I’ve been a blog bore for a few years and helped 10 or 12 friends get started blogging. Some were/are very good at it but none have run with the ball like Chuck Zimmerman at AgWired.com. I used to work with Chuck and his wife Cindy until they left and started their own consulting business a while back. Anyone interested in agriculture marketing should (does?) make AgWired.com their first stop. He’s making Old Media publications like AgriMarketing look… old. If you want to see how to do this blog thing right, click over to AgWired.com. From this point on, Chuck gives me tips on blogging.
Category Archives: Blogging
Banned for life
Before finally moving smays.com to Typepad, I signed up for hosting with a compnay called AQ Host. Good, affordable service, but not right for me. I’d signed up for 90 days, I think. I emailed them and explained that I wouldn’t be using them after all and asked if I could get a credit for the unused portion of my first 90 days. I made it clear that if this wasn’t an option, I understood. They emailed back and said they would refund my money and –according to their terms of service– I can never use their service again. Ever. Wouldn’t this have been a better reply:
Thanks for taking a look at AQ Host. Sorry it doesn’t meet your current needs. Due to the costs associated with setting up your account, we are unable to refund your money but have cancelled your account with us. Should you need hosting services in the future, we hope you’ll consider AQ Host.
Blog make-over
Welcome to the new and improved smays.com. Okay, it’s new. I’m pooped and I didn’t do a damned thing. Many thanks to The Amazing Andy for getting all hot and sweaty under the blog hood. Which is where most of the “improved” stuff shows up.
We’re pretty sure everything (1,300+ posts) made the move but there’s sure to be a few busted links and such. When you find one, please let me know (steve mays at hotmail.com) and be sure to tell me where to find the link (url or date or something). Now some of you are saying to yourself, “Well, yeah!” And some of you are saying, “That’s a good idea.” I’m sure I’ll find and fix ’em all in time.
If you have ever linked to one of my posts, well, it’s probably toast. Sorry about that. Once I figure out how, I’ll add a Google search and you can probably find the post again if you really think it’s worth the effort.
The masthead image is something I first saw on Dave Winer’s blog and loved immediately. I’ll change it from time to time and use only shot’s I’ve taken and mean something to me.
The Office Cam will be dark for a while until I figure out how to post the images here. What else? Oh, Comments. I haven’t turned them on yet and I’m not sure I will. Let me think about it. For now, just email me if you have something to say. I might post it and I might not.
Blogging the rock and roll of this decade
Sterling Newberry believes “blogging is the rock and roll of this decade: the place of energy and expression.”
Doonesbury on bloggers
“Isn’t blogging basically for angry semi-employed losers who are too untalented or too lazy to get real jobs in journalism? I mean if the market REALLY valued what you have to say, wouldn’t someone pay you for it?”
— Doonesbury