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Does Your Blog Banter?

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I love banter; in fact, I thrive on it. I sit here zipping off the one liners on Twitter and laughing my arse off and fully enjoying the 10 p.m. inanity and nonsense.

Banter is an art, I fully believe. There are some blogs that do and some that don’t. There are two peeps who immediately come to mind as the Banter Queen and King. I respectfully crown them such here today – Queen Davina of 3Hats fame and her cohort King Bill Dorman (with whom I’ve only recently begun to share snark).

There are two blogs that immediately come to mind who banter well; is this intentional? Perhaps…visit SpinSucks by the venerable Gini Dietrich; she’s definitely in the King and Queen royal court. And, Ingrid Abboud aka Griddy at the NittyGriddy blog. That woman rocks the house; hands down – IN the posts every time!

And, this is the crux…banter typically comes alive in the comments, and I’ve been thick in the middle of blog comments that don’t quit; in fact, they continue over the weekend (@Shonali, @Gini and others who shall not be blamed, I mean named).

If you want to be a banterer, and that’s not like a bantam chicken just clucking all day, you need to look at a few things:

**Personality. Queen Davina shares that’s she’s an introvert; really? No way in Laxahatchie is that chica an introvert; if she is then I’m a man.

**Confidence. Do you dare to write that remark that rides the edge between acceptable and downright dirty? Who’s going to be offended? Do you care?

**In-The-Moment. It’s so EZ to get caught up in the moment and zip it off; ensure your comfort level is accepting of what comes back because social media can and will provide that intellectual stimulation (I crave and cannot get in my day job and location).

**Clever (not cleaver)ness. Let’s face it, banter takes a semblance of intelligence on a plane where true meaning and implication fly on a higher plateau. If you don’t get the joke, it’s OK, just don’t ask “what does that mean?” of someone on a roll.

Not every blog banters all of the time; in fact, banter happens when you least expect it. I wrote a post at midnight recently in 10 minutes (Is Goal Setting Genetic), hit publish and did not edit, rewrite, get nervous whether the voice was too strong or offensive or whether the person I was picking on was going to hate me. (Turns out she laughed her patoot off, and suggested I write in that voice every day; heh, impossible.)

Want to get crowned banter royalty? Insert yourself in comments; start there and you can’t go wrong.  Share me some banter-ful blogs, would you? I think it’s time to make a list so we can all belly laugh, cuz it’s so healthy.

(credit: Balooscartoonblog.blogspot.com)

This Is A No Mojo Blog

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Anyone wondering where I’ve been? Yeah, me too. This blog is suffering from low-to-no mojo.

What excuses shall I share? Absolutely none; there are worse things in life; thus I shan’t complain. But I can be upset with myself, mope around a bit, hit bottom, and crawl my way back into action. What I can’t do is force the words or ideas because that’s lame and everyone can see right through it.

What I will offer are several posts from others to help remind all of us that blogging is downright time-consuming, requires a steady stream of creative content and as Mark W. Schaefer reminded us this week — highly creative content. When we bloggers get down in the dumps, because I’m telling you, (sh)it happens, here are some wonderful reminders to weigh anchor and sail:

–Here is what Shakirah Dawud sent me by Rhonda Hurwitz, and it is a wonderful post, called Holy Blog Fail, etc., with many recommendations on where to find creativity. Rhonda also reminded me on Twitter yesterday “to spend time on things that make my topline healthy.” (Indeed.)

–Ali Luke (don’t know him/her) wrote How to Nurture Your Creativity; just read it and it’s good basic recommendations.

–On ProBlogger, a guest post from Glen Allsopp of Viper Chill has other insights for bloggers to Re-Ignite to Get Their Steam Back.

–Here’s some nonsense from the Creative Leadership Forum (and Harvard Business Review?) suggesting creatives should embrace failure but do it inexpensively…LOL…because it can be very powerful (yeah, like taking a downer for days).

–And, finally for today, here’s the icing on the cake — to be creative, stop thinking about yourself. Yeah, I think I like that and will heed this counsel over all others.

And this, too, shall pass, right? (Please share your secrets to get out of the dumpster…)

(image: care2.com)

How Does Your Blog Feel?

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Or, better yet, how do you feel about your blog?

This blog post has been under re-write in my head for two days now.  I’ve gone back and forth with how to present this as I didn’t want it to feel like I was complaining, depressed, or other. However, there’s something about blogging that’s hard to ignore – it’s your personal psyche that can get in the way.

Think on it…if you’re having a rough go, the tonality of your blog shows that. If you’re ever depressed, your words feel that way, too. It’s a good thing I didn’t publish yesterday (because my good friend Jenn Whinnem saved me with a coolio expletived blog post and title) because my exhaustion with two months of construction and a make-shift desk on a concrete slab with drywall dust for lipstick would’ve hindered the presentation of this content.

I’m not sure I still have this right…but, let me try anyway and see if this makes sense:

I wrote a post awhile back “Social Media, We’re All Talking to Ourselves,” and it got some positive and negative commentary; in fact, I got a slap to the hand. It was written when I was in a downtick of sorts, and that post mirrored the character of the day.

When I look around and dissect my social media experience, I see a peer group of highly astute people adopting and adapting to the next big thing in social. Everyone is jumping on board the Klout, the Quora, the Empire Avenue, the Evernote, the TED, and the everything because it’s what we do – we strive for that excitement and knowledge and thirst. But, where are our clients and those we serve? They’re way behind, still pecking away at “What is Twitter?”

Recently, Aaron Sachs wrote a similar post on his blog at SymplySocial, “Social Media Consultants: Are We All Just Preaching to the Choir?“, and he suggests that social media may not be as accessible to those not on the leader board. I was eager to read his take on how we all dance to the daily evolution of social.

About Blogs

There are industrial-strength blogs that feature every single bell and whistle with the most amazing design and wow factor. There are blogs done on free WordPress templates, and there are blogs still being published on Blogger, and WordPress.com sites. Although content is still king, it’s really challenging not to look at the A-list bloggers and then take a look at your own blog; this action can produce somewhat of a deflation in spirit.

What we bloggers need to remember is that there are those who thrive and strive to present the latest and greatest app, tool, game, concept, and more. I suspect they have oodles of time (Gini Dietrich wrote she spends 40 hours a week on Spin Sucks, and she just moved into the Top 40 of the Ad Age power 150), many peeps working to find angles and produce content, and a crack IT team to manage the back end. (I don’t know for sure, but I’m guessing…not assuming…guessing.)

I’m now going to speak to myself in a public forum:

Jayme, you are one person with a full client load and client service comes first. Learning the technology of social media has always been my obstacle, yet the yearn to learn is my curse and blessing. It’s OK to have a blog that speaks to people and strives for warmth with welcome reception for all types of people. It’s wonderful to publish a blog where people who are shy, who don’t often comment feel comfortable stopping in. It’s OK not to be amongst the leaders every day, for what you deliver in content comes from a passionate place and striving for that sense of community is a goal that should never be forgotten. Remember not to be mechanical, because when that happens, it’s time to stop.

As said, I’m not sure I’m making total sense…it’s so easy to look around and want to be like Gini, like Mark, like Danny, like Griddy, like Jon, and like Sarah. But, you know what? It’s OK to be like Jayme, too ( Jayme).

(Image: ValueBookShop)

Blogging With Design

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One thing’s certain when blogging — the design must be tweaked about every four months. If you want to keep it fresh and look stylin’ the only way to make that happen is to throw in the DIY towel (that’s do-it-yourself) and hire the big guns.

For this design, I provided the core, the color and this and that, but I owe the rest to Dwight Maskew of Carbon Based Media.

He made the template, changed the colors, moved things around, added the bells and whistles and generally made a great part of my team. I’m happy to share (although I hate to) because Dwight has been my IT back end for about five months.

If you need website or blogging IT help please consider Dwight. Just know that I come first and you’re second!

Now, let me clarify the first statement up top — blogging with design has to be top of mind. No one wants to come to a stale site, but everyone gives new bloggers the benefit of the learning curve. Since I’ve been blogging a few weeks shy of a year, my learning curve is over. It was time to lose the frustration and fear and just hire the help already!

There are thousands of templates and skins for blogs; invariably, something goes wrong. What you want is a reliable design you don’t need to worry about. Unless you have oodles of time to learn blog design, you definitely don’t want to be messing with widgets and plug-ins.

There’s rarely a plug in that is plug and play; and they often mess with your design. It’s cool to have badges, icons, share this and that and more; ultimately, I wanted a simple design with a focus on content.

I’m always up for comments and tweak tips, but do me a favor? Will you kindly wait six months before you tell me?

photo credit: SEOYourBlog.com

Giving Thanks

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Saying thank you should be an every-day occurrence; yet, many of us don’t take the time to appreciate those around us for their friendship, business, support, kindness, respect, acknowledgment, help, sharing, love, or giving.

I appreciate everyone I’ve met in the social media world and those I’ve not had the privilege of speaking with. I appreciate the learning, banter, comaraderie, laughs, intelligence, and most of all new friendships and business partnerships.

To you and yours, I wish you peace and give thanks to you for contributing to me.

THANK YOU!!