I've posted a new Highway Vlog over at mattsingley.com talking about media that is rocking my world right now. I cover internet, video and music.
Watch, comment and check out the links that pop up throughout the episode.
I have been dipping my toe into the pool of professional voice over work. The premise is that I record my ridiculously low voice by reading a script or acting out a small part and then I give it to a company for use. Pretty simple.
The tools that are used for this kind of work these days are unlike any that I've used in the past. I had to purchase a professional microphone, get a preamp and audio interface, and install some new software on my studio computer. The software is called Pro Tools, and I have never used it before, but it's the standard for production now, so I have to learn to use it. I would say it's a fairly complex program and it's going to take me a while to understand how to use it properly, in combination with my new hardware.
On the other hand, I could just speak into a tape recorder and send a cassette tape over to the client. Sure, it may not sound very good and the client may not even own a cassette player anymore, but there is no doubt in my mind that this is an easier way of getting my message out. Heck, it's what I've always done. Cassette tapes are easy to use and low tech...if they are good enough for me, my clients should forget all this fancy-schmancy stuff like Pro Tools and microphones and use what I'm using.
Of course by choosing this option, the path of "that's what I've always done and I'm comfortable with it" I risk everything. It's a bit arrogant of me to think that the very folks that I want to hear what I have to say are going to stop using cutting edge methods of communication and will go back to the old ways. If I send a cassette tape to a client instead of sending them an electronic file via FTP, there is a good chance that they won't even listen to what I have done to determine if it's good or bad. They will simply ignore me.
If you work at a church and are in charge of the most important message in history, why don't you chew on this post for a while.
Last week I discussed a series of articles that I read that dealt with the subject of blogging, and how much detail is too much. Today I want to look into the motivation behind attention-blogging, that phenomenon of sharing way too much with the world about your personal life.
Interestingly, after I wrote that piece last week I got several emails, text messages and direct messages on Twitter asking if "you are talking about me". My truthful answer to every one of those inquiries was "no". As I started to consider the need for attention via blogging (macro blogging like TypePad or micro blogging like Twitter), no one person came to mind. I really thought about the concept in general, so this is not aimed at anybody in particular.
I find it curious that people will share so much of their lives with the world. Now, I can already feel the eye rolls from many of you as I have shared a great detail about my life over the last several years via blogging. I'm not talking about sharing personal information, I'm talking about sharing information that is well beyond appropriate measure. I don't want to hear about when you had diarrhea, or when your monthly cycle is starting and how horrible that is, or the intimate details of your horrible fight with your girlfriend/boyfriend/spouse. Why do people share these things?
As I look back over my life I think about the kinds of folks that shared this information with everybody in earshot before Twitter allowed us to broadcast it, or before blogging allowed interactive commentary on going to the bathroom. When I consider these types of people I realize that the attention-bloggers these days probably fall into one of the following categories:
There are probably more than five categories that would encompass the over sharing blogger, but those are the first that come to mind mind. Before you think me a stone-thrower, let me tell you this...
I have been affected and ultimately motivated to write a post by all of these elements at some point or another.
Well, with the exception of the sociopathic one (although I'm sure a couple of my regular readers would argue that point with me). So you see, I'm not beyond the reach of these very real human emotions. I do take exception, however, with the people that are primarily motivated by them and use their blog or Twitter as an outlet.
So what are you to do when you come across an oversharer? First, have a bit of tolerance. Everybody slips up now and again, so if this is an exception as opposed to a rule, just be patient. Chances are, after a little outburst, the author is more embarrassed about writing that than you think. Second, if you actually know an oversharer personally, it's probably a good idea to approach them out of love and let them know that the world is tired of hearing about their bathroom habits.
If I have been a reader/follower of somebody for a while and notice a pattern of oversharing, I do what they fear the very most: I simply turn them off. I don't give notice, I don't send a series of emails explaining my departure. I simply go away. That's one less tick on the analytics counter, and believe me...they notice the drop in their stats and it is a stronger message than 100 strongly worded letters.
I have thoughts about the "cure" for blog over sharing, but I think I will let them stay in my head as opposed to writing them down here. The summary of these thoughts however center around a real relationship with Christ. When He is the center of our lives...the true center, not just the expressed center...then it's likely the need for over sharing will go away. Anger disapates, ego stroking minimizes and our security is found in Him. Not overnight, but as the relationship strengthens we find our strength in Him. And that, my friends, is a good thing.
Over at mattsingley.com I have posted a new Highway Vlog. If you go to the main page of the site you can see the video in a larger format, better image and sound quality. You can click straight through to the archive (comment/blog) section to see a smaller version and leave a note.
I'm discussing two words: what if. To some people those are words that bring a lot of hope and excitement, to others they have a negative connotation. This quick video explores that.
I read a series of very interesting blog posts today, a rabbit trail of writing that dove into the subject of the (apparent) psychological dysfunction of some bloggers, the decent new media balance of others.
I started with a post by Brad Feld called "I Blog, I Tweet, But Why". Being new to Brad's blog, I looked around the header and sidebar for interesting tidbits before I started reading. What caught my eye is his Feedburner box in the upper right corner. At first I thought it said 1205 readers. Wow, that's quite a few. Wait a minute...that isn't a five, it's a "k". What the...one hundred twenty thousand readers? Is that right?!? But I digress.
In this post Brad talks about living a public life, a life of blogging and tweeting. It's a short read and does not go too deep, but he brings up some interesting points. I like what he says about his oversharing, his mis-tweets. He says,
The notion of living in public is an unintended side effect of this. It's part of the package if you really want to engage with this stuff. I've had my share of bad moments; like Fred the worst is when I piss off my wife Amy with something I write. It doesn't happen often, but every now and then I get an email saying approximating "please delete that tweet".
I haven't had that experience too much, although I can relate to what he is talking about. Sometimes those of us that live in the virtual world do share too much about our actual worlds, and it causes more than a little friction. At the beginning of his post, Brad mentioned Fred Wilson and one of his posts, so I clicked on that to see what inspired his words for today.
I recently started following Fred Wilson on Twitter, at the urging of my friend Jared. I haven't been reading his blog though, so this was a first for me. His post from May 25 is called "Can We Live In Public?" In it Fred goes more in depth than Brad did, looking into a life under the lens of public observation via social networks and the new media. He mentions Emily Gould early on, we'll get to her in a moment.
Fred talks about mean things being said in the comments from people he doesn't know. I've experienced this many times. To my initial surprise (although I am no longer surprised by this, I have learned), I have even received mean comments from people I do know! Fred responds by saying this:
But there will be mean things said in the comments. It's easy to say mean things to a computer. Harder to someone's face. I've learned to take the hit and move on. I never delete the comments unless they are spam or porn or hate speech (and I don't mean hating me). I figure by leaving them there, I am airing their hateful views for everyone to see. And I love it when Jackson or someone else who knows me well gives them a piece of mind.
I have opted toward a similar stance and have only deleted comments a handful of times in 8 years of blogging. Even though it stings to see those words come across a computer screen, I leave them there, unless...especially if...they are referencing somebody else. I can take my licks, but I won't let my blog be a forum for others' hatred toward the world. Fred wrapped up his short post (though longer than Brad's) with this great thought:
But why live in public? It is necessary? No it is not. But humans are social beings. We were social in caves. We are social in cyberspace. And those who are extroverts will be extroverts online. And there is a lot to be gained from living publicly online. As long as you know where to draw the line.
And therein lies the problem. Many people don't know where to draw the line. For a look into this world of online social activity I clicked through to Emily Gould's recent article in the New York Times simply titled "Exposed".
This is a lengthy article, probably one of the longest articles that I've read online in a long time. Usually if something can't be summarized in the first 1,000 characters I don't read it. However, this article had me captivated.
For ten pages (web pages anyway, five minutes worth of reading) she goes into great detail about her online adventure with Gawker, a site devoted to "media gossip and pop culture round the clock". Not a site that I have ever been to before, nor will I go in the future, but it's obviously very popular.
Emily talks about how her obsession led to the destruction of at least two relationships, a job and maybe even her sanity. It's a gripping and somewhat sad tale, although Penelope Trunk does not seem to have any sympathy for her. On the fourth page of her article, Emily mentioned another blogger that openly stated, "attention is my drug" and infers strongly that she can relate. She even talked about the addiction of receiving comments on her blog:
It’s easy to compare the initial thrill of evoking an immediate response to a blog post to the rush of getting high, and the diminishing thrills to the process of becoming inured to a drug’s effects. The metaphor is so exact, in fact, that maybe it isn’t a metaphor at all.
I encourage you to read the entire article, it can be found here. If you are a blogger or a tweeter, I especially encourage you to read this. If you click through to the comments you will find that she gets absolutely blasted, as does The Times, for this article.
In part two of this post I'm going to discuss what fuels attention blogging and oversharing from my point of view. It's not scientific and it's not pretty, but I'm pretty sure it's accurate in too many circumstances. It may hit too close to home. Stay tuned.
If you head over to www.mattsingley.com you will see a new Highway Vlog that I put up. In it I answer two questions that are very frequently asked of me: 1) have you ever thought about becoming a pastor, and 2) are you going to stay in ministry?
I still haven't married everything together so that you can comment on the videos, I will probably link it back to this blog anyway...so hang with me until I get it all up. Thanks for swinging by.
In the last post we talked about creating a blog, this post will talk about following other bloggers.
I currently follow just over 200 bloggers. You may wonder how I keep up with all of them without spending all day clicking from one page to the next. The answer is simple: I use a feed reader.
A "feed" is the name for a post that goes onto a blog that is supported by RSS (really simple syndication). RSS allows people to dump their feeds into one place so they can neatly sort and read them. Think of it like a newspaper: the blogosphere is the entire newspaper, made up of different sections and articles. One blog post equals one article. Just like you wouldn't expect the newpaper company to deliver one article to you at a time, likewise you should not expect to have to read one blog at a time. Enter the feed reader (the newspaper), which help you collect them all.
While there are many choices of feed readers, I'm going to explain how to set this up through Google.
Step 1: Set up an account with Google
Look in the upper right corner of the Google homepage. You'll see an area that says "sign in". Click that, then on the next screen, click "create an account now", which you can find on the right side of the page. Your next screen will ask you for several pieces of information, but should be quick and easy to fill out. Got it? Great...sign in and move on to step 2
Step 2: Log into Google Reader
Google Reader will store and sort your blog feeds that you want to follow. Go to www.google.com/reader to get started. Once there, let's go find a blog to subscribe to! Open a new tab or window and go to www.LeadingWithALimp.com
Step 3: Add a Feed
Once you have arrived at the blog you want to subscribe to there are a few ways to add this to your Google reader. First, look for the universal RSS symbol, which is a orange square with white waves in it. At Leading With A Limp you can see that it appears in two different places on the page...on the right column and in the address bar. It appears in the address bar in Firefox, in Internet Explorer it's going to be in the menu bar that stretches across the screen right above the main viewing area. When you click these they should give you an option to subscribe in Google or in a feed reader of your choice.
Another way of subscribing, which a lot of people find even easier, is to copy and paste the address of the blog right into the Google reader. It will magically find the feed and at it to your list! This is particularly effective when services like Feedburner mess up. It happens, technology isn't perfect yet...but it's getting there!
Step 4: Sort
Just like a newspaper has sections (sports, business, metro life) I like my feeds to be sorted into categories. I have labeled mine things like "Pure Geek", "Marketing" and "Bel Air Blogs". Using the settings found in Google Reader, I categorize and sometimes even rename the blogs that I subscribe to. Since I follow so many blogs, this makes it easier for me to read what I want and when I want it.
Step 5: Start Reading!
You will naturally find blogs over time that you want to subscribe to, so don't worry about finding everything all at once. Very often bloggers keep blogrolls on the sides of their main page, so if you find a blogger you like, browse through their blogroll since they likely subscribe to similar people. Add away! Here are some tips for the morning reading time:
That's it! Well, that is to say, that is it for this post. You can explore Google Reader or another feed reader, they will have plenty of other options for customizing your reading experience. If you follow more than a handful of blogs, I strongly recommend using the RSS technology to keep track of them.
You can start by subscribing to mine!
See you in the next post, where we will explore Facebook with a little bit of depth.
This is the first entry into a mini-series I am writing about the New Media. To some, the NM is a way of life, to others it's a foreign concept and to still others it's a threat to the old way of communicating ideas and actions. No matter where you fall in this, I think this series should be of some interest to you. Today I will cover blogging, how to set one up, and what to do once it is set up.
Blogging has been around for the better part of a decade, although it's really come into maturity in the last few years. I actually missed my billion-dollar idea about eight years ago when I coded an entire blogging platform by hand, but then never pursued the commercial application. I thought, "sure, I like to post up my thoughts and have others comment on them, but would this idea really take root in the real world"? We all know the answer to that question now. So instead of owning my own country, here I sit in front of my computer in SoCal, telling others about blogging and it's benefits. :) Me? Bitter? Nah...
The word 'blog' is a shortened version of 'web log', in other words, an online journal. Most people have kept a journal or diary of some sort at some point in their life, so think of a blog that way. The difference? Anybody can read your journal, and not just read it...but leave comments about what they think! Yes, the New Media is about radical transparency and global information collaboration.
If you are comfortable with the idea of blogging and want to get your ideas out there for the world to see, I'm going to tell you how to get started now. BTW, as a side note, most blogging platforms can let you set your page to 'private' so that only people you allow or invite can read your blog. You'll have to figure that part out on your own however, I'm going to tell you how to share your information with the world.
Step 1: Select a Platform
There are many, many blogging platforms (services) that you can use. I have been using TypePad for about 2.5 years and I love it. This is a pay service, and it allows me a tremendous amount of control over content and code. For about $15/month I can do what I want, when I want to my blog. This may be overkill for the beginning blogger, I'll talk about free services in a moment. If you want to get started on TypePad, just click here and you will be taken to a page where you can start a free trial. It should take about 10 minutes to set up, and it's very intuitive, you just follow the prompts and fill in the information that it asks for.
Another very popular platform is WordPress. This is a free or paid service, depending on which features you want. I don't use WordPress, but I know a lot of people that do. A lot.
My favorite totally free service is Tumblr. It's a very simple platform without a lot of bells and whistles. I like that! I like it so much, I started a mini-blog over there a while ago, intended to be my floating thoughts. I saw a Twitter stream the other day between Kem Meyer and others that involved Tumblr as a destination for some beginning bloggers. I totally agree. From sign-up to first post should take you about 2 minutes...if you're slow.
Google has a great blogging service called...well, blogger. It's free and very popular. This is also a great option for people to use, and signing up is simple. You never know who you'll find there, people like my wife and my son.
Now is the most important part...select one of those platforms (and this is far from an exhaustive list, but I don't want to overwhelm you with choices) and sign up! Then on to step 2...
Step 2: Know Your Audience
Are you writing your blog for Uncle Floyd and Aunt Mildred in Kansas so they can keep track of the kids, or are you wanting to share your business knowledge with a broader audience? If you want people to follow you...and keep following you...then you need to know the answer to this.
A personal blog, that is, one that is familial and very personal, can be done very well. Take a look at my friend Alli McKenney's blog. She takes approximately 6,430 pictures of her kids every day and then puts the best of the best online for her friends and family to see. It's very well done! That's an example of a good personal blog. Cute kids, too!
Think you know a lot about your industry? Then write about it! Check out VC and marketing guru Guy Kawasaki's blog. He gets a ton of traffic through here because he is an authority on many things, and people want to know what he has to say. Same thing with Seth Godin's blog. He's an author and speaker, and very well respected. He's an authority, so he writes about what he knows. That isn't to say that you have to be super popular to have a great blog. Perhaps you like to knit. Hey, who doesn't? Make a blog about it and share your passion and knowledge with the world.
Step 3: Write, Baby, Write!
Want a lot of readers? Keep your posts short. I know, I am totally violating that right now. Call it creative license. But do write...and write often! I lost 500+ regular readers over the last 8 months because I haven't been blogging with frequency or passion. If you stay regular, and if you stay passionate, you will have people find you and follow you, it's just that simple. I think if you are putting up posts (the name for an entry on your blog) 2-3 times per week, you'll be just fine. Of course some people have to post every 15 minutes, but that is more of a spiritual gift than anything.
Step 4: Interact
At the bottom of most posts is an area for people to comment on what you just wrote. There is a reason that is there...people want to interact with you! A blog is a platform for you to get your ideas out to others (like a lecture of sermon), but the big difference is that it's also a place for people to respond. So suddenly your thoughts have moved from a lecture to a roundtable discussion! I've found that fewer than 10% of the number of people that come by and read actually comment, so if you only get one or two people leaving their thoughts, don't be discouraged! Make sure you talk back to them! Leave a comment in your own comment section in reply to them! One blogger that does this just about better than anyone is Anne Jackson. Reading through her comments feels like eavesdropping on a fireside chat...it's very conversational, and she often replies directly to those that say things about her posts. Very cool.
Of course some people don't want to have comments on, and that's fine. Seth Godin, who I mentioned earlier, doesn't allow any comments on his post. This works well for Seth, but probably not so well for start-up bloggers.
Step 5: Share The Love!
Once you start blogging, others are going to follow you (which I will explain in detail in the next post). You will follow others as well. When you find some bloggers you like, share the love with your readers! Create a blogroll. That's an area in the sidebar where you link to other blogs. Some people have blogrolls as extensive as a phone book, others (like myself) believe that too much information just makes people ignore it. On my blog I have a rotating blogroll, so every time you refresh the page it's a different group of people. Three categories (soon to be four), five people in each category per page load. Simple is better. If you want to know how to create a rotating blogroll, check out my post here.
If you made it this far....God bless you for your persitence! In the next post we'll look at how to follow other people's blogs without clicking through to each page one at a time. It's easier than it sounds, I personally follow 201 blogs and it takes very little time or effort to do so.
Leading with a limp...
Let me explain the title. It has to do with my philosophy of management as well as ministry, and it has a personal connection to me on a very deep level. For my RSS readers you should pop over to my blog and see the change so you know what I'm talking about.
First the management and ministry stuff. I have interacted with leaders of all calibers, backgrounds, statures and vocations in my jobs at church as well as with my previous two companies. There are as many leadership styles as there are leaders, and if you ask any of them the best way to manage people, they always have an opinion. Welcome to my little corner of the internet, this is my opinion.
I believe that management, when integrated with ministry, should produce fantastic, excellent and wildly transparent leaders. This goes against many management styles of the latter part of last century which would tell you that you must appear invincible and somewhat removed from your workers. But of course, since you are reading a blog (something that has not even existed until very recently), you know that the world has changed since this style was born. In a world of incredible information and reach, transparency is the new invincibility. Gone are the days of steadfast separation from the staff and instead we live in times where management must have a new and intimate awareness of the staff which they serve. Yes, I said that correctly...the staff which they serve.
I believe that with the Next Generation and with the New Media comes an acute awareness between what is genuine and what stinks. I am not in this generation, I'm afraid I'm too old now, but those that come behind me are amazing with the ability to sense genuine relationships and intentions.
Which brings us to my philosophy of management: I believe that with this acuteness comes acceptance as well. Although many are quick to separate the wheat from the chaff, when they do determine that somebody (a person or an organization) is true to what they say, not just in word but in action, they will accept a great amount of variation from the traditional leadership role. In other words, they will not only accept but actually expect vulnerability in their leaders. Paradoxically, this usually creates a greater sense of loyalty and faithfulness.
That is not to say that leaders should be faulty or incompetent. No! Quite the opposite...leaders should be held to very high standards, and should be excellent and what they do. It would be a big mistake to confuse vulnerability and transparency with incompetence and ineptitude. This is where many leaders fail to make the leap, they equate sharing their struggles with their staff to weakness.
I'm proud to say that I work for a man that is not afraid to share himself with his staff or his congregation. The result is a passion for his vision that people want to carry out, they want to be a part of it! I believe that as we move through these days of social networking, 24/7 information and sometimes scary intrusion by the New Media, we must change the way we interact. The rules of society and work are quickly changing, and we must be the leaders that carve the path to great things through transparency, brokenness and inspiration.
In part 2 I will discuss why "leading with a limp" means so much to me personally, and describe briefly the pain associated with this phrase. So for those of you that like to see me in pain, come back soon. ;)
It's time. I'm going to do some other development work with www.MattSingley.com pretty soon, so it's time for me to do some spring cleaning in this little corner of the blogosphere.
Over the next couple of weeks (Easter is upon us, so no guaranteed time lines), I will change the look and feel of this blog. I've come up with a clever name, too. Everybody wants a clever domain name, don't they?
Are you excited? I'm sure the blogosphere is buzzing with anticipation. LOL...see you soon.
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