QuickDraft is a microcontent management and  “rapid assembly” publishing application specifically designed to capture, link and organize chucks of microcontent and speed up the process of content creation.  Users drag-and-drop digital microcontent onto a visual workspace, which automatically links the content.  This content combined with annotation, quickly generates a “first draft” of the ideas that users want to communicate. The application then allows for editing of the “first draft” before posting it, using its fast one-button publication features.

 

The main features are:

 

·         Drag and drop functionality – The visual workspace area acts like an information shopping cart. When items of interest are found, the users drag the link, image, file or highlighted piece of text into the workspace for easy identification and reference.

 

·         Visual manipulation – Once items are collected in the workspace, the user can easily rearrange and reorder the captured items in order to “connect the dots” and present the user’s intended meaning.

 

·         Annotation windows – Theuser can add notes and comments to the information that has been assembled. These notes can be made at three levels, attached to an item, linked to a grouping of items or summarized.

 

·         Ability to create a tour – Once assembled, the items can be linked together in a sequence that tells a story and present the information in that sequence.  Once a sequence (a “tour”) is created, the sequence of items can be changed almost instantaneously if desired.

 

·         Web services enabled – The workspace is enabled for web services. Services and third party applications can be called from the workspace to perform additional functions to further manipulate and massage the data collected. Some examples of web services functionality are advanced search, language translation, voice-to-text or text-to-voice functions, encryption and other security features, text analytics and the creation of abstracts from more lengthy text documents.

 

One-button posting to Weblogs – QuickDraft contains the ability to publish the results of this construction of value-added knowledge through one-click publishing, making the work instantly available to the intended audiences.

I took this from Roland Tanglao's Streamline blog. I don't know if Roland wrote this or someone else. If it was you Roland, thanks for the piece.

Summary of How Blogs Work in 7 Easy Pieces

1. Joe Blogger writes something and publishes it to his blog.
2. Joe's Blog system updates his site's HTML, updates his RSS file and sends a 'ping' message to the 'Aggregation Ping Server' indicating that his site has updated.
3. Search engines like Google and RSS specific services like Feedster, Technorati and PubSub periodically ask the Aggregation Ping Server, "Which sites have updated?".
4. Since Joe's site sends pings and has an RSS file and is easy to update frequently, Joe's search engine rank is higher than a 'normal site'.
5. Techie Teresa uses a program called an RSS reader to subscribe to Joe's site. The RSS reader checks Joe's RSS file for updates periodically (usually once/hour or once per day) and notifies her of Joe's updates. Teresa no longer wastes time manually surfing Joe's site. She just checks her RSS reader.
6. As a result, Teresa's information flow is more efficient and she can monitor more sites in less time.
7. Joe Surfer (who is not related to Joe Blogger) still can access blogs the old fashioned, slow and less efficient way using his web browser and search engines.

Notes (for those who care about details):

1. This is typically done today using a web browser and clicking on a button I have generically labeled "Publish". It will vary depending on the system used. e.g. Blogware and MovableType uses the word "Save" instead of Publish, Radio uses "Post to Home Page", etc. Most blog systems also allow you to update your blog via email.
2. Blog systems automate the creation of web pages, linking together pages and archiving old pages and creating and updating the RSS file. So bloggers don't think in terms of 'pages' or HTML, they think in terms of posts (short chunks of writing such as 'once upon a time...' because the blog system takes care of creating HTML pages out of multiple posts. This allows bloggers to concentrate on writing rather than technical site creation.
   
   There are other syndication formats. RSS is just the most successful. Atom is a syndication format that is new and gaining momentum.
   
   RSS was popularized by blogging but there is no reason why non blog sites can't have RSS files. In fact a lot of non blog sites like the New York Times, the BBC, etc. have RSS files as well.
   
   The first aggregation ping server was weblogs.com. Now there are many more such as blo.gs
3. It's more complicated than this. I have glossed over the technical details but that's what happens from a high level.
4. Rather than waiting weeks or days, to re-index a site, search engines re-index blog sites much more often (sometimes within minutes for Feedster, Technorati and PubSub) since they know right away when the site has updated. This leads to a more accurate search results and a higher search engine rank. So Joe's search engine rank is higher simply because he sends the 'ping' message and updates an RSS file without Joe having to manually register his site on search engines or hire an overpriced search engine optimization firm.
5. We recommend Bloglines (free hosted solution like Hotmail for RSS), NetNewsWire (Mac) and FeedDemon (Windows) for your RSS reading needs but there are plenty more!
6. If you want to make more money or care about getting the latest knowledge first, then an RSS reader (despite their crudeness; RSS readers and blog systems are at about the 'Visicalc stage' of evolution to use a spreadsheet analogy, the Excel of blogs and RSS readers will emerge in the future!) is an essential tool in your toolbox.
7. Blogs are normal websites. The only 'magic sauce' is the RSS file and the pings and the fact that blog systems automate the tedium of archiving, constructing HTML pages and linking them together. Otherwise they are identical to any other website so even people who don't know about RSS can access them and use them.

Ads are strarting to show up on weblogs. Read more from an article in the Wall Street Journal.

Quote:

Typical of the new breed of "bloggerpreneurs" is Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, who runs Dailykos, a liberal political blog. Mr. Moulitsas says he initially wanted to keep his blog ad-free, as a way of preserving his independence.

But in December, he had to buy new server computers to keep up with growing traffic, and he started taking ads to pay the bills. Business was so good that in three months he was able to double his ad rates. Now, he's bringing in $4,000 a month.

Read the full article.

At 4:35AM PST today, Technorati broke the 2 Million weblogs tracked milestone. The blogosphere continues to expand at an amazing pace, with about 12,000 new weblogs being created every day. We're tracking over 150,000 weblog updates every day, and growing. One of the reasons for this has been the substantial growth in hosted weblog systems like Typepad, LiveJournal, and Blogger, but also a tremendous amount of growth in smaller systems, like EasyJournal and Suicide Girls and moblogs like TextAmerica. Blogging is also growing outside of the United States and the English-speaking Internet, as we've seen lots of growth in non-English language weblogs as well, especially in Russian, French, Portuguese, Chinese, and Farsi.

California remains a dominant technology power, but its competitive position is threatened by budget problems, a deteriorating educational system and a high-cost business environment, a study set for release today finds.

Overall, California ranks second as a technology center, trailing Massachusetts, according to the report issued by the Milken Institute, a Santa Monica research group known for its expertise on the state's economy.

Read more.


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I found this quote in an article published in Fast Company interviewing Tom Davenport. He's the most influential business guru you've never heard of. Reengineering, knowledge management, enterprise systems--Thomas Davenport helped midwife many of the biggest trends to have shaped business over the past 25 years.

The quote to me represents why weblobs are an important innovation for the Web and why anyone who needs to sell their ideas to others should have one.

Quote:

"The most important way in which ideas and experiences get communicated from sellers to buyers is through narratives. Stories give proof that your idea is going to work. Confidence-building evidence isn't statistical, it's narrative in form."

Weblogs without a doubt provide a vehicle to tell your stories to your audiences.

 

Nearly three of four people in the United States have Internet access at home, Nielsen/NetRatings said on Thursday.

In a February telephone survey, an estimated 204.3 million people, or 74.9 percent of the population above the age of 2 and living in households equipped with a fixed-line phone, had Internet access, up from 66 percent in February 2003.

"In just a handful of years, online access has managed to gain the type of traction that took other mediums decades to achieve," said Kenneth Cassar, director of strategic analysis at Nielsen/NetRatings.

Women were slightly more likely to be Web surfers than their male counterparts, the company said.

Internet penetration for women aged 35 to 54 was 81.7 percent, compared with 80.2 percent for men in the same age group. For the 25 to 34 age group, Internet usage was 77 percent for women and 75.6 percent for men.

"Women make the majority of purchases and household decisions, so it's no surprise that they are utilizing the Internet as a tool for daily living," Cassar said.

From Dave Pollard:

1. Use other media to pull people to your blog: Don't just write great stuff and wait to be discovered. Use e-mails (sparingly, selectively) to tell people you think might be interested in reading your blog about a particular article you've written. Make comments on others' blogs and include your blog URL when you do. Try to find an A-lister or two who might be interested in one of your articles, and e-mail them (just be aware many others are also looking for A-listers' attention, so do so sparingly and be patient). Or just comment, early and frequently, on A-listers' posts (first commenter on any new A-lister post often draws a lot of traffic). Join and participate in discussion groups, always leaving your blog URL at the end of every message. Contribute to e-magazines, either online versions of hard-copy periodicals like Ms., or specialized online journals like Virtual Occoquan. Use outgoing links on your blog and blogroll to articles and blogs written by people you'd like to have as readers: Chances are, they'll note you when they look at their inbound links list and come over to see what you said about them. And when people write to you, always answer, always acknowledge that they took the time, and always include your URL in your response. But don't feed the trolls (i.e. don't reply to readers who write hurtful, malicious or baiting comments or e-mails) or you'll have readers you don't want.
   
2. Write, at least sometimes, about 'hot' topics: You don't have to be a Googleslut to occasionally get some special buzz on a topic everyone is talking about. Being very focused on narrow, deep topics will get you a faithful readership, but not a particularly large one. Writing about something popular from time to time, especially if you do so before everyone else is writing about it, and say something unique or insightful, will broaden your audience, and bring in what Malcolm Gladwell calls connectors, people who can bring their entire, large networks of potential new readers to see your blog.
   
3. Make a great first impression: The average reader who links to your site looks at 1.5 pages and stays 90 seconds. Google hits command a small fraction of even that attention span. That's how long you have to make an impression that will bring them back. A memorable look, a powerful theme, easy navigation, legibility, making sure your links work and that you've spellchecked, using clear headings, clever, attractive graphics, summarizing your long posts, making sure your page doesn't take too long to load -- all these things help create a great first impression, and give your blog what's called 'stickiness'. The longer they stay, the more they'll remember and the more likely they'll come back.
   
4. Learn by studying who's reading what, and what works: I look at the end of each day who's been reading How to Save the World (most blogs have a 'referrer log' tool that lists your visitors; services like SiteMeter also provide this information). If I don't recognize a reader by their URL, I'll go to their site to see who they are and what brought them to my site (and often say 'thanks for visiting' while I'm there). And I track total popularity three ways (see chart above): Average hits/day per the Salon Rankings list, Number of Inbound Blogs per Technorati Cosmos (I also visit any new additions to my Inbound Blogs list), and Number of people subscribed to my RSS feed per Dave Winer's Who Subscribes List. I know that when I write about certain subjects like blogging or business innovation, I'll get a spike in hits. But I also know my posts on other subjects, like the environment, economics, and social networking, have different and loyal audiences, who I'd lose if I narrowed the focus of this blog. And some things, like poetry and short stories, I post despite knowing they have a very small audience, because the few comments I do get are essential to improving my writing skills. And because I love writing them.
   
5. Get outside more: Real Live Preacher, consistently one of the three most popular Salon Blogs, deliberately seeks out (looking at the Recent Updates List for unfamiliar blog names) and welcomes and helps new bloggers -- a tremendous way to get grateful new readers for his smartly written, well-laid-out blog. By using blog directories like EatonWeb or lists like Technorati's Current Events (or just typing a topic of interest in Technorati's search bar) you can find other bloggers interested in the same things you are, and connect with them. Or explore the blogrolls of blogs you like. When you find a 'like mind', link to them, e-mail them, comment on their weblog, or otherwise let them know you exist and where to find you. But don't be pushy and overtly ask them to link to you -- just let them know where you are, and they'll come around.

How do I get paid?
Big Changes in Small Payments

By James Maguire

In a perfect world, all of your customers would be able to pay for their purchases with credit cards, but if you sell small-ticket items such music downloads, newspaper articles, trading cards, fonts and so on, that isn't feasible. The good news is that there is an alternative to credit cards, enabling retailers to make a profit even on small-ticket items: micropayments.

Micropayment technology is especially popular among sites selling music downloads or single newspaper articles. Because these items sell for just a few dollars (or less), merchants can't afford to allow consumers to buy them with credit cards -- the per-transaction fees would gobble up any profit from the tiny purchases.

"If you're selling something under $10, you pay the credit card companies more than your profit," said Gartner analyst Avivah Litan.

Micropayment vendors let consumers make tiny purchases by deducting from a pre-paid balance. So a consumer with a $10 or $20 balance can make $0.25 and $1.50 purchases at all her favorite sites, while those sites get a transaction rate that allows them to make a profit on those items.

Here is the full article.
http://ecommerce.internet.com/how/paid/article/0,,3330031,00.html


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One of the blogs that I read on a regular basis is the Kirk Report.

http://www.thekirkreport.com/

I read it on a daily basis, not only because it contains valuable information and insight, but also because it represents what I think a blog should be. He made a very interesting post on Newsletters today.
http://www.thekirkreport.com/2004/03/newsletters_are.html

Quote:
Another interesting insight from Barron's was that Richard Russell has 7,000 subscribers to his Dow Theory Letters service. At $250 per subscriber, he is making $1,750,000 a year in subscription revenue. That's pretty darn good.

It just goes to show you how much can be made in this industry if you've been around long enough and have developed a strong subscriber base.

It will be worth watching to see if the same economics, albeit on a smaller scale, plays out for blogs.


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From a article in Fast Company magazine:

Quote

Got a message to get out or a product to promote? The blog world is populated by folks who thrive on racing to be first to post news and getting others to link to, or "blogroll," them. They're naturally the opinionated, hyperconnected influencers marketers crave. Jonathan Carson, president and CEO of BuzzMetrics, a New York-based firm that mines message boards, listservs, and blogs to see what's being said about companies, says his clients ignored blogs nine months ago. Today, more than half specifically ask whether his monitoring includes the blogosphere. "If companies focus in on what's going on in the blog world, it's an amazing leading indicator on what's going to break in the real world," he says.

That's why some businesses are going straight to bloggers for buzz. Random House's Crown Publishing sends books to bloggers for review. Nokia sent a small group of bloggers its 3650 model camera phone to take for a whirl. To help companies find bloggers who fit their target, Internet marketing firm Richards Interactive has even started ProjectBlog.com, a database of bloggers who've completed demographic surveys.

Just kidding.  There's more to it than that - it's just that everybody's still learning about the variations that mught work.

 

Here's another article from Fast Company, showcasing how MicroSoft's adoption of blogging is yielding benefits. 

Pretty impressive - the article starts with the line "Robert Scoble may well be one of the most powerful people in Redmond right now" .

Robert Scoble blogs for MicroSoft - it's his job.

Shoshana Zuboff  is a professor at Harvard Business School and the coauthor of The Support Economy (Viking, 2002).

I found this book to be the most influential book on my thinking that I have read in the past year.
I believe it is a must read for anyone who has any interest whatsoever in the changing business landscape.

Below is a link to a Fast Company article that summarizes some of the themes in her book.

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/80/szuboff.html

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Rackshare has gone and made it easy to add a Poll to your Blogware powered weblog - or any blog for that matter.

Very slick - 2 minutes from front to back to add a poll to your Blogware weblog.