thoughts – Page 2 – Bright, shiny objects!

Here’s yet another reason to love Twylah. Notifications like these…

“Hi @e1evation!

It’s time to share on your branded topics! Focus and consistency on these topics strengthen your brand’s visibility and resonance — and get *you* more targeted followers and retweets!

social media -> 4 days ago.
content marketing -> 8 days ago.
content curation -> 12 days ago.
thought leadership -> 12 days ago.
blogging -> 11 days ago.
content strategy -> 11 days ago.
gtd -> 18 days ago.
seo -> 10 days ago.
search -> 7 days ago.

Click on the topic for suggestions on what you can tweet! Consistently tweeting about these topics helps you establish brand expertise (and get more followers and retweets).

Also, get more insights on your Twitter activity.
Thank you!

The Twylah Team

If you’d like to stop receiving these emails, you can unsubscribe here.”

Soon, they tell me, this feature will be available for everyone. Why don’t you head over to http://twylah.com and sign up for an account today, so you’ll be ready when this feature is available for all?!

February 25, 2013 1

When I’m not doing ‘internet plumbing’ — website development and social media optimization — I’m working on the problem of getting found in what Google calls the ‘Zero Moment of Truth’. The big issue I’m trying to solve my clients and myself is “when people are searching for what I do will they find me”? It’s a difficult problem to solve and I rant about it here…

By the way, here is a list of the top 10 tools that I have found in my quest…

[listly id=”1Tz” layout=”full”]

November 21, 2012 1

In order to be found in the ‘Zero Moment of Truth’, there are two main activities you need to master; FINDING and SHARING great content. Another way of putting it is…

Deepening your expertise
Documenting your expertise

Here’s how I do it [By the way, there is a Mac version at about 17:00 but you need to understand the principles in the Windows version. Sorry, Mac boys and girls!]:

Here is the mindmap of my screencast:

Here are the direct links to the tools I use in the screencast:

http://storify.com/e1evation/my-most-important-curation-tools

By the way, this post and this post might also give you some insight as to how I apply Getting Things Done [GTD] principles to this process. Comment below or connect with me so we can talk about how this applies to you and your situation…

Go back

Your message has been sent

Getting Things Done [GTD] in Google Reader (e1evation.com)
Getting Things Done [GTD] in Email (e1evation.com)
Getting Things Done [GTD] in Curation; Another Pass… (e1evation.com)

November 13, 2012 0

Heidi Cohen shares this valuable tidbit today:

About nine out of ten B2B marketers use social media to distribute their content marketing according to recent research by the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs. On average these marketers use five social media sites to spread their content marketing more broadly through social sharing.

For B2B marketers, this requires that your content marketing be formatted to work well on the social media platforms where you place it and that you encourage readers to share it. (Here’s a chart showing how to leverage different types of content marketing across social media.)

Respondents cited fourteen different social media platforms that they used to distribute content. (Here’s additional research and analysis from the content marketing survey.) Half of the social media venues were used by over 20% of respondents.

Source: Social Media: Where to Distribute B2B Content Marketing [Research/Chart] | Heidi Cohen

Go to the source if you’d like to have the rest of Heidi’s insights – come back here if you’re not sure how to put them into practice!

Almost All B2B Marketers Do Content Marketing, But Only 36 Percent Think It’s Effective [STUDY] (impressiveweb.net)
2013 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends (marketingprofs.com)
100+ B2B Content Marketing Statistics for 2013 (toprankblog.com)
B2B & Inbound Marketing Tips: Content Marketing Edition (amplify-interactive.com)
18 Growing B2B Content Marketing Trends to Share – Social Media B2B (3forward.com)
Five Traits of Successful B2B Content Marketers (socialmediatoday.com)
Social Marketing Budgets Increase For B2Bs (mediapost.com)
18 Growing B2B Content Marketing Trends to Share (socialmediab2b.com)
Study: LinkedIn Leads in B2B Marketing for the First Time (socialtimes.com)
Research Finds B2B Marketers Increasing Investments in Online Video for Content Marketing (reelseo.com)

November 13, 2012 1

Some people like to make things overly complicated. Me? Sometimes I like to grossly oversimplify things and take them back to the basics. Example? ‘Thought leadership’ marketing. To my mind, if you want to be a thought leader there are only two things you need to do well:

Deepen your expertise through a continuous learning program
Document your expertise through blogging and social networks

Everything else is just details…

When it comes to effective business development, or marketing and sales again, I think there are only two activities you need to master:

Generating leads
Managing leads

Again, everything else is just details…

Whether you are a freelancer or running a large enterprise I believe there are 7 databases you must manage effectively to succeed. They are:

Email
An RSS reader
A Digtal Asset Management system
A Content Management system
Social networks and a social media ‘dashboard’
A lead database
A Customer Relationship Management system

That’s all there is to it! If you can effectively manage these 7 databases you can go from reacting to your market to dominating your market.

Questions? Feedback? I’d be happy to expand/expound on any of these topics…

April 21, 2012 0

I talk frequently about curation and what a valuable tool it is. I teach my students and clients that the time to curate content like this is when you find the paragraphs you WISH you’d written and you can add value to the curated content in the process. Jeff Goins is one of the most influential writers in social media and he recently shared this:

The privilege of leadership used to belong to a select few. The social elite. The especially charismatic. The unbelievably successful.

You used to have to be the head of your own organization. Or carry a prestigious title. Influence was earned slowly over time. And few had access to it.

But now, that’s all changed.

In the age of ideas when the exchange of information is as easy as a click of the button, anyone can be a leader. In the traditional sense, leadership is dead, and influence has replaced it.

So what do you — someone who wants to lead — do?

Become a thought leader

There’s a war out there, old friend. A world war. And it’s not about who’s got the most bullets. It’s about who controls the information. What we see and hear, how we work, what we think… it’s all about the information!
—Cosmo, Sneakers

Start a blog. Launch a podcast. Begin recording videos of yourself and posting them on YouTube. Share your ideas with the world, and see which ones spread. This is what you need to do to see your influence grow.

In the age of the iPod, when we have instant access to gigabytes of teaching for free, the person with the best data (not the most) wins.

We don’t need more information. We need better information. We need compelling reasons to believe in a cause worth following. And those sharing them will be the leaders of tomorrow.

So where do you begin?

How about with collecting information? With becoming a learner (again)?

As they say, “leaders are readers.” But leaders are also conversationalists and event attendees.

They take people out to coffee and make friends at a party. Introvert or extrovert, they put themselves out there.

And if you want to lead, you will have to do the same.

An opportunity to lead (and learn)

Be honest. You don’t need more information. You need better discernment. I recently heard Alli Worthington share the following:

I hate it when people say they don’t know how to do something… Have you heard of Google?!

We all know this. Still, we struggle with knowing what information to believe or follow. So many choices, so little results. We just get paralyzed.

We need a process to curate. To figure out what works for us and what doesn’t. This is why I love organizations who demonstrate excellence of thought leadership not only through their example, but also through organized efforts to bring ideas and leaders together.

Source: How to Be a Leader in an Age of Information Overload | Goins, Writer

Me? I think Michael Moon of Gistics nailed it in his epic book Firebrands back in 1996. Moon hypothesized that we have now entered into a “5th Era” of man; the era of ‘trust networks’…

The potential that Jeff Goins describes is to use the “good, fast, and cheap” publishing tools available to us to become a ‘thought leader’ who heads up a trust network. If you’re intrigued by Jeff’s ideas but have no clue as to where to start comment below or use the ‘connect’ form; I offer the tools and the tactics – a ‘process for curation’ that can help you establish a thought leadership position through effective content management and content marketing…

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=makrai-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=0072124490

April 4, 2012 3

The first commandment of social media is ‘share, share, share’. A blog should be designed in such a way as to facilitate that sharing, both for the author AND the reader. Here are some practical tips on how I use sharing from my blog to drive traffic and engagement…

http://youtu.be/yocKV5iIso0

April 3, 2012 0

If you want to be a thought leader on the internet, there are only two things you need to do really well…

Assuming that you’re already an expert of some sort — and according to Seth Godin we are ALL experts at something — the two main things you need to do are:

Deepen your expertise. In other words, get smarter by effectively managing the content you need to become even more of an expert at what you do…
Document your expertise. Simply put, let people know you know what you know…

Deepening and documenting your expertise may actually facilitate thought leadership by using a few “good, fast, and cheap” tools to get you a share of voice which may get you a share of mind which ultimately could get you a share of market…

I expound here:

http://youtu.be/zaNhjHsSYCA

[Almost] everything I think I know about the mechanics of curation (e1evation.com)
A summary of thought leadership in 2012 – 12 experts’ views (thoughtleadershipstrategy.net)
What Makes A Great Curator Great? How To Distinguish High-Value Curation From Generic Republishing (e1evation.com)
12 experts on the key thought leadership trends for 2012 – content curation (thoughtleadershipstrategy.net)
Why Social Media is Important for Leaders (asliceofleadership.com)

March 28, 2012 0

An editorial focus and calendar that reinforces it may be the single most important thing you can do if you want to blog for thought leadership. In his ground breaking book ‘Brand Stand’, Craig Badings writes…

The more research you do on the topic [on which you choose to focus] the more you will understand the space you want to enter. Ask yourself: Who is already playing in that space? What they are saying? Are they achieving cut through? Does our company have substantially more to say or something unique to offer in that space or not? Your deciding question should be ‘Can we own that space?’ If you cannot own a space my advice would be do not go there.

Badings, Craig (2009-07-08). BRAND STAND (Kindle Locations 790-794). BookPal. Kindle Edition.

If you have decided you can ‘own the space’, here is an overly simplified formula for achieving alignment in your content marketing strategy and getting ownership:

Brainstorm around your unique offerings in the space. Ask yourself “what are the problems my clients expect me to solve and how do I solve them in a unique way?”
Use Google’s keyword tools to research keywords around those unique offerings
Track trusted sites and keyword searches in Google Reader; read primarily those things that deepen your expertise in your unique offerings without losing the context of the whole space
Only curate or create content on your blog related to that unique offering
Leverage social media, etc. to amplify your content
Connect effectively with the readers you draw in

If you do those things in that order, you will have alignment around solving your customer problems and you will be found when people are looking for your solution[s]. In order to effectively cover my space, for example, which is content management and marketing for thought leadership, I track the topics content management, content marketing and ‘thought leadership’ marketing as well as the following tools:

Blogging
Facebook
Google+
LinkedIn
Twitter
and supporting tools like Google Reader, Shareaholic, Storify, etc.

Thursday, for example, is Twitter day. Every Thursday I reflect on Twitter as part of a balanced content management and marketing for thought leadership strategy and ‘storify’ a summary of the best articles from the previous week. This tactical approach ‘forces’ me to not only review the best content from the previous week in Google Reader and Twitter, but be sure to cover it in my blog.

Questions? Feedback? Comment below or use the connect form. In the meantime, here’s a summary of the best of what I found in content marketing, LinkedIn and Twitter this past week…

http://storify.com/e1evation/content-marketing-linkedin-and-twitter-for-2-17-20

How To Find That 1 Thing You Lost Online (readwriteweb.com)
5 Key Elements for Business Blogs (thenextweb.com)
Google Calendar Lab Hides Your Least-Used Hours [Labs] (lifehacker.com)
5 Essential Tactics to Jumpstart Your Google+ Business Page (hubspot.com)

February 17, 2012 2

A friend who works with in construction industry is skeptical. He’s not convinced that ‘inbound marketing’ [blogging and other social media tools] can be applied to the construction industry. I respectfully disagree! I’ve seen content management and marketing for thought leadership applied to everything from Agriculture to Yoga and I believe it will work in the construction industry as well. Why?

Here are some of my beliefs:

Most companies have great stories and content — they just don’t use it as well as they could…
At the core, all great marketing is great storytelling
At the end of the day, every business is a people business

First, though what is this ‘thought leadership’? A simple definition might be a public display of expertise that can be easily found by people who are searching for it. How does a brand accomplish this? Though effective content management and content marketing. Because of my core beliefs, I think any company — even a construction company — can use the content they have or can create to tell great stories that attract people to their brand.

In his thought leadership classic ‘Brand Stand‘, Craig Badings tells the story of Dick Dusseldorp, a thought leader in the Australian construction industry before the phrase ‘thought leader’ was cool…

During the 1970s and 1980s, when union action on most construction sites in Sydney were crippling the construction industry, the sites on which Lend Lease was building suffered no such misfortune. This was because Dusseldorp’s philosophy was to create a community of interest between Lend Lease’s key stakeholders. When other companies around him were banging heads with the unions, with resultant long delays and cost overruns on projects, Dusseldorp was sitting down with the workers and unions and discussing their issues. The results were agreements, jointly committed to by workers and management, and a share in the resulting rewards for buildings completed on time. He was a master at getting people to transcend their traditional conflicts and work towards mutually beneficial goals.

Badings, Craig (2009-07-08). BRAND STAND (Kindle Locations 237-243). BookPal. Kindle Edition.

How did he do it? In part he used content management and content marketing along with other communication skills to position his firm at the thought leadership center of his industry in his country. Speaking of Dusseldorp’s organization Lend Lease, Badings says…

It launched a website… along with a four-part DVD series, using a former TV journalist to interview a number of independent third parties about their views on the future workspace and its impacts across business, design, people and location. As a result, Lend Lease reached those who made decisions about office space and helped stimulate and frame the debate around the impacts and implications of future work environments in Australia. Through the series, the company engaged communities linked to its industry and positioned itself at the centre of this debate. It is the logical place to be as a leader in the construction industry, but Lend Lease has done it in a way that doesn’t push the company’s point of view. It took the approach that it would rather invite leading experts in this field across various disciplines to participate in and frame the discus-sion.

Badings, Craig (2009-07-08). BRAND STAND (Kindle Locations 224-231). BookPal. Kindle Edition.

Joy Davis, CSI, CCPR, of CSI in Albuquerque, says…

“In many ways, construction is a relationship-driven business, and at the root of every great relationship is trust. No single person can know everything about construction, so we need trustworthy experts we can turn to who can help us achieve our goals. Thought Leadership is a strategy based on the idea that you can be your clients’ preferred expert – a person they trust, and whom they think of first when they have a question, or a new project.” Source: Thought Leadership and Social Media in the Workplace

Every business — not just construction — is a people business, but because of the critical nature of construction projects trust may be even more important. How can that trust be most effectively engendered? Content management and marketing for thought leadership may be an answer that the construction industry has overlooked! Comment, call or ‘connect’ so we can talk about how this applies to you and your organization…

A summary of thought leadership in 2012 – 12 experts’ views (thoughtleadershipstrategy.net)
12 experts on the key thought leadership trends for 2012 (e1evation.com)
The seven R’s of thought leadership (b2bmarketing.net)
Rethinking Thought Leadership: 7 Tips for Gaining New Clients (hingemarketing.com)
Thought Leadership e book – 12 Experts on the Thought Leadership Challenges of 2012 (thoughtleadershipstrategy.net)

February 9, 2012 3

Image representing Twitter as depicted in Crun... — Image via CrunchBase

Twitter has not always been a starting player in my content management and content marketing lineup — in fact, for a long time I must confess I neglected Twitter. Oddly enough, it was Google’s changes to Google Reader and privacy issues with Facebook and Google that made me rethink my content management and content marketing strategy…

When I started to think about the fact that Twitter is pretty much ubiquitous — one of my favorite college words for ‘everywhere’ — I rethought Twitter’s role in my content management and content marketing world. I had a big of a revelation a couple of weeks ago as to how Twitter could play a central role in my content marketing strategy — you can view it here. Now I’ve gone from neglecting Twitter — thinking of it just as one of the bases I have to cover — to giving it a starring role!

I used Twitter in concert with Shareaholic — one of my ‘must use’ tools — in fact, I call it the ‘Swiss Army knife’ of social media. Thanks to Shareaholic I’m always ready to send any good thing I stumble upon to my Twitter account via HootSuite. Why via HootSuite? Well, there are a lot of reasons why I use HootSuite and I should go into that again sometime. In this case, though the reason is that HootSuite gives me great analytics on how my tweets are doing.

If you want to focus on Twitter for content management and content marketing like I do, try adding Shareaholic and HootSuite to your mix!

Here’s a summary of great Twitter articles I read this past week via @Storify…

<script src="

I summarize the top Twitter news every Thursday at this time…

http://storify.com/e1evation/trending-topics-in-twitter-for-this-week-on-2-2-20.js”>%5B<a href="

I summarize the top Twitter news every Thursday at this time…

http://storify.com/e1evation/trending-topics-in-twitter-for-this-week-on-2-2-20″ target=”_blank”>View the story “Trending topics in Twitter for this week on 2/2/2012” on Storify]

Google Reader tips and tricks for content management (e1evation.com)
HootSuite Reaches 3 Million Users, 700 Million Sent Messages [INFOGRAPHIC] (mashable.com)
Twitter to launch new analytics tools for publishers to measure social reach (brafton.com)

February 2, 2012 0

IBM Lotus Web Content Management — Image via Wikipedia

Later today, I’ll be posting on some major changes that are happening in my business and on this site — you’ll want to be sure to check back later! In the meantime, every day I pull together the best of what I’ve read on one aspect of my focus. Mondays are all about content marketing and here are some of the best thought on the topic I’ve found in the past week…

[View the story “Trending topics in content marketing for 1/30/2012” on Storify]

Tactics on Thursday; Getting Things Done [GTD] and content marketing (e1evation.com)
What is Content Marketing? (ernestbarbaric.com)
Content Marketing: The Hard Numbers (business2community.com)
Content Marketing 101: How to Build Your Business With Content | Copyblogger (copyblogger.com)
Understanding Viral Content Marketing (visual.ly)

January 30, 2012 0

Image via CrunchBase

The highlights of my week included a couple of convos on blogging and Search Engine Optimization [SEO] with a brilliant guy named Ronnie Bincer that have my head spinning with the possibilities and cracking the code on autopublishing from Google Reader with the help of a tool called ‘If this then that’ or ifttt.com…

Using ifttt, I can direct content to several places at one simply by starring it or tagging it. This has great implications for my ‘content marketing for thought leadership’ workflow because it makes it easier for thought leaders to go from consuming content to producing content. I’ll have to so a screencast next week to show you what I’m talking about…

Here’s the wrap up…<script src="

The things I think I learned this week…

http://storify.com/e1evation/my-week-in-review-for-1-28-2012.js”>%5B<a href="

The things I think I learned this week…

http://storify.com/e1evation/my-week-in-review-for-1-28-2012″ target=”_blank”>View the story “My week in review for 1/28/2012” on Storify]Questions? Feedback?

8 Reasons You’ll Get Buried Alive Without Quality Content (hubspot.com)
Content Marketing Trends for 2012: What’s in and What’s Out (marketingprofs.com)
Tweet Your Social Content More Efficiently With Buffer And Ifttt (mediabistro.com)
5 Basic SEO Troubleshooting Tips for Content Marketers (toprankblog.com)
What is Content Marketing? (ernestbarbaric.com)

January 28, 2012 0

Cover of "Glengarry Glen Ross" — Cover of Glengarry Glen Ross

Looking to sink your teeth into some good strategic thoughts for a Saturday? Chris Brogan’s got you covered…

2012 is the year where social media oversaturation hits hard. We will scale back on our participation in social networks, and we will most certainly scale back who we choose to follow as sources. This won’t be because someone is bad or good. It will be based on whether the connection with that person adds value to the stream of information we’re cultivating or not.

In determining how to deliver value and stay relevant and visible in this new landscape, I’ve written down 97 ideas to help you build a valuable platform. Note: some of this thinking comes from writing a new book with Julien Smith that isn’t out until Fall 2012. Want some up front hints? Read this post.

Source: 97 Ideas for Building a Valuable Platform

Go to the source if you’d like to consider all 97 ideas. Me? I like #66: “The old “ABC” from Glengarry Glen Ross was “Always Be Closing.” The new ABC is “Always Be Connecting.” Networks are what make selling easier. Your platform is part of how you network.” This is the second time ABC has come up in a couple of days and I was surprised that the person I mentioned it to was not familiar with this scene. It won Alec Baldwin an Oscar… [Warning; Not safe for work!]

For me, ABC means “Always Be Content” marketing – the connecting comes later! Chris has the ideas. I have a repeatable workflow for implementing them. Comment, call or ‘connect’ so we can talk about how this applies to you and your organization…

7 Reasons You’re Not Generating Leads From Social Media (hubspot.com)
LinkedIn 101: A Critical Part of Your Inbound Marketing Strategy (weidert.com)
7 Tips for Stellar Social Media Community Management (hubspot.com)
Future of Marketing in 2012 and onward – Interview with Julien Smith. (ernestbarbaric.com)

January 21, 2012 0

Cover of "Getting Things Done: The Art of... — Cover via Amazon

I maintain that ‘how do I add content marketing to my plate and still get home for supper?’ is one of the most pressing issues in social media today. The pundits all say that this is the year for curation and content marketing but not a lot of experts are giving direction to thought leaders who hope to execute such a strategy effectively. In this 11 minute video I explore the use of David Allen’s ‘Getting Things Done‘ principles to content marketing…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-0UlkmVB0M&feature=youtu.be

Questions? Feedback? Please comment below…

What is Content Marketing? (ernestbarbaric.com)
Content Marketing 101: How to Build Your Business With Content | Copyblogger (copyblogger.com)
What’s Your Content Marketing Strategy? (business2community.com)
Thoughts From The Content Marketing Institute (twistimage.com)

January 19, 2012 28

Twitter has become increasingly important to me since the changes Google made to Google Reader on 11/1/11. Here’s how I’m currently using Twitter for maximum impact in my curation workflow…

http://storify.com/e1evation/tactics-for-thursday-the-4-ways-i-use-twitter

January 12, 2012 0

More good thoughts from Heidi Cohen…

Social media is like a hungry teenage boy. As any parent will tell you, when it comes to food, they’re never satisfied. Similarly, social media has a voracious appetite requiring continual feeding in the form of content and communications in a variety of formats.

What’s a marketer to do keep your social media initiatives sated? Here are seven tips to develop appropriate content and engagement to nourish the social media beast, regardless of which platforms you use.

Source: How To Feed The Social Media Beast | Heidi Cohen

Go to the source if you want to learn more about how Heidi feeds the beast. Me? I use Google Reader to search for content that is in alignment with my brand and my blog so that I curate or create content that is in alignment with my customer value demands. Comment, call or ‘connect’ so we can talk about how this applies to you and your organization…

Eight Factors to Consider When (Re)Launching a Business Blog (webbiquity.com)
Be successful in Social Media by doing your own thing. (thisismyurl.com)
Does Social Media Matter for Your Business? (marcbinkley.ca)
7 Top Online Marketing Trends for 2012 [Data Included] (clickz.com)
12 Reasons to Put Blogs at the Center of Your Content Marketing (e1evation.com)

January 11, 2012 1

The problem isn’t writer’s block…

…it’s actually writing the damn post.

You don’t need ideas, open Google Reader or join #Blogchat. You’ll have enough ideas to write posts for the next year.

The problem is, when you actually WRITE the post, then it’s real. Then you are dangerously close to publishing it. Which means suddenly everyone will see it, and read it, and judge it.

And yet, you are often the harshest judge of your own work. Too often, you assume that your post isn’t worthy of the reader, before they have a chance to dismiss it. So it stays in your Draft folder, mocking you.

You can’t ‘sell’ until you ‘ship’.

Source: Stop Lying to Yourself, Your Problem Isn’t Figuring Out What to Write About… | MackCollier.com – Social Media Training and Consulting

Go to the source if you’d like to read the rest of Mack’s article. Or, maybe you should just start writing!

:-D

What happens when you lose your love of blogging? (mackcollier.com)
10 Responsive WordPress Plugins to Complement Your Theme (wpmu.org)
Let’s Connect at Blog World Expo Plus a Live #Blogchat Update! (mackcollier.com)

January 10, 2012 0

The best book I read this week was “The Information Diet” by author Clay Johnson. Recently, he posted on an aspect of his book I find interesting…

With information, we seem to have taken the worst concepts of dieting and applied it to our habits. Somehow an information diet meant throwing away your blackberry, deleting your Facebook account, or taking a “social media fast”. This kind of stuff isn’t healthy dieting, it’s anorexia. Banting had it right — we need to learn the skill of selectivity and choice, not the skills of banishment and avoidance. Nobody’s getting obese eating too much raw broccoli.

Our information diets are required to be much more diverse than our food diets are — whereas a college student in June and an accountant in April may require very different information diets, the food that keeps them healthy is roughly the same. That’s why the Information Diet is about habit building, conscious consumption, and measurement and not about telling you specifically how much to consume or what specifically to consume.

The first important habit you need to build to have a healthy relationship with information is measurement. The important thing to do on an information diet is to measure what you’re consuming, and then to start making decisions based on that data — those decisions should usually be to consume more of the good stuff, and less of the bad stuff.

Secondly, there are the important skills you get — the ones I describe in further detail in the book. Cultivating your data literacy to be able to delve deep into source material. CodeYear is a great commitment to make in this regard — learning how to write code will give you the skills needed to sort and look through data.

Finally, it’s about making some decisions about what to consume. And honestly this is the toughest thing for me, as an author, to recommend. My grandmother, for instance, read the bible every day, and I’m convinced that while it was the only book she ever read, she read it more than 1,000 times. I’d never suggest to her that she stop reading the bible — that’d be wrong. Instead though, I might encourage her to dig deeper into the source material there, and go beyond the King James Version.

Source: Information Diet | Healthy Information Diets are about Quality, not Quantity

I was already thinking about the topic of ‘what to consume’ when Clay’s book came along. In my ebook ‘Personal News Aggregation for Fun and Profit’ [registration required] I talk about using email for ‘just in time’ information and Google Reader for ‘just in case’ information, but I had worked my way up to almost 900 sources that I was tracking. It occurred to me recently that just because I can add a site to Google Reader easily doesn’t always mean I should. In the same way that Rupert Murdoch makes some judgments before buying a media outlet to include in his News Corporation, I too must have a set of filters I use before deciding to include a feed in my ‘news corporation’ as a trusted source…

More and more, I’m thinking about the ‘strategic alignment’ of everything I do on the internet – from consumption to production – with the ‘consumer’ in mind. Call me Captain Obvious, but in order to avoid wasting time or risk unmet ‘consumer demand’ it occurs to me that everything I do – including the sources to which I subscribe in Google Reader – should be in line with my brand which in turn needs to be tightly aligned with solving ‘customer problems’ as my friend Nilofer Merchant says…

If you, like me, are thinking about the way you integrate information in your life, I highly recommend Clay’s book – it stimulated some great internal thinking about how and why I use my tools to support my business and personal objectives by consuming information ‘on purpose’. If you’d like to talk about how this impacts your life, comment below or use the connect tab above to start the discussion…