That, I thought, was sort of a bonus for Wibbels in that I didn’t feel offended that he spent time detailing what/ how another program operates. Insofar as his topic was “how to blog,” his explanation of TypePad actually seemed natural and appropriate, and I think he’s right — I can’t think of any other program/ service on the market that would be better suited for the entry-level blogger. In it, you have all the essentials and virtually none of the complexities that can arise once you decide to purchase your own program license and/ or host your own blog.

Insofar as the book seemed pitched toward those who have no clue about blogging, it merely served to confirm many of the things I’ve learned about blogging on my own. Much of which was (in this volume) better organized, and that was helpful, but I still thought a lot of its content was generally accessible for anyone interested enough to find it out on their own. Perhaps for this reason, the book seemed to beg/ scream for a second edition — a more sophisticated look at blogging, from the standpoint of experts and of those who’ve used them successfully.

Here, I’d like to see less talk about tactics and more about strategies: “How to I Developed a Strong Stream of Traffic in 90 Days” or “Step by Step: How I Developed A $5,000/ Month Income Stream from Blogging Alone” or “My Blogging Empire: It’s Organizational Structure and How it Makes a Difference.” Maybe I’m way off base with this. I don’t know. All’s I know is that, I sit in front of my computer and have been working from home full-time for about a year now. I’d like to follow up on these cutting-edge strategies (blogging, podcasting, videos, rss feeds, etc), but not for the sake of “making pretty pictures.” I’m already “esthetically sensitive” enough for myself. When I engage the outside world, and particularly when I shell out my savings, I do so with expecations of making it back, plus some.

So, again, if we’re talking about a second volume, I’d like to see more in-depth case studies (perhaps 3-4 pages long, instead of one) about really small businesses (less than 10 employees) and home-based entrepreneurs who’ve developed 5-6 figure monthly income streams from blogging, and some of the strategies they’ve employed to crank it out. No promises. No iron-clad guarantees. Just stories!

Here’s a friend of mine, Joe, and here’s how Joe was able to crank out . . . (you get the picture).

On another note, there was one opportunity, I thought the book should have captured, that had to do with how you actually produce your blog.

Say, for instance, this stupendous story wells up inside you one day, and (because they happen to be around) you spill your guts out about the whole doggone thing to your best friend/ spouse. Afterwards, you look around and think to yourself, “Wow, that’d be a great blog — that story I just told you!” But then you wonder whether you could remember each and every detail of it, or replicate even half the intensity on “paper” that you just produced face-to-face. *&^%$%$#!!

So, here’s the thing. I think it’s much easier, fact I’d venture to say “more natural,” to communicate verbally than in writing. The latter requires that you remember some story, you spend some time thinking about how you want to start it off, you gotta get that first sentence just right, then go back and correct your spelling or re-word a few things here or there — you know the drill! And, by the time you’ve finished, you’re still left wondering whether you forgot one or more of the main points you made earlier. You remember. It’s the points that made the story worth telling in the first place! OK, so what’s the big “Therefore”?

The big “Therefore” is this:

Therefore, in an advanced book on blogging, you might want to include a chapter on using a program like Dragon Naturally Speaking. With this, you can talk to your computer and your words will instantly and accurately appear in Microsoft Word/ Excel/ Corel WordPerfect, and virtually all Windows-based applications. You can search the Web by speaking URLs, links, etc. I have to admit, I don’t (yet) own the program myself , but from what I can gather, it seems like it’d be a natural extension of the whole story-telling process, which is a lot of the essence of blogging.

The “story” emerges from deep inside your mind and, because we’ve been running our mouths since childhood, our capacity for articulating ourselves verbally is much more fully developed than our capacity for doing the same though our writing skills (those few that most of us have). Writing takes time and, in the process, we forget a lot of the details . . . anyway, I would love to have a program like that to allow me to simply speak into a microphone, see the text appear on screen, and be mostly through in a couple/ few minutes with a decent product that I could go in and clean up, add links, photos or whatever and voila, “I Been Bloggin’”! Anyway, that’s what makes sense to me.

Getting back to what the book does offer, I have to give props to Wibbels’ because his style is indeed accessible and inviting, i.e., completely open and honest, and for beginners, I think he hits the nail on the head. Kudos Andy! I find his style and indeed his image (young, clean-cut) consistent with what one might ordinarily look for in a guide/ counselor on the new, innovative techno topics, e.g., blogging, rss feeds, video, podcasts. I buy it!

If there was a consistent let-down at all (and there’s not much in this category), it’d have to do with the examples. Wibbels is at his best when he’s talking about whatever he’s talking about. He’s kind, cordial, he stays on point and is not the least bit offensive. But, when examples are provided, I feel the connections between the point and (particularly) the websites indicated could be sharper, more reflective of the point. I’m not sure, but some of the examples provided just didn’t seem to go very well with the overall presentation — they seemed a little “out there.” And, for me, 50% of effective education is about providing good, clean, nail-on-the-head examples!

But, don’t get me wrong! I loved the book and would strongly suggest it for those who’d like to either learn about blogging or firm up on their understanding of what it involves, the different technologies and that. Blogging for business? Let’s see if they come out with a stronger version before running to pick this one up!

Rating: 5 / 5

That, I thought, was sort of a bonus for Wibbels in that I didn’t feel offended that he spent time detailing what/ how another program operates. Insofar as his topic was “how to blog,” his explanation of TypePad actually seemed natural and appropriate, and I think he’s right — I can’t think of any other program/ service on the market that would be better suited for the entry-level blogger. In it, you have all the essentials and virtually none of the complexities that can arise once you decide to purchase your own program license and/ or host your own blog.

Insofar as the book seemed pitched toward those who have no clue about blogging, it merely served to confirm many of the things I’ve learned about blogging on my own. Much of which was (in this volume) better organized, and that was helpful, but I still thought a lot of its content was generally accessible for anyone interested enough to find it out on their own. Perhaps for this reason, the book seemed to beg/ scream for a second edition — a more sophisticated look at blogging, from the standpoint of experts and of those who’ve used them successfully.

Here, I’d like to see less talk about tactics and more about strategies: “How to I Developed a Strong Stream of Traffic in 90 Days” or “Step by Step: How I Developed A $5,000/ Month Income Stream from Blogging Alone” or “My Blogging Empire: It’s Organizational Structure and How it Makes a Difference.” Maybe I’m way off base with this. I don’t know. All’s I know is that, I sit in front of my computer and have been working from home full-time for about a year now. I’d like to follow up on these cutting-edge strategies (blogging, podcasting, videos, rss feeds, etc), but not for the sake of “making pretty pictures.” I’m already “esthetically sensitive” enough for myself. When I engage the outside world, and particularly when I shell out my savings, I do so with expecations of making it back, plus some.

So, again, if we’re talking about a second volume, I’d like to see more in-depth case studies (perhaps 3-4 pages long, instead of one) about really small businesses (less than 10 employees) and home-based entrepreneurs who’ve developed 5-6 figure monthly income streams from blogging, and some of the strategies they’ve employed to crank it out. No promises. No iron-clad guarantees. Just stories!

Here’s a friend of mine, Joe, and here’s how Joe was able to crank out . . . (you get the picture).

On another note, there was one opportunity, I thought the book should have captured, that had to do with how you actually produce your blog.

Say, for instance, this stupendous story wells up inside you one day, and (because they happen to be around) you spill your guts out about the whole doggone thing to your best friend/ spouse. Afterwards, you look around and think to yourself, “Wow, that’d be a great blog — that story I just told you!” But then you wonder whether you could remember each and every detail of it, or replicate even half the intensity on “paper” that you just produced face-to-face. *&^%$%$#!!

So, here’s the thing. I think it’s much easier, fact I’d venture to say “more natural,” to communicate verbally than in writing. The latter requires that you remember some story, you spend some time thinking about how you want to start it off, you gotta get that first sentence just right, then go back and correct your spelling or re-word a few things here or there — you know the drill! And, by the time you’ve finished, you’re still left wondering whether you forgot one or more of the main points you made earlier. You remember. It’s the points that made the story worth telling in the first place! OK, so what’s the big “Therefore”?

The big “Therefore” is this:

Therefore, in an advanced book on blogging, you might want to include a chapter on using a program like Dragon Naturally Speaking. With this, you can talk to your computer and your words will instantly and accurately appear in Microsoft Word/ Excel/ Corel WordPerfect, and virtually all Windows-based applications. You can search the Web by speaking URLs, links, etc. I have to admit, I don’t (yet) own the program myself , but from what I can gather, it seems like it’d be a natural extension of the whole story-telling process, which is a lot of the essence of blogging.

The “story” emerges from deep inside your mind and, because we’ve been running our mouths since childhood, our capacity for articulating ourselves verbally is much more fully developed than our capacity for doing the same though our writing skills (those few that most of us have). Writing takes time and, in the process, we forget a lot of the details . . . anyway, I would love to have a program like that to allow me to simply speak into a microphone, see the text appear on screen, and be mostly through in a couple/ few minutes with a decent product that I could go in and clean up, add links, photos or whatever and voila, “I Been Bloggin’”! Anyway, that’s what makes sense to me.

Getting back to what the book does offer, I have to give props to Wibbels’ because his style is indeed accessible and inviting, i.e., completely open and honest, and for beginners, I think he hits the nail on the head. Kudos Andy! I find his style and indeed his image (young, clean-cut) consistent with what one might ordinarily look for in a guide/ counselor on the new, innovative techno topics, e.g., blogging, rss feeds, video, podcasts. I buy it!

If there was a consistent let-down at all (and there’s not much in this category), it’d have to do with the examples. Wibbels is at his best when he’s talking about whatever he’s talking about. He’s kind, cordial, he stays on point and is not the least bit offensive. But, when examples are provided, I feel the connections between the point and (particularly) the websites indicated could be sharper, more reflective of the point. I’m not sure, but some of the examples provided just didn’t seem to go very well with the overall presentation — they seemed a little “out there.” And, for me, 50% of effective education is about providing good, clean, nail-on-the-head examples!

But, don’t get me wrong! I loved the book and would strongly suggest it for those who’d like to either learn about blogging or firm up on their understanding of what it involves, the different technologies and that. Blogging for business? Let’s see if they come out with a stronger version before running to pick this one up!

Rating: 5 / 5