I know I am a student to the DaveO “F*ck Stats, Make Art” school of thought but I’m under the impression that some people would like your art, and they would like to make a lot of money off of it leaving you with no compensation except the lovely feeling of having created said art.

Bloggers who produce strong, insightful, creative and intelligently content have great value. Luckily for those who would like to make a career with their social media writing skills, some companies out there are realizing a blogger’s potential (Sales and Marketing Executives International).

Photo credit: Roland Tanglao on Flickr

Hurdles that remain include the mindset that having a “blog” means your company’s website will be unprofessional, people can have spelling mistakes and completely forget about the caps lock key, and your company’s outward appearance must now include copy that appears as though it should be a caption on LOLCats. Also, a blog is not Facebook.

Company content should not be dumbed-down because that seems to be what the cool kids are doing. It can still be fun, interesting and professional while promoting your products and services, and your blogger should not be paid peanuts.

With a quick browse through Craigslist this evening I spotted countless job postings for companies seeking “bloggers” although many of them seemed tragically flawed.

Seeking Financial Blogger: “This position requires full time physical presence in downtown Vancouver office with web development team. You will be trained on a proprietary system to facilitate automatic syndication and RSS feed distribution, etc.” I don’t know but to me that sounds like quite the beefy operation for simply producing some blog content. “Syndication” and “RSS” aren’t half as scary or complicated as they sound and if you have it setup right from the get-go you won’t have to touch your feed at all, at any point in time, ever again.

Freeland Writers: “If we happen to publish your work then we’ll pay $125/per story. Each story should at least be 1500 words…” is it just me or does that seem really low by any standards?

Add Your Blog to Our Network: “This is a paying opportunity for bloggers with established blogs… Compensation: $7.5 x Google PR# per post.” So that means if I write on Miss604.com and push them some content I could make $37.50 per post (based on my Google Page Rank of 5). I guess I just value my time and my content a little more than that.

No Clue: “I can pay by the post or hourly on a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly basis, whichever works for you. In terms of compensation, let me know what range you are looking at. I have no idea what the going rate is for something like this!” At least they’re honest but that is followed by: “Most posts can be created and posted within an hour. There are 15 different sites that will require a weekly update.” I wonder what all 15 pages have for Google Page Rank? Hmm…

It’s obvious that the companies advertising on Craigslist have no idea what to charge for this type of thing by any standard. It seems like blogging is far below freelance writing on the career totem pole and yet having a prudent blogger on your corporate team could benefit your company exponentially - think marketing, sales, market research, customer service, client relations etc. The possibilities are endless (see Elastic Path’s white paper: Blogging for Retailers)

I understand that blogging in business is still a rather new concept for some and there are currently no real guidelines for going rates in the marketplace, but when it comes to bloggers who are good at what they do, would like to continue writing and perhaps make a career out of their online publishing skills, where should they look? …And is anyone willing to give them what they’re worth?

This evening I was doing a Flickr search using the term “Bollwitt” to try and locate a cute shot of John and me. Sorting the results by most recent I came across the Flickr account of a website called w00tpwnage, which compares everything from Tiger vs Alligator, Wolf vs Wolverine, Astro Boy vs Mighty Mouse, and now Wired’s Sexy Geeks against each other in a head-to-head poll.

Rebecca Bollwitt vs Zadi Diaz

Of course like a sucker I check out the website, which is rather amusing, and also notice Lisa Bettany (aka Mostly Lisa) is up against Larissa Meek and that Amber MacArthur is vs Morgan Webb.

Photo credit: Megan Cole

Frankly, there are so many sites out there comparing one person to another it’s enough to make your head spin off a crash down on your keyboard. I just have to say that it’s been a privilege to meet some great geeky women out there who don’t need to post photos of themselves in their underwear to gain readership (but if they do that doesn’t mean they’re any less real, credible or intelligent… in most cases anyway).

Sometimes it’s easy to get wrapped up in stats, ratings or who can code better PHP (even though that is kind of hot). I’d actually prefer it if you didn’t check out the “w00tpwnage” site and cast a vote for anyone… except maybe in the case of Mighty Mouse and Astro Boy. This whole online world should be about content (for a refresher see F*ck Stats, Make Art). From what I gathered when I met Amber and Lisa, is that it’s also for women who have a good head on their shoulders; what happens to fall into place beneath is actually pretty moot.

Linkage:

Photo Credit: Roland Tanglao

The people I have featured in my What The Surrey or Surrey File series are not your stereotypical products of Surrey that other Metro Vancouverites or Canadians tend to imagine.

I’m extremely proud to have been born and raised in Surrey and the people of the city are hard-working, dedicated, determined, unbelievably driven and intelligent individuals. A prime example is Paul Hillsdon, a high school student who will be running for City Council in 2008.

Over the past year or so, as my projects have come and gone I’ve become frustrated. I developed policies and plans to fix many of the problems I encountered in daily life. I created the South of Fraser Transit 2011 proposal because transit is lackluster out here. I created the Surrey Cycling Initiative because biking anywhere wasn’t a safe or viable transportation alternative in my city. I created the Transit Metropolis Vancouver vision because I wanted to be able to move around the region quickly, comfortably, and cheaply. [Paul Hillsdon]

I first discovered Paul after he found me, leaving a comment on a blog post of mine about transit in September 2007. I’ve been following his projects since including my current favourite, Civic Surrey. We then met in December at TransitCamp Vancouver [PaulHillsdon][Miss604].

Paul is also the brains behind numerous transit and sustainability initiatives and proposals in the region and by running in the municipal elections, I think we’re all hoping his well-researched ideas come to fruition. His platform revolves around four pillars: Sustainable Development, Green Spaces, Transportation Options, and Vibrant Communities.

According to the Surrey Now, “If successful is his bid, it’s believed Hillsdon would be the youngest member to ever hold a seat on council.”

You can find all of this information and more on his campaign site, PaulIn08.com which contains a blog on which you can ask him questions. It’s times like these I still wish I lived in Surrey, but I’m pretty sure I could get my family members to rally for Team Hillsdon (at least they better!)

If you would like to support Paul’s effort consider clicking on that donate tab on his site, writing about his efforts on your blog (or newspaper… or talk about him on your radio station) and look for his name on the Surrey City Council ballot this fall.

With fun and exciting things happening all around me it’s a wonder how I can get so down sometimes. There are people who struggle a lot more than I do in this life but everyone has their good days, their bad, and sometimes you just need to share some love and hope some of that comes right back at ‘ya. Even if it doesn’t, the warm fuzzy feelings accumulated from sending out the kindness should be enough to brighten your day, even if things simply aren’t going your way. Like Raul noted, “The darkest hour is just before the dawn.”

Photo credit: John Biehler on Flickr

As a side note Google recently reevaluated their Page Rank system and many blogs received a boost in ratings. Mine on the other hand, stayed the same (however the site I built for my company got bumped up to PR6). This, combined with a waffling Technorati rating (which I think they calculate sometimes using a dartboard) are things that I rarely look at in terms of how successful my blog is, unless specifically asked by a potential sponsor.

One thing Duane told me is that if your links OUT to links IN ratio is off-kilter that can effect you meaning that my link fest posts could in fact be harming my rankings and ratings. I pondered several options to work around this then I realized, the reason folks must come to my site is for the content. If I didn’t continue to do what I love, spread the link love and be a part of a great social community on and offline, what’s the point. So essentially what I’m saying is despite the fact that geeky internet brownie points may be working against me, the link fests will never cease to be.

Continuing the Vancouver Blogger Profile series, that never really stops, I contacted Sarah as I had read her blog and heard such great things about her from Raul. She’s filled out the staple questions below and be sure to check out her blog for more of her writing.

Who are you? Sarah Marchildon, lover of the absurd.

Where do you blog? The Hollywood North Report

Are you originally from Vancouver? I was born and raised in Toronto but Vancouver has been my home for the past seven years. I’ve lived in Ottawa, Saint John, Fredericton and Japan but always knew I would end up here. My grandfather used to live in North Van and I visited him when I was a little kid. The trees, the ocean, the mountains, the fresh air. It all made a very strong impression on me.

Why do you blog? When I first moved to Vancouver, I had no friends and no social life. So I would spend my Friday nights holed up in an Internet cafe on Davie Street writing email dispatches back home to family and friends. I called it the “Hollywood North Report” and I would fill it with random observations about the oddities of Vancouver life and all of the weird and wonderful people who live here. I also had a weekly “friend count.” Sadly, it remained at zero for a very long time. That all changed when I joined the English Bay Swim Club and was elected “social coordinator” of more than 100 gay men. Real friendships started to bloom and I was no longer spending lonely Friday nights filing the Hollywood North Report. Then I got mixed up with a bad crowd who made me try backcountry camping, triathlons and open-water swimming.

One thing led to another and before I knew it, I had signed up for an Ironman. I quit the triathlon scene in 2004 and found myself with a whole lot of extra time. I decided to resurrect the Hollywood North Report in blog form to make it easier for friends and family to read. I guess I’ve always liked writing and story-telling. Blogging is a natural extension of that.

What’s your favourite thing to write about? I love writing about things that strike me as odd or absurd. For example, the public transit system in Vancouver is a comedy goldmine.

What is the best part of blogging? Hands down, the response I get to my posts. It can be as simple as a thoughtful comment or as elaborate as complete strangers sending me free stuff. I once wrote about how jealous I was that Ontario had juice-box sized wine and jokingly begged someone to send me some. One of my Toronto readers actually sent me a case of the stuff.

Another time, I wrote about how I couldn’t find Grape-Nuts anywhere in Vancouver. The next day, one of my readers delivered 10 boxes to my office.

But the craziest response was when I wrote about how I had a non-sexual crush on Claire Martin (the CBC meteorologist) and she put my blog post on her weather forecast where the map of Canada should have been. It was awesome. I have the best blog readers in the world!

Do you write for yourself, your readers, for Google, for a living? I wish I wrote for a living! I could really use an editor. Sadly, I just write for my readers and myself. For free. In my very limited spare time.

Do you ever censor yourself? A little bit. My entire family reads my blog. That’s not to say my blog is middle-of-the-road pabulum. I’m pretty open with my parents but I’m not that open. Most of my coworkers read my blog so I’m not exactly going to blog about a bad day at the office. A lot of bloggers hide under the cloak of anonymity and that gives them a lot more freedom to write about very personal things. I made a conscious decision to use my full name and, as a result, I’m a little bit more restrained. Besides, I have no desire to barf my personal life all over the Internet. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. A lot of my favourite blogs are personal blogs!

PC, Mac or Speak n’ Spell? What the heck is Speak n’ Spell? I’ve been a Mac girl since 2006. Macs are pretty.

Blogs you read or would recommend? Yours, of course! Actually, I’d hate to single out one blog over another. I read loads of blogs, most of them written by friends. I’m not sure they have broad mass appeal.

Read more from Sarah on The Hollywood North Report.

This morning edition of the daily commuter paper, 24 Hours Vancouver, has local radio host and tech columnist Buzz Bishop giving the low down on the happenings at last week’s WordCamp.

As he was not in attendance, he cited my live blog for more info and included a huge photo of Lisa’s “Your Ad Here” sign on her bum. The image deals with the topic of advertising on blogs, however I wonder if he’s also tying it in with his column about saving face with Facebook, “don’t put up anything you wouldn’t want your mom to see.”

I hope not, because on top of having a great sense of humour Lisa’s got some excellent insights on her post and be sure to read through the comments (over 50 of them) for thoughts about ads on blogs. John Chow is also mentioned in the article since he’s the king of blog dollars around here and I brought him up during my talk at Simon Fraser University on Monday (cause I actually think what he is doing is ingenious, which is more than I can say for other ad-plastered blogs).

For more info about WordCamp and your next opportunity to meetup with WordPress users, gurus and newbies, check out the Tazzu blog because they did a great job of spearheading the first event and we’re certainly all looking forward to more.

“The world would be better off without you,” read a MySpace message from a fictional teenage boy sent to 13 year old Megan Meier shortly before she committed suicide.

Photo: Paul Hillsdon on Flickr

“To think that in a few years [my niece] will probably be on a few of these social websites, potentially dealing with situations like this is an absolutely sickening thought that has lately been causing me a great deal of stress.” - Duane Storey on MatthewGood.org.

I’ve always been a nerd. I know, hard to believe, eh? It’s true. I was called names in school, I was made fun of, was verbally harassed by a parent, and some of my braver friends who stood up to bullies received death threats - and all of this happened before I was even in grade 9.

There’s an antagonist in every story; everyone’s got their Nelson Muntz and in our adult years bullies take the form of co-workers, peers, or Mr. Slate type bosses. The way I see it, a bully is someone who has nothing better to do than make someone else feel like something that should be picked up in a plastic baggy and thrown into the garbage can at the dog park.

Every morning on the radio (yes, I still listen to the radio) there are public service announcements asking if your child is a bully, however these are directly targeted at a new breed of Brutus, the Cyberbully.

In the past, youth could find safety from bullies at home, but with personal computers, the bully is present in the victim’s own bedroom. And rarely, if ever, are there adults around to watch, intervene, or protect. [The Tyee]

Unfortunately these malicious acts don’t stop after childhood and the practice of seeking joy by belittling and intimidating someone has changed since I was in school. The new forms of communicating these ill-willed attacks are through blogs, Facebook pages, MySpace, text messages, and forum posts. Probably one of the worst parts is that you might not even know who the aggressor may be.

Blogger Kathy Sierra: In a statement to the BBC she referenced posts on her own blog and site Meankids.org which she found threatening and sexually graphic. She stated this made her afraid to leave her house.
…
Alan Herrell, a well-known US blogger who had posted some of the Meankids.org content, stated that he was a victim of identity theft by an unknown hacker. Two other individuals who had been revealed as authors of threatening content on Meankids.org, including the noose picture cited by the BBC, also publicly stated they had no plans to harm Sierra. The identities of at least two other commenters remain unknown. [wiki]

When it comes to blogging one of the great things about the medium is that it’s your voice, it’s your piece of real estate on the internet to do with as you please. You want to write about cats? Go nuts. You like Star Trek TNG but not Enterprise? Tell us why. You want to tell the world about your freak accident with the hedge trimmer? Sure, although use discretion when posting pics. A blog is your own expression, your own content, and it allows the public to publish. But at what point do we say, hey - that’s over the line?

Photo credit: winning-information

You are liable for things you publish online, especially defamatory commentary that could damage the reputation or business of another. It’s not just Facebook wall posts and anonymous blogspot sites that do damage. If you leave comments on someone’s site telling them they’re a “stupid head,” (instead of simply expressing disagreement if such is the case) chances are they recorded your IP address and know exactly where you were when you left that comment, and where you came from. Although even though they can probably track you down, it doesn’t take the sting away from the insult.

Cyberbullies can create web sites that mock, torment and harass others. If these are published on a local/regional Internet Service Provider (ISP), you should copy and print out these Web sites and then contact the ISP. Give them a chance to respond and address the situation. For most responsible IPSs in Canada, this is likely a violation of the Terms of Use or Acceptable Use Policies (AUP). [Cyberbullying.org]

There is a line and within the blogging realm some folks have worked to create a Code of Conduct.

Unless in real life you would face physical intimidation, whereas online you could avoid it. There is a basic understanding for freedom as well — your right to swing your fist ends where someone else’s nose begins. We must be as responsible and civil we are in the real world. And for criminals in virtual world, well that’s a real law enforcement issue. But as civilised citizens we should follow some rules. [Code of Conduct: Things We Wouldn't Say in Person]

The concept of “do no harm” and using our communication tools for good is actually a pretty tough pill to swallow for a lot of people. Ever stumble across that one blog post that makes you wonder what the heck the author was smoking when they wrote that? Facts are wrong, there are spelling mistakes and they just sound completely uneducated about the topic? What compels you to leave a destructive comment? Admittedly, I’ve been there and you have every right to voice your opinion but the author also has rights. There’s always an alternative to smashing someone down in a comment thread such as publishing your own blog post, sharing your own (constructive) views on the topic of the original.

“If you want to do something about it, do not tolerate the kind of abuse that includes threats or even suggestions of violence (especially sexual violence). Do not put these people on a pedestal. Do not let them get away with calling this ’social commentary,’ ‘protected speech,’ or simply ‘criticism’.” - Kathy Sierra.

I know it’s a lovely concept; let’s all play nice and share our toys and no one will get hurt. The fact of the matter is cyberbullying is real for children and adults alike. We need to step up and take responsibility for our own words in the online realm just as we do in real life. Take a breath, back away from the keyboard, shut off your screen, or close the laptop lid. Look around your room, call a loved one, go for a walk, pick up a book. There is more to life than bashing other people and making them feel small. We all have a voice, and there will always be someone there to watch, read, or listen.

Photo credit: Derek Miller on Flickr

Every morning when I hear those radio PSAs asking if my child is a cyberbully and if they post content on the internet that could hurt someone else’s feelings, in my head I can easily reference one of the dozens of comments, Twitters, or emails I’ve received because of this blog that were less than complimentary. It makes me wonder how we’ve allowed these childish tendencies to overwhelm our adults lives, mostly helped by the veil of ‘privacy’ provided by the computer monitor. If children are expected to behave online, why don’t adults?

Supplemental Reads: StopCyberbullying.org, Be Web Aware, Cyberbullying.org, MySpace Anti-Bullying, Kids Help Phone.

Over the last few years John and I have given some tips, pointers, coded pages, created themes and shared our wealth of knowledge about WordPress.

Want to know how to move from Blogger to WordPress? Want to know the difference between WordPress.com and an actual WordPress-powered site? What’s the deal with plugins and which will make my life as easy as pie?

These are just some of the things we’ve encountered and have done our best to educate folks about this PHP-based blogging platform and content management system.

Stickers from WordCamp 2007 courtesy of John Biehler

This year at Northern Voice there was a mini version of a WordCamp, which ended up being a giant scrum of folks asking questions, and those answering them. Now, there’s nothing wrong with that but as was quite evident from the turn out that there are a lot of people out there who are looking for information about WordPress.

On April 30th I’ll be stepping up to the plate as a sponsor and speaker at Vancouver’s first ever WordPress Camp.

On Wed. April the 30th from 5:30 to 8:30pm we are getting together at the Network Hub to share and exchange tips and how-tos on WordPress and blogging in general. We will also learn how to reach a larger audience by using a WordPress blog in conjunction with other web services and Social Networking websites. [Tazzu Blog][Facebook Event]

My session will be about composing blog posts, more specifically adding Flickr photos: From Creative Commons licensing usage to quick tags that help align images on the fly.

Other presenters include:

Bruce Byfield: The Joys of Amateur Blogging.
John Chow: How to make money using a WordPress Blog.
Monica Hamburg: Blogging and Social Media.
Jeff Kee: WordPress for total website development.
Greg Andrews: Good Typography in WordPress.
Kulpreet Singh: Using WordPress to create a custom library, catalog, or other mashup-type site.
Duane Storey: WordPress and mobile blogging - i.e. how to read and write from an iPhone

As a media sponsor I will be providing a live blog along with notes from my session. There is no charge to attend this event thanks to the other sponsors, Culinary Copik Multimedia, BlueFur, RMDStudio, The Network Hub, PeerGlobe, and Tazzu.

**Hat tip to the good folks at Automattic who make WordPress possible (and free) for all of us to love.