Hello World — this is Will Swayne. After a bit of a hiatus in activity on the Australian Blogs Blog, I’ve been charged with getting this blog going again to take up the quest of reporting on the Australian Blogosphere.
The first item of business is to assemble a crack team of bloggers to contribute to this blog in a “magazine format”, (kinda like Small Business Branding).
If you’re interested in being considered, here’s a “Job Description” of position(s), plus how to apply:
Wanted: Aussie Bloggers
AustralianBlogs.com.au is aiming to be the go-to site for what’s happening in the Australian blogosphere. The site consists of a tag-centric directory, plus a blog. AB was started by Jon Yau a couple of years back until he sold the site earlier this year to focus on other projects.
We are now looking for 6 to 10 bloggers to share the blogging duties here at the Australian Blogs Blog.
This could be for you if you are:
- Able to craft readable, interesting blog posts (you probably have your own blog right now)
- Can commit to writing a minimum of 2 posts per month, with at least 1 being at least tangentially relevant to blogging and/or the Australian blog / Web 2.0 scene.
- Familiar enough with WordPress to write and publish your own posts without tech support.
We are also looking for an EDITOR to be the head blogger and generally boss everyone around - the main duty of the editor is to keep an eye out for post quality and be main liaison point for the other bloggers in the team.
Here are some of the perks of being a blogger @ Australian Blogs:
- Basking in the kudos of being a contributing writer at the #1 blog directory in Australia.
- You get your profile on the “Authors” page
- Your “resource box” will be included at the end of all your posts
- Your link will be included in the Blogroll
- Did I mention kudos?
How To Apply
If you’d like to get involved, please send an email to me (Will) at info-at-australianblogs-dot-com-dot-au before September 19th with a brief summary of why you think you would suit the position, plus some links to blog posts you’ve done. If you’d like to be considered for the Editor role, please mention that too.
Bests,
Will
About The Author:
Will Swayne is an internet lead generation expert by day and occasional blogger by night. He is the author of the Marketing Results blog and the Acting Co-ordinator Of Bloggers @ AustralianBlogs.com.au.
Sick of the unending checkout queues?
Shitty with crappy car parking at your local mega-hyper-suburban shopping centre?
Then save yourself the hassle:
And the best part is, these guys never ask for the receipt so that they can return it for something else!
About The Author:
I’ve been dabbling with creating websites and online communities as a hobby since 2005. I used to spend the whole day working on other people’s IT solutions - counting down the hours until I could flick on my laptop at home after my wife and kids had gone to bed and hack some amateur code together and put up the website I had pictured in my head.
Why?
I just want someone to tell me they thought it was cool (or thereabouts….)
About The Author:
AustralianBlogs.com.au (via BLOG.biz) launches its first WordPress theme! YAY…(it’s even XHTML-OK…I checked)
I hope it’s a stinging blow I strike for fellow untrained, untalented wannabe web designers.
Download it here at your peril.
About The Author:
Following on from the Google war on pagerank, this SearchEngineJournal post got my attention.
I don’t get out much and had never heard of Widgetbucks - so I thougt I’d give it a try - see the new widget in the right-hand sidebar.
I’ll post our findings in the next few weeks.
About The Author:
Not quite, but you get the idea.
In an increasingly crowded media landscape, bloggers need to use their medium find their own ‘voice’ and position their offering:
- to stand out
- to attract and retain readers
- personalise their content
Here’s an interesting case study of a brand that isn’t quite using reverse psychology but is more akin to highlighting their weaknesses (and in doing so, demonstrating their strengths).
‘Telling the truth’ sets the framework for the customer relationship that is based around honesty and trust. Isn’t this what your blog is trying to achieve?
About The Author:
My partner in slime, Luke Evans went to Podcamp Perth and pointed me to this excellent blog post from Kathryn Greenhill.
About The Author:
With Google’s recent crackdown on paid links, some say in an attempt to increase their takings from the advertising pie, a number of blogs that rely on Google for search engine traffic have been hit hard. If your blog falls into this category, then your choices are as follows:
- Comply with Google - stop selling sponsored links + replace it with AdSense
- Make your blog less Google-dependent for traffic
If you’re leaning towards the latter, here are three ideas to help Google do less evil:
- Retain your audience by promoting your RSS feeds to them - people who subscribe will bypass the Google intermediary layer
- Use your blog as the sharing mechanism it’s designed to be - through comments on other peoples’ blogs, trackbacks, pings, social bookmarking and blog communities like mybloglog, twitter etc
- Get a good domain name that is generic enough that web users will naturally type-in the address e.g. realestate.com.au or podcast.com
About The Author:
The who’s who (spoke to on the day):
Special mention (shared a group conversation with):
These are just a few of the bloggers/web2.0′ers/beer’ers and Interweb’ers that I had the pleasure of seeing/meeting at podcamp perth day 1 2007.
Credit goes out to Chris Quinn for the sweet shot of a podcamp sign.
About The Author:
You have a new idea or product or service.
It’s cool but in its early form - a little edgy and raw.
But it’s got potential.
How do you get the word out?
Hypothesis No.1: Personalise it
If you can’t be all things to all people, road test the idea with a few trusted friends. Cut it down to its raw elements and put it to them for comment.
Put a little spin on it to initiate eyeball engagement. Think of it this way: if your product was a book, what would the cover/title/book need to look like so that the potential reader grabs it off the shelf. Whether he/she ends up buying it will depend on the merits of the transaction - does the book give the reader what he/she needs/wants, but the point is you need to gather the audience before you can even start that spiel.
The AustralianBlogs experience
We thought we’d try our new idea on the inmates/housemates at the Silicon Beach House by individually labelling some beers we brought for Freelancer Friday. Small and hopefully unobtrusive but enough for Bronwen, Myles and Dave to ask the question we wanted them to: “So what’s BLOG.biz?”
Whether or not the new idea meets their needs will depend on how well we do our job in structuring our offering + whether they actually need what we offer….but last things first - let’s make them grab this little idea off the shelf for a closer look.
The Concept
The Yakka
The Execution
Myles Eftos (MadPilot Productions and PerthNorg) and Luke Evans (AustralianBlogs)
Dave Gardner (Intilecta Corporation)
Bronwen Clune (PerthNorg) and Luke Evans
Bronwen Clune and Bronwen’s beer
Beered in absentia: Richard Giles (Scouta) and Jordan Brock (Five Senses Coffee)
About The Author:
Excerpt from Water Corporation’s (WA) latest marketing push.
“water for ALL, forever”.
What I want to know is… what are the WA frogs doing to conserve our water?
About The Author:
Found this sign on the entrance to the main arena at Challenge Stadium, taking a ’state the obvious’ marketing approach.
I wonder what they class as a weapon (Scissors, toothpick, grenade launcher) and who decides?
About The Author:
I love this story - up there with asking a woman whether she’s pregnant only to find out that she’s not (believe me, I know…)
About The Author:
Looks like we’re tracking at 80:12:8 (%) with the bulk of our visitors either typing in our URL directly or via bookmark.
About The Author:
I saw the recent Australian Government ‘Climate Clever’ ads recently and loved it.
A concise, everyday tag line ‘I can do that’ linked with common energy-savings examples eg. no standby power, all against the context of doing your bit to save the planet (for the next generation).
WHAT IT’S SAYING TO YOU: Ultimately, you know it’s good for you so why not try some simple everyday things (like switching the lights off when you’re not using it)? A nice call-to-action with a catchy phrase.
About The Author:
I’ve been avoiding the Facebook and MySpace crowd since its inception - I didn’t want to be the thirty-something, dirty old man on the barstool of a teenie/twenty-sonething nightclub. However, about the time of the relaunch of AustralianBlogs (or thereabouts) Simone sent me a LinkedIn invitation. I must have signed up a little while ago as it’s fallen by the wayside like my hotmail account. So I gave i a whirl - accepted Simone’s kind invitation to link up and dusted off the resume. This time around, I pasted a link on this blog (as you can see on the top right-hand corner).
It’s terribly uncool to the digerati, I’m sure. LinkedIn’s up there with Amazon, eBay and Yahoo as the giants of the first go-around of the internet boom.
So I thought…PERFECT.
Positives
- good for finding long lost friends
- acts as an online business card or whitepages listing
- might help personal ‘trustrank’
- nice to see the track record
Negatives
- a bit narcissistic - and you do feel like a tosser
- privacy - you can’t control who sees your profile and what they do with it
- can’t hide the bad bits - think of it as web cellulite
Overall, I’ve added 30-odd friends (real friends) and a couple of acquaintances from the blog world. Not bad. The greatest tangible benefit has really been hooking up with long-lost friends but I guess it’s been some help with any interested surfers looking to get involved with AustralianBlogs.
About The Author:
This is a great post - I love the distinction between ‘Making money by investing time’ and ‘Making money by investing money’.
About The Author:
Instead of blogging, Sep was spent:
- looking for a new home
- sick in bed
- looking after sick kids
- coping with the spike in workload on the day job
- nagging Luke (but that happens every month - that bludger)
….and didn’t we pay for it - Uniques dropped by a whopping 20%!
About The Author:
I’m such a lousy unconference unattendee having missed out on the fabulous Perth Barcamp organised by Myles and mates. But my wife seems to think the newborn is much more important (plus we’re in the middle of moving house), go figure.
But this upcoming event might just be in the right timezone where I could sneak out for a few hours (just quietly):
PodCamp is a FREE new media UnConference. It’s for anyone with an interest in media and technology and covers topics such as:
* social networking
* emerging technologies
* podcasting and blogging
* creative media (music and art)
* new media development and startups
* business newmedia marketing
Below are the vitals for PodCamp Perth:
WHEN: October 27 & 28
WHERE: Central TAFE (140 Royal St, East Perth WA 6004)
COST: FREE!
REGISTER: at the PodCamp Perth wiki or email perth@podcamp.info (include your full name, website/blog address, and suburb)
The best part of PodCamp is that “you” help make it happen. Whether you want to give a presentation, volunteer to help bring it together, sponsor the event or simply want to listen and learn, it’s about you getting what you want out of the conference. Everyone is encouraged to get involved in their own way.
If you have any questions or want to get involved – email: perth@podcamp.info.
UPDATE:
Look who else is coming!
Attendees:
- Jared Madden, Emersive / Blog, Hunter Valley NSW
- Adam Purcell, redPixel / Blog, Newcastle NSW
- Nick Cowie, State Library / Blog, Kwinana WA
- Constance Wiebrands, Curtin University Library / Blog, North Perth, WA
- Tama Leaver, The University of Western Australia / Blog, Subiaco, WA
- Graeme Watson, The Film and Television Institute WA / Blog, Fremantle, WA
- Lloyd Johnson, Student @ Murdoch Uni / Blog, South Perth, WA
- Kim Flintoff, Student @ QUT/Lecturer-Tutor @ ECU / Blog, Joondanna, WA
- Kay Smoljak, Clever Starfish / Blog, Madeley WA
- Kate Quinn, LMS Systems Administrator, Blog, Dianella, WA
- Chris Quinn, Programmer/Analyst, Dianella, WA
- Simon Wittber, Blog, WA
- Trevor Bennett, Podcasting@ECU, Mount Lawley, WA
- Eran Malloch, TalkWeb TV / Blog, Bedford, WA
- Bob Cooper Swan Tafe Bateman WA
- Gary Barber, radharc / Blog, Ballajura, WA
- Jodi Linto, ECU, Lecturer, Scarborough, WA
- Lisa Billingham, ECU, Systems Librarian, Joondalup, WA
- Bronwen Clune, Norg Media / Norg
- Liam Casey, Curtin University Library / Bentley, WA
- Julia Gross, ECU Library, Mt Lawley, WA
- Mike Nodding, ECU, Project Officer, Centre for Learning and Teaching, Mt Lawley, WA
- Cat Hope, WAAPA COmposers Blog, ECU, lecturer in music, WAAPA, Mt Lawley, WA
- Eva Dobozy, ECU, Lecturer, K-7 Program, School of Education, Joondalup Campus, Perth,WA
- Chantal Morin, TV Producer www.goodenoughtoeat.net , WA
- Michael Newby, Blog, Bentley, WA
- Shane Henderson, ECU, Lecturer, Game Design, Mt Lawley Campus, Perth,WA
- Kim Tran, Blog, Marketing and the Media, Bedford, WA
- Simone van Hattem, Enjoy Perth / Blog, Perth, WA
- Pascal Wijnberg, Enjoy Perth, Perth, WA
- Duncan Riley, TechCrunch / Blog, Australind WA
- Rene LeMerle, ineedhits.com / Blog, Inglewood WA
- Mike Minutillo, Fujitsu Australia New Zealand / Blog, Stratton WA
- Jackie Pedley, West Coast TAFE, Lecturer, Joondalup WA.
- Jenny Lane, ECU, Course Co-ordinator, Lecturer Graduate Diploma in Primary Education, Mount Lawley & Joondalup
- Lutie Sheridan ECU Library, Perth WA.
- yovita Winarto ecu student Perth WA.
- skribe Forti skribe’s Second Life porn emporium, South Perth WA
- Kristy Haines Market United, West Perth, WA
- Tammy Cooksey Market United, West Perth, WA
- Shadi Moqarrabin, ineedhits.com, Yokine, WA
- Angela Han, ineedhits.com, Nedlands, WA
- Kathryn Greenhill Murdoch University Library , WA / Blog
- Stewart Greenhill Curtin University, WA / Blog
- Bruce Paulik, InsideScreen, Claremont, WA
- Dihan Wijewickrama, wellnet, The Carriage WA
- Nicholas Tan, ECU, International Student Adviser, Joondalup, WA
- Kat Black and Jasper Cook, Byte Me! Festival / VJzoo, North Perth WA
- Nick Hodge, Nick Hodge, Sydney, NSW
- Paul Montgomery, FanFooty (including Coaches Box podcast) & Tinfinger / Blog, Geelong, Victoria
- Richard Giles, Scouta / Blog, Perth WA
- Cassandra Colvin, ECU, International Student Coordinator, Churchlands
- Michael Corry, iiNet, Perth
- Sue Waters, Mobile Technology in TAFE / Podcast, Perth WA
- Penelope Coutas, EdD Candidate, Murdoch University, Fremantle WA
- Chris McCormick, Hello, Perth WA
- David Koh, Positive Gold, Karrinyup,Perth WA
- Crispin Harris, Blog, Perth WA
- Natalija Brunovs, Seedpod / Blog, Mt Lawley WA
- Nikki Haseldine, ECU, Library, Perth WA
- Kerry Johnson, Education Officer, educationau, Work: edna’s E-learning Insights Personal: Neotenous Tech, Adelaide, SA
- Nicole David, Curtin University of Technology, Web Multimedia Designer, Bentley, WA
- Ross Buncle, Perthpunk / Blog, Mount Hawthorn, Perth
- Teresha Aird, Infoactive Media / Blog, Iluka, Perth
- Michael Smith, Leeming WA
- Alessandra Morrone, Darch WA
- Matt Aird, Infoactive Media / Blog, Iluka, Perth
- Caine John, ECU Student, Perth WA
- Marziya Mohammedali, kikei.dot.net, MInT Student - ECU, Projects Assistant - UWA, Mt Lawley WA
About The Author:
“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”
- Theodore Roosevelt
“Citizenship in a Republic”
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910
About The Author: