Taking Scoble’s Advice: Rename Cassidy’s Blog
There really is something to this notion of the blogosphere as community.
I’m finally hearing from you and it’s great and we all know why, don’t we? Robert Scoble. I wrote about that in Tuesday’s column in the San Jose Mercury News and I’ll write about it more here, too, in just a second.
But first the heavy lifting. I need you to name this blog. “Loose Ends” isn’t cutting it for reasons that are clear to many of those who’ve commented on my blog and Scoble’s blog.
So help me out. What brief name would say says what this blog is all about? Yes, yes, I’ll work on it, too, but I’m starting to realize the power of asking for help.
The back story: For months, I’d been blogging along and getting very little feedback. My blog was the sound of one hand clapping. Then I decided to ask renowned blogger Scoble for some help — and man did he help.
Sure, his analysis of my blog and his tips were great. But more importantly, he wrote a post about our conversation and linked to my blog. I had friends I never knew I had.
I feel like a guy who moves into a new neighborhood and who feels very alone until one neighbor brings over a bottle of wine. Then before you know it, another stops by to say hi and tip you off to the best neighborhood doughnut shop or auto mechanic or hardware store. That neighbor tells another neighbor you’re not an ax murderer, and hey, pretty soon you’re invited to the block party.
Once Scoble linked to my blog, comments started pouring in (in a relative sense) from those who found my blog through his blog. The comments were heartfelt and helpful. They offered advice and encouragement.
As I read them, I started to realize something. This blog thing isn’t about me. It’s about us.
And maybe that’s a start.
Mike:
How about: Silicon Valley Addict?
-Moby
Maybe just add a sub-title:
Silicon Valley Life
Or, playing on Moby’s suggestion:
Musings of a Silicon Valley Addict
Or Musings from Silicon Valley
You could also write a column with a shameless plea for a little link-love. Oh, wait . . . you just did!
One more thought, if you really must rename:
Bits and Bytes from Silicon Valley
Or
Silicon Valley Bits and Bytes
That way you keep the essence of Loose Ends while working in something someone might actually Google. Not that I would use google as a verb . . .
Hi Mike,
I got to hand it to you. You got guts! Not many people will freely admit they need help in blogging. Too many individuals struggle for months and sometimes years on their own trying to find the solution to their “unique” issue that could have been solved in the wink of an eye if they had only asked. Learn from those that have already walked down the path and you will be rewarded many times over. Then do what most people will not do and that is help the person that asks you for help.
My particular twist on your situation is to find that special niche you truly enjoy writing about and exploit it with your candor and wit. You can talk (oops .. write) about your dog training, parrot talking, or whatever to individuals that want to hear what you have to say. Don’t just rehash old stuff but bring to the surface those tidbits that others are not talking about (or are reluctant to talk about). People search for “new and profound” information and not recycled yesterday’s news. Step into the future and talk about tomorrow’s news before it happens or your heart-felt expectations. Take it to a new and higher level. You want your prospective blog readers to be returning to your site on a regular basis to hear what “Mike’s Insights” has to say about your unique niche. You want people to “pee in their pants” waiting for your next edition.
If your “thing” is news in general you will not survive in your blog .. there are tons of blogs and websites with that kind of stuff. Put your mind in gear and establish yourself as an expert in something you want to be the guru (err .. expert) in. If you insist on news in general then pick a city niche (e.g. San Jose Issues , San Jose Government Insights, San Jose Political Notes, .. whatever … remember you are the expert your readers want to hear from). It would also help to get your own domain name instead of using a Merc subdirectory (just my 2 cents).
You can have multiple blogs with each one dealing on a specific narrowly defined niche. You can use your “main” blog to link to your other blogs (you do have 24 hours a day to write don’t you?). You can also write articles and submit them to article directories (e.g. EzineArticles.com and ArticleCities.com) to help brand yourself as an expert in your specific field or niche. Get in the habit of giving people what they want and there’s a good chance they will link to your site and bring more traffic to you.
I believe you are a polished and informative writer Mike and you should do extremely well in your niche blogging. Go get them tiger.
F. Terrence Markle
http://www.QuikSystems.com
Silicosis - Life in the Valley
Adjacency in the Valley of Silicon
That’s what I came up with
An Insider’s Outside Look at Silicon Valley.
You’re welcome.
Hi Mike,
From your “About,” I note that you sometimes think that we all take ourselves a little too seriously. Regarding the niche for your blog, why not then write about “Silly Things in Sillycon Valley?” Things that would make us laugh and entertainingly learn about life in “Sillycon Valley.”
I googled “sillycon” and found that the term occurs in 23,500 web pages. Oops! I had wanted to suggest “sillycon” as a domain name. My suggested name for your blog is “Silly Bits and Bytes.” Luckily the domain names of http://www.sillybit.com, http://www.sillybyte.com, and http://www.sillybytes.com have not yet been taken. Of course, don’t take my suggestions too seriously :-)!
Best regards,
Rod.
I was reading Scobles blog and saw a link to yours so came to check it out…
How about Seriously Silicone (*Not*)
Seriously, I will ponder this as I wonder through the day.
Mike,
Your blog is about real life in Silicon Valley — what’s happening outside the cubicle farms. I think its appeal would be primarily to people living in that area, so including Silicon Valley in the blog’s name makes sense.
But I like the idea of juxtaposing “real life” with Silicon Valley”; the genuine contrasted with the artificial. (Don’t get me wrong; I’m no Luddite. But people who live and work in Silicon Valley have a tendency to get completely sucked in to what’s happening at work and forget about what makes life worth living.)
So, how about:
“Real Life in Silicon Valley” or
“Is There Life in Silicon Valley?” or
“Signs of Life in Silicon Valley”
If you have time, I’d appreciate your comments on my blog, “The First Church of Pragmatism”. It hasn’t been up long, and I didn’t expect any readers so early in its young life. I’m not trying to be confrontational with it, but I sincerely hope that I irritate someone, hence my pseudonym. I know other bloggers on similar subjects who have received death threats, and I have no intention of dying for my blog.
Regards,
Mrs. Silence Dogood
http://churchofpragmatism.blogspot.com/
Mike,
Please put the “Leave comments” link at the bottom of each post. It took me 2 minutes to realize it was at the top of the post!
The name that I would recommend for your blog is “Mike Cassidy’s Opinions and Stories from the Silicon Valley”
Regards,
Mauricio
There is nothing wrong with your name Mike, but you need a tag line under it. Mike’s Loose Ends … tag line that tells me your subject
And yes Maurcicio I told him I’d be happy to help him get comments link where it belongs … so easy to do. Part of it is showing us you read and respond to what we say Mike … otherwise we lose interest.
-From the east side of Highway 880…
-Ridder Park Drive-by
-The 1973 Oil Crisis
Probably left my vote in the wrong reply section. Shows how much I blog myself!
How about “Mike This!”? With, I agree, a catchy tag line that references synonyms for porn, action, greed, Paris Hilton, etc.
I regularly start reading your column, but find myself finishing them only when you rant on about some pet peeve or are incensed at something or other. And why do you have to stick to Silicon Valley? There must be hundreds, no maybe even thousands (tongue in cheek) of blog readers outside of our little universe, eh? Like, when you go on vacation and encounter some particularly gross thing in another state or something?
inane stuff
How about “Sili-conversations”?
Or maybe “Megabytes and ‘Heart’s Delight’”?
And you really should have a tag line of some kind.
Not that I’m all that good at this, mind you. Most of the folks on my blog are folks I actually know in person.
Sorry - gotta run - my kiln is calling…
Cassidy’s Sil Valley Views
Silicon Valley Anything is way over done. What about creating a NEW BRAND? You can use any available domain from http://OpenDomain.Org to reinforce your blog. Here are some examples:
beaf.com (What’s your beaf?)
syndi.com (Syndication)
webki.com (Web wikki)
bizari.com (Bizare)
nukex.com (Php Nuke)
fixel.com (Pixel)
lottox.com (Lotto Extra)
localfeed.com (Local feed)
blogopoly.com (Blog Monopoly)
flamz.com (Flames)
d0d.com (D zero D; Dept of Def)
How about calling it “Tight Ends” ? I’m sure people will be Googling for that well with football season and well other things (heh heh)…
How about: Shrift (as in short shrift; shrift means confession)
Or maybe No Shrift (a little irreverant), as in no confession.
Actually, I like the Silicosis suggestion of Robert. Has a nice pathalogical ring to it.
Cassidy classics?
I feel your pain, Mike. I tried to do everything right. I read Scoble’s book, chose what I thought was a good URL (www.SVProjectManagement.net), chose a niche - Project Management, chose a relevant title “The Art of Project Management”, asked all my favorite project managers to be guest bloggers, promoted it to all the relevant lists I had and now look for comments. We get lots of visitors (per our stats) but they’re not commenting - are we not being provocative enough? Is linking the trick we’re missing? I’ve usually read your column but I’m now reading your blog - hope that counts for something!
I have to say, after reading all those comments, the best thing I can come up with is “Silicon Valley Insanity”.
Perhaps combine it with something else, like the great “Silicosis” suggestion…
Maybe a joke definition of “silicosis”?
Silicosis, n
insanity, as a direct result of living in the Silicon Valley, “Silicosis is an affliction all of us in the Silicon Valley must come to terms with.”
Yeah, I like that…
Here’s another suggestion:
Silicon Valley’s Lost and Found
by Mike Cassidy
How about “No Way, San Jose”?