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This blog turns one year old this week. I've already celebrated the occasion—back in January, on the one-year anniversary of its conception, with an article Seven Lessons from a Blogging Year, that ran in the MarketingProfs newsletter. But since then,I've noticed a whole bunch of birthday posts or mentions on other blogs popping up like spring robins in the nest.
Mack Collier's The Viral Garden turned one yesterday. Also celebrating this month (or close to it) are Eric Kintz's Marketing Excellence blog, Mario Sundar's Marketing Nirvana, Mike Sansone's Converstations and Tom Vander Well's QAQnA call center blog... a handful of the many marketing blogs launched in early 2006. (A bunch more -- including CK's Blog, Servant of Chaos, Hee-Haw Marketing, and bizsolutionsplus -- hatched last summer.)
Which makes me think that 2006 was the blogging equivalent of the Baby Boom—the Blogger Boom?—at least in our space. I've said before that a blogging year is like a dog year. And given last year's explosion of marketing blogs, it seems the marketing blogger equivalent of the whole 18-year Baby Boom. I know the math doesn't quite add up, but you get the idea.
Last year's boom is yet another indication that blogs have gone mainstream, probably more so than many other social media platforms. And as blogs gain readers, bloggers themselves are taking stock and starting to wonder what else they can accomplish with their blogs, and how they might improve them or take them to the next level. As Mack Collier wrote yesterday, "So starting tomorrow I get to work on making Year Two even better. There will be some changes immediately, some later. And in the coming days I'll have some 'lessons learned' posts from Year One."
The "next level" is a theme marketers are thinking of more generally these days, too. As one of my favorite Blogging Boomers, David Armano, whose own Logic + Emotion blog turned one year old in February, says about his upcoming seminar for MarketingProfs, "It's 2007. Your Mom has a blog, your kid is uploading videos to YouTube and your boss just added 'must create something viral' to your performance goals. On top of all this, you've still got a website that looks like something from an 80s music video and is barely usable. What's a marketer to do?"
David's Thursday seminar, Blogs, Tubes, Twitters, and More: Emerging Media's Impact on the Customer Experience, will offer up a romp through some of the social media tools marketers are now using, with an eye toward helping them separate the cool tools from the fool's tools.
Among other things, David will look at why some social media efforts succeed while others fail, explain how you can be smarter about choosing your next emerging media tactic, and show how teams should work together in this relatively new space. And (best of all) how creativity—and common sense—can take your digital efforts to the next level.
Sounds fun, huh? I hope you can attend, especially since I'm hosting the party. But even if you can't, check out the slide deck from the presentation, which David has shared here. And by the way, I'll be stumping him with some really tough questions at the end of this presentation. So if you have anything you need answered, let me know during the seminar, or drop me a note below.
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Comments
Congratulations on your first year! I enjoy reading this blog every morning.
Posted by: Scott | 03.27.07
ann, this was the first blog i have ever read. and this happened last summer. so you and the staff and contributors here at mpdailyfix share the liability for having turned me to blogging.
Posted by: gianandrea facchini | 03.27.07
Congrats on the first year Ann, feels like I have known you forever! Hope to see you soon!
Eric
Posted by: Eric Kintz | 03.27.07
Congratulations Ann. I always enjoy reading your posts.
I have a ways to go before I celebrate a year... but I celebrate 6 weeks now. It's a start.
I'm enjoying it. It forces me to think a little more, and to look at things more closely. Plus, the warmth and camraderie of the blogging community (at least the marketing one) has been fantastic.
Why did I wait so long?
Posted by: David Reich | 03.27.07
Ann,
Congratulations and thank you for reaching out to us and for becoming a friend to so many of us.
Time permits only so much blogging if we are to eat and sleep indoors and stay married to a spouse asking if we are working or blogging. My response: Yes!
I often find myself in a quandry as to whether at any given moment should I post at the Daily Fix, at bizsolutionsplus, read CK and the 50 other blogs I try to check weekly, work on my new book, write a white paper or get new clients and serve current ones.
Man, life is great! I have never been happier. Can we say technology is a good friend?
Posted by: Lewis Green | 03.27.07
Scott, G, and Eric -- Thanks so much. Eric -- hope to see you soon, too. I know I owe you a call.
David -- What matters is that you are here now. Six weeks... according to my "dog year" formula -- you are practically full grown! lol...
Posted by: Ann Handley | 03.27.07
Ann a few months after I started writing for BMA, so it would have been around the end of 2005, there were about 800 blogs tagged as being 'marketing' blogs, according to Technorati. CK asked me a few days ago how many marketing blogs there were, and I went back and checked, and Technorati was now saying there were over 23,000 blogs tagged as being 'marketing' blogs. Granted, not all of them likely are truly covering marketing, but there's no doubt been a surge in the number.
BTW congrats on the first year. I am obviously biased, but I think Daily Fix is one of those blogs that sets the bar for all other group blogs.
Posted by: Mack Collier | 03.27.07
Only a year?
Gheesh! I thought I had read somewhere you invented Blogging?
And Al Gore invented the internet.......
Congratulations!
Posted by: B. Handley | 03.27.07
Hi Ann,
Congratulations on the success of the Daily Fix blog. I appreciate being able to contribute and enjoy reading other contributors' posts very much. Just wish there was more time to respond to more of the posts. It's tough to balance the demands of running a business, servicing clients to the best of our ability and still find enough hours in the day to participate as much as I would like. However: this is a great community. What's really neat is that all of your contributors have expertise in various areas of marketing and PR--and they're all so willing to share it.
Thanks for including me among your contributors. Here's to making year #2 even better than year #1! Cheers!
Posted by: Ted Mininni | 03.27.07
Happy birthday to us. This blog has grown into a not-to-be-missed one in a short time. That's got a lot to do with you being at the helm.
You rock.
Posted by: B.L. Ochman | 03.27.07
A hearty congratulations to you. Funny thing is, I started my BABY BOOMER blog 1 year ago today. So I guess I am part of the BLOG BABY BOOM, too. I had a few false starts and kept changing the name of my blog, so my first post actually occurred on April 10, 2006.
Posted by: Rhea | 03.27.07
Couldn't agree more with you, Ann. 2006 was definitely the year of the "Blogger Boomers". I'm close to my 1-year anniversary, coming up in May!
Congratulations on the 1-year! And best wishes for many more years to come...
Posted by: Mario Sundar | 03.27.07
Ann & all the DF bloggers --
Thank you. You make us think, laugh and respond. And you do it in a collaborative, the whole is even better than the sum of the parts way.
What's more true to blogging than that?
Here's to many more anniversaries celebrated together!
Drew
Posted by: Drew McLellan | 03.27.07
Ann: You rock. You make everyone feel welcome, keep us on our game and are so supportive.
Readers: You make it all worthwhile. I appreciate everyone who takes the time to read and comment :-).
Posted by: CK | 03.27.07
Ann and team, what a year! You have built one of the most dynamic and vibrant communities ... and as Mack says, one that sets the bar for many others.
Your tireless efforts and imagination are very much appreciated by those of us who read and participate.
Congratulations!
Posted by: Gavin Heaton | 03.28.07
Ann - Happy bloganniversary! Amazing what can happen in 1 short year .. Daily Fix has turned into the go to marketing community .. and you dear Ann are a role model of how to build and engage communities. Congrats! And thanks for letting me play with y'all. Now where is my cake and champagne?
Posted by: Toby | 03.28.07
Awww, I remember the Daily Fix when she was *This big. My, she's grown!
Happy blog anniverary Ann (and team)!
:)
Posted by: David Armano | 03.28.07
Thanks for the good wishes, all, and especially for the kind words. Obviously, the DF wouldn't be what it is without any of you.
Group hug all around...!
Posted by: Ann Handley | 03.28.07
Way to go!
Posted by: Elaine Fogel | 03.28.07
Ann, my friend Toby Bloomberg turned me on to this post yesterday, but I didn't get an opportunity to read it until today at approx. 11:09 central. That's nine minutes into the presentation! Darn it. Will it be available on-demand for download? Please say yes! Please, please, please!
Congrats on one year, btw. I've been blogging since Jan. 2004. It's been an incredible, rich, rewarding and fun ride.
Posted by: Paul Chaney | 03.29.07
Yes -- David's seminar (full recording and slides) will be available on 3.30 here:
http://www.marketingprofs.com/premium/seminar_main.asp?adref=tnav
Thanks for the comment, Paul.
Posted by: Ann Handley | 03.29.07
when I was looking for a "marketing" spot last fall - the MarketingProfs satellite must have been emitting super gamma rays. This is a community rich with thought, advice, and action. So far as the boomer year? what's next? keep rockin' and rollin' - and don't forget the group hugs :) Forever keep a place in the circle for the next marketer!
Posted by: Bob Glaza | 03.30.07
Congratulations!
Posted by: Tammy Strnatka | 03.30.07
Congratulations, Ann! I love what MP captures. Great job.
Posted by: C.B. Whittemore | 04.01.07
Congratulations on the one-year milestone! I'm half-way there, and it really is a labor of love to persevere in posting quality content...
I enjoy my visits to MPDailyFix!
Posted by: Steve Woodruff | 04.02.07
Congrats Ann. 1 year later - do you get the feeling that these general marketing conversations have changed? I wouldn't say "matured" necessarily but tone and content have elevated - perhaps in conjunction with reader expectations. Great job - looking forward to more great content in 2007.
Posted by: Pete | 04.02.07
Congratulations Ann!
It was a banner year. Thanks for all the great content on the site. Looking forward to more this year.
I'm off to look up the date of my blog(s) so I can celebrate, too.
Sandy
Posted by: Sandra Renshaw | 04.03.07
Thanks all, for the warm wishes. Sandy -- let us know!
Pete -- Yes, I do think the conversations have evolved. Part of it may be driven by reader expectations, but I think it's more nuanced. My sense is that the authors have (in many cases -- including me) found their voices as bloggers. What's more -- we've grown to understand more about who the audience is -- in part because readers give such great feedback, setting "expectations," as you suggest, but also based on feedback from each other.
Posted by: Ann Handley | 04.03.07
Congratulations and thank you for the warm welcome Ann! I can't believe it's already been one year. And yet, so much has been accomplished by bloggers over the past year. I think I've learned more from bloggers such as yourself than most of my undergraduate career :)
Posted by: Steven Chien | 04.05.07
congrats.. this is one blog i read everyday.. along with the really selective sources page.. it is a nice little index page i use as a bookmark to quickly read thru every morn. http://www.netreputation.co.uk/pr
the page lists everything PR and saves me an hour everyday..
you are ;listed there by the way
Posted by: tussion | 04.09.07