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ReadPhoenix: Top Blog Posts of the Week #4-5

Busy, busy, busy. I was unable to find the time last Friday AND last weekend to review and write-up the best Phoenix blog posts of the week. The good news is that I included last week’s best in this post, under “Week #4.”

I have received very good feedback regarding what I am doing here. Thanks to everyone who has let me know they read and value these posts. Positive feedback is one of the best motivators.

Week #5

Blog: Valley PR Blog
Author: Angelo Fernando
Company: ASU
Post Title: Never too late to learn: lessons from a pizza driver

This is a story about a real estate agent who moved from Washington to Arizona and got a job as a pizza delivery driver to familiarize himself with the Phoenix metro area quickly.

Read on for more of the story.
 

Blog: Wurkit Books
Author: Dan Ritz
Company: Forty Media
Post Title: Quick to the Point

Some of the people I have met recently are involved in the Press Release business. After conversations with them, I have put thought into the future of the Press Release. The excerpt Dan highlighted is true for memos, web sites, and even press releases. From the book, Maverick: “The longer the message, the greater the chance of misinterpretation.”

Read on to see the full excerpt and Dan’s commentary.
 

Blog: DontTrustThisGuy.com
Author: Jim Jeffers
Company: Sitewire
Post Title: CSS Commenting With Textmate

Jim posted a link to a great article on Think Vitamin. He reflected on the article’s overview of best practice CSS commenting. I read the entire article and thought there were quite a few other excellent points.

Read on to see Jim’s commentary and a link to the original article.
 
 

Week #4

Blog: Scrollin’ On Dubs
Author: Sean Tierney
Company: JumpBox
Post Title: Place-shift your Rhapsody service

Real Networks recently shut down a 3rd party web service called Yottamusic, which provided an enhanced interface and social networking features on top of the Rhapsody music service.

Read on to see Sean’s reaction, and click here for additional details provide by TechCrunch.
 

Blog: theonetogoto = aaron post
Author: Aaron Post
Company: Forty Media
Post Title: If Candidates where Web 2.0 Applications?

Aaron took the time to examine key traits in our current Presidential candidates and compare them to social web sites.

Read on to see what Web 2.0 application your favorite candidate resembles.
 

Blog: DontTrustThisGuy.com
Author: Jim Jeffers
Company: Sitewire
Post Title: A Refreshed Design for 2008

This is not just a redesign. In this blog post, he outlines some of the specific features embedded into the site.

He put in a considerable amount of work to utilize many features that have not even been adopted yet by all major browsers. What’s great about it is that he made sure that it degrades gracefully, rewarding users with modern browsers without having negative effects on those that don’t.

Read on to see the changes Jim made to his blog.
 

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The President Could Use A Marketing Advisor

I generally do not like talking about politics. This article only includes observations on the President’s poor brand image on the internet.

Businesses use marketing and branding strategies to increase sales. If you think about how sales are increased through successful marketing and branding, you will see that the same strategies can be used in other situations.

Good branding will establish trust. Good marketing will get people listening to your message. No company or person should leave their brand image up to others, especially not the opposition. You do not want your detractors’ messages about you to be heard by more people than your own.

Branding
Look at how the President is represented on the internet. Nobody in the administration has any control of the President’s personal brand. It seems to be in the hands of the mass media, conspiracy theorists, and fanatics that swarm around social news sites. Not good.

Marketing
How does the President’s message get to the people? The Press Secretary reads it in a press conference, where representatives of the media then listens, applies necessary spin, and publishes. The mass media does not work for the government and can say whatever they want. Therefore, they should not be put in responsibility of the President’s message. With this current system, the President’s message is given to the People much like a suppository — obviously not a good marketing strategy.

As a politician, it is important for the President to maintain trust with the People of America. Yet on the internet, all we hear about is what they [may] have done wrong. If people only hear negative things about a someone or something, whether or not the statements are true, they will not be likely to trust the given entity.

I do not trust or support President Bush. How can I? I have heard too much bad and not enough good. It is possible that my assumptions (built on what I have read/heard) are incorrect, but who is telling me otherwise?