I sometimes wonder if we should be spending more time posting the stuff you sometimes see on mainstream digital marketing blogs – things like 39 new social media resources you may have missed or Spreading holiday cheer and regional cuisine through AdWords. I always come to the same conclusion – why try and rinse and repeat the stuff that others are already doing so well when we can signpost the good stuff? We already follow some of the mainstream blogs and you probably are too. So, what other blogs do we follow? We are just in the process of moving this site to an upgraded platform and new hosting environment. When we do these ten are likely to feature on the blogroll.  Five from me and five from Beth – you can probably guess which ones come from who!

www.mediafuturist.com

I saw Gerd Leonhard talk about the future of advertising (What future he might say?!)  a couple of years ago and have been avidly following him ever since. Love his manner and what he talks about, not to mention the crazy graphics he uses in his slides. Openness is now definitely a survival strategy and data is definitely the new oil!

www.seomoz.org/blog

Search is a really important part of our business. It’s one of the cornerstones that supports a lot of what we do. We work with some really smart SEOs and they have all pointed me to SEOmoz over the years. In an ongoing effort to keep up with everything SEO and a bit more I follow it too.

www.eatbigfish.com/theblog

Endless difference, that’s what this blog is all about. Just when you think all the new angles on a product have been exhausted a clever little fish gets an idea with the ‘cut through’ of a blue whale. Great resource for refreshing thinking on how to make a product stand-out in category.

www.econsultancy.com/uk/blog

With loads of contributors posting on a wide range of topics from technology, strategy and planning, e-commerce, social media, user experience, mobile internet, e-mail, online PR and much more. This is a great blog for keeping on top of the multi-channel, multi-skilled world of digital marketing.

www.chrisbrogan.com

I have people like Chris Brogan and Seth Godin tagged ‘Digerati’ in my RSS reader. Chris Brogan is huge and his blog hugely followed. The thing I like about him is his endless enthusiasm for doing things right and doing things well. Plus the straight talking and practical actionable advice.

www.52weeksofux.com

I love it. If design and ‘User experience’ is your thing then this blog is too. It is pure indulgence in every sense. Get a cuppa and lose yourself. The 52 weeks idea is genius and the ‘old school’ styling gives this modern subject a clever twist. The writing is spot on too.

http://analytics.blogspot.com/

Every session I spend on Google analytics I discover something new. The learning is endless and the opportunities to turn web analytics into demonstrable ROI for a business huge. I love analytics and just about anything measurement or evaluation so of course I am going to follow this blog!

www.aboutourism.wordpress.com

Essentially this blog covers destination branding and travel and trends in global tourism.  It’s a great ‘one stop shop’ for an overview on destination brand strategies and marketing campaigns.

www.180360720.no

Helge Tenno is a Norwegian planner. He produces lovely looking slideshows and has a knack of cutting through waffle and phrasing things to be simple common sense.  I like this intro line “In my work I help companies and organizations discover why they are valuable in customer’s lives”.

http://connect.icrossing.co.uk

iCrossing are a pretty big search and social agency. UK head office in Brighton. As far as agency blogs go I have always thought this is a pretty balanced one. Just the right amount of nerdyness! It’s a good one to point out to people that are managing digital and integrated campaigns. The personality of the place and individuals comes through nicely too.

Tags: blogs, digital marketing, sharing

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This post is kind of a Part II to my previous post – Digital Socialism – a very practical cultural change. It’s to do with looking a bit harder at the way that digital socialism behaves.

The book Here Comes Everyone by Clay Shirky (a very smart fella) considers the way digital social arrangements develop. Here’s a précis of his four steps.

Sharing

When we were kids learning to be a ‘good sharer’ was important. Initially we didn’t much like it but over time sharing made life much better in lots of ways. We interacted, we made friends, we played with those friends, we learnt from them and we felt bonded to them. Online we are creating and sharing lots of stuff – images, video, status updates and bookmarks to name but a few. Sharing is the starting point for cooperation.

Cooperation

We do stuff that makes it easier for the community to use the things we’ve made. We tag content with categories, labels and keywords. We do it because it makes life easier for everyone. It also strengthens the power and output of the community. Take Digg and Reditt as examples – their top stories can influence what we consume as much as any newspaper.

Collaboration

“Serious collaborators put in far more energy than they could ever get in return. This is why the sum out performs the parts”

Simply put I suppose collaboration is a more organised form of cooperation. It had baffled me for a long time why thousands of people would write code for open source software projects. Why do they invest their time and energy? The answer is a whole bunch of things; altruism, recognition from their peers, status, reputation, enjoyment, learning and satisfaction.

Collectivism

This is the thicker end of the stick. How are these communities held together in the long term? Who decides what the priorities are? How do they balance direction between the leaders and the rest of the community? While millions of people contribute to Wikipedia, where would it be without the circa 2,000 editors keeping it in check?

I tend to agree with Mr Shirky;

“In the past, constructing an organisation that exploited hierarchy yet maximised collectivism was nearly impossible. Now digital networking provides the necessary infrastructure. The internet empowers product focused organisations to function collectively while keeping hierarchy from taking over”.

Interesting.  I think this is a useful framework for working with groups and organisations in the offline world;

• Are we making life easier for each other?
• What are we getting out of the work we do?
• Are the people in charge mindful of the community?

That’s all for now, just some thoughts really …

Tags: collaboration, collectivism, cooperation, digital socialism, people management, sharing, wiki working

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