Tag Archives: agwired

The Digital Cottage Industry

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Agwired

I’ve posted frequently about my friend Chuck, who –with his wife Cindy and a SWAT team of free-lance bloggers– have built a thriving business providing blogging, podcasting and related services to a growing list of clients.

"Cindy and I have been going over calendars and we just realized that we have 23 events scheduled to blog in the next 3 months. Yeeow. Just the hotel reservations, credentialing, registering, airline reservations, etc. are a task. We’ve also got 5 website projects underway just to add to the fun."

Can you make money blogging? For most, the answer is "not likely." For the few, the proud, the Marines… yes. Booyah!

Twittering the news?

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Chucktweek
I don’t know if this is breaking news or something everyone already knows. But AgWired’s Chuck Zimmerman Twittered what might have been news (Chuck’s tweet is the one on top).

When I demo’d Twitter to one of our reporters, all he could see was ("Who cares if someone’s plane is delayed?"). For some the online glass is half full, for others…

UPDATE: More from Lost Remote.

Live webcast from D.C.

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ZimmcastMy friend Chuck is in Washington D.C. at the National Association of Farm Broadcasters’ Washington Watch. A few days ago he was sitting with me in the Jefferson City Coffee Zone where I showed him how we had been playing with live video streaming with UStream.

As I write this, Chuck is streaming a news conference with the U. S. Secretary of Agriculture. No satellite truck. No cameraman. No sound man. Just Chuck and his MacBook Pro. I assume he’s recording and will post at AgWired.com.

Ag Secy is now praising “ag radio.” How many of the reporters in the room are recording his remarks to chop up and put in a report they’ll feed back to their stations for later broadcast? While Chuck is streaming live video.

Secy just said something about “you radio guys need 30 second sound bites and I can’t do that.” Uh, no Mr. Secretary, we’re live here at AgWired.com so you can go as long as you need. It’s not about sound bites anymore.

“The future is already here. It’s just not evenly distributed yet.” — William Gibson

Life after MSM

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Former Missourinet (one of the news networks operated by the company I work for) anchor/reporter Laura McNamara left us recently to pursue other interests. That’s often a cliche but not in this instance. Laura is young and wants to travel and do about a hundred things and decided to take some time to figure it all out.

In the meantime, she has hooked up with Chuck and Cindy at AgWired. Chuck’s business has grown to the point he can’t keep up and he’s been on the prowl for people who know what to do with a camera and microphone.

I think we’ll see a lot of MSM reporters migrating into New Media gigs like this.

Branding Yourself

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“Personal branding is something I get a lot of questions about. People often ask me what they should do in order to get an established name out there and be seen as a major influencer in their industry. The reason they want this is because the second you accomplish this, the opportunities will come your way and you’d be amazed at the kind of business or money that just lands in your lap.” — Neil Patel at Pronet Advertising

I don’t remember hearing much about “personal branding” before blogs and podcasting. But if there is an “smays brand,” you’ll find it here.

I had lunch today with Chuck Zimmerman and it would be hard to find a better example of this concept. He and his wife Cindy work too hard to say the money “just lands in (their) lap,” but they’ve certainly created a unique brand in the world of agriculture marketing. I’d love to share some of Chuck’s amazing success stories but before he pays for lunch, he makes me sign an NDA.

What’s your brand?