Friendly Web Tools Blog

I found a great thought on one of my favorite websites Useit.com the other day, and a powerful argument for having your own name for your blog.

Jacob Nielsen says:

Having a weblog address ending in blogspot.com, typepad.com, etc. will soon be the equivalent of having an @aol.com email address or a Geocities website: the mark of a naïve beginner who shouldn’t be taken too seriously.

Letting somebody else own your name means that they own your destiny on the Internet. They can degrade the service quality as much as they want. They can increase the price as much as they want. They can add atop your content as many pop-ups, blinking banners, or other user-repelling advertising techniques as they want. They can promote your competitor’s offers on your pages. Yes, you can walk, but at the cost of your loyal readers, links you’ve attracted from other sites, and your search engine ranking.

Sure, Wordpress and the ilk are free, but you can have your own domain name for just a few bucks more - I’ve seen for less than $10 per year. Make the investment up front, and own your blog yourself.

The thing about weblogs is that they’re supposed to be quick and easy to put together. A theory that’s compounded by the number of people who “blog” live events. That’s to say they attend an event and bring their computer with them and provide nearly real-time feedback on what they’re seeing.

That’s of course the idea, but it takes much more work than that to actually crank up the blogging machine. That’s why I liked this posting by WebWorkerDaily about what one contributor takes with her to do live blogging. Her list of hardware includes:

• Computer
• Good, capacious computer bag
• Flip video camera (I’ve mentioned this before on my own weblog)
• Digital recorder

The software, well, that’s another big list altogether, and fodder for a future post.

We’ve been invited by a client that serves synagogues to put together a series of quick-hit webinars based on common problems their constituency has with technology. We’re still not sure which will be the most welcomed by the community, so I wanted to open up to you for your vote. In exchange, we’ll host a presentation on the same topic for no charge. You can post your thoughts by clicking the comments link here or by contacting me directly.

Which would you rather learn?

• Put your first video on YouTube
• Create your first podcast
• Start your first blog
• Understand search engine optimization
• Create a Facebook group/cause
• Put photos on Flickr
• Understanding RSS
• Effective e-mailing

Thanks for your vote!