  Make sure to never talk down to your readers (either in your blog post or your comment responses).  It is perfectly fine to disagree and debate, just don't denigrate. 

Obviously, you should block all spam (leading argument for using comment moderation) and never feed the troll.

Stories and Metaphors and Analogies!  Oh, my!

I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.  Especially me, since I live in Iowa.

Darren Rowse recently shared some great tips about why stories are an effective communication tool for your blog, including a list of some of the different types of stories you can tell.

My blog uses a lot of metaphors and analogies (and sometimes just plain silliness) in an attempt to make my posts more interesting.  This is necessary because I write about a niche topic, which although important, is also rather dull.

James Chartrand uses the term Method Blogging as (yes, you guessed it) a metaphor for blogging by comparing it to method acting.  Try experimenting with different styles like an actor experimenting with different types of roles and movie genres. 

Oftentimes, using stories, metaphors, and analogies in my content works very well.  But I admit, sometimes it simply sucks. 

However, I have never been afraid to look like an idiot.  After all, we idiots are important members of society – we make everyone else look smart by comparison.

The King, Queen, and Crown Prince of Blogging

Meet the Blogging Royal Family: Content, Marketing, and Context.

Content is King.  The primary reason that people are (or aren't) reading your blog is because of your content.

Marketing is Queen.  “If you blog it, they will read.” Ah, no they won't — this ain't Field of Dreams.  Some of the best written blogs on the Series of Tubes get hardly any love because they get hardly any marketing.  In addition to providing RSS and e-mail feeds, I use social media (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn) to promote my blog content.

However, too many bloggers have a selfish social media strategy.  Don't use it exclusively for self-promotion.  View social media as Social Karma.  Focus on helping others and you will get much more back than just a blog reader, a LinkedIn connection, a Twitter follower, or a Facebook friend.  In addition to blog promotion (which is important), I use social media to listen, to learn, and to help others when I can.

Larry Brooks recently explained that although content may still be king, at the very least, you must pay homage to the new Crown Prince — Context.  To paraphrase Brooks, context comes from clarity about your blogging goals, juxtaposed against the expectations and tolerances of your readers.  Basically, this above all: to thine own readers be true.

Emerson on Blogging

“Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.”

One of my favorite writers is Ralph Waldo Emerson.  The quote that started this section was pure Emerson.  What follows is a slight paraphrasing of one of my all-time favorite passages, which comes from his essay on Self-Reliance:

“What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think.  This rule, equally arduous in real and in online life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness.  It is the harder because you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it.  It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great blogger is one who in the midst of the blogosphere, keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.”

Bottom line — BE YOURSELF — Let your own personality shine through.  Make people feel like they are having a conversation with a real person and not just someone who is blogging what they think people want to read.

I hope that you found at least some of this manifesto helpful.  I also hope to see more of you around the blogosphere.

I'll be the balding blogger who used to almost have a mullet...

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If you tweet away, I will follow

Today is Friday, which for Twitter users like me, can mean only one thing...

Every Friday, Twitter users recommend other users that you should follow.  FollowFriday has kind of become the Twitter version of peer pressure – in other words, I recommended you, why didn't you recommend me?

Among my fellow Twitter addicts, it has come to be viewed either as a beloved tradition of social media community building, or a hated annoyance.  It is almost as deeply polarizing as Pepsi vs. Coke or Soccer vs. Football (by the way, just for the official record, I love FollowFriday and I am firmly in the Pepsi and Football camps – and by Football, I mean American Football).

If you are curious how it got started, then check out the Interview with Micah Baldwin, Father of FollowFriday on TwiTip.

In this blog post, I want to provide you with some examples of what I do on FollowFriday, and how I manage to actually follow (or do I?) so many people (586 and counting).

FollowFriday Example # 1 – The List

Perhaps the most common example of a FollowFriday tweet is to simply list as many users as you can within the 140 characters:

FollowFriday Example # 2 – The Tweet-Out

An alternative FollowFriday tweet is to send a detailed Tweet-Out (the Twitter version of a Shout-Out) to a single user:

FollowFriday Example # 3 – The Twitter Roll

Yet another alternative FollowFriday tweet is to send a link to a Twitter Roll (the Twitter version of a Blog Roll):

To add your Twitter link so we can follow you, please click here:  OCDQ Twitter Roll

Give a Hoot, Use HootSuite

Most of my FollowFriday tweets are actually scheduled.  In part, I do this because I follow people from all around the world and by the time I finally crawl out of bed on Friday, many of my tweeps have already started their weekend.  And let's face it, the other reason that I schedule my FollowFriday tweets has a lot to do with why obsessive-compulsive is in the name of my blog. 

For scheduling tweets, I like using HootSuite:

Please note that the limitation of 140 characters has necessitated the abbreviation #FF instead of the #followfriday “standard.”

The Tweet-rix

Unless you only follow a few people, it is a tremendous challenge to actually follow every user you follow.  To be perfectly honest, I do not follow everyone I follow – no, I wasn't just channeling Yogi Berra (I am a Boston Red Sox fan!).  To borrow an analogy from Phil Simon, trying to watch your entire Twitter stream (i.e. The Tweet-rix) is like being an operator on The Matrix.

My primary Twitter application is TweetDeck:

Not that I am all about me, but I do pay the most attention to Mentions and Direct Messages.  Next, since I am primarily interested in data quality, I use an embedded search to follow any tweets that use the #dataquality hashtag or mention the phrase “data quality.”  TweetDeck is one of many clients allowing you to create Groups of users to help organize The Tweet-rix. 

To further prove my Sci-Fi geek status, I created a group called TweetDeck Actual, which is an homage to BattleStar Galactica, where saying “This is Galactica Actual” confirms an open communications channel has been established with the Galactica. 

I rotate the users I follow in and out of TweetDeck Actual on a regular basis in order to provide for a narrowly focused variety of trenchant tweets.  (By the way, I learned the word trenchant from a Jill Dyché tweet).

The Search for Tweets

You do not need to actually have a Twitter account in order to follow tweets.  There are several search engines designed specifically for Twitter.  And according to recent rumors, tweets will be coming soon to a Google near you.

Here are a just a few ways to search Twitter for data quality content:

• Search for Data Quality on Twitter (via search.twitter.com)
• Search for Data Quality on Twitter (via tweetag.com)
• Search for Data Quality on Twitter (via tweettrail.com)
• Search for Data Quality on Twitter (via topsy.com)

Conclusion

With apologies to fellow fans of U2 (one of my all-time favorite bands):

If you tweet away, tweet away
I tweet away, tweet away
I will follow
If you tweet away, tweet away
I tweet away, tweet away
I will follow
I will follow

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