Link Love = More Blog Traffic

About a month ago I got an un-welcomed email from Today.com stating that I was not being paid per post anymore after earning a dollar per 100 word post every day for about six months. My income from side writing projects has been negligible in the past month due to commitments at my day job so I didn't want to waste time writing on my Today.com blog if I wasn't getting paid for it. The link love and community of Today.com was nice, but out of spite I wasn't going to be part of another ad-revenue sharing program.

About a week after I stopped posting on my Today.com blog, my visitor states for JR's Not So Literal Logging starting going way down. Looking at the source of where a lot of my traffic came from I was surprised to see that people were visiting this very blog from my Today.com blog!

What does this tell me? Don't ditch your social media circles on a whim! Keeping a regular blog posting routine at my Today.com blog might have possibly kept my visitors engaged and clicking links on my page.

Might I re-start my Today.com blog? I'm not sure yet. It was a themed blog about my quest to get back into grad school. Now that Grad School isn't at the forefront of my life anymore, I might chose another topic and start from scratch.

Any thoughts on this? Do you owe your traffic and reputation to social media outlets that seem to be a waste of time otherwise?

Books about Career Development (and everything else)

Through my foray into social media about 2 years ago I've met a lot of interesting people with great ideas about career development, personal branding and other nu-age ideas that are relatively cutting edge. I can't believe how many influential business books I've found through recommendations and even directly from authors I've met through social media sites such as Twitter.com and Linkdin.

It is interesting to think about who these books are targeted towards and why. Books such as "The Dip" by Seth Godin or "Me 2.0" by Dan Schawbel don't seem to me like they are targeted towards high school seniors or individuals about to graduate from college. Actually, these books seem best geared towards people who are currently working jobs that they don't find particularly fulfilling and might need a self re-invention. Am I amongst those ranks? Sure am! I love both of these books and many others like them.

I guess you can't really target young people and tell them what's up with the real world. You sort of need to just encourage them to experiment and not be afraid to take chances while they're young and have less on the table to lose.



Developing a persona brand isn't easy for anyone of any age because even though we live in a society of "individuals" (especially Generation Y!), there is still a relative hesitancy to step out into the crowd and be critiqued for who you really are, rather than being associated with a larger group. This is why personal branding is so confusing; what identity should any given individual cling to? Do you make something up that benefits you, or do you explore yourself and cultivate an image that expressed who you really are? Are the two concepts mutually exclusive?



I'm glad that I'm playing to my strengths as so many people, both famous and locally influential, have told me. I think that's the key. Not sure what the full payoff is yet, but I'm already seeing dividends and that's a great motivation to keep going. The soul searching part is tough though.

It's almost like all of these great books are written for people who are too busy to read them. But we do find time to read them. We must!

Do any of you struggle with your personal branding? Have any of you given up on the idea? If so, what alternatives are there? Just letting the chips fall where they may?

How Blogging Saved My Life

Okay, that's being dramatic. I think getting rid of my television 5 years ago saved my life, to be honest. But, blogging as a participatory and observational activity is truly one of the most pleasurable daily things that I have in my professional and personal life.

If the internet was my monarchy, content would be king. I find so many life and career enriching tips and stories in my Google Reader. I think I'll make a JR's Top Ten Blogs List soon.

I feel like my content has been getting so many views lately, not even speaking specifically about my Bailout article but regarding my blog posts and Associated Content articles in general. I'm hitting a stride and I definitely feel like reading and interacting with so many great writers is helping me along.

I just wish I had more time to become more closely knit with my blog community.

2009 will be a year of renewed goals, re-vamped business strategy and a more excellent JR Moreau.

Anybody else planning out their New Year Resolutions yet? What are your thoughts on how blogging communities have affected your life?

I feel old, or mature for this market

I cannot talk too negatively of my housemate as I narcissistically believe he reads my blog every once in a while. But, my jealousy consumes me as he is in New York City right now on a business account soaking up the fun and Fall sun at the Digital Media Conference. My feelings towards him boarder on hatred over his ability to score sweet business trips like this (just kidding, I hate no one). I hope he shares his contacts and knowledge when he gets back.

New Media, Web 2.0, Social Media and all of the other new age advertising, marketing and PR techniques seem to harbor some of the most intelligent and talented business minds today. Plus it's a fairly young crowd. People my age and younger will be especially apt to this field due to our life long immersion in electronic and internet technology. I personally didn't get a computer until high school, but I learned the basics at a young age and learn almost anything thrown at me. I suppose the missing link between Nu Marketers and yr. average techie addict tweenie is the business psychology targeting the tweenie as a consumer and not a fellow social network member.

As stated previously, I was so against embracing the Internets breed of social communities as I wanted to maintain my individuality. As reach my mid-twenties (eek-err), I feel that I'm missing out on a lot of opportunities if I don't embrace this culture.

Then there's this voice inside of me. It's my literary resonance. This is where I innovate. I articulate the human experience through non-organic mediums.

Where do I focus my energy? Blogging? Freelancing? Both? I know I want solar, wind and sustainable goodness to be the focus of my career, so do I hyper-educate myself on that too? All of the above?

Social Media Headbanging

Twitter is something I was sure I’d never use regularly. I’ve never been one for serious social networking via electronics or “social media,” but as I grow up and become more serious about my career, I realize the “next step” is reliant upon people’s image of who I am and what I stand for.

How can I realistically get my name and work out there when I work 10 hour days regularly and then try to get the right amount of sleep, exercise and extracurricular fun and freelancing in? I don’t want to, nor can I afford bars or nigh clubs, so Web 2.0 has offered me interesting alternatives to seek out and be sought out by like-minded professionals.

The question remains, how do I effectively use my time on social network sites? How do I blog effectively to convey my ideas and personality in a productive manner? How do I brand myself and become an internet rock star like Gary Vaynerchuk? Well I’m sure I’ve got a story or two inside this brain of mine and many more ideas to formulate. Marketing one’s self is so important.

As GV says on http://www.garyvaynerchuk.com, it’s all about the “hustle.” Hustle. 2.0.