I really enjoy irreverent comedy and I regularly DVR Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO. He says what many are thinking but are too polite to say out loud. He also brings in guests from every end of the spectrum and no topic is off limits. It’s a little like the blogosphere.

One of Maher’s regular features is a segment called “New Rules.” In it, he pokes fun at conventional wisdom and current events. Recently, referring to a photo of the Pope walking with President Bush, Maher announced that new rule would be, “from now on, the Pope has to wear a slip,” making fun of the fact that you could see the outline of the Pope’s legs through his garment. I laughed. Others might have been offended. Watching is optional.

Back to the blogosphere, Gina Trapani, of the very well known Lifehacker blog, let it be known this week that she is going to filter and block, using gmail, all incoming emails from a long list of PR companies. Gina had apparently established some rules regarding submission of tips for her to consider writing about. PR firms that ended up on the list had violated her rules with the usual spam-like mass pitching that some PR firms engage in. Her response to them not following the rules of her blog is to black-list them, and to share her list with other bloggers. This is big news because Lifehacker is a very widely-read blog and the PR firms on the list will have to adjust their clients’ strategies if they involve her blog and others who might follow her lead.

My own thinking is that if you want to get something printed in a blog, you have to follow the rules, customs, whims, desires, superstitions, or whatever is involved, of the author of that particular blog. No standard set of rules applies. For the millions of blogs now in existence, each is their own nation, with their own local laws and customs. If it sounds like too much work, then it’s probably not the work you should be doing. Of course, you could just get lucky.

To date there have been a number of suggestions for how PR firms should deal with bloggers, but no hard and fast set of rules is in place for general use. Even if there was one I imagine it would still be a pretty standard thing for certain bloggers to deviate from them. Blogs proliferated in the first place because of a convergence of new technologies and the strong desire to get out from under the limited world of the “mainstream media.” What incentive is there to recreate the same or similar rules?

Maybe the new rule for media relations is that there will never, ever be any one set of rules for dealing with social media, the blogosphere, and social networks. Perhaps the new rule, which is really a very old rule, is that you should treat everyone the way you would want to be treated; the golden rule.

Here at Every Dot Connects, we blog. So, hopefully, when we communicate with bloggers on a cause, an issue, or on behalf of a client we’re working with, we have the ability to relate to what they’re going through. Maybe not on the same scale, but we can relate. Because no college course, certificate from the state you live in, authoritative book, study guide or instruction manual, will even come close to providing a handy guide to the new media than being directly involved.

In the meantime, I know I’ll be making some mistakes and doing some good work at the same time. And, like the rest of us in social media, I’ll be watching to see how these many new rules play out. Because, just like on Bill Maher’s show, new rules are probably being written even now. And someone, maybe even the Pope, is already breaking them.

Sometimes I wonder where this social media thing is leading and how it will affect the lives and careers of those of us participating. Several years ago, when I hardly knew what a blog was, I came across a great one here in Texas. I’m happy to report that it’s now part of a true social media success story.

In The Pink Texas, authored by Eileen Smith, aka Pink Lady, is one of the the best political blogs in the state, or anywhere for that matter, and I read them all.

I describe the blog as political because it is actually named for the pink granite from which the state capitol building in Texas is constructed and from which a wealth of political stories emanate. Most of Eileen’s posts are on politics, but ITPT is actually more of a social commentary on everything that catches Eileen’s attention.

As the late Molly Ivins proved during her life and career, Texas politics provides ample material for humorous writing and serious observations. Eileen Smith has taken Molly’s spirit into the world of social media. Eileen is a great writer, has a shrewd understanding of our culture and politics, and no one comes up with better headlines day after day.

When I drop in to see what’s happening on her blog, Eileen may be defending her choice for U.S. President against an angry mob of comment-makers, picking on the Texas Governor, or giving a great review of the latest episode of the Bachelor. It’s always funny, always smart, and she has a bevy of followers who regularly comment on her posts. Most of them use funny pseudonyms while providing politically incorrect insights of their own.

As far as I can tell, she never censors anyone even if they’re anonymous and rude. The community she has developed is fiercely loyal and seems to police its own. If someone is over the top in their comments, everyone gets on them. And don’t dare pick on the Pink Lady herself unless you can handle a virtual tongue lashing worthy of the strictest Texas schoolmarm from her followers.

If Twitter is, as Connie Reece has noted, a virtual water cooler, then In The Pink Texas is a virtual Texas bar where folks get together and let off a little steam throughout the day.

Just about everyone working at the Texas Capitol keeps an eye on In The Pink Texas. If Eileen doesn’t report the latest rumor, then one of the many members of the ITPT community probably will. It’s the wild west of journalism and those who ignore it do so at their own risk.

What makes Eileen’s story a true social media success is that her personal blog, which is part labor of love and part political addiction, drew the attention of the editors of Texas Monthly, a world-class publication based in Austin. This past year Texas Monthly hired Eileen to edit its online publication, TexasMonthly.com, where she is also thriving.

I don’t have a business relationship with Eileen, but she has spoken at the Austin Social Media Club, where she was great. I would encourage all of you to check her out and comment on the Texas Monthly blog and, if you’re adventurous, In The Pink Texas.

It may be presumptuous of me to do so, but, if I’m allowed as a Friend of the W-List, I would like to suggest that Eileen Smith would be a great addition to the list.

~Mike

A few months ago I did some serious pruning on my Google Reader, which was choked by an overgrowth of blog feeds. I’d been trying to stay around 200-250, but somehow the number kept climbing toward 300. One day I decided I had officially hit Information Overload. I was either spending so much time reading that I had no time to write, or I was feeling guilty for clicking on “mark all as read.”

Choices were difficult, but I managed to cut back to 50 RSS feeds. It meant I missed reading some people whose writing I really liked, but it became much more manageable and enjoyable.

Now I’m trying another tactic: cutting RSS feeds even further, yet increasing the number of blogs I read. Here’s how I’m accomplishing that.

1. Twitter links. Many of the bloggers I regularly read are on Twitter, so I have unsubscribed from their feed. Whenever they tweet a link to their blog, I click to open it in a new tab. At some point during the day, I’ll skim through the posts and close out the tabs. I try to comment on several blogs every day.

2. Instapaper. When I come across what looks like a good read but I don’t have time for it at the moment, I click on Read Later in my browser toolbar. This handy bookmarklet creates a personalized newspaper with the links I’ve saved. When “later” rolls around, I can browse through the links and Skip, Edit or Delete them. By the way, Instapaper was developed for the iPhone, so it’s a great mobile tool as well as Web app.

3. Social Media Today. Because social media is my primary business, many of the feeds previously in my reader were from people writing in the field. Most of those same bloggers, however, are published at Social Media Today. I pulled their Vortex widget into my home page for Netvibes, which has replaced my Google Reader. With one click I can check the latest posts from scores of bloggers.

4. Marketing Profs Daily Fix. Many of the top voices in marketing are featured here, so I have unsubscribed from their individual blogs in favor of reading them at the Daily Fix. Of course, when I read an article by one of my favorite marketing bloggers, I often click through to their blog to browse around and see what catches my eye.

5. Alltop.com is Guy Kawasaki’s latest venture. I was flattered to be included both in the section for Social Media and the Twitterati, but I did not think I would have much use for the site myself. Recently, though, I’ve been using it to find new voices in areas outside my primary interest of social media. Want to find information on personal finance or small business, for example? Alltop.com is a good starting point.

So what’s left in my feed reader? Mostly fun stuff, like I Can Has Cheezburger and Crazy Aunt Purl, “the true-life diary of a thirty-something, newly divorced, displaced Southern obsessive-compulsive knitter who has four cats. (Because nothing is sexier than a divorced woman with four cats.)” Laurie Perry’s ramblings have turned into one of my all-time favorite blogs.

The item I check most frequently in my feed reader is what I call my “me-monitor.” It’s where I subscribe to feeds based on search results for my name and our blog name.

So far I am actually reading more posts, by more authors, and I have given up worrying whether I’ve missed something important. If it’s truly important, I’ll come across it some place besides my feed reader.

I’m still a candidate for social networking rehab, but at least I’ve broken my RSS addiction. How about you?

Conference-hopping is probably not the best use of your time, if it’s just for the sake of racking up those badges, schwag laptop bags and stacks of business cards that you’ll never look at again. 

Are you stuck on a social media conference circuit, hearing some of the same speakers again and again?  Why do we sometimes do this to ourselves?

Maybe it’s because you can’t replace the warmth and understanding derived from genuine human contact. Nope, not even with clever replication in Second Life (though try telling that to the Web-savvy daughter of Direct2Dell’s Laura Thomas.)

I want to see your face.  You can see mine, too – I’ll try to have a “good face day” for you.

For maximum business effectiveness in a connected world, it’s all about the face-to-face, according to Business Week:

“Paradoxically, the great work diaspora unleashed by technology is making physical connection all the more important. As companies open more outposts in more emerging markets, the need to gather intensifies.”

On a personal level, it’s very enjoyable to commune with other bloggers and online folks who understand your work (even when your dentist does not.) 

Just like diet plus exercise, combining online and offline acquaintances is a “force multiplier,” to use a military term.  Online networking has the pleasant result of enhancing your face-to-face meetings at conferences.  You feel as though you already know people; very helpful in those first awkward moments of walking into a crowded room during an event.

One drawback to geek conferences is the audience; a roomful of people pecking away on open laptops. Hey, is anyone really tuned in to listen to the speakers? They’d like some face time, some eye contact from somebody sitting out there. Don’t make them talk to the top of your head.

The danger of liveblogging, Twittering, Seesmic-ing, etc. the conference proceedings is that you spend too much time doing secretarial duties and not enough engaging your brain and listening to what’s being said.

I’m glad to see that my colleague Connie is heading to BlogHer Business and Blogger Social 08, both in April in New York, but I’m doing my bit for face-to-face as well.

First, it’s a no-brainer for me to attend the Austin, Texas South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive conference March 7-11, since it’s held right where I live.   The current list of programming panels is pretty enticing, with more additions to come, and wikis are springing up to keep track of who may be coming from my Twitter group. 

I also love the many evening social events/parties, but they’re usually so loud that I get tired of trying to have a conversation by shouting.

The Houston Chronicle’s TechBlog has great advice for fitting in at SXSWi….

Second, I simply have to fly to Chicago for SOBCon08 May 2-4, because Liz Strauss and her cohorts did such a bang-up job last year that I know I’ll miss seeing some marvelous faces if I don’t go to her “Biz School for Bloggers.” 

Unlike the SXSWi behemoth, SOBCon (”Successful and Outstanding Bloggers”) is kept small and very focused, with lots of interaction amongst conference attendees during the sessions, not just squooshed into moments in the hallways or bathroom.  Gotta go!

Finally, I’m heading to San Francisco in July to go to BlogHer 08. 

I spoke at this conference last year, and had a blast meeting all kinds of bloggers and soaking up inspiration from speakers like Esther Dyson and Annalee Newitz.

Will I see your face soon?

I hope so!

An interesting discussion got started on Twitter over the weekend and has migrated to blogs to continue the conversation. It started when Laura Fitton mentioned how happy she was to be able to do her grocery shopping while in her pajamas. She uses Peapod to order groceries online and have them delivered.

Merlene complained: “I’m jealous.. I’m *just* at the edge of suburbia and the online grocery shops won’t deliver this far. Asking for 11 yrs now.”

I added that I had used Peapod years ago and wished they had not discontinued service in our area. That led to speculation that perhaps they had launched too early. Merlene responded: “Exactly. A lot of companies (not just grocery) who tried to sell online 10 yrs ago not doing it now because of early losses. I’m in a city of +500k and within an hour there are over 5 million ppl. Huge market. But I can haz grocery online? NO!”

Anna Lenardsen jumped in to say, “My brother is trying to launch a similar (peapodian) type venture on a local level in Michigan,” and asked for suggestions.

As usual, the Twitter community was quick to respond. Following is a sample (in reverse chronological order, with apologies to those I may have missed outside my twitstream):

BarbaraKB @conniereece “tweet specials” Now, that sound intriguing. I don’t do coupons. No time for clipping & remembering. Ugh. Just give me the deal

shawnz @conniereece It could be created single sheet 8.5×11 and put on flyers all over neighborhoods, businesses, etc. Pick one up anywhere. Fax it

shawnz @conniereece This ALL OUT OF pad is what I’m talking about: http://snurl.com/1xs7v Use something like this for an ad.

shawnz @conniereece Have you seen those grocery store staple lists? Where you just check things off you need? That should be his ad. Just fax in.

kdpaine @conniereece I’d offer a discount as a member benefit to local church groups, quilters, professional associations etc

hardaway @oemperor. Repeat experience establishes trust. It’s about performance.

hardaway @oemperor. Absolutely. But grocery staff turns over. I’d like a vegetarian produce picker.

oemperor @hardaway if bashas.com were more like dating service, with ability to select personal shopper based on profile/prefs, would you like this?

hardaway @conniereece. You know what I mean. Sometimes I get ugly produce and meat. Or they forget something. But it is great service

oemperor @shawnz delivered to you automatically, on request only, or both?

hardaway @conniereece. Worst thing about grocery delivery: depends on the produce piclker or butcher picker.

jeremymiddleton @conniereece I think if you go to smallsmallbizpod Alex Bellinger posted a site of a guy in the UK doing the same thing

mourningcloak @conniereece what kind of online grocery is this? a pickup service, delivery service, both, or mail-order type of service?

oemperor @alenardson create hashtag for local online market eg igrocery in arlington va could use hashtag #igrocery22206

conniereece @alenardson You can use 3rd party Twitter clients to search by zip code/location - think it’s Twittervision? Somebody help me out w/ name.

hardaway @oemperor @conniereece. My grocery delivery: Bashas.com, “groceries on the go.” Saves my last list, gives me the specials.

oemperor @conniereece hmm…modeling online grocery on dating service, in terms of establishing TRUST between shopper and shoppee

oemperor @conniereece or if you want metrics based matching between personal shoppers and customers, steal a page from eharmony

alenardson Re: twitter for local marketing: is there a way to tap into local tweeters?

oemperor @conniereece have each personal shopper, and each customer, complete survey “8 things most important to me in shopping”

conniereece @oemperor Excellent idea of offering oppty to meet shoppers - hold “class” at grocery store when they begin using service.

oemperor @conniereece perhaps trust factor via personal online relationships. “i am avail to shop 4 u weekday aft. i pick newest bags of frozen peas”

oemperor @conniereece perhaps if you can meet the shoppers so that you can trust them to do what you do

conniereece @oemperor @alangutierrez Yes, but w/ perishables online grocer can tout services of thr “experts” & build trust factor by delivering quality

jeremymiddleton @conniereece @alendarson think that, that is a good idea, you could post things like whats fresh in season etc, just arrived new line!

agershenbaum @conniereece visit gigya.com and gydget.com

oemperor @conniereece i suspect @alangutierrez may be right. you lose control if someone else touches and picks out your food. esp for perishables

Merlene @conniereece offer a monthly or weekly discount coupon for subscribers to e-flyer, twitter, etc.

conniereece Question: @alendardson brother starting online grocery delivery service. Suggestions for using social media in their marketing? I’ll compile

conniereece @oemperor Discussion w/ @merlene @paulswansen seems to indicate too early to market, too tradtl in mktg approach. Your thoughts?

alenardson @merlene what else besides twitter? to reach a broader public. Not a particularly progressive community.

oemperor what shuttered the earlier online grocery efforts? lack of customer interest? no cost effective delivery? spoiled fruit?

Merlene @alenardson and sprinkle some tips, links to recipes, etc. to create flow of useful content to tweets/blog/etc.

Merlene @alenardson twitter profile for business. Daily tweets of specials, etc. with link to site. Easy opt in advert for those who want it.

Following our 140-characters-at-a-time marketing conversation, Ontario Emperor developed his ideas into a blog post saying that online grocery services should be like online dating services.

Marketer extraordinaire Andy Sernovitz (@sernovitz on Twitter) emailed some additional tips:

• Peapod does very well here in chicago, and I used freshdirect in nyc.
• Peapod is great about hiring for personality. Drivers are friendly, chatty, helpful. Plus they know the merch, always making product reccos, bring the occasional gift. You welcome them into your home instead of fearing wierd delivery guy.
• Another trick to try - unique foods that you can only get from the service. Famous cheesecakes, salt lick, some special cheese company, rare beers, cult classic comfort foods (mallomar).
• How about gift boxes - sick kid box, breaking up with boyfriend box

Andy gave one last tip that is always worth noting: “Remember - free advice is worth what you pay.”

I wish that Twitter pals CK, DrewMcLellan, Mack Collier, BL Ochman and Toby Bloomberg had been online because I would love to hear their suggestions. Perhaps their interest will be piqued and they will offer advice in the comments here or blog about it themselves.

Thanks for the question, Anna, and I hope these tidbits are helpful to your brother’s new venture.

It’s all CK’s fault. She’s the one who talked this timid traveler into venturing all the way to the Big Apple. To be fair, there was no arm-twisting involved. I wanted to attend Blogger Social ‘08 from the moment it was announced. But first I had to make sure I could swing it budget-wise. And second, I had to overcome my disinclination toward cross-country travel.

You see, I love visiting new places; I just hate the process of getting there. I dread long flights with my ample derrière squeezed into a 17-inch seat. And the last time I flew to New York, I tore a tendon in my foot getting off the moving sidewalk in the Newark airport. (Let’s just say that Grace is not my middle name, and New Balance will not be offering me an endorsement contract any time soon.)

So what persuaded me to break my new travel rule for 2008 (No Cross-Country Flying to Some Whoop-Dee-Doo Event Unless Someone Pays Me Big Bucks to Speak)?

People. Bloggers I’ve met and bloggers I want to meet.

Diva Power. Just the thought of me and CK and Toby Bloomberg in the same room gets me energized. Throw in Valeria Maltoni and Anna Farmery … makes my toes tap impatiently and I start counting the days until April 4.

Reconnecting. Looking forward to sitting down again with David Armano and Drew McLellan, whom I met last year at SOBCon and have kept in touch with since then. I love these guys, even if they do have a weird affinity for beef jerky. (just kidding) I’m also hoping for another real-time Scrabble match-up with Geoff Livingston, like we had at BlogOrlando.

International Connections. Blogger Social ‘08 is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me to meet some fellow Age of Conversation authors from around the world: for example, Luc Desbasieux and Kris Hoet (Belgium); Gavin Heaton (Australia), co-editor of Age of Conversation; and Arun Rajagopal (Sultanate of Oman).

April in Paris? Maybe next year. This year April will find me in New York–will you be there? Look for me. I’ll be the one with the pink hair and boa.

Blogger Social ‘08 attendees so far include: Susan Bird Tim Brunelle Katie Chatfield Terry Dagrosa Matt Dickman Luc Debaisieux Gianandrea Facchini Mark Goren Gavin Heaton Sean Howard CK Valeria Maltoni Drew McLellan Doug Meacham Marilyn Pratt Steve Roesler Greg Verdino CB Whittemore Steve Woodruff Paul McEnany Ann Handley David Reich Tangerine Toad Kristin Gorski Mack Collier David Armano Ryan Barrett Lori Magno Tim McHale Gene DeWitt Mario Vellandi Arun Rajagopal Joseph Jaffe Rohit Bhargava Anna Farmery Marianne Richmond Thomas Clifford Lewis Green Geoff Livingston Kris Hoet CeCe Lee Jonathan Trenn Toby Bloomberg Seni Thomas Darryl Ohrt

Yesterday I posted an update to my post, Got the Munchies? Have a Media Snack. I tagged Drew McLellan after the fact, when I discovered his recent post about providing a steady stream of snack-sized messages.

Now I’m tagging yet another person–one who, I’m sure, will make an interesting contribution on the topic–Valeria Maltoni, the Conversation Agent.

Drew and Valeria are two marketing conversationalists on my drastically shortened list of RSS feeds. They make me think.

And this topic made me think. When it comes to media consumption, are we becoming a snack culture? If so, how do we respond? Chris Webb has previously written about the Snack Culture and its effect on his industry, publishing.

I look forward to Drew and Valeria continuing the conversation … and how about you? What’s your take on media snackers?

When my friend, the “evil genius” Will Hurley, aka whurley, called today and asked me to conspire with him on a monumental plan, I confess I was intrigued. And when he explained what it was, and said it was time to quit talking and do something to fight poverty, it was easy for me to agree.

Here’s the question: could you live on $2 a day? The fact is that over 1 billion people live on less than $1 a day, with nearly half the world’s population (2.8 billion) living on less than $2 a day.

Please watch the one-minute video and leave a comment saying that you’ll join us on Oct. 16-17 to Stand Up, Speak Out. Better yet, take this material and write your own post; include a trackback to let me know you’re helping out.

“Stand Up, Speak Out” calls for people of the world to hold their leaders accountable, to foster knowledge and understanding of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and to propagate global grassroots participation that positively impacts the decisions of world leaders. This is not about raising money; it’s about raising awareness.

How can I help, you ask? First, spread the word! The UN’s looking for some buzz about the event itself. I’m calling all Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and blogosphere friends and friends of friends to fire up their keyboards. Get posting, poking, and writing on walls. We’re on a tight schedule — you’ve got seven days.

If you get bogged down in legal mumbo-jumbo, whurley has given permission to reuse his content. (That’s what I’ve done here.) Just please give credit as needed. In addition to blogging:

1. Add the “Stand Up, Speak Out” campaign on Twitter
2. Add the “Stand Up, Speak Out” banner (created by Colin Grigson) to your Web site. Just cut and paste it into your home page or template directly before the tag. (Get the banner code here.)

Now, on to the actual day. There are three ways to get your hands dirty on Oct. 17, 2007:

• Organize a local “Stand Up” event
• Attend a pre-existing event in your area
• Visit the Web site (www.standagainstpoverty.org) and participate in a “virtual” Stand Up

So, you might ask, why are we only spreading awareness by standing up? Love or hate the UN, we can all agree this is a great cause. I love the idea but was left wondering, what happens once everyone stands up? After all, the name ain’t Stand Up — it’s Stand Up, Speak Out. So where’s the speaking out? UN? Anyone? If we’re all going to raise awareness, shouldn’t we take this opportunity to actually make a difference? Can we finally follow through and actually speak out?

So here’s my idea. We create a BarCamp-like event in communities around the globe where groups can meet for the stand up and then make with the talking and have an open discussion/brainstorm session about improving conditions in their locale. In fact, I am one step ahead of you; I already put up the site. So go to the wiki. Add your local BarCampSpeakOut and/or Stand Up. Add your own ideas. Get things going in the comments on this post. I’ll make sure they’re added right away.

What are you still sitting there for? Get to cutting, pasting, and linking.

Many thanks to both Liz Strauss and Drew McLellan for adding my name to The W List, a celebration of women bloggers. I found it especially interesting that the announcement of this list coincided with my partner Mike Chapman’s post about the dearth of women bloggers at major events like Yearly Kos.

I’d like to call attention to several outstanding women who have informed / inspired / entertained me through their blogs. Please consider yourselves added to The W List …

StealthMode by Francine Hardaway — I love Francine’s spunky attitude toward life, adventure and blogging.

Spacey Gracey Review & TrueGritz by Grayson Daughters — Southern humor and outrageous opinion at its finest. (note to self: make Grayson an honorary member of Blogabillies; or is she too much of a refined Southern belle?)

Beltway Confidential by Julie Mason — Houston Chronicle’s Washington correspondent is dead-on funny in her blog about Beltway insiders and the press corps following their every move.

Crazy Aunt Purl by Laurie Perry — She learned to knit as a newly divorced wreck of a woman then found her voice when she started to blog. I’m really looking forward to her upcoming book, Drunk, Divorced and Covered in Cat Hair.

Jen McClure’s Ruminations & New Communications Review by Jen McClure — If you want to know what’s happening on the cutting edge of new media, you’ll find it in the New Comms Review, where Jen is the managing editor.

These names have been added to the list below. Is someone keeping a “definitive” list as we add more names of deserving women? If so, please let me know.

45 Things by Anita Bruzzese
A Look at Art & Design: Lisa Mikulski
angiemckaig.com: still a great pair of legs Angie McKaig
Ask Dr. Kirk
The Artsy Asylum by Susan Reynolds
Back in Skinny Jeans by Stephanie Quilao
Beltway Confidential by Julie Mason
BlogWrite for CEOs Debbie Weil
Biz Growth News by Krishna De
Brain Based Biz by Dr. Robyn McMaster
Brain Based Business by Dr. Ellen Weber
Brand Sizzle Anne Simons
Branding & Marketing Chris Brown
Brazen Careerist by Penelope Trunk
Build a Solo Practice, LLC by Susan Cartier Liebel
Christine Kane by Christine Kane
CK’s Blog CK (Christina Kerley)
Communication Overtones Kami Huyse
Confident Writing by Joanna Young
Conscious Business by Anne Libby
Conversation Agent Valeria Maltoni
Corporate PR Elizabeth Albrycht
Crazy Aunt Purl by Laurie Perry
Creative Curio by Lauren Marie
Customers Are Always by Maria Palma
Customers Rock! Becky Carroll
CustServ by Meikah David
Debbie Millman by Debbie Millman
Deborah Schultz by Deborah Schultz
Designers Who Blog by Cat Morley
Design Your Life Ellen and Julia Lupton, identical twins
Design Your Writing Life by Lisa Gates
Diary of Claudine Hellmuth Claudine Hellmuth
Diva Marketing Blog Toby Bloomberg
Do It Myself Blog by Glenda Watson Hyatt
Dooce by Heather B. Armstrong
Email Marketing Best Practices Tamara Gielen
Emily Chang - Strategic Designer Emily Chang
Enter the Laughter by Marti Lawrence
Escape Blog by Melissa Petri
Escape from Cubicle Nation by Pamela Slim
eSoup by Sharon Sarmiento
Essential Keystrokes by Char
Every Dot Connects by Connie Reece
Fish Creek House by GP
Flooring The Consumer CB Whittemore
Forrester’s Marketing Blog: Shar, Charlene, Chloe, Christine Elana, Laura and Lisa
Forward Steps Life Coaching by Thea Westra
Franke James by Franke James
Get Fresh Minds by Katie Konrath
Great Presentations Mean Business by Laura Athavale Fitton
Hey Marci by Marci Alboher
Get Shouty by Katie Chatfield
ifelse by Phu Ly
Illustration Friday Penelope Dullaghan
Inspired Business Growth by Wendy Piersall
Jen McClure’s Ruminations & New Communications Review by Jen McClure
J.T. O’Donnell Career Insights by J.T. O’Donnell
Joyful, Jubilant Learning by Rosa Say
Kinetic Ideas Wendy Maynard
Learned on Women by Andrea Learned
Lindsay Pollak by Lindsay Polla
Live The Power by Karen Lynch
Liz Strauss at Successful Blog by Liz Strauss
Lorelle on WordPress by Lorelle VanFossen
Making Life Work for You by April Groves
Manage to Change by Ann Michael
Management Craft by Lisa Haneberg
Mandarin Design Daily:The MEG Blog Michelle Goodrich
Marketing Roadmaps Susan Getgood
Moda di Magno by Lori Magno
Modite by Rebecca Thorman
molly.com Molly E. Holzschlag
Narrat Assets Karen Hegman
Netdiver Carole Guevin
On My Desk Linzie Hunter
Peace, Love, and Harmony by Kristen Harrell
Presto Vivace Blog Alice Marshall
Priscilla Palmer: Personal Development Demands Success by Priscilla Palmer
Productivity Goal by Carolyn Manning
Purse Lip Square Jaw Anne Galloway
Small Biz Survival by Becky McCray
Small Failures: Sustainability for the Rest of Us Jess Sand
swissmiss Tina Roth Eisenberg
The Brand Dame by Lyn Chamberlin
this is rachelandrew.co.uk Rachel Andrew
Sheriar Designs Mani Sheriar
Spacey Gracey Review & TrueGritz by Grayson Daughters
Spare Change Nedra Kline Weinreich
StealthMode by Francine Hardaway
Talk It Up Heidi Miller
Tech Kitten by Trisha Miller
The Copy Writing Maven Roberta Rosenberg
The Blog Angel by Claire Raikes
The Engaging Brand by Anna Farmery
The Floozy Blog by Kate Coote
The Kiss Business Too by Karin H.
The Origin of Brands Laura Ries
The Parody by Sasha Manuel
The Podcast Sisters by Krishna De, Anna Farmery and Heather Gorringe
Veerle’s blog 2.0 Veerle
Water Cooler Wisdom by Alexandra Levit
Wealth Strategy Secrets by Nicola Cairncross
What’s Next Blog B L Ochman
That’s What She Said by Julie Elgar
Versa Creations by Vivienne
Ypulse by Anastasia Goodstein

Following my recent post about the online mistreatment of women bloggers, my colleagues at Every Dot Connects pointed out the W-List: Gathering a List of Outstanding Women Bloggers. What a great idea! Our own Connie Reece is on the list, which is so appropriate. If you knew how hard Connie works, you wouldn’t be surprised.

Essential in the new economy - where we often work from home, a virtual office, or a third space - is the need to create communities where we gather to work and play. Every Dot Connects is one of those. We learn from each other and collaborate constantly on a variety of projects and topics.

The W-List is a great venue for highlighting just some of the many talented bloggers, who just happen to be women, and to create a community across the world. Invariably, someone out there will take offense to women being so assertive. Yes, unfortunately, some of those guys still exist, and they, too, have found their way into the blogosphere.

Just like the strong women who have made every other major advance in civilization possible, these women of the W-List can help pioneer the way for others into this exciting, possibly lucrative, and certainly challenging arena.

So, how does this tie in to the abusive behavior of some toward women in the blogosphere? There is strength in numbers. One lonely guy, who doesn’t have appropriate social behavior on line, might be able to sway one female blogger, but probably not a larger group. Although most women I’m around can handle themselves very well, thank you, it is understandable when someone is affected by abuse from an anonymous source.

The real value of the list is the promotion of skilled, talented, hard-working writers, who happen to be women. The strength in numbers that comes from creation of community is an added benefit. I say yes to both! Congratulations to Liz Strauss for her good work on this.