Blogging, blogging, blogging and more blogging. It is a peculiar phenomenon really. It can’t be said that people earn a particular amount of money from writing down their experiences, thoughts and opinions. At least the majority of individuals don’t.

Although you may know it already I’ll begin with a little explanation to what the blogging phenomenon is. The word ‘blog’ is a contraction of the word ‘weblog’. Essentially a weblog is an online journal, the digital alternative to column inches in a newspaper. Although an alternative it is very similar. For a year I kept an online journal at YourLocalGuardian.co.uk which was just identical to the stories a columnist may cover in the newspaper. The same applies for the writings I made for Space Newspaper at the University of Gloucestershire.

I started to keep a blog a few years ago, the catalyst of which was certainly two-fold. I had been reading an awful lot of factual books and had formed some opinions around certain subjects but a passion to write also existed. Before I kept the blog I would attempt to write books when on holiday or write the occasional poem to release some anxiety or troubles I had been going through. So on a person scale blogging provided me the ability to share with an audience but to also view their reactions. As highlighted, blogging really doesn’t pay for the majority of us. An article which I read about 8 months ago in the Daily Telegraph observed how the blogosphere had been taken over by the larger blogs such as The Huffington Post, TechCrunch and Engadget. A full list of the top 100 blogs can be found using Technorati.

Despite the views of that particular journalist in the Daily Telegraph I am inclined to believe that smaller blogs have not been put out of business by the larger competitor blogs. Websites such as BlogCatalog, MyBlogLog and BUMPzee allow blog promotion by interacting within an online community. One of the most effective methods of(…)

An article concerning Public Relations by a Mr Loïc Le Meur has recently come to my attention. The charming title of his article is “PR Secrets? Bullshit” and can be found here.

Mr Loïc Le Meur

There are a worrying amount of users, particularly on Twitter, labelling themselves entrepreneurs. Unfortunately Mr Loïc Le Meur falls into this category with a difference, he is a serial entrepreneur. I have no personal discrepancy towards Mr Loïc Le Meur for choosing this title but the definition of entrepreneur is so widespread and almost a cliché for anybody trying to avoid the title “business man”. A “serial entrepreneur” only raises questions in my mind of other associated titles such as “serial killer” or “serial rapist”. Anybody confessing to be a “serial entrepreneur” then signs his own death warrant in my mind. There is also a worrying trend between the arrogance needed behind this un-academic title which is usually associated within the individual’s views. You are not to be disappointed with Mr Loïc Le Meur where this is concerned.

I’ll begin by assessing the term ‘PR Secrets’ as seen in the article title. He associates that the term is simply fuelled by those working within the industry to capture clients. With this I completely agree. Of course the PR industry will need a hook in order to sell its services but that is the purpose of PR, to provide a method behind the madness. It is clear that Mr Loïc Le Meur does not understand this concept as his advice behind PR is, “Get a community and focus on your friends is the way to go”. Of course that is the way to go but how? All organisations need a PR department; international companies usually have PR departments focusing on the different geographical areas. Mr Loïc Le Meur claims that, “PR is no secret science and it is not complicated”. To this the fellow must either know everything or nothing. It certainly throws(…)

I have now finished first year of University! Although what an inconsiderate amount of time it has been since this blog was last updated. Unfortunately this may become habit since University work was more than I first expected.

So much has happened since I last wrote a blog upon this website and indeed throughout my whole first year of university. Not that years of university are actual years, closer to 9 months, which begs the question why tuition fees are being raised and terms are being shortened. Undoubtly university is the place to be in this abysmal economic climate. It might be sunny outside but the job market is terrible. Many friends of those at university have come down to visit complaining about the death of the temporary job market and how their jobs are constantly on the line. Strangely it is the furniture industry which seems very badly hit. People are just not replacing their furniture, causing a lack of orders and the loss of jobs. When furniture chain MFI closed many smaller manufacturers also went bust. It seems that our country is slowly becoming far more focused upon the smaller businesses as the larger chains fall. Then shock sweeps across my face when people vote for the conservatives to come back in. Much blame could be focused upon Margret Thatcher for creating these problems in the first place. It must be realised though that this economic instability is worldwide. It has been said that Karl Marx is rolling in his grave once the government started injecting industries with money. Like with all theoretical systems it makes sense that a balance has to be found between capitalism and communism. The government has pretty much proved this point through these cash injections.

Now what do we have? A possible swine flu pandemic. The whole world watches the situation carefully as the bitter second wave may wipe out a large chunk of the population. The sceptical part of my mind can’t help but(…)