The Write Spot, LLC

Norton 360 Version 2.0 brought to you without interruptions

My PC has been on the fritz. At first anything using Flash locked up both Internet Explorer and Firefox, so I uninstalled it. Then I couldn't load more than one or two tabs in either Internet browser. After that my toolbars weren't loading in IE. (I need those StumbleUpon and Google toolbars, dammit.) And since I live my life online - from blogging to social bookmarking to Twittering - my work output started to slow down to a crawl.

Luckily I had my laptop as backup, but that meant taking the time to transfer files, and set up all the websites I need to do my my job as a community moderator at a popular women's social networking site. Of course, that ate up major amounts of time that I could have used for blogging.

The problem kept getting worse, and running my spyware and virus software didn't help. I finally decided it was time to take my PC into my local computer shop, which meant more time tracking my computer guy down (he's moving his shop right now) and unplugging my system.

Five days later I have my PC back, good as new. According to my computer guy, he had to run several types of security programs to get all the viruses off my computer, as well as reinstall IE, load some Windows updates, and do some general cleanup. (Tip: don't leave all those unused icons on your desktop - they eat up your computer's memory.)

I was dismayed to find out the highly recommended spyware and virus programs I use don't keep my PC completely protected. This is why I'm thrilled that the folks at Symantec sent me Norton 360 Version 2.0 to review.

Forget that Soccer Mom Crap - Just Call Me Sony Mom!

"Mommy, why did Sony give you those cameras and send you to San Diego?" asked my son Nathan.

"Because I'm an Influential Blogger,"  I replied.

"No you're not!" Nathan said. (My kid thinks I'm an idiot. Great.)

"Yes, I am an Influential Blogger. The folks at Sony even said so. Hey Nathan, do you know what influential even means?" I asked.

"Uh, no." he said.

I love Nathan but he's a typical eight-year-old boy - a smart ass who means well, but unfortunately can't find his own rear end with two hands. In this he bears a strange resemblance to the people who pitch their products to me. They're clueless when it comes to intelligently marketing products to women, and downright pathetic when it comes to pitching to mommy bloggers.

There are exceptions of course, like several of the book publicists, PR firms, and companies I work with regularly. They know I'm busy, spell my name right, and actually take the time to read my blogs before they pitch to me. I like working with them because they send me good stuff that I'm interested in reviewing or writing about.

Well, I'm going to have to add RocketXL and Sony to that list. Like my colleague Charlie Kondek at MS&L said in his post, BlogHer Business: It's Not About You, It's About Them:

...in approaching bloggers, it's not about you, the agency, the brand, the company, it's about them, the blogger, the customer. Talk to these bloggers...the way you'd talk to your customers.

Blog 101 by Kyra Reed - an ebook review

I'm always on the lookout for blogging books to recommend clients. A few I recommend are in the right lower side bar. The latest one I'm recommending for new bloggers is Blog 101: Why YOU Need a Blog and How to Make it Successful by Kyra Reed. It's a downloadable ebook available on Kyra's blog, blog101 for $19.95.

Blog 101 is an introduction to blogging for beginners. It covers the basic definitions, history and benefits of having and maintaining a blog. Blog 101 takes the reader through step-by-step instructions on setting up and populating a blog, integrating into the blogosphere and building the vital online community necessary for a blog to be a success!

Kyra was nice enough send me a free copy to review.

My Review

When it comes to blogging, there's a wealth of information out there, from the daddy of them all, Problogger to up-and-comers like Blog About Your Blog. While the information is available elsewhere, it's wonderful to have one document like blog101 to centralize the information.

In other words, Kyra's book is nothing new. And that's o.k. because its strength is that it's amazingly comprehensive. She give you tons of information you need to start blogging. Most importantly, she links to various websites and blogs you must check out. And the wonderful thing about reading an ebook on your computer is that you can double click the links and immediately see what Kyra's talking about. Try that with a traditional book.

One word of caution, while blog101 is a great book for beginners, it's really slanted towards bloggers who are promoting a business. So if you're a blogger who just wants to write about a passion, hobby or your life, some of the information may not apply or may be overwhelming.

My only kvetch with blog101 is that there are a few typos that a good editor would find. That's the problem with self-publishing. You don't see those little boo-boos because you've read the document thousands of time. I would recommend to Kyra to get a freelance writer with strong editing skills to go over the document and correct those typos. Yes, it may cost a little money, but it's something anyone who's self-publishing an ebook should do.

blog101 - A Write Spot Recommended ebook - check it out!