Planet Bizblog

Blog Forward!

2006-04-18T18:04:00.000-04:00

2006-04-18T17:51:00.000-04:00

Casual Furniture World

2005-10-27T10:17:00.000-04:00

Casual Furniture World, where you can find fine furniture like Carter Grandle Patio Furniture, Cast Classics Patio Furniture, Casual Creations, Dayva, Ebel, Gloster DSF, Hanamint Patio Furniture, Homecrest, Kessler, Kettler, Kingsley Bate, Lane Venture, Mallin, Meadowcraft, Natural Elements by Benchcraft, O.W. Lee, Outdoor Lifestyle, Poly-Wood, Prestige, Riata Garden, Riverwood, Seaside Casual, Suncoast, Telescope, Three Coins, Treasure Garden, Trica, Tropitone Patio Furniture, Uwharrie Chair, Veneman, Windham Castings, Whitecraft, Woodard, and Woodard-Landgrave.

Fall Flowers Theme From LEONARDO

2005-09-29T10:11:00.000-04:00

It’s time for the harvest. Fall colors are everywhere. Use nature’s pallet to decorate your environment. Life bursts forward with red, orange, yellow and violet, the warm shades of change. Invite your friends to see the Milliefiori (meaning 1,000 flowers in Italian) glassware from LEONARDO. Each piece is original and different like your own finger print. The hot glass ball is dipped into a container filled with color chips, and they stick to the molten glass. As the design is blown the glass flowers (chips) expand and take shape. These flowers always create an original Millefiori design.
We offer a new Hurricane lamp as an addition to this series. With every Milliefiori Hurricane Lamp sale we’ll donate $10 dollars to the American Red Cross for the Hurricane Katrina survivors. Have a look!
Curve offers a retro color scheme. In medium and tall, these designs are perfect for your Fall flower spray. Elephant is tall (23”) taller (31”) and tallest (39”). These thick clear glass floor vases are great for holding your seasonal design _expression. We now offer Emotion Bowls in Orange, gorgeous! These are great to serve chips and dip, candy, or to hold a Picco votive. The Morini Glasses are red to orange available in short or tall and offer the option of a clear Morini jug with them - a great gift idea you can use all year round. Happy Fall to everyone, celebrate the harvest with color!

Have a look at our fall Flowers Theme before time runs out. We offer The new items only through 11/1.

Yours,
Richard.
LeonardoStore.com

North Carolina Businesses on the Web

2005-09-28T10:45:00.000-04:00

Making Websites Work for You

Internet marketing by Charlotte web site design firm Parker Web
Developers

Fine & Groovy Glassware & Gifts
The Leonardo Store
Introduced from Germany, Leonardo Glass accolades include the Oprah magazine's "O" list, stints on the "Today Show" and in "Redbook".

Comfort CAN be Beautiful...and Affordable!
Casual Furniture World

Love golf? Now you can make it a lot easier!
ClickItGolf.com

Clickitgolf.com connects golf courses and golfers. Golfers can save money by purchasing their rounds online and best of all, Clickitgolf is a FREE service to all golfers. Sign up today or start searching golf courses.

Safe & Secure Real Estate Opportunities in the Charlotte area!
Smart Choice Realty

Smart Choice Realty, LLC provides safe and secure real estate investment opportunities. We specialize in selling New-Home Construction to real estate investors. We offer unique opportunities such as cash back at closing and zero money down.

The low-cost internet provider in Charlotte and Mecklenburg.
Charlotte Internet
The Possible Internet

Automated Directions, Inc.
Automated Directions, Inc. is a full service system integrator and distributor for many of today's leading manufacturers of material handling equipment. We are committed to solve our customers' material handling concerns through innovative system designs and creative storage techniques.

Tools and Access for the 21st Century
WebKorner
Web and Internet solutions for homes and businesses in the Charlotte area.

Keeping Charlotte Wired for over 25 years.
Mecklenburg Electric - Commercial, Industrial & Residential Wiring.
Wiring and Electrical solutions for homes, industry and businesses in the Charlotte area.

Coming soon to your neighborhood, CityAdNet is opening its doors in October 2005. Specializing in local Internet marketing, their services bring together web sites and advertisers to create win-win relationships. Sometimes, less is more. Go to the site and check out the details. Launching soon!

646 Industries: Weblog Consulting & Design

2005-05-16T09:29:00.000-04:00

646 Industries: Weblog Consulting & Design

Weblogs are more than just personal diaries kept by the internet technorati. They are powerful content management tools which can keep your clients, employees, or public audience informed at the touch of a button. They can be an indispensible communications tool for both external and internal use, as well as a highly effective marketing tool. Anyone can be trained to use them in minutes, and they are among the fastest, most effective, and cheapest mass communications mediums available.

Start a Consulting Business

2005-05-16T09:25:00.000-04:00

Rick Bruner

Works for Me: A blog by any name

2005-05-11T08:19:00.000-04:00

- CNET reviews

(Thanks to Tom Priest for referring this excellent summary.)

IceRocket Free RSS Builder

2005-04-23T10:52:00.000-04:00

IceRocket Free RSS Builder

Under the Water Tower

2005-04-11T21:55:00.000-04:00

Charlotte's Elizabeth Community blog by John McBride

Welcome John and the gang to the blogosphere.

Charlotte-area Meetup Groups

2005-04-11T14:44:00.000-04:00

Business Blogs in the News

2005-03-01T13:26:00.000-05:00

Here are some recent goings on in the world business blogs:

Locals out front in business blog march
Not long ago, I never would have imagined committing a business column to some funky blog contest. Blogs were too new and ill-defined, too tech-heavy or just too ranting in content to merit much attention.
...
Now business blogs are blossoming. You will be hearing a lot more about them and reading more of them online on your own.
...
There's a far more practical side as well. Major Internet search engines - especially Google - recognize and respond to frequent changes on blogs and elevate those Web sites in search rankings. That's critical to getting noticed in the online world.
"It's the best guerrilla marketing tool out there," Hoffman says of blogs.
...
General Motors also runs a few blogs. The most notable - http://fastlane.gmblogs.com/ - features frequent commentary from GM's top executives.

Security Awareness Blog Wins Best Overall and Best Tech Company Blog
In an upset victory, The Security Awareness Blog for Ma, Pa and the Corporate Clueless received the most online votes in both categories it was nominated for in the 2005 Business Blogging Awards.

Amanda G. Watlington to Address Blogs at National Search Engine Strategy Conference
(PRWEB) February 24, 2005 -- Blogs are a hot topic. Marketers and business owners, who question what value blogs bring to business and how search engines handle blog content, will learn what leading industry consultant, Amanda G. Watlington will have to say on this topic at the upcoming Search Engine Strategies Conference 2005. This search engine marketing conference, sponsored by Jupitermedia Corporation and SearchEngineWatch.com, will be held February 28 through March 3 at the Hilton New York. In 2004, Amanda Watlington addressed audiences on the rapidly emerging topic of blogs at two previous Search Engine Strategies conferences.Amanda G. Watlington, Ph.D. is co-author of a soon-to-be-released book on business blogs and blogging. The book entitled Business Blogs: A Practical Guide will be released in March. The book, co-authored with Bill Ives, includes detailed case studies and insights from over 70 bloggers and addresses all the business, technical, writing, and publishing issues business bloggers face.

Venture Capital: Startup tags along as weblogs go corporate
Anil Dash, vice president of the professional network at Six Apart, estimates that his company's business blogs have grown by as much as 500 percent in the past 18 months.
...
Top executives across the country are operating weblogs. Here are a few:
www.boeing.com/randy/
fastlane.gmblogs.com/
blogs.sun.com/jonathan
www.edelman.com/speak_up/blog/
www.clip-n-seal.com/news/
www.whatcounts.com/

Fast Company Searches For The "Best Business Blogs" (2.4.05)
The Fast Company team has initiated a search for the best business blogs. This month, they're asking for submissions for the best advertising-related blogs.My votes go to MarketingVOX, Reveries and AdRants. Readers can also recommend blogs not focusing on the current theme. Submissions do not constitute votes. FC posts...

CEO Bloggers around the World

2005-02-28T10:09:00.000-05:00

MBA ZoNe Resource Site - CEOs around the world who blog...
Included are these:

Canada
Elliot Noss, Tucows Inc.
Stephane Wharton, Selina Ebert, Blog Agency, Blog-art
Japan
Joichi Ito, President & CEO, Neoteny - blogging since July 1, 1993
United Kingdom
Perry de Havilland, Partner, the Big Blog Company - blogging since June 6, 2003
USA
Joe Agliozzo, CEO, BetterPPC - blogging since May 10, 2004
Matt Blumberg, CEO, Return Path - blogging since May 10, 2004
Buzz Bruggeman, Founder, ActiveWords - blogging since January 10, 2002
Jason McCabe Calacanis, Co-Founder & Chairman, Weblogs, Inc.
Brian Carroll, CEO, InTouch - blogging since Oct 31, 2003
Henry Copeland, Founder, BlogAds - blogging since September 05, 2001
John Estafanous, President, Estco Medical - blogging since December 16, 2004
Brad Feld, Mobius Venture Capital - blogging since May 4, 2004
Rex Hammock, President of Hammock Publishing, Inc. - blogging since August 28, 2000
Kingsley Idehen, Founder and CEO, OpenLink Software - blogging since May 5, 2003
Bob Liodice, President and CEO, Association of National Advertisers - blogging since March 18, 2004
Bob Lutz, Vice Chairman, General Motors Corporation - blogging since January 5, 2005
Kevin Lynch, Chief Software Architect, Macromedia - blogging since February 2, 2003
Alan Meckler, CEO, Jupiter Media - blogging since December 6, 2003
Craig Newmark, founder and director, craigslist.org - blogging since September 11, 2003
Greg Papadopoulos, CTO, Sun Microsystems, blogging since February 7, 2005
Bob Parsons, President, godaddy.com - blogging since December 16, 2004
John R. Patrick, former Vice president of Internet Technology at IBM, on the boards of many organizations, including Opera Software, Jupiter Media and the Global Internet Project - blogging since August 17, 1997
Michael Powell, Chairman, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) - blogging since July 7, 2004
Michael Pusateri, VP of Engineering, Disney ABC Cable Networks Group, blogging since January 21, 2000
Jonathan Schwartz, COO, Sun Microsystems - blogging since June 28, 2004
David Sifry, Founder and CEO of Technorati - blogging since January 8, 2002
Joe Wikert, Vice President and Publisher, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Professional/Trade division, blogging since February 19, 2005

The Sales, Mktg & Biz Blog

2005-02-28T10:06:00.000-05:00

MBA ZoNe Resource Site

First chapter of business blogging book posted

2005-02-28T07:51:00.000-05:00

Thoughtsignals by Mark Tosczak

Job-Related Blogs

2005-02-24T10:20:00.000-05:00

· The HR Blog (comments)
· Cyberlodge
· Contingent Workforce
· dolebludger (comments)
· Get That Job (comments)
· Invisible Matrix
· Laid off in America
· Life of a One-Man IT Department (comments)
· NetSlaves
· Occupational Adventure (comments)
· Where The Hell Did My Job Go?
· Workplace Fairness
· Working Wounded (fun graphics)

Podcasting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2005-02-23T12:30:00.000-05:00

Podcasting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

excerpt:
"Podcasting" is a usage pattern in which audio files (most commonly in MP3 format) are periodically made available on the network, and client software periodically checks for new files at various sites and (more or less automatically) downloads them for later listening at the user's convenience.

The term "podcasting" is a portmanteau of the words iPod and broadcasting. Although an iPod is currently the playback device of choice for many early adopters of podcasting, a portable music player is not required to take advantage of this method of content distribution. Podcasting is functionally similar to the use of timeshift-capable digital video recorders (DVRs), such as TiVo, which let users record and store television programs for later viewing.

A podcast is much like an audio magazine subscription: a subscriber receives regular audio programs delivered via the internet, and she or he can listen to them at her or his leisure.

Podcasts differ from traditional internet audio in two important ways. In the past, listeners have had to either tune in to web radio on a schedule, or they have had to actively download individual files from webpages. Podcasts are more flexible and much easier to get. They can be listened to at any time because a copy is on the listener's computer or portable music player, and they are automatically delivered to subscribers, so no active downloading is required.

...
Adding to a number of ad-hoc, proto-podcasting techniques for automatically downloading audio files, podcasting proper became popular through association with blogs (in particular MP3 blogs), the XML-based file format called RSS (Really Simple Syndication), and the polling applications called feed readers or news readers that poll and download RSS files.

Blogs, often being self-published websites, provided a convenient means for individuals to self-publish audio files online. RSS already gave websites and blogs a means to summarize or list new content added to the site. Individuals already used RSS to poll websites for new content. Thus, the addition of audio file listings to RSS, and the addition of audio file downloading to RSS feed readers built upon the feed reader's existing methods for polling and downloading files, and upon the existing "reader driven" interaction with content publishers.

Oct 8, 2004. "Podcasts: New Twist on Audio" - Wired News article by By Daniel Terdiman.
Oct 23, 2004. "Podcast: Time-shifted radio listening gets a new name" - webtalk Radio.
Oct 28, 2004. "New Food for iPods: Audio by Subscription" - New York Times article by Cyrus Farivar. (subscription required.)
Dec 2, 2004. "Personal soundtracks" - The Guardian article by Ben Hammersley.
Dec 7, 2004. "Tivo for your iPod" - A Newsweek article by Brian Braiker that describes podcasting to the layreader.
Dec 8, 2004. "The people's radio" - An article on audiobloggers featured in The Independent.
Dec 10, 2004. "'Podcast' your world" - Christian Science Monitor article by Stephen Humphries on podcasting.
Dec 30, 2004. "Podcasts bring DIY radio to the web" - BBC News Online article on podcasting.
Jan 7, 2005. "Podcasting: The Next Big Thing?" - KUOW 94.9 FM Puget Sound Public Radio (NPR) segment on podcasting.
Feb 7, 2005. 'Podcasting' Lets Masses Do Radio Shows - USA Today article by Matthew Fordhal.
Feb 7, 2005. 'Podcasting' takes broadcasting to the Internet - CNN
Feb 8, 2005. "Wave goodbye to radio" - Portland Tribune article by Anna Johns
Feb 9, 2005. "Radio to the MP3 Degree: Podcasting" - USA Today article by Byron Acohido.
Feb 13, 2005. "'Podcasters' deliver radio-on-demand" (http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6982) New Scientist article by Celeste Biever.
Feb 16, 2005. "Millions buy MP3 players in US" - BBC describes the take up of digital music players in the US.
Feb 19, 2005. "Tired of TiVo? Beyond Blogs? Podcasts Are Here" - New York Times
Feb 22, 2005. "Adam Curry Wants to Make You an iPod Radio Star" - Wired

podCast411 - How to Information for Podcasting. Including How to hand code an RSS Feed and How to Explain Podcasting to the Technically Challenged (Flashing 12s).
Yahoo! Podcasters mailing list - A mailing list for podcasters and podcast listeners to communicate about podcasting for the iPodder platform.
iPodder.org - The official IPodder website.

Welcome to Jobs Market.com

2005-02-23T11:26:00.000-05:00

Jobs Market Online

"Here at the Jobs Market we are on a quest to build the most complete resource available to assist job seekers and employers in finding a new career or a new employee. To accomplish this we have taken all the features of a full service staffing agency, and a career web site, and put the two together like a one stop shop for employment. On the web site you will find all the job openings our staffing offices are hiring for, plus other companies who have placed their openings online with us. Employers will find an up-to-date resource for applicants. "
...
"The mission of Jobs Market Staffing is to tailor our knowledge and experience in the employment industry to fill the needs of our clients while providing the best possible work environment for our employees."
...
"Both employers and Job Seekers will have;

Easy step-by-step process for data entry.
Immediate and email notification of qualified matches.
Applicant profiles you can view.
All candidate profiles and job orders updated and less than 120 days old.
Localized to the Triad, NC "

Current listing

The Job Blog

2005-02-23T11:15:00.000-05:00

BostonWorks - The Job Blog

What are BostonWorks' Weblogs?

In The Boston Globe each Sunday, we publish several original articles focusing on the employment, career management, and recruiting issues facing our readers. We're very proud of our original content, but there's a limit to what we can research, write, edit, and publish on our own. That's why we started the Job Blog and the HR blog*: to take advantage of the fact that there is a great big web of that useful and reliable information out there.

Our vision for these blogs is to provide links to that information and, we hope, to help people find jobs.

*The HR Blog is a set of regularly updated links to Human Resources and Recruiting information from around the web

The Digital Media Jobs Blog

2005-02-23T10:19:00.000-05:00

PaidContent.org

The Digital Media Jobs Blog features classified job ads, and links to other jobs related to digital media sector. These are business jobs, NOT journalism jobs...

Trim the fat and get your résumé in shape

2005-02-23T10:15:00.000-05:00

BostonWorks - Jobs, Events, and Information from The Boston Globe

Technology - Why There's No Escaping the Blog - FORTUNE

2005-02-23T10:11:00.000-05:00

Business blogging by Fortune.

Recruiting and Talent Management Trends for 2005

2005-02-23T10:09:00.000-05:00

Electronic Recruiting Exchange

The Recruiting Payoff of Social Responsibility

2005-02-23T10:05:00.000-05:00

The workforce.com

"Companies are realizing that not only can a reputation for corporate social responsibility be good for branding, publicity and the bottom line, it can also be a valuable recruiting tool."
...
"Researchers at Stanford University and the University of California, Santa Barbara, surveyed 800 MBA students from 11 leading North American and European business schools and found that 94 percent would accept a lower salary--an average of 14 percent lower--to work for a firm with a reputation for being environmentally friendly, caring about employees and caring about outside stakeholders such as the community."

''Home-Sourcing'' vs. Offshoring - HR and Benefits - CFO.com

2005-02-23T10:02:00.000-05:00

''Home-Sourcing'' vs. Offshoring - HR and Benefits - CFO.com

"It's not all about price; allowing people to work at home ''leads to a virtuous cycle of productivity."

"As many U.S. companies prepare to export jobs overseas, other companies are working to keep them at home — literally — as a substitute for call centers. According to a recent study by consultancy Booz Allen Hamilton, not only is such "home-sourcing" cheaper than traditional outsourcing, but home agents are 25 percent more productive than employees who handle calls in-house.

The New York-based firm also pointed out that 80 percent of companies that use home agents are satisfied with the model, and that 22 percent of companies that haven't tried home-sourcing yet plan to do so within two years."

Career Effectiveness: How "Career Imprinting" Shapes Leaders

2005-02-23T09:59:00.000-05:00

HBS Working Knowledge

Where you work early in your career shapes the kind of leader you become later on, says HBS professor Monica Higgins. She discusses her forthcoming book, Career Imprints: Creating Leaders Across an Industry.

New Voices: Blogger Corps Delivers Greensboro101

2005-02-22T19:56:00.000-05:00

New Voices: Blogger Corps Delivers Greensboro101

Blogs: "bringing information you can't get in print right to your door"

2005-02-22T17:57:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the Digital Edge

Through the keen eye of Southern Rants, we find a neoblogger from Brooklyn who discovered all the keys to the blogosphere in the flash of a day. His account is fascinating, and illustrates the importance and potential of blogging...

Excerpt:
I spent 15 minutes setting up a 90-day trial Weblog account, then devoted the next few days to developing the site. I blogged a mugging half a block from my apartment, and uploaded a video still of my kid playing at the corner playground (is that renovation project still out to bid?). I found some interesting neighborhood people to profile, including a cartoonist, a columnist for The Onion, a gourmet pickle entrepreneur and some “post-punk” vegetarian cooks who produce a public-access TV show out of their apartment.

Within 24 hours, my neighbor Frank Lynch had already found and blogged about my site: “Why wait for your precinct sergeant to set up a blotter?” he wrote. “It's time for a shout out to our neighborhood blog … If you think about it, this is the potential of the Internet: bringing information you can't get in print right to your door.”

Whoa. Was he reading my mind?

Frank’s comment evoked the opportunity - and challenge - that will confront traditional news publishers that want to tackle hyper-local media. Because it’s so already simple to publish and publicize, it will be difficult for newspapers to get behind this force already in motion, though some have made important strides in the right direction. Newspaper Web sites published by Advance.net, the Greensboro (N.C.) News & Record and others are actively adding blogs and soliciting reader contributions.

You should read it for yourself, as there is much more, and it is wondrously and copiously hyperlinked.

Blogging for Business

2005-02-22T15:22:00.000-05:00

Blogging for Business | Nick Lewis: The Blog

Harvard Weblogs: Weblogs at the Harvard Law School

2005-02-22T14:11:00.000-05:00

Hosted by the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School
News Aggregator
Directory
Harvard-hosted blogs
Offsite-hosted blogs
Global Voices
Global Voices wiki
Blogging, Journalism & Credibility (Cambridge bloggercon)

Charlotte Bloggercon Notes

2005-02-22T11:35:00.000-05:00

Notes for the upcoming bloggercon in Charlotte, sponsored by Parker Web Developers.
June 11, 2005 (trial target date)

1. Email the major players 2 months before the event. If the event occurs in September, emails should issue in July. As with Anton, it might do well to elicit the aid of Ed Cone of Greensboro and Paul Jones of Chapel Hill. Anton Zuiker would also be a good person, since he hosted Triangle. Others that might be considered are Billy the Blogging Poet, who can run the projector, Robert Redick for audio, David Hoggard for being who he is, and as a Presenter for government blogging.

A possible lineup might include:
Ed Cone: Blogs and Journalism
David Hoggard: Blogs in the Public Sector and/or personal health blogs. (His wife is documenting her struggle with cancer.)
Anton Zuiker: How to host your own bloggercon.
Henry Copeland: Blogads and the future of blog advertising.
Mathew Gross: Politics and Blogging.
Sally Greene: Officials who blog.
Ruby Sinreich: Community blogging.
Ben Hwang: Blogging and technology.
Roch Smith Jr.: Local blog aggregation.
Evan Zimmerman: Statewide aggregation.
John Hood: To comment or not to comment?
Paul Jones: iBiblio and institutional blogging.
Stewart Pittman: Photojournalistic blogging.
John Robinson: A Newpaper Editor speaks on their experience with blogging.
Bora Zivkovic: Blog Carnivals. The international angle.
Tony Patterson: Blogging and the arts
Brad Krantz: His take on blogging. Celebrity.
Scrutiny Hooligans: Mountain bloggers
Patty Ann Smith: Music, Arts and South Carolina blogging

Charlotte Bloggers:
a100wwe's blog of news, politics, and sci/tech
Ace Pryhill
Affecting Frank
Aku-Rei
Ana Kova
anonyMoses
Caleida (My Lenore)
DaveTemple.com
Dione Rochell
gabuya
Eruanne Grace
fansikora
Gene G. McLaughlin
History of Time Travel
hitched to Everything
Mocklive
North Cacalacky Politics
Ogre's View
Philoblogger
Pseudomuffin Art
Raphael D'Angelo
Soaring Dragon
Statmark's Reasonable Blog
Stojak: Blithering Idiom
The Charlotte Capitalist
The Pryhills
TheTrenchcoat Chronicles
T. L. Crowe
tokitikki
Tweak & Beat
vintage: a lasting original

It would be nice to be able to get any of the following:
- Jay Rosen (PressThink) of NYU school of Journalism
- Glenn Reynolds (Instapundit)
- Ed Cone (Word Up)
- Doc Searls
- Dave Winer
- Christopher Lydon
- John Marshall
- Atrios
- Kos
- Brad deLong
- Taegan Goddard
- Oliver Willis
- T.Bogg

2. Shower the blogosphere with notification. Ed, Anton, Paul, Hoggard, Jack, Robert L, David, Darryl (get blog up and running), Stribs, etc.
Create a standard paragraph about it, which the others came copy/paste.

3. Use the same format as Anton (MisterSugar) to create the signup wiki, using Instiki.

4. Among the people who should be contacted are friends and colleagues of Darryl & friends, Dave & friends, Scott & friends, Robert & friends, Jack & friends, as well as local bloggers, and editors of the Charlotte Observer, Creative Loafing, Charlotte Post, Rhino Times, and other smaller publications in the Charlotte area.

5. Check and make sure people are signing up on the wiki.

6. Listserv inclusion at UNCC, Davidson, Queens, CPCC, Kings, as well as other community listservs.

7. Big Names

8. World of Mouth

9. News Release – to wiki, UNCC news service, other Univ. & Community services

10. Media Interviews – Dave, Darryl and such talk to Mike Collins, Observer, Creative Loafing, etc…

11. Other Events – Related events such as special guest interviews with local and perhaps statewide or national media.

12. Create a ta-da list to keep track of tasks, schedules, progress, etc…

13. Sponsorships – Review the bloggercon “rules”, and try to work within that framework. Potential sponsors include:
Parker Web Developers
Webkorner
Bakeries
UNCC
Observer
Loafing
Coffeehouses
Food caterers
Etc.
14. Help and staff – Secure folks to help with matters, projectors, wiring, testing equipment, etc…
15. Welcomes. At the beginning of the conference, introduce the people who have traveled the farthest and/or who have overcome the greatest odds to attend.
16. liveblogging and follow-up posts – dozens of bloggers write about the conference before, during and after the event

17. thank-you notes – e-mail messages of thanks to all who attended; written notes to key participants to be mailed this week

Anatomy of a bloggercon

2005-02-22T10:00:00.000-05:00

“Community is the key. Whoever embraces and empowers community will have a far better chance of succeeding, no matter what form of media you work on.” – Dan Gillmor quoted in PressThink.

Anton Zuiker on Chapel Hill bloggercon
via Dave Winer

excerpts:
How we organized the Triangle Bloggers Conference

BEFORE

1. e-mail – started 12/20/04 with a message to Paul and Ed

2. blogs – the three of us posted to our blogs (Anton, Paul, Ed) and solicited reactions in our comments

3. wiki – editable page for anyone to sign up and offer ideas for the conference, created before Christmas, using Instiki

4. more e-mail – lots of personalized messages sent to friends, colleagues, fellow bloggers and newspaper editors

5. links – Dave Winer, Jay Rosen, Cory Doctorow, dozens of other bloggers and sites link to the wiki

6. listserv – bloggercon announcement sent to various university and community lists

7. big names – Paul invites Dan Gillmor to campus as part of the ibiblio speakers series; Dave Winer accepts an invitation to drive south; various local blogger luminaries add their names to the wiki list of participants

8. word of mouth – talked it up among friends, family and even strangers

9. news release – news release posted to the wiki, and submitted to UNC news service (see this for how that transpired)

10. media interviews – Paul and Anton interviewed by local radio and newspaper

11. other events – visits by Dan and Dave lead to journalism/blogging talks in Greensboro, a bloggers brunch in Chapel Hill and Dan’s speech at UNC-CH

12. Ta-da List – used the free service at tadalist.com to keep track of the tasks for planning the conference

13. sponsorships – though it breaks the BloggerCon rules, we learn later, Lulu.com sponsors the coffee and doughnuts; the School of Journalism and Mass Communication offers its support (Jen O’Bryan prints nametags and hard-to-miss neon signage)

14. help – the crew of ibiblio (Fred Stutzman and others) contributed technical support and video recording

DURING

15. welcomes – everyone’s welcomed to the event; John Ettorre flies in from Cleveland, Cathy Resmer flies in from Vermont, and two guys drive in from Atlanta; more than 125 people gather Feb 12 for the conference

16. liveblogging and follow-up posts – dozens of bloggers write about the conference before, during and after the event

AFTER

17. thank you notes – e-mail messages of thanks to all who attended; written notes to key participants to be mailed this week

ENDNOTES:
TRIANGLE BLOGGER CONFERENCE
PIEDMONT BLOGGER CONFERENCE

posted 21 February 05 by Anton Zuiker, edited by Dave Beckwith

Blog Accessories, Features & Goodies

2005-02-21T17:07:00.000-05:00

WORKSTATIONFeedster Google Blogs Blog Tools Blog Syndication Blog Tracking Blog Accessories Blog Utilities Blog Clients Blog Publishers Blog Hosting Blog Commenting Blog Templates Blog Web Rings Blog Awards & Events Blog Directories Political Blogs Presidential Blogs Blogging Blogs Art Blogs Humor Blogs History Blogs Linguistics Blogs Music Blogs Literature Blogs Law Blogs Religion Blogs Health Blogs Iraq War Blogs Sports Blogs

About Technorati

2005-02-21T17:06:00.000-05:00

About Technorati
Technorati is a real-time search engine that keeps track of what is going on in the blogosphere — the world of weblogs.

The World's 1st Black Business Blog for minority business!

2005-02-21T16:36:00.000-05:00

Kamau's Business Blog Page

Business Blogs and Stock Market and Financial Blogs

2005-02-21T16:07:00.000-05:00

from Blog Search Engine

MBA Finds: Business Blogs

2005-02-21T16:02:00.000-05:00

MBA ZoNe

Blogroots
Blogs as Business Tools
Finding Fans in Business World
Management by Blog
Meet the B-Blog
The Blogging Revolution
The Sales, Mktg & Biz Blog
Using Blogs in Business

Business Opportunities Weblog

2005-02-21T16:01:00.000-05:00

Posts | Business Opportunities Weblog

The Business Opportunities Weblog is a moderated list of legitimate of business opportunities for entrepreneurs. Its presented like a weblog with chronological archives and extensive outbound links.

2005 Business Blogging Awards

2005-02-21T16:00:00.000-05:00

Business Opportunities Weblog | 2005 Business Blogging Awards

Voting is closed, but it is still a good information site...for next year!

Penn Media Converts 50 Email Newsletters to Blogs

2005-02-21T15:49:00.000-05:00

Rick E. Bruner's Business Blog Consulting: Penn Media Converts 50 Email Newsletters to Blogs

Mokena, IL Penn Media announced today that it will publish fifty of its flagship owned and operated e-zines as Blogs, positioning them as one of the largest publishers of consumer trade blogs. It has contracted with Pheedo, Inc. to guide them through the evolution and provide RSS and Weblog advertising services.

Bye Bye Email?

2005-02-21T15:48:00.000-05:00

Rick E. Bruner's Business Blog Consulting: iMedia Connection: Bye Bye Email?

Speakers at a recent Blog Business Summit believe blogs are replacing email as an effective two-way dialog tool.

Going forward from the recent Blog Business Summit in Seattle, two powerful messages have been reverberating through the marketing world:

1. Blog feeds are rapidly replacing email as a form of proactive marketing communications
2. Marketers wishing to post their own blogs should not approach the form as another one-way communications medium, but should plan for their blogs to offer two-way dialog.

Rick E. Bruner's Business Blog Consulting

2005-02-21T15:46:00.000-05:00

Rick E. Bruner's Business Blog Consulting: "A new seminar on business blogging: 'Blogging Goes Mainstream: New Media For Corporate Growth.' Cost: $125."

Blogging for Business

2005-02-21T15:41:00.000-05:00

With readers flocking to their Web postings, execs are finding blogs useful for plugging not just their products but their points of view
(from Business Week Online)

excerpts:
Jonathan Schwartz, president and chief operating officer of server maker Sun Microsystems (SUNW ), first suspected that his blog was a success when his salespeople began reporting that customers were reading his posts and sealing deals faster. Then, the blog started getting a surge of traffic from users with e-mail addresses ending in "ibm.com" and "dell.com" -- folks who work for Sun's rivals. Schwartz saw that as irrefutable proof that his blog, started on June 28, was a gold mine (see BW Online, 8/4/04, "Don't Quote My Blog on That").

Some six weeks later, he's a firm believer that a blog -- which generally consists of diary-like entries that are posted to the Web -- is a must-have tool for every executive. "It'll be no more mandatory that they have blogs than that they have a phone and an e-mail account," Schwartz says. "If they don't, they're going to look foolish."

HBS What a Blog Can Do for Your Small Business

2005-02-21T15:13:00.000-05:00

Harvard Business School

Article at About.com
excerpts
The blogging movement is picking up speed with the launch of blogs on our About.com network and the purchase of blog software company Pyra Labs to Google. More companies are experimenting with the blog environment. Will blogging become the next mainstream application like email? Will business blogs improve your business?

What does Blogging Provide to Small Business?
-Blog software is easy to use. Simply write your thoughts, link to resources, and publish to your blog, all at the push of a few buttons. Blog software companies such as, Movable Type, Blogger.com and Radio Userland all offer easy blogging tools to get started.
-Blogging is a low-cost alternative to having a web presence. For small business owners without the time to learn web html or the money to hire a designer/developer, blogging offers an inexpensive method to get your company's name out on the Internet.
-Updating the weblog is a much quicker process than contacting a web designer with changes or doing the coding and uploading yourself.
-Business blogs provide your small business with a chance to share your expertise and knowledge with a larger audience. A powerful benefit for consultants and knowledge workers.

Examples of Business Blogs
Gizmodo is a weblog about everything about gadgets and gizmos for those who want to remain on the cutting edge of consumer electronics. As a web magazine, Gizmodo is quickly building a specialized audience in consumer electronics with an advertising business model.
Research Buzz is an excellent resource tool for Internet research. An information provider, Research Buzz provides advertising and a special paid edition of their newsletter.
Joel on Software is a blog that displays Joel Spolsky's knowledge and views on software development. The blog acts as a method for Joel to highlight his expertise and promote his small business, Fog Creek Software.
Jupiter Research, a top business market research company has a blog for each company analyst. The weblog provides analysts with the means to connect with their audience on a regular basis.
Loosetooth.com Shop Blog, by Brandy Agerbeck, is an online art shop blog that provide customers with a way to get to know the store owner. This blog is an e-commerce site with buy and shop options.
MacroMedia the software company provides a customer service blog for users and staff to share solutions in an organized fashion.
Blogs do have a downside. Blogging does not provide the functionality of web pages, has limits for e-commerce solutions and can be time-consuming with regular posts. But with minimal costs, it maybe advantageous to start blogging and position your business early. Is your small business blog ready?

Other Guides
Anatomy of a Blog
A Blog Can Help Your Business
Business Blog Resources

BloggerCon: Stanford

2005-02-21T15:05:00.001-05:00

BloggerCon:

Triangle Bloggers Conference 2005

2005-02-21T15:04:00.000-05:00

in Blog Together

“Community is the key. Whoever embraces and empowers community will have a far better chance of succeeding, no matter what form of media you work on.” – Dan Gillmor quoted in PressThink.

PressThink: A Little Detail in the Sale of About.com to the New York Times

2005-02-21T15:01:00.000-05:00

PressThink: A Little Detail in the Sale of About.com to the New York Times from Jay Rosen of NYU-Journalism

2005-02-21T14:48:00.000-05:00

I see no reason why we couldn't best the Observer in coverage of local bidness news...simply with the aggregator...and maybe some editorial content written around it.

News aggregator | TriadBlogs.com

2005-02-21T14:41:00.000-05:00

News aggregator, TriadBlogs.com

Dan Gillmor on Grassroots Journalism, Etc.

2005-02-21T14:40:00.001-05:00

Dan Gillmor on Grassroots Journalism, Etc.

Beginner's guide to the blogosphere

2005-02-21T14:40:00.000-05:00

Ed Cone

Triangle Bloggers

2005-02-21T14:38:00.001-05:00

Triangle Bloggers

Bloggers challenge traditional media

2005-02-21T14:38:00.000-05:00

newsobserver.com

Blogs Will Enhance Any Computer Business Opportunity

2005-02-21T12:31:00.000-05:00

from GoStats.com

excerpts:

Blogs Will Enhance Any Computer Business Opportunity

Blogs or web logs have taken the net by storm in recent times and can be very useful to any computer business opportunity.
Here are four ways that blogs can be invaluable to a computer business opportunity or to any home business for that matter.
The Computer Business Opportunity Can Use Blogs for Communications
Spammers or senders on unsolicited mass mailings have played havoc with email marketing. So much such that marketing via this most lucrative online method through permission marketing, has been greatly hindered. Blogs to the rescue. This wonderful new star of the net is an effective tool to pass messages online to a single person or to a large group without the fear of the message bouncing back or not reaching the recipient.
A computer home business opportunity can use a blog to distribute messages on developments, new pricing and whatever else that needs to be communicated.
The Computer Business Opportunity Can Use Blogs for Research
Consumer research can be terribly expensive. Many times people will not give you an honest answer to your questions and you end up with results that are misleading. Blogs are a different ball game. Just take a closer look at some of the posts. Usually brutually honest and exactly what a home business doing research on a new product or certain aspect of their business would want.
Simply launch a new blog based on the area of research you are interested in, promote it briefly and then carefully monitor the responses coming in. Excellent, valuable research at zero cost.
The Computer Business Opportunity Can Use Blogs for Marketing
Blogs are proving to be explosively successful marketing tools capable of reaching huge audiences quickly and efficiently. Simply offer valuable information and create a format that encourages regular visits and with very little promotion of your blog, you suddenly find yourself with a huge receptive audience. Almost like an instant and huge opt-in list to promote your computer business opportunity to.
The Computer Business Opportunity Can Use Blogs for Pr
Blogs are fast becoming important and recognized news mediums. This was quite well illustrated in the recent American Presidential elections.
It does not require a genius to realize that this will be the next big thing in the spin world of PR experts and practitioners. The new medium has several advantages over other traditional mediums used for PR. One of the most important ones is that you are able to get an almost immediate reaction from the public of news, announcements and other PR strategic actions and plans implemented using blogs.
Decide what sort of image and positioning you want for your home computer business opportunity. Next look for a related popular and maybe controversial subject and launch a blog based on it. Since the subject matter selected is already a popular one, getting search engines to direct traffic in your direction should be a breeze.
Carefully consider your PR strategy and objectives and make sure that you carefully nudge your blog audience in the direction you want them to go. Blogs are actually a PR person's wildest dream come true.

Stroplog: Small Business Blogs

2005-02-21T12:27:00.000-05:00

Stroplog: Small Business Blogs
"The name of the trend: Business blogs.
Blogs are the new must-have tool for business. Even Bill Gates has shown his support for blogs. He points out the possibilities of blogging, and specifically mentions the merits of rss feeds. "

Benefits of blogging
New Communication: in the days when emails get deleted before being opened, blogging offers a new way of communicating with customers and potential customers. By subscribing to your RSS feeds customers can get notified everytime you update your site, and visit when it's convenient to them. You dont have to impose upon your customer at all!

Customer Focus: by updating regularly you keep yourself in the customer focus. You are demonstrating that you're a current business, important in the days of site-rot and bankrupt companies with websites that survive them. Moreover you can demonstrate you latest services easily: if you're a clothes business you can talk about new ranges, and you favourite picks, a IT consultancy can talk about the latest virus, and give tips on cleaning up. You can demostrate that you are knowledgble and professional, and that you keep up to date. As a small business this can be done in a easy-going manner that will tie in with the personal relationship you will invariably have/develop with your customers.

Easy Customer Interaction: Blogs allow an easy way to contact you, and indeed interact with you. The effort can also be time saving. If a potential customer has an enquiry about a product or service they may not bother to email or phone you, but they might click "comment" and ask there. Once they've done that their enquiry, and importantly your response, will be there for other customers to read. It demonstrates professionalism, care for the customer, and is another way of helping and supporting your clients.

What blogging [is] about is that you make it very easy to write something, like an e-mail, but it goes up onto a Web site. And then people who care about that get a little notification. If you care about dozens of people whenever they write about a certain topic, you can have that notification come into your Inbox and it will be in a different folder, and it doesn't interfere with your normal Inbox.
Bill Gates (edited), Microsoft.com

"Before blogs, it was difficult for small companies to afford a way to stay in touch with their customers. Now they can," says marketing consultant Jack Trout. "It's a great marketing tool."
Matthew Foge in Inc Magazine

All about Blogs and Blogging

2005-02-21T12:15:00.000-05:00

All about Blogs and Blogging

excerpts:

Recommended Blog and Blogging Resources
Follow my "Blogging Experiment"- I create a network of Business Blogs, try various methods of maximizing the "Power Linking Potential" of them, watch the PR grow.
My Marketing Blog Site (Marketing B.S.) - This is the original blogspot weblog, started in mid October, 2004. Check it out and see where it's at.
Advertise on a Network of Blogs - You get regular blog posts, optimized and maxed out for links pointing at your sites. This is an incredible deal. The ultimate "Power Linking" Strategy. Become a Linknet Blog Partner.

Small Business Trends

2005-02-21T12:14:00.000-05:00

Small Business Trends

excerpt:
As you might expect, Jay's blog is very good at providing marketing tips and advice to small businesses. Even compared with other marketing blogs it is especially useful. It is written in a clear and succinct style. All the information packs a punch.This blog excels, however, in the way it is being used by Jay as a two-way vehicle. This is where a blog leaves a traditional website in the dust. A traditional website is a one-way conversation. Rarely if ever do you get a chance to receive input from a site visitor, other than perhaps taking an eCommerce order or a newsletter subscription. In fact, many traditional websites actually discourage communication and interaction, by making it hard to find contact information. Not so with a blog. And Jay has figured that out. Jay uses his blog to expand his knowledge base, to get fresh ideas and thinking from others. He tells me that one recent post, "Marketing a big ticket item," had just such an effect:
"After making the post, I heard from other experts in this area who added their comments to my post. Many of their points were good ones ... and ones I never would have thought of. As a result I came away from the exercise with more valuable information that I could end up using with my small business clients."Another example of the two-way mode is for networking. For example, Jay says that for years he admired from afar the work of Robert Bly, the copywriting legend. He'd read his books and incorporated Bly's concepts into his consulting work. Then one day, he commented on a post on Bly's blog. He was surprised and, of course, pleased to get an email back. Bly had visited his blog and liked some of his posts. From there the two started emailing. The blog played a pivotal role in establishing a networking contact -- a contact that wouldn't have had a 1-in-1000 chance of occurring in the absence of blogs. Jay sees blogs as playing a crucial role for the small business owner: "I see many small business owners who suffer from isolation. Without a host of cube-mates or peers discuss key ideas with, these executives can sometimes operate in a vacuum." There's a lot to like about this blog. Anyone, no matter how experienced they think they are, and no matter how good they fancy themselves at marketing, will find some useful tip at Smart Marketing.My favorite tip? I liked the post about how to write a brochure. Among other things, I learned "always use captions with photos."

Business News Blog

2005-02-21T12:13:00.000-05:00

Business News Blog

Thinking by Peter Davidson: Four Ways a Blog Works for a Small Business

2005-02-21T11:55:00.000-05:00

Thinking by Peter Davidson: Four Ways a Blog Works for a Small Business

excerpt:
When a customer first calls me to talk about a sign project, I have about 3 minutes to convince them I can do a better job that any signmaker out of the Yellow Pages. That's a lot of pressure on those 3 minutes...
What I tend to do now is at the end of the phonecall, I ask them for their e-mail address. I e-mail them a thank you note for taking time to talk to me on the phone, and send a link to my Blog and encourage them to take a look. Now, my Blog can be the "automatic salesman" and sell to them for the next 10 minutes or 6 months (depending if they take a peek every now and then). Using the Blog this way had gotten me jobs, period! and I have not had to do the "sales work"!
Now that's a good tool...

Why Small Businesses should blog :: Adam Kalsey

2005-02-21T11:54:00.000-05:00

Why Small Businesses should blog :: Adam Kalsey
: "In Small businesses and blogging, Church of the Customer discusses blogging options for small businesses, gives some examples of small business blogs, and provides a half-dozen reasons why a small business owner should write a blog:
They fan the flames of customer evangelism. They help humanize you and your organization.
They can function as an instant-feedback machine about your company and its products and services (because of the comments and trackback functions).
They compel you to Napsterize more of your knowledge, which attracts prospects thanks to the search engines which index your ongoing knowledge automatically. Attraction is easier than hunting.
The facilitate the spread of buzz if you�re honest, authentic and write your blog yourself.
They allow you to have more conversations with customers and prospects than you could ever do in person.
They help position you as a knowledgeable expert in your industry. "

Small Business Trends: PowerBlog Review: BusinessWorks

2005-02-21T11:51:00.000-05:00

Small Business Trends: PowerBlog Review: BusinessWorks
"SMALL BUSINESS TRENDS brings you daily updates on trends that influence the global small business market. "

Millennial Living Blog: Why Small Business Blogs make sense

2005-02-21T11:46:00.000-05:00

Millennial Living Blog: Why Small Business Blogs make sense:
"Why Small Business Blogs make sense
Blogs may become the Swiss Army knife of small businesses since they offer affordable content management and an effective marketing tool to reach clients and prospects. We had originally planned to have a discussion board on the Millennial Living website. However, we changed our minds and opted for a blog or web log instead. Here's why."

Small Business Weblogs

2005-02-21T11:44:00.000-05:00

Leadership Blogging & Small Business Blogging - Small Business Weblogs

Blog Business World

2005-02-21T11:42:00.000-05:00

Blog Business World - Marketing, Public Relations, Search Engine Optimization
Blogs in business, marketing, public relations, and search engine optimization for successful entrepreneurs

Small Business Blogs - Business Blogs

2005-02-21T11:39:00.000-05:00

Small Business Blogs - Business Blogs

Recommended links:
The Blog Herald
Blog Explosion
Blogarama
Blogwise
Blog Search Engine
Globe of Blogs
Blog Rankings
Weblog Link Directory

The Bottom Line on Business Blogs

2005-02-21T11:33:00.000-05:00

They've moved beyond the realm of diarists and techies to benefit mainstream businesses.August 09, 2004

excerpts:
So how do blogs fit into a business? They can be used in several different ways. Many companies use them for communication and collaboration among distributed colleagues, partners, suppliers, customers and others. That's the most popular use. My personal favorite is that they also can be used as a unique, informal way to establish a company or individual's reputation or brand. Other businesses use them to improve operations (like for project management or tech support knowledge-sharing), to demonstrate expertise (useful for professional services businesses) and to establish competitive differentiation. Blogs let companies reach out to value chain members with organizational news, marketing promotions, new product announcements and more.
To get a sense for the effective use of small-business blogs, check out www.clip-n-seal.com/news and www.sbblog.com.

-Blogs can really give a company substantial business benefits:
-They're cheap, easy to launch and don't require HTML expertise.
-They make working in groups easier, are community-builders and can be more inclusive (and interesting!) than e-mail.
-They strengthen internal and external business relationships and improve productivity through interactive information exchange.
-They're not intrusive, since users have to seek out a URL to read the content.
-They improve branding by presenting a more authentic and distinctive voice for a business than canned PR or MarCom messaging.
-They're more searchable than e-mail and instant messaging, so they're effective as an information or knowledge-base archive.

Tools of the Trade
What do you need to get a blog started? You must acquire a blogging software platform or personal publishing application, easily identified with a Web search. You also should have RSS, which will help you syndicate and share your content with other sites. RSS will let you post your headlines to blog aggregators and search engines. That way, they're easily findable and don't get lost in the noise of millions of blogs.

Joining the Blogosphere
For many companies, blogs have become a business staple. They're mainstream and not just for techies! Blogs, though, are not for every company. Their informal style probably won't suit very conservative organizations. But they're great for companies that value freedom of thought and informal communication of ideas. If the fit is right, companies must decide:

-Who should blog.
-Whether the company is really committed to the ongoing care and feeding that blogs demand.
-What's to be achieved by the blog.
-Who will get access to company blogs. (They're password and access level protectable.)
-How blogs will fit in with the company's content strategy, which may include e-mail, blogs, wikis, the Web, voice mail, newsletters, PR and MarCom.

Blogs are a unique vehicle for communication. While they're not for everyone, many small and midsized businesses will find that they're a great way to craft a distinctive image, convey important messages and relate informally with the outside world.

Small Businesses Using Blogs

2005-02-21T11:08:00.000-05:00

Small Businesses Using Blogs

excerpts:

Here's a good article from the Contra Costa Times that chronicles several small businesses who use blogs to connect with their customers and generate new business. Well worth reading. (registration required)

Two New Small Business Blog Clients
I want to introduce two new clients I worked with (am working with) who are now blogging. Both are small business owners, one an attorney and the other a jeweler. Both are excellent writers and are getting used to writing "blog-style." And they are...
Jeff Syrios - SyrioslySpeaking.com
Patti Thompson - DiamondDivaOnline.com
I want to especially thank Lisa Sabin at ElegantWebscapes.com for her work on the design.

Business Blog Case Study: Stoneyfield Farms
Comedian Rick Bruner (OK, he's not really a comedian, but he plays one on his blog. :->) recently did an interview with Stoneyfield Farms' corporate blogger, Christine Halverson. It answers several questions you might be asking about small business blogging.
Stoneyfield runs four separate blogs each targeting a particular demographic. The company, which makes yogurt, is a prime example of how blogs can be used as marketing communications tools.

Real World Business Blogging
In a recent post Tinbasher blogger Paul Woodhouse makes a real world case for using blogs in business...
Blogging is the logical solution. By all means have your static website which lays claim to your products, services, testimonials and all the other usual stuff. A business blog allows you to expand on all of these aspects of your site and build a more complete picture.
You can look at your blog in the same way as you’d look at a business meeting with a potential client. A blog can even help you focus your thought processes that whirl about your head on a daily basis.
Business blogging is the new bricks and mortar for your web presence. You have the opportunity to re-identify yourself on the web and to make that vital connection with your customers in the same way as if they’d popped into your office for a brew.

Small Business Blog Case Study: Horsefeathers
I wrote a PowerBlog Review for Small Business Trends blog about a restaurant called Horsefeathers that is using a blog as their website. Rather than reprint it here, let me encourage you to read it on their site.

Small Business Blog Case Study: Northfield Construction
This is the third case study I've done on small businesses that blog. This one features Northfield Constructon, based in Northfield, Minnesota.

RMG: What advantages do you see in the use of a blog for your business?
Ray: The big advantage and the main reason I went to a blog is because it is so easy to post things to the site. There are millions of very boring web pages that haven't had attention for years. I had a company webpage that I struggled to get updated every 3-4 months. Now I can easily post and add things about our work. The best thing about blogs is the quick, easy posting and the fact that they are written from a person....not an entity.
If you visit the company website, you'll note that its home page is the blog. Or, conversely, the blog is the home page. This represents a growing trend which allows you to kill two birds with one stone. Not only do you incorporate your blog into the overall architecture of the site, you provide your readers with a constant stream of updated information without having to redirect them to another page or site. They get it all right there!

Small Businesses Are Blogging!
Thanks to Grif Wrigley just about every business in his hometown of Northfield, MN is blogging! (Or so it would seem.)
Grif's company, Wigley and Associates, specializes in helping small businesses and other organizations set up and maintain weblogs on their web sites. A quick count of his client list shows over 30 businesses and organizations that are currently using blogs as communication tools for their business.
...
He is even in the process of writing a book entitled Small Business Blogging - Why and How to Do It.

Other case studies are available on this site.

Allan Maurer:writer, editor, media consultant

2005-02-21T11:04:00.000-05:00

Currently:
Founder, Senior writer, Localtechwire.com; feature article writer, Metro Magazine; columnist, reporter, Triangle Tech Journal (www.triangletechjournal.com); teach news writing at University of North Carolina School of Journalism and Mass Communciation. Freelance for various clients.

NCBlogs.com

2005-02-21T11:02:00.000-05:00

local aggregator
Broken down into Western, Eastern, Charlotte, Triad, and Triangle regions.

Contact Mark Tosczak and Evan Zimmerman

Greensboro101 aggregator

2005-02-21T11:01:00.000-05:00

Greensboro, North Carolina: home

Contact Roch Smith Jr.
His editorial board

Charlotte Geek Dinner

2005-02-21T10:55:00.000-05:00

Charlotte Geek Dinner
Charlotte is more then home for the Bankers...

excerpt:
Charlotte Geek Dinner – February 24th 2005
On a very short notice, I want to announce our dinner for this month. We will be discussing issues involving technical speaking and geek dinner members’ participation in the local CodeCamp event. I will be posting more about the local CodeCamp shortly.
Here is collection of great resources to get you started with Technical Speaking:
Don Box - What goes into a great technical presentation?
Tips for doing effective Presentations
Scott Hanselman's Tips for a Successful MSFT Presentation
Speaker Tips - Handling Questions from the Audience

February Dinner When and Where
Date: Thursday February 24th, 2005
Time: 5:30pm – 9:30pm
Place: Presto Bar and Grill
445 West Trade St.
Charlotte, NC 28202
704-334-7088
http://www.prestobarandgrill.com

Pla.NET Southeast!

2005-02-21T10:26:00.000-05:00

Developer happenings in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina

Not updated recently...

Web2sites virtual mall featuring discount stores.

2005-02-21T10:20:00.000-05:00

Web2sites virtual mall featuring discount stores
Shop online at many discount stores for cosmetics, gifts and makeup products from major retail stores. Buy cosmetics and natural looking makeup for all skin tones. Browse free ecards, discount printer ink cartridges and web services. Shop for travel deals and hotel discounts. Sofware to protect your computer from email viruses and spyware. Resources for kids, teens and family. Get homework help.

Featuring:
Get credit report, free quotes or apply for loan.
Shop online at many discount stores for bargains
Play free games online from sports to bingo
Send free greeting cards, excellent selection of ecards
Shop online for discount airline tickets and hotels
Directory of Family Resources
Shop for quality jewelry, engagement rings and wedding bands
Online Gift shopping. Wide variety of gift ideas
Health care and weight loss products
Shop for bargain beauty products and makeup for any skin tone.