So last time I wrote I talked about how difficult it can be writing on an ugly website.

I gathered the advice, and I’m going to make amends.

We’re setting the stage to take “How to Write a Book of Blues. Hopefully” into the direction we finally have the freedom of thought to take it: into a resource into the travels that shows our pains and providences of publishing said books of blues.

I started with the choice between Frugal Themes and Thesis. I went with Thesis. It was probably a case of “the Devil I don’t know.”

I like Frugal to a point. It takes Thesis to the next level of point & click and we use Frugal on NWITweetup.com, but I wanted to try something else.

We’ll see if and what Brogan and Falls sees in this.

At this point I have the layout as far as i can take it without having to use PHP hooks and learning Thesis more to make CSS changes. Below is a list of additional changes I’ll make.

Thesis DIYThemes issues

• Want to shrink my H1 font
• put ad right justified on header
• Resolve my Archive.org issue.

What’s my Archive.org issue?

Take, for example,  this concert on archive.org

Jack Johnson. Hawaii Theatre. Honolulu, HI. 2009/11/03. Great concert. Take a listen.

“What songs are on the concert?” you ask.

Great question. Welcome to my problem…

There’s an embed code to the concert. Start playing one of the tracks and the embed code to the entire concert becomes available. The trick is when you do embed the video, you only get the player itself. You don’t get the song list. The reason:

“NOTE: We are not able to offer a simple piece of HTML to show the playlist along with the player.”

I’m trying to find the simple piece of html so I can embed it – or whatever the issue is.

I’ve discovered the player Archive.org uses is Flowplayer

And I have found the forums but I can’t seem to put it all together.

Additional Website changes to “How to Publish a Book of Blues. Hopefully.”

• Put the page titles under the header
• Get the Featured Content hook working
• find a cleaner method of showing the social media contacts
• fix the spacing issue with the Tweetmeme Twitter RT button on the posts
• (and while I’m at it, get those sharing buttons to go vertical down the Right side of the post)
• style a footer
• add flickr stuff
• add cha cha widget
• add archive.org widget

and then it’s ready for the Head of Graphics at Golden Technologies to go to town on the styling. It’ll look very much like my twitter background. And I think we might turn it into a living evolution of the site..crashing waves in the winter…bleh bleh.

What changes would you do to my site? (with respect to the date this is written)

• For example, should I put the fan pics on the Facebook fan page or will that drop too much content below the fold?
• Should I go with that Twitter badge or go back to my old “Instant Chronicles?”
• Have you seen the way Mashable puts the sharing buttons left side just off the site? What do you think of that?
  

(photo credit: Slimmer Jimmer via Flickr)

image can be fond on flicker.com. username: keks.au

This week I got put on the Social Media Team at work. In my case, it was officially putting me in something I already was unofficially doing. A little Social, a little SEO Copywriter Chicago, a little PR, a little analytics…

We talked about how we were going to be transparent. I like the idea. I’m always in favor of the idea. People get mad at me because, unless they tell me to keep something a secret, I’m a proponent to the “freedom of information” act.

It got me thinking about how to ensure protection on the company’s brand. (Bare with me. You might need to Finndex these thoughts.)

There’s a caveat when boldly engaging in social media:  in addition to engaging a dialogue, Social Media is, yes,  supposed to be about transparency and authenticity. And, granted, overt conservatism is starting to fall by the wayside with the election of Obama. But eventually, no matter how far the U.S. political meter shifts to the left, the political correctness of society will collide with the transparency of Social Media. The question will be:  how close do you want to be to the accident?

You can be viral and audacious with your honesty. If you’re starting a career, in the middle of the career, or just trying to brand yourself, the honesty in Social Media will be the fast way to find the bounds of your career’s world. But, eventually, you’ll hit a landmine.  If you’re prepared, you’ll better be able to mitigate the damage.

I speak of someone who’s made blowing up social environments a habit. I’ve set “experiments” in social dynamics with the Man just to see the outcomes. They make for a great Book of Blues (btw – sttil waiting on my cousin who says he’s about done editing said Book of Blues).

Just remember to keep perspective. Social Media authenticity in the U.S. can be such a revolutionary high that you can forget, for most of us, you’re in “free” market America. More importantly, you’re in a capitalist society. I warn against being too engulfed in Social Media Idealism. Eventually, every good idea gets perverted n abused for profit and personal gain. Some call it “capitalizing,” – in the worst sense of the word. Someone will capitalize on your authenticity:  lawsuits, scams, duplication. It will happen. Prepare for it. A new medium still has to obey the existing laws, at least until the laws are updated.

I’m not saying to not engage in social media . Far from that. Embrace it with both arms – n legs if you can. Wrap around it good n tight. 50 years ago a few advertisers had a handful of TV channels and a sprinklin’ of radio stations to get the word out. Advertisers had to be aggressive. Even more ruthless than today. They had to position more. Now, the world is an ocean of information. All you have to do is find the right wave and surf. Enjoy the ride with your clients. You don’t have to try to change the physics of the market to in order to control the tide anymore.

Just remember the Social Media world hasn’t been fully mapped. Venture smart, especially if your dealing with your corporation’s marketing. It’s their livelihood, it’s your livelihood, it’s your friends’ livelihood. For every Lewis n Clark there’s been a Smith n Jones who weren’t as successful.

“Who were Smith n Jones?” Exactly!

My Advice

all great prosecutors think like criminals. All great generals learned how to think like their enemy. All great White Hat SEOs are versed in Black Hat (or they’re getting REALLLY lucky). The best offense is a good defense n vice versa. Insert Sun Tsu s#it here about “all warfare is based on deception”. It’s all accurate.

As Blues god Howlin’ Wolf said: “If you’re thinkin’ evil, you’re thinkin’ ’bout the blues.”

Learn how to think a little evil for your own good.

That’s why I am a Social Media Bluesman.