Big ideas justify repetition. Imagine: After days of writer’s block, you’re suddenly inspired to write a long and insightful blog post. You’ve found the perfect illustration, and your headline is brilliant. You’re crushing it. Then, just before you click the publish button, a small blip of doubt appears on your radar. Somehow, what you’ve written sounds so familiar. In a flash you remember: you’ve already covered this topic. The words are  different, the examples are new, but the case you’re making is more or less the same. So what do you do now? You may be subtracting value, not adding it. MORE >>

There’s wide agreement in the blogging world about the benefits of guest posts, both for the guest blogger and the blog owner. Not to finish the job would do a disservice both to your guest blogger and to yourself. But you should agree in advance with a guest blogger about how you will handle the copy, what publishing rights you are acquiring, and so on. The last thing you want is an unhappy guest blogger. You don’t need to agree with your guest blogger’s point of view—in fact, it’s a good idea to look for a point of view that challenges yours. Choose wisely. MORE >>

Today I came across a comment from Adam Tinworth on the reignited debate, in certain UK circles at least, over whether bloggers can be legitimate journalists. In reflecting on this latest blogger brushoff, Adam Smith approvingly quoted Tinworth’s comment on Twitter that “you can do journalism on a blog” and that Marr is “making a massive category error.” And prior to indulging in what might appear like criticism, let me state for the record that Tinworth is one of my favorite and most respected bloggers.). Photo courtesy Haags Uitburo. MORE >>

One journalist who’s already experienced this shift is the well-known B2B editorial consultant and blogger Paul Conley. Be a blogger. One accessible and inspiring model is A Brief Guide to World Domination , a personal manifesto by  blogger Chris Guillebeau. For B2B journalists and editors, the transition to the social-media era can be daunting, especially if they rely on their employers to lead the way. As an ASBPE-Medill survey of B2B editors showed last April, traditional publishing companies have offered little new-media training or guidance. Be media neutral. MORE >>

Though the nut graph originates in journalism, it can benefit all business bloggers.  Most business bloggers, I think, get that much. Deciding where to put your nut graph and how much to give away in it are not easy things to do, which is no doubt why many bloggers don’t. In a typical day, I read all or part of 25 to 30 blog posts on B2B communications and journalism. Often, one or two of those stories will share something special—a new way of looking at a problem, a brilliant insight, or an argument that I find compelling. So far so good. In a way, this is a good sign. MORE >>