Think You Have Nothing to Blog About? Think Again.

My father has been an organic gardener for over twenty-five years and has won dozens of awards for his fruits and vegetables. He's truly gifted at what he does; so gifted that last year, his entire crop of veggies was stolen in the middle of the night. He's that good.

While my dad was crop-less and bored, I encouraged him to start a gardening blog. After all, with twenty-five years of tips and techniques under his belt, coming up with content wouldn't be very hard. Also, he'd have no trouble finding an audience, especially as people continue to endure economic hardships and become more and more health conscious. After some convincing he finally caved and PlaysintheDirt.net was born. Now he's as much of a rock star online as he is in the yard. He posts regularly and keeps his content fresh. My mom even guest blogs with homegrown recipes. It's adorable. It's fun. It's relevant.

You know where this is leading...

What Do You Have to Offer?
Believe it or not, someone out there wants to hear what you have to say. Seriously. Think about it. There's an audience for just about anything on the Internet. In fact, the more obscure your topic the better as it will likely mean less competition. Whether you're writing about a hobby, a talent, or just giving your opinion about something, you want to be passionate and honest in your blogging. Remember, your own personal flair is what's going to separate you from everyone else.

Here are some tips for getting started:

Choose a Service
WordPress is the industry standard when it comes to professional blogging but there are a slew of blogging services to choose from including (but not limited to) Blogger, LiveJournal, Tumblr, and TypePad. Blogger is my platform of choice as it is free, fully customizable, and integrates well with other Google services (it is owned by Google). However, it's all a matter of personal preference. Just pick one and go with it!

Engage (and Grow) Your Audience
What sets a blog apart from a static web site is that it opens a dialogue between the writer and the reader. That said, when someone leaves a comment on your blog, be sure to reply! By engaging in conversation, you develop a relationship with your audience and create loyalty amongst your readers. Loyal readers will come back for more - and they'll likely bring their friends!

Make Some Extra Money
Once you have a steady stream of traffic on your blog, you may want to explore making some money off your ramblings. While there are a lot of creative ways to earn an income from your blog (from sponsors to affiliate links to selling merch), two of the easiest methods are through Google AdSense and the Amazon Kindle Store. Google AdSense displays relevant ads on your blog based on your content (so readers are more likely to click on the ads), while the Amazon Kindle Store offers e-book junkies the opportunity to pay for a monthly subscription to your content. Both services are free and relatively painless to set up.

Joe Says: So, what's it gonna be? What ideas have you been sitting on? Be creative! Post your thoughts in the comments. I'm interested to hear what you have to say!

This is Joe, signing off.

JoeSaidSo Live!

Get all of your burning questions answered live and in person at a very special event, UNTANGLING THE SOCIAL WEB: Cultivating Online Business Relationships, where yours truly will be speaking on a panel with David Ricciardi, President of Proximo Consulting, and Janice Mahlmann, President of August eTech. The event, hosted by NGLCCNY, will take place on June 18 in New York City.

Topics to be covered include:

• Blogs, RSS, Twitter and Facebook
• Using Web 2.0 and Social Media to competitively market your organization

For more information, visit: http://www.nglccny.org/events/socialweb

This is Joe, signing off.

Use Your GPS-capable Smartphone and Google Maps as an International Tour Guide

I recently took a trip to Italy and decided to switch to an international data plan so I could take advantage of my Blackberry Storm while on vacation - and boy am I glad I did. GPS and Google Maps is truly a powerful combination.

The beauty of Google Maps on a GPS-capable smartphone (like a Blackberry or iPhone) is that it pinpoints your location and allows you to search for basically anything within your vicinity. For instance, my partner and I were in Venice and craving Chinese food. I pulled up Google Maps on my phone and did a search for Chinese food. BAM! Within seconds we had walking directions to the closest restaurant.

GPS and Google Maps also came in handy when we were looking for hotels, museums, train stations - or when we just got plain lost. The best part? Addresses were (for the most part) unnecessary! All we had to do was search for the name of the establishment and within seconds we were on our way, following our little glowing blue dot along the map. This was especially handy in a foreign country where the address system didn't always make sense to us. Overall, we felt more comfortable making spontaneous decisions as we always had a birds-eye view of our location.

If you are planning to travel internationally and own a GPS-capable smartphone, DEFINITELY splurge and go for the international data plan. You won't regret it. Keep in mind though, if you use a CDMA provider, like Verizon or Sprint, you'll need to have a World Edition phone (sorry Curve/Pearl owners!)

Joe Says: Always use caution when traveling in unfamiliar areas. While GPS and Google Maps are great tools for international travel, they don't inform you of sketchy areas or construction zones. Use common sense and when in doubt, turn around.

This is Joe, signing off.

Why send a postcard when you can share your vacation in real-time with Twitter and Facebook?

While on vacation in Italy I passed by a postcard stand and realized something. Why would I send a postcard when I can share my vacation with family and friends in real-time via Twitter and Facebook?

Postcards were once the ideal, inexpensive way of saying "hi" to your friends and family from a remote location - but now I think they're kinda cheesy. I mean, for the most part, postcards all have pretty generic photos - typically aerial shots of touristy locations - and they usually wind up getting delivered after I've already returned from vacation.

When I travel, I like to use my cell phone or laptop to post status updates and upload photos of my experiences as they're happening. In my opinion, it's far more personal than sending a postcard because my friends and family can comment in real-time - it becomes more of a conversation. If my mom wants me to turn around and take a photo of what's behind me, I can do it. All she has to do is comment on a photo I've posted. It's really awesome when you think about it.

So really, why do people still send/request postcards? Is a postcard more meaningful because it's handwritten? Is it more special because it passes through the postal system? Is it truly the most thoughtful way to share our travels with others or have we simply assigned meaning to it?

Granted, not everyone is tech savvy, and I understand that the integration of technology into daily life is going to be a gradual process for some - but will postcards ever go away? Or are they here to stay?

Post your opinion in the comments. I'm interested to know what you think.

This is Joe, signing off.

Include Friends and Family on Your Vacation with a Live Photo Stream

While on vacation I like to send daily photo updates to my friends and family using a web album service. Web albums are a great way to include everyone on the trip as it's happening - and the best thing about it is that it's free!

If sending photo updates while on vacation seems like a lot of work, it doesn't have to be - not if you do it in batches anyway.

At the end of every day, I simply load the pics from my digital cam onto my laptop, add some captions and upload them to my web album (I prefer Picasa as it is linked to my Google account, though Flickr is another favorite). It's a great way to capture the day while everything is still fresh in my mind.

Web albums also save your friends and family the potential agony of looking at hundreds, if not thousands, of photos once you return. By the time you get back, everyone will already know where you went, what you did, and who you met!

Sharing photos while on vacation will also save you the trouble of repeating the same stories over and over and over again. After all, everyone was there with you as it happened - virtually anyway ;)

Joe Says: In a time when not everyone can afford to travel, web albums are the next best thing to actually being on vacation. Not saying that I can afford to - I'd just rather run up credit cards than lose my sanity.

This is Joe, signing off.