Up and Running Blog

May 2009

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Starting a Blog: How important are comments?

by LisaBruckner on May 7, 2009

I’ve discovered a controversy over blog comments.  Of the many, “helpful tips” I’ve read online for how to be a successful blogger, a common theme emerges.  Invite comments.  Include your readers.  Help them be interactive.  Look at any hugely popular blog, let’s use The Sartorialist for example (one of my favorites), and you may see the comments number in the double digits for each and every post.  This can be intimidating for the new blogger.  However, I decided to heed the online advice and attempt to help my readers become more interactive and generate comments.

2918520328_4b4f636af2Working in the research industry for over a decade, I thought an online survey would be just the thing.  A month or so ago, I asked my readers to comment or email me their idea of what business casual was and to give me some basic demographic info (geographic location and their business industry).  I also requested this info from my Facebook friends and posted it twice on Twitter.  The results were astonishing; I didn’t receive a single comment or email.  I was crushed.  I deleted the post 30 hours later in fear that people would see I didn’t receive a single comment.  As someone who loves to host parties, it was as if my biggest fear had finally materialized: no one showed up!

How important are comments?  I didn’t really know.  Did the lack of response mean no one read my blog?  How could that be when I am consistently stopped by people in our community expressing how much they enjoy my blog or a particular post.  I receive emails and tweets from complete strangers thanking me for my blog and I see and hear my recommendations put to use daily.   However, I have received, to date, a whopping nine comments on my entire blog since it’s inception on March 24.  Interestingly,  instead of published comments, I more commonly receive a direct email from someone essentially making a comment (or asking for my fashion advice).  However, this doesn’t really “count” in the public’s eyes unless I post it as a comment directly on the blog.  I don’t usually do this since it seems disrespectful to their direct, private approach.

The answer to this mystery came from a post written by Mathew Scott on Strategic Incubator. His insight released the monkey of doubt from my shoulders and this particular quote hit home for me:

In my own personal experience, I have little success in building a community of readers who decide to comment on my blog posts. However, I’ve been very successful in converting my readers into clients or paid customers.

–Mathew Scott, Strategic Incubator April 10, 2009.

Blogging is an unusual feeling for the unseasoned blogger.  You feel a bit naked posting yourself out for the world to see.  No matter how self confident you think you are, blogging can bring out your deepest insecurities.  I wonder if this ever goes away.  Do hugely successful bloggers still have these feelings of insecurity?  I am curious to know the answer.

I no longer base my blog’s worth on comments thanks to Mathew Scott.  When I do receive a comment, it’s an unexpected surprise and I am like a child opening a present with delight!

Back to the survey again: I have since learned about the free, online services of polldaddy and plan to try it on my site in the future.  I promise to keep it simple and will ask a provocative question to entice readers to participate.  I’ll let you know how it goes.  Secretly, I will admit, I am still a little nervous no one will show up to my party.

-Lisa

lisabrunckner_headshotLisa Bruckner is a consultant for Trunk Club – a revolutionary way for men to buy clothing.  She writes for two men’s blogs: Wasabi Nights and The Trunk Club Blog and spent twelve years in the research sector before switching gears to follow her passion for fashion.
Trunk Club
Wasabi Nights
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How to Do the Business Pitch

by Tim Berry on May 6, 2009

I’ve seen so many pitches recently; literally several dozen. There was the University of Oregon venture competition, then the Rice University venture competition, one at Smart-ups in Eugene, and then we had the Big Idea Bash in Portand. I’ve seen some great pitches, actually, far more of them good than bad; but I can’t resist adding my suggestions as a quick (3-minute) video here.


If you can’t see the video here, then please click here for the YouTube source.

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Ask Tim Berry: The Elevator Pitch

by Chelle Parmele on May 5, 2009

Tim Berry’s new video talks about the basics for a good Elevator Pitch in this month’s video.

If you can’t view the video here, then check it out on our YouTube channel along with the rest of our business and marketing focused videos.

Palo Alto Software’s YouTube Videos

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Keys to the Business Plan for a Startup

by Tim Berry on May 5, 2009

  1. Every new business deserves a business plan (as does every existing business); not just because it needs investment or financing, but because business planning helps set directions, and helps prioritize and manage specific steps, dates, deadlines and responsibilities.
  2. When a startup doesn’t have to develop a full formal plan to show outsiders, then it shouldn’t spend the extra effort polishing a formal printed plan; just do the plan as the first step of planning. Set it down so you can track what you expected as the real world changes.
  3. One of the best uses of a business plan for a startup is to add up starting costs, including initial expenses, initial assets and the initial cash needed as working capital to support deficit spending from the start until the point that the business reaches monthly cash flow break-even.
  4. Another good use of a startup plan is defining and communicating strategy, as in target market focus, why to buy, main marketing message and media. Even when you’re a single person, with nobody else involved, you want to get this written down so you can track results. We trick ourselves: Unless we write things down, as events roll out we forget what we had expected. That spoils the opportunity to modify and correct based on changed assumptions. There can’t be course corrections if there was no course set.
  5. And yet another good use of a startup business plan is setting down who does what and who owns what before the business gets started. These things are easier to lay down in detail before there is money involved.

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The Funded Founder Institute

by Tim Berry on May 4, 2009

I posted New Entrepreneurial Seal of Approval earlier today on Planning Startups Stories, my main blog.

It’s about The Funded Founder Institute, a four-month, $450 program to run selected entrepreneurs (including, by the way, wanna-be entrepreneurs) through weekly sessions with mentors and experts, ending with a certification that should smooth the path to investment.

This is just starting, but it looks like a great opportunity. Adeo Ressi, the founder, has a great track record in startups–with VC funding and successful exits–and what he’s after is getting a few people a better chance at a more level playing field. Learn the ropes before you get in too deep.

If you can’t hack the $450, he’s got a number of Microsoft BizSpark scholarships to offer, too.

So if this sounds at all interesting to you, apply now. Applications close May 9. The application costs $50. The window is closing for this first run.

I think this is likely to be a really interesting opportunity.

Adeo promises that selection will be reasonable. He wants a broad group of potential founders. And they won’t necessarily all be headed for venture capital, not even necessarily for angel investment or even any investment. There’s even some language on the main site inviting bootstrapping startups as well.

Also, he says he doesn’t want just sophisticated, experienced startup people. He’s also looking for people without experience who want to learn.

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Building Your Company Culture

by Tim Berry on May 1, 2009

Very nice, short video piece here with Jensen Huang, co-founder of NVIDIA. He’s been president, CEO and member of the board of directors. He’s talking about how you develop culture during the early stages of growing a company.

In case you don’t see the video here, it’s also online here; and, for that matter, this is part of a larger talk that is definitely worth watching.

This was recorded at Stanford University on April 9 of this year.

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