cre8d design

As a follow up to my previous post on why it’s OK not to have a popular blog (i.e. one with lots of traffic): I found a great post today, thanks to Seth Godin who says:

“So what if your company’s blog only reaches a few dozen people a day. If they’re the right people, the payoff is obvious”

Bill Sweetman describes how he chose a whale-watching company in the Bay of Fundy area, Canada (which, by the way, is a gorgeous place to visit).

Here’s the process he went through to make his decision:

1. Gathered tourist brochures to get a short list of companies and reduce this to those with websites.
2. Visited the company websites for further information.
   1. Companies without websites were crossed off the list.
   2. Companies without additional information on their websites lost his interest.
   3. One company had a sightings and updates blog which has regularly updated photos and stories of recent whale sightings.

I was immediately captivated by the near-immediacy of this information and the fact it chronicled the spontaneous nature of whale watching. The blog also demonstrated to me that Quoddy Link Marine really cared about whales and the environment, not just selling whale tour tickets. Thanks to their blog, I also felt one degree closer to the people behind this tour company than with those from any of their competitors.

Needless to say, I chose to go whale watching with Quoddy Link Marine, not because they had a blog, but because of what the blog revealed to me about the company and its staff, something a typical corporate Website is not usually very good at. And in case you’re wondering, the company and the whale watching tour lived up to my expectations.

The number of times I’ve had a similar experience – grabbed some brochures then jumped on the web to do more research – but didn’t discover a blog (business blogs are rare here in New Zealand) is far too many to list.

We can get so caught up in the numbers game but forget that a useful, helpful informative and insightful blog can have a far great impact than the numbers would ever imply.

I wish the stores I like buying clothing from ran a blog with “what’s new this week”, fashion tips and trends, in-store specials and information about upcoming events. I wish the companies I want to use the services of had a blog with photos of their latest work and insight into who works there and I’m not just talking about the big corporates – small businesses would be probably even more interesting to me.

On a blogging note, I was disappointed and frustrated this week when a regular tech radio show I often tune into here in New Zealand pointed out all the problems with blogs (anyone can do it, so the quality isn’t high; people writing slanderous comments about teachers and others which could get them into legal hot water; more than half of all blogs are written anonymously so there’s no credibility…) and ended up with the host having a good laugh about blogs just being a silly place for gossip.

The tech, gossip and political blogs may be getting a lot of attention right now but there’s countless other blogs out there like the whale watching blog.

I’ve been reflecting a little on my time in South America since getting back a couple of days ago. Taking time to experience other cultures, languages and perspectives on life in such an invaluable experience and I’d love to go back there one day – Peru was by far my most favourite country we travelled through and Rio de Janeiro the most beautiful city I’ve ever been to.

I have CDs full of photos which I’ll need to sort through and organise and then share with everyone but in the meantime, here’s some thoughts on my time in South America and how it (loosely) relates to blogging now that I’m back:

I forget how fortunate I am. When I saw people who are content and happy with so much less than the norm here, who are living such simple, yet hardworking lives, I’m reminded of how fortunate I am to be able to drink water from the tap, to have power, to have a tv, to have a computer, to be able to travel and so on. It’s so easy to get caught up in the rat race – and caught up in wanting more and more things.

Reading the blogs I do, I’m reminded of how often people are discussing upgrading their computer or buying the latest gadget. It’s easy to start wanting new things too. It’s easy to forget to be content with what I have already. It’s a personal challenge to see people with so much less being content, and not complaining about what they don’t have. The online and blogging world – while growing rapidly, is leaving others behind. I’m reminded to watch out for people who are forging new areas, who are just getting going with writing a blog. I helped someone today get a blog up to help kids they’re working with in a war-torn third world country.

I’m challenged by the work ethic of others. Everywhere we went someone was trying to sell me something or entertain me to make a quick buck. Whether it be toilet paper at the traffic lights, endless beads, tarot cards on the underground, a BBQ lighter while crossing the road, or a pen on the train – someone was making the most of the opportunities and people that came across their paths. People in New Zealand tend to hold back, to not bother people, to wait until someone approaches for help or to buy something – and that has its advantages and disadvantages. To see people desperate to make money and to be innovative and so hardworking for little rewards was challenging.

I’m inspired by their servant attitudes. In New Zealand, we don’t tip. I’ve travelled a lot before and found it difficult and strange to tip – I wondered if I was just a stingy person or if it just wasn’t part of my culture. While in South America, I found that I wanted to tip.

When we temporarily lost our bags (thanks to Varig…) a taxi driver took us back out to the airport, and came in and acted as our translator (even though his english was very very poor). He went out of his way to serve. People went the extra mile with their service and never were frustrated at our lack of Spanish/Portugese and loved our little attempts at speaking their language. In New Zealand, we pay for everything up front – and we found it awkward switching to paying for everything afterwards. They were embarrassed when we tried to pay before hang gliding or going on a tour. It was such a reminder of how important service is – how much of a difference it can make, no matter what you’re paying for.

The world is beautiful. People are creative. South America is a gorgeous place, full of contrasts in landscape and weather from the cold high Andes to the low jungle sweltering heat separated by only a half hour plane trip.

Seeing ancient Incan ruins and artifacts, traditional highly intricate woven rugs, bright clothing, hearing loud vibrant music and much more gave me new inspiration for coming back and creating blogs for others. It’s too easy for me to get caught up in online ideas for inspiration. So many blogs are clones of one another. There’s so much colour and life bursting out in other cultures and even around us where we live. Blog design has so much room to grow. Blogs could be so much more of a personal reflection of a person’s character and life than they are now. It’s easy to get side-tracked with the fancy new features and plugins coming out and not focus on creating something unique and beautiful.

I went to a design fair of emerging artists in Buenos Aires and was so inspired by the ideas they were coming up with that I hope to get in touch with one designer now that I’m back home. It’s great to see how creative people are all over the world.

Yesterday we went to my husband’s grandmother’s funeral – sad to say goodbye but the family were also able to celebrate her life and the memories they had with her. I didn’t know her well but she was always lovely and friendly towards me.

On Friday night when we were spending time with his grandfather, I picked up a book she’d written and given copies to her children and grandchildren a few years ago. It was her life story and while I didn’t get to read too far in, her childhood tales were fascinating. I got to know a little about a time in history I can’t really relate to – for example, they had no power when she was growing up.

I began wondering if anyone is using blogging technology to document their life’s memories in a retrospective way – not as in a living journal of current events. I’ve found some sites, such as The Remembering Site which help people put togther their memoirs using a series of questions to help get started writing.

Have you come across any blog where people are slowly writing their life story – using retrospective blog post dates?

Tools such as WP2PDF enable exporting to PDF format which could be easily printed when you’ve finished writing up your memoirs. Blog comments could be used by family members to ask questions about the stories or events being described – so that the book writing is a collaborative and interactive experience. Wordpress pages could be used for information on people and places mentioned in the memoirs, along with the auto links plugin to point people to those pages as appropriate.

A free support community around these blogs could be born, with tips on writing memoirs, helpful questions to get started and technical help. Wonder if anyone’s doing this?