Jen 2.0: A Video Blogoraphy of Sorts

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I have been following a new blog of late. Called Making Jen 2.0.

Here is the story:

Jenn is a web savvy 20-something living in San Diego, California. She is a unique combination of social butterfly and computer nerd who has recently found a way to put that knowledge to use as a Social Media Consultant. Even though she’s dating someone, Jenn has had found it difficult to define the right partner because she can’t yet define herself. Therefore, she pours herself into the network of friends that she maintains across the ether-world of Web2.0 social media applications.

This could easily be the story of any of us in the social media and blogging industry:

And, time is a limited currency that Jenn must spend each day to stay just within the limits of information overload; profiles to maintain, statuses to update, blog entries to post, beta sites, web links, comments to answer, new connections, old friends, opportunities, software upgrades, chat conversations, emails, and even phone calls. Real-life friends want to meet while online connections crave attention. Among these conflicts, Jenn will find humor, stress and a little bit of herself as she struggles to determine what is a liability, and what is living.

Check out the trailer, def. a great production.

Jennifer Van Grove is who Jenn 2.0 is based on and is a blogger at Mashable as well as an independent consultant. This looks to be a great up and coming show. One atleast I will be interested in following.

Tumblr raises Second VC Round

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PaidContent is reporting that Tumblr has received another 4.5 Million Second Round of Financing from Spark Capital and Union Square Ventures.

Tumblr is a great microblogging slash scrapbooking like service for the creatively minded. It will be interesting to see what premium services they begin to role out over the months to come.

If blogs are over, tumblelogs never even got going. But that isn’t stopping Tumblr, short-form scrapbook blogging’s biggest exponent, from raising a $4.5 million second VC round. Beefing up, the outfit is adding former Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) technology SVP John Borthwick to its board and former CNET director John Maloney as president. The investment is led by Spark Capital and involves Union Square Ventures, who together led Tumblr’s $775,000 first round.

Part way between a blog and a Twitter microblog, a tumblelog is a space on which people publish short mixed-media posts. David Karp, who worked with Maloney at UrbanBaby, started Tumblr last year and has had just three staff; now it claims 15 million monthly uniques. In the release, he said the investment “presents some fascinating opportunities to grow the business and prove a sustainable model”. That will involve a premium model slated for Q1, though Karp also alluded to “a revenue strategy that leverages both Tumblr’s publishing platform and community” Advertising? Not yet, Karp tells AllThingsD, which values Tumblr at $15 million.

WordPress 2.7 Coltrane Uncorked

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Automattic The WordPress community, Automattic included, has really been aggressive over the course of the last few years with great upgrades to its core product WordPress. Today they officially released WordPress 2.7, “Coltrane”.

It’s Faster and Sleakier

The first thing you’ll notice about 2.7 is its new interface. From the top down, we’ve listened to your feedback and thought deeply about the design and the result is a WordPress that’s just plain faster. Nearly every task you do on your blog will take fewer clicks and be faster in 2.7 than it did in a previous version.

Over 150 developers contributed to this release.
Wow! You have to love the power of open source development.

More on WordPress.org, and download today! Also, see Lorelle’s more in-depth coverage here at the Blog Herald.

10 Pointers For Generating Traffic To Your Blog

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Louis Gray is always churning out so much great content I thought I would share this one with you. Just in case you missed it. This article in mention was actually written by Michael Fruchter.

1) Ask for link exchanges
2) Quality content is key
3) Separate personal from professional
4) Be a two-way blogger
5) Encourage comments
6) Empower your readers with the tools for promotion
7) Don’t forget SEO, at least the basics
8) Establish and build power passports
9) Develop relationships with other bloggers
10) Use your treasure chest wisely

Head on over to Louis Gray to get the full scoop. It is definetly worth your time to explore this in more indepth, especially if you are like me and looking to grow traffic to your blog.

Is your corporate blog believable?

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Over on Microsoft Watch, it was brought up that corporate blogging is often times unbelieveable and well untrustworthy. They went on to lay out some tips on keeping it real, Analyst Jeremiah Owyang weighs in as well.

My favorite points that both touched on is authenticity. Don’t use your blogs as places to toss your day old, or yet to be released Press Releases. No one wants to read that, and perception is most press releases are mostly fluff anyhow.

Keep it real, have an authentic voice. Mix it up with some real video blogging and interact with consumers on your blog, and other social media avenues.

ReadWriteWeb weights in as well.

BlogWorld Expo Acquires New Media Expo

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BlogWorld, the great and premier blogging conference hosted annually in Vegas has acquired the New Media Expo.

According to BlogWorld Expo the events will be merged into a mega event.

That’s right as of today BlogWorld & New Media Expo and New Media Expo are merging into one MEGA NEW MEDIA EVENT! This is a great thing for attendees and exhibitors, from both events, who will get more value than ever from participating in one true industry-wide event. The next BlogWorld & New Media Expo will take place October 15 – 17 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

It appears there was a lot of compatibility between both organizers and they saw this as a great fit. Congrats to them both.

Twitter: A Terrorists Favorite Tool

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To define terror you must first understand Twitter. I really should quit watching Fox News. It begins to corrupt my soul after awhile.

Any useful tool could be utilized by terrorists. People who look to strike terror or fear into the hearts and minds of another group of people.

I have a few ex girlfriends who strike fear into me. They often utilized blackmail, cellphones, and envelopes to scare me. Terrorists could easily do the same thing. In this day and age of pseudojournalism sometimes its useful to get carried away with a topic just to make money. But this is sensationalist nonsense. Just as more folks are starting to Twitter, the US Army says Twitter could be used by Terrorists.

Well, I hope someone tells them CB Radios could be used as well. Or even McDonald´s Monopoly pieces. Because this report is ridiculous.

We should really insert our own favorite objects,web apps, or whatever and send it off to the US Army.

US Army Says ________ Could Become Terrorist Tool.

I was thinking of the following objects that scare the crap out of me:
My Microwave
WordPress Plugins
Gaping Void Comics
Vox Blogging Platform
My Neighbors Alarm Clock

Remember anything could be a terrorist tool. Even mainstream media. Fear is all about not embracing reality. More people die from cancer yearly than ´terrorists attacks´ in a decade. Let´s not forget that.

Venture Beat is weighing in with an opinion / CNET as well.

Got any suggestions for our US Army Memo?

Why Bloggers Don’t Care About The Russian/Georgian Conflict

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There are a lot of reasons most tech/web 2.0 bloggers don’t cover international crisis. Many of them are to buried in there own startups to notice a conflict half way across the globe.

Secondarily it doesn’t have much influence on things that are far more important here at home. Like the price of oil at the pump, the mortgage crisis, or a new iP…

Yep it is an illegal crisis. But when its far easier to sit back and enjoy the Olympics and blog about that. Why in the world would bloggers care to shed some outcry over a bully invading another country illegally, even if they were provoked.

Thirdly, The US will never get into a massive conflict with Russia especially when Russia clearly wants Georgian Petrol Access I mean seriously what Russia is doing merely parallels what we did in Iraq. So it is kind of hypocritical for the US to criticize Russia when we still have a bundle of peace loving troops on the ground in someone else´s backyard.

Chirrup, A Comment System For Twitter

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Chirrup is comment system which uses Twitter as a datastore.

Huh?

People are following your twitter feed. People are reading your blog. People are discussing things they’ve read on Twitter. It seems only natural to marry them up.

It’s pretty common for people to post links to pages via Twitter, along with a short commentary or opinion. The format is so free, with the only restraint being one of brevity, that many people use Twitter not only to post the daily minutia of their lives but to discuss and communicate ideas. Chirrup is just one the of many, many applications which use Twitter as a platform.

Chirrup simply provides a means to show that chatter on your blog as a set of direct responses to the content you’ve written. It also provides a means for people to post their opinions to your blog using a technology they already have and use

Map Out Your Blog’s Long Term Growth Plan

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Back when I was still managing a blog network I sat down with a piece of paper and mapped out my strategic growth plan. I failed miserably. Largely because I set my goals way to high. But looking at a more realistic approach. I’m going to show the readers here at The Blog Herald what it takes to grow a blog simply and easily.

1. Build Flagship Content
Chris Garrett has long been the king of content online. Check out his great free ebook by subscribing to his blog online. More from Chris at Performancing.

2. Build Flagship Links
Building a core group of links early on in a blogs history is essential to long term success. Authority links will only increase in strength with age and will determine a blogs success in the long run.

3. Build A Flagship Network
Build a strong network of followers is also key. Use social media tools like Twitter,Friendfeed,Facebook and other networks to market your blog, not spam and create communities around your blog. Don’t be afraid that the conversation is going on behind the scenes and not on your blog.

In conclusion,
Track your growth using tools like PMetrics,Google Analytics, and Google Trends, and Alexa and watch your earnings grow by slowly and persistently following steps 1 through 3. It’s as simple as that.