One of the reasons Twitter is a more expendable platform than Facebook and LinkedIn is because people’s identities are not as tied to the service. Facebook profiles serve as social identities, LinkedIn as professional, and Twitter…

Twitter profiles do not fit into the identity equation, and this is the service’s largest weakness. The cost of switching over to other services is significantly lower on Twitter as compared to Facebook and LinkedIn. Put another way, I may/may not switch from Twitter to Google Plus, but I would kick and scream if anyone ever tried to remove my LinkedIn account.

How can Twitter become a larger part of a user’s identity?

Although this is a complicated question, I believe one solution is to advance the profile settings on Twitter.

As opposed to LinkedIn and Facebook, where a user can add a significant amount of information (Ex: work experience, about information, etc.), on Twitter a user can only add his or her name, location, one URL address, and a short description (160 characters or less).

Although I understand the importance of brevity with Twitter’s messaging platform, I do not see why the company needs to limit the length of a profile description. There are more than 160 characters in which I would like to describe myself, and there is more than one URL I would like to share.

Even if Twitter prefers to maintain brevity, they could add an “Optional Extended Profile”, which would allow users to fill in more information about themselves. This would greatly increase a user’s ties to the profile, and subsequently to the service itself.

Although Twitter continues to change it’s stated mission, in order for the site to be truly indispensible for users, the site needs to become a larger part of a user’s identity. A more extended profile is an important first step.

I recently began reading James Altucher’s blog. James is an entrepreneur, investor, trader, and writer (picture to the right). I stumbled across his blog months ago, but because his stories are so surreal and witty I thought they were fictitious and stopped reading. I wonder if he loses a lot of other readers for the same reason.

After watching one of his interviews I realized his stories were not fabricated and have since become a big fan of his writing.

Why I enjoy reading his blog

1. Authenticity: James is beyond honest; he is a completely open book. In a world where so many try to hide their failures and shortcomings, James openly shares his with the world. His honesty is why I believe so many people are attracted to his writing. He is that person who, for one reason or another, does not care what other people think about him, and people are drawn to that. In a similar way, I also see the same trait in presidential candidate Ron Paul. Although many disagree with candidate Paul’s policies, and some may not fancy James’ stories, they are both undeniably authentic.

2. He Creates Serendipity: James has many surreal stories (Example: How I Screwed Yasser Arafat Out of $2 million (and lost another $100 million in the process). These stories do not exist because he had a particularly privileged upbringing (his career starting out was not unusual); they exist because he took advantage of opportunities. While the majority of people end up stuck on a certain route and schedule, James created his own serendipity. As an example, at one point in his career he contacted 30 influential people and pitched them various ideas. 2 people responded, one of whom was Jim Cramer who offered him the chance to write for TheStreet.com. A lot of people look to those that have been successful and give credit to an external factor (family background, university attended, etc.). I have found that successful people became that way because they put themselves in the situations where they could be successful.

3. He gives life to stories: What I really enjoy from David, and there are very few authors I see this from (Malcom Gladwell is another), is that his writing is so fluid. There are very few non-fictional story tellers that can draw you into a story, and James is one of those authors. His paragraphs leap from one idea to the next, but you forget the missing connections and just follow. At the end everything seems to make sense, and you appreciate the story.

What bloggers and can marketers can take away

1. Be authentic: Embrace your mistakes and share them. There is something about being brutally honesty that is very effective.

2. Take time to meet new people and pursue new opportunities: You never know where a conversation or a fleeting moment will lead. As an example, for myself I’ve made it a goal of mine to reach out to several people every week who I have not had contact with yet but whose work I enjoy. This week I contacted Nathan from MarketingStartups.com, Mark Suster from Both Sides of the Table (I highly recommend you watch his presentations on Youtube–very funny and informative person), and the former CEO of MP3.com Michael Robertson. I was really happy to see that all 3 responded within the same day of my emailing.

3. Become a story teller: This is unfortunately easier said than done. Will have more articles on this in the future.

Resources

1. Jame Alchuler’s blog: http://www.jamesaltucher.com

2. Ron Paul’s interview. Regardless of whether you agree with him, listen to his authenticity: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCM_wQy4YVg

A friend emailed me the other day asking if I had any recommendations for how he could connect with a journalist from the tech site Mashable.

This is what I told him

(As a note, this is from my experience writing for VentureBeat).

1. Identify why you want to contact a journalist: The journalists you contact are very busy people (I would receive up to a dozen emails from PR reps every day).

You should never, under any circumstance, email a journalist asking an open ended question that will take a long time to answer. This is a sure way to guarantee that you will not receive a response.

If you ask a precise question that can be answered in under 10 seconds, you may receive a response (I am referring to emails, it is different in person). Journalists are bombarded with emails every day. If they do not know you and it is a long question, you will be ignored.

2. Write to a journalist as if they are your friend: Once you begin receiving emails every day from PR, the emails begin to look the same. When I was writing for VentureBeat, I would receive emails throughout the day with the same generic start:

“Dear Conrad, We thought this might be of interest to you.”

Literally dozens of emails would have this same beginning. If you receive 10 of these emails in a row, they become very easy to ignore. The formality and lack of human touch become off-putting.

My advice is to write to journalists as if they are your friends. Treat them like people. As an example, an email with the beginning line is much more effective than any generic sentence:

“Hey Conrad, saw we had a mutual friend and wanted to reach out.”

(I received this email earlier today. This was not an email regarding writing an article, but I did not know this person and I took the time to respond).

3. Respect their time: If you do not know the journalist personally, never ask to meet for a coffee (coffee does not only take 30 minutes, it disrupts someone’s day and with commuting can take over an hour). In fact, I would not even recommend asking for a phone call unless it is important. The best way I have found to connect with journalists and busy people in general is to show that you understand that their time is valuable and that although you would like to meet, you do not want to burden them at all. As an example, here is the email I wrote Steve Cheney (contributing writer at TechCrunch).

“I know you are very busy so I don’t want to take your time to grab a coffee, but I’m pretty involved in the NYC entrepreneurial scene and if you’re planning on attending an upcoming event in the future, it’d be great to hear just so I could introduce myself in person.

Hope to keep in touch and best wishes Steve.”

Fortunately for me, Steve and I were able to grab coffee the next day.

4. The second best way to meet a journalist is through an introduction: The site that is most effective in helping with this is LinkedIn. It is very easy to type in a journalist’s name and see if you have any mutual connections. If you do, it is just as easy to ask the person to make an introduction. If you do not feel comfortable doing this, you can ask to use their name in an email. As an example:

“Hey X, I saw you were connected to my friend Adam and he recommended I contact you regarding X.”

Through LinkedIn, I have 2 degrees of separation with over 200,000 people (and this is not unusual for people who actively use the site). There are a lot of people you can reach out to.

As a note, remember that you need to have a legitimate reason for connecting with journalists. If you have an inquiry that you can find the answer to online, you should not waste anyone’s time. It is really important throughout this process that you respect everyone’s time (not only the journalist, but also your friends’ if they are helping ).

5. The best way to meet a journalist is in person: This is a lot easier to do than most people believe, particularly in the highly connected tech community. I took the elevator with TechCrunch editor Erick Schonfeld at one of the first NYC Tech events I attended and Michael Arrington sat in front of me at this year’s Tech Crunch Disrupt event in New York. An important part about networking is that it’s something you need to constantly do. If you just start one day and say, I need to connect with this person, then you put yourself in a much harder position than if you had been meeting and following up with people the entire time.

Media publications hold a lot of events; they are more common than you think. At every one of these media events I have attended, a high percentage of journalists at the company have attended. As an example of an upcoming media event, here is a posting by VentureBeat: http://venturebeat.com/2011/06/21/reminder-venturebeat-and-demo-in-vancouver-thursday.

Another way to find events which journalists frequently attend is to ask well connected entrepreneurs. These people  tend to enjoy helping others and are happy to recommend events where they have encountered journalists.

Resources

1. Great article on how to set up meetings with busy individuals by Marketing.fm  http://www.marketing.fm/2009/10/22/how-to-setup-an-appointment/

2. Tip for what you should not do in arranging meetings by Vinicius Vacanti http://viniciusvacanti.com/2011/01/24/stop-saying-let-me-know-when-works-for-you/

3. Great video by Mark Suster and Michael Robertson on how to build relationships with reporters (about halfway through the video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMPnB0uxKTo&feature=related

A few years ago, while browsing the web for GMAT blogs, I was drawn to identical banners on multiple blogs. The banners were not advertisements; they were something different.

The banners were “Best of Blogging Awards” from ClearAdmit, which is an MBA admissions firm (the banner is to the right). Year after year, legions of popular GMAT and MBA bloggers were awarded these banners, which were then proudly plastered on the blogs as a sign of achievement and social proof.

I thought this was a brilliant tactic from ClearAdmit. These popular bloggers were not only willing, but rather felt privileged for the opportunity to promote ClearAdmit through these banners.

In addition to the SEO benefit from these websites linking back to ClearAdmit, the rewards from the brand awareness were priceless. Despite the effectiveness, I have not seen this strategy used by many companies.

There is no reason why this strategy should not be used throughout all industries. As an example, here is how VentureBeat, a tech publication, could use this tactic:

VentureBeat Best of Blogging Award

VentureBeat would award the best Technology bloggers of each year (Best blogger of 2011, best upcoming blogger, etc.) and could potentially include some of their postings into weekly articles.

Bloggers selected would proudly post a “VentureBeat Best of Tech Bloggers 2011”, or a “Rising Tech Star Blogger” badge, which would help promote the VentureBeat brand. VentureBeat would also increase the content on their websites without diluting the quality of writing.

Bloggers would be happy because if their articles were reprinted on the VentureBeat website, a larger audience would read them, and they would also be proud to show the VentureBeat badge. VentureBeat would benefit from the growth in brand awareness and the increase in in-links.

Steps to Take

If you are interested in implementing a similar strategy, here are the steps I recommend:

1. Establish your company and blog as a thought leader in your respective market. Focus on creating quality content on your blog and on growing your audience. The strategy outlined will not be as effective if your company’s name is not easily recognized by bloggers.
2. Create an attractive banner that can be placed on a blogger’s website
3. Gather the emails and and communicate with potential bloggers. Ideally you would already have a connection with this group. Outline a set of benefits the blogger would receive. Perhaps the bloggers would receive coverage on your blog, Facebook Page, etc.
4. Maintain consistency with the program year after year. As with all marketing, the effort will take time. Fortunately, the time needed to manage this is very minimal.

Resources

1. Clear Admit’s Best of Blogging page: http://blog.clearadmit.com/2009/04/best-of-blogging-2008-2009-results/

I served as a contributing writer at VentureBeat for 3 months and had a view into reporting that most entrepreneurs do not have. There is a lot of information on PR (particularly with startups), but most information is written from an entrepreneur’s point of view. This article is written from the other side of the table.

This is Part #1 in the series about what I learned in those 3 months as a writer:

Part #1: How I ended up writing for VentureBeat and thoughts for those looking to get involved with writing/entrepreneurial ventures.

Part #2: How to pitch reporters (on developing a story, writing a press release, identifying how reporter’s find leads, etc.) I will include good and bad examples of press releases (we were bombarded every day).

Part #3: How to meet and interact with reporters and what it is like being on the other side. I’ll end with some additional tips that can curry favor (Ex: Always send a thank you if an article is written on your company. The entrepreneur should do this, not the PR person).

As a note, I was a contributing writer, not an editor, and though my time was limited, I hope the following provides insight.

Old VentureBeat Writer's Photo: Recognize MG Siegler in the back

Also, although I no longer am affiliated with the company, I have nothing but positive things to say about VentureBeat. The company has amazing people who I learned so much from. If you do not know, VentureBeat (http://www.venturebeat.com) is one of the largest tech media websites and has syndications with the New York Times and Reuters.

At the bottom of each article there will be a list of resources that helped me at each point in the process.

Part #1: How I joined VentureBeat

I did not have a writing background going into VentureBeat. In fact, when I first contacted Owen Thomas, who was the executive editor at the time, he let me know he knew this right away.

I had been introduced to Owen by Matt Marshall, founder and CEO of VentureBeat. Matt and I had met in NYC, where he was promoting the tech conference DEMO. Trying not to take up too much of his time, I told him I enjoyed the site and if there anything he ever needed (introductions, etc.), that I would be happy to help. To my surprise, he talked to me about writing positions that were opening and gave me his business card.

After following up through email the following night, I was relieved when he responded and I was forwarded to Owen Thomas.

Owen was the celeb-writer of VentureBeat and was infamous for his bold articles. He had been involved in a very public feud with Elon Musk (of Paypal, Tesla, and SpaceX), and was known for ruffling the feathers of billionaires. At VentureBeat, Owen cared tremendously about the quality of writing. He was the leader of the writer-pack.

After reviewing my blog, Owen let it be known that (I am summarizing): “I was not the right fit” and “Probably wasn’t talented enough at the time.” Despite his direct words, he gave me a chance. He always ended his emails with “I don’t think this will work out, but if you really want, you can send an article for me to review.” I will always be grateful to Owen for this.

Sitting at my computer, I knew I had to pursue the opportunity. However, I did not know where to start, as I had never written for a newspaper or publication before. I had no choice but to do as all entrepreneurs do; I was as relentlessly resourceful (from Paul Graham), as I could be.

I looked up recommended books on writing (Tim Ferriss and other popular bloggers recommended “On Writing Well”—listed at bottom). I reached out to a TechCrunch reporter I was in brief contact with (Steve Cheney of TechCrunch), and I began writing.

Soon after my first lesson was learned: The key to good writing is rewriting.

Every day onward I would write until 4:00AM, and immediately after waking the next morning would call close friends for a review. The entrepreneurs at the incubator I work out of became my extra sets of eyes, and with the help of friends my writing improved faster than I could have expected. I would make revisions in the afternoon, and would send the article to Owen at night. A few hours later I would receive a response from Owen.

(Summarizing here): “Tone isn’t right”, “This is not the type of article we are looking for”.

And as always, “But if you really want, I’m not really sure this is going to work, but you can send another article.”

This process of writing articles, receiving the review from Owen, and creating new articles, continued. The other entrepreneurs in the incubator were concerned at the little sleep I was receiving, and asked whether I should continue. My mind had been made up though: As long as Owen gave me the opportunity, I was going to continue.

Looking back, it was at this time that I truly appreciated the culture of entrepreneurship that I was a part of. With startups (and VentureBeat is absolutely a startup), meritocracy rules. It may not rule with an iron fist, but it does to a far greater degree than in any other industry. It did not matter to the VentureBeat team that I did not graduate with a degree in English from Harvard. What the team wanted to see was that I would hustle, that I was responsive, and in the end, that I could add value.

By the end of the second week, I received an email from Owen asking me to take on a larger role, and soon after I began writing daily for VentureBeat.

Reading the email that night, I happily went to sleep early.

If you are interested in pursuing a career in writing or are an entrepreneur looking to write for a publication on the side

If I were looking for writing positions in the future, this is what I would do:

1. Attend events hosted by publications/media companies: When a publication hosts an event, the management team and reporters will attend (these are also great opportunities for entrepreneurs to network with reporters). Although it may be difficult to pay for a TechCrunch Disrupt ticket, there are a number of smaller and free events held throughout the year. A great way to keep updated with these events is through StartupDigest and through Charlie O’Donnell’s website if you are based in NYC (Listed at the bottom). Face to face contact is critical, as editors prefer to take on people who they have met and like.

2. Create a blog: Regardless of who you are writing for, the company will want to see the quality of your writing and ideally will want to see an audience. Steve Cheney started his blog and, after his audience skyrocketed to 100K monthly uniques, was recruited to write for TechCrunch.

3. Look at the job boards of publications: This sounds obvious, but you would be surprised about the number of opportunities.

Resources

1. On Writing Well http://amzn.to/llweSu
2. Great PR article from Vinicius Vacanti http://bit.ly/h5LTly
3. Tim Ferriss has some great videos about how he developed his writing style (one of his many videos) http://bit.ly/lNjxdM
4. Startup Digest: Great resource for Tech events. Every Sunday you will be sent an email with the upcoming week’s events http://bit.ly/5PBJe4
5. Charlie O’Donnell (for NYC): Great resource for weekly Tech events in NYC http://bit.ly/2Nhz4K

I started blogging 30 days ago. Here are highlights and what I learned from my first month of blogging:

1. I was asked to audition as a contributing writer to VentureBeat: As an indirect result of blogging, I was asked to try out as a writer. I ended up serving as a contributing writer for the company for several months.

Lesson Learned: Create serendipity when you can. You never know where it will lead to.

2. The CTO of Blekko, Greg Lindahl, commented on my article: After writing an article on the future of search as a response to TechCrunch writer Vivek Wadha’s article, I tweeted to Vivek, which led to him retweeting my article. A spike in traffic followed.

Lesson learned: Just as important as the content you write are the people you tell. I’m a fan of Vivek’s writing, and Blekko is an internet darling, so this was a neat experience.

3. Grabbed coffee with TechCrunch contributor Steve Cheney: As an indirect result of blogging, I had the chance to meet Steve, a popular writer currently working at GroupMe. Over coffee he told me that nothing has had a greater impact on his career, including his MBA degree from Columbia, than his decision to blog. He’s a great guy doing really exciting things.

Lesson Learned: As Steve said to me, writing doesn’t just allow you to join a community, it gives you a voice. That platform you create for yourself can be meaningful. (As an aside, Steve has a great blog here).

4. One of my articles hit the home page of HackerNews: I received over 1,000 unique visitors that day and it was exciting to see the article highlighted on a website that I read daily.

Lesson learned: First, don’t underestimate the value community websites bring, particularly HackerNews. I now have a greater appreciation for the icons that allow you to submit articles to 3^rd party websites (Digg, Reddit, etc). Second, it’s very important that readers have the ability to share your content. A study showed that blogs that implemented Facebook Like buttons had average traffic increases of 50%.

In addition to the above highlights, here are some more lessons learned:

5. Don’t chase the news: Although chasing hot topics in the news can be alluring, particular with the attention you receive if you break a story, it is difficult to consistently write about new topics and the space is competitive. If you are interested in building your blog for the long term, a more sustainable approach is to focus on being a thought leader in one space. In this past month there were times I found myself writing about recent events instead of startup marketing, and I need to have better discipline.

6. You never know with traffic: In this past month there were several days the website had spikes in traffic (due to HackerNews or a Twitter RT). I ended up averaging around 80 unique visitors a day (2341 total monthly visitors), although traffic was skewed towards particular days. What I found interesting was that even on low traffic days, over 20 users would still visit the website. It was encouraging to see the website’s traffic not dip to zero.

7. Your blog is part of your digital resume: I remember a post from Fred Wilson saying that in interviews, he rarely asks for a person’s resume. Instead, he asks to see their blog. The reason is that a person can embellish their resume, but it is difficult hide their true self in 50+ articles they write. As this has been my first time dedicating myself to a blog, it has been comforting to know that I can refer others to my writing. The blog has become a part of my online identity, similar to my Facebook and LinkedIn profiles.

8. Appreciate the craft of writing: Writing is hard. Writing well is even harder. After blogging for 30 days, I have a newfound respect for the profession.

9. Understand the difficulty and time involved: It’s challenging to write on a consistent basis and it requires a lot of discipline. It was hard enough for me to write articles weekly, let alone write daily as some bloggers do. I believe the best way to consistently write is to have a partner who is also interested in blogging.

Writing also takes a lot of time. I still need to go back to review earlier articles and to optimize them for Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

10. Importance of digging into WordPress: Although I have played around with WordPress in the past, it was fun to delve into the system, add plugins, edit themes, and so on. I feel I have a much better understanding for the CMS having started this blog.

Overall, I couldn’t have asked for a better experience from the first month of blogging. If you haven’t considered blogging, I strongly recommend you try.

There is a lot of information online about how companies can promote themselves on Facebook. The information typically revolves around setting up Facebook Pages and using Facebook’s advertising platform.

But what is next? How will companies be marketing themselves on Facebook one year from now?

The answer is search; that is the next frontier with Facebook. Facebook will improve their search algorithm, and similar to users now visiting Google to search for everything on this earth, users will begin using Facebook’s search engine more often.

The two weakest parts of Facebook have always been their messaging system and their search engine. Last year Facebook announced a revamping of their messaging system; the next improvement will be their search algorithm.

Their search algorithm, to be frank, is terrible. Have you ever tried to search for a page or subject? Considering Facebook’s advertising platform is a proponent of “Discovery” (Google is about “Intent”), their search engine should be more conducive to this.

What will the search engine of Facebook look like in the future? My guess is that it will look very similar to Google’s Page Rank. Specific keywords in page titles will appear in search results, but the following will also be relevant: The prevalence of keywords in the actual page, the number of fans of the page, and the number of “Favorite pages” that link to this      .

A revamping of Facebook’s search engine hasn’t been a priority, primarily because people haven’t completely adapted to Facebook Pages. This is mostly Facebook’s fault, as the company continues to change the design and layout, revamp concepts (Facebook Groups), and introduce completely new features (Facebook Places). However, once there is some stability, more people will adopt Facebook Pages and Facebook’s new search engine.

How can you as a company, entrepreneur, or marketer take advantage of this trend?

First, put time into making your Facebook Page effective and in growing your fan base. Second, include keywords you are targeting throughout your Facebook Page. Lastly, look to build relationships with other page owners and exchange Favorite Pages. If you haven’t yet created a page, start one now as the age of the page will likely play a role in its search ranking.

If you can take advantage of this trend now, there will be a lot less competition and more rewards to benefit from.

Google’s search engine has been receiving a fair number of complaints in the blogosphere recently. Unfortunately, the people complaining don’t seem to have great solutions. Bing contains the same problems as Google’s search engine; the only reason Google has been receiving so much negative publicity is because of their large market share.

The solution proposed by some (Vivek on TechCrunch, etc.) has been Blekko (http://www.blekko.com), which allows users to make more refined searches and potentially warn others about spam websites.

The issue I see with the potential solutions is that once any of these smaller search engines grow to meaningful market share, the same problems that plague Google will occur. Every day thousands of companies and individuals experiment and test to see how they can improve their results on Google’s search algorithm. Why do they spend so much time and effort on these endeavors? Because their search results for their companies matter; that is how important Google has become.

If Blekko, Duck Duck Go (http://www.duckduckgo.com), etc. become important, the same people focused on beating Google’s search will begin working to improve their search rankings on these websites. These people aren’t evil; they are acting within the rules (hopefully) and are acting in their best interest (as most people who live in our capitalist society do).

So what is the solution to Google’s search problems?

The solution is here: the solution is Facebook.

Two search engines (one of them being Microsoft’s Bing, which now powers Yahoo) are incorporating Facebook’s social graph into part of their search results. What this means is that in the future, if someone searches “MBA Admissions” and their friends “Like” an MBA admissions Facebook Page, then the user will be able to see that in the search results (and will most likely be drawn to that link).

In the future, these will be the most accurate results; searches that are approved by your social circle or your extended social circle.

Of course, this is the last thing Google would want to occur (Google Me?), but it will be an inevitable trend. If you look at Facebook, it’s actually remarkable at how young of a company it is. This is just a start; Facebook will play an even more critical role in the future.

If search engines want to beat Google and differentiate themselves, they should take advantage of this trend now (As Google won’t, and Microsoft’s internet division doesn’t seem to be doing too well).

Throughout my entrepreneurial journey, I have met many successful and unsuccessful entrepreneurs. It has come to the point where now, instead of being impressed by entrepreneurs who have accomplished much in their career (for example selling their company for an eight figure sum), I am more interested in meeting entrepreneurs who share certain characteristics. In my opinion, some companies will succeed and others not, but in the long term, it is the entrepreneur with these attributes that will most excel in business and in life. Within the past months 4 NYC entrepreneurs have really impressed me with specific traits they have. Fortunately, each of these entrepreneurs also happen to be personable, approachable, and all are well known throughout the NYC community. I highly recommend introducing yourself to each of them if you run across them at a future event.

Brad Hargreaves: Brad is currently a co-founder of the General Assembly (http://generalassemb.ly/), which is a well-discussed incubator in NYC. He previously raised over $1.5 million in VC funding for PickTeams and he has sold one company for an undisclosed amount of money. Brad and I met once over lunch to discuss the General Assembly.

What impressed me about Brad was how thoughtful and introspective he is. Having come to NYC from Silicon Valley, I have met a number of founders who have sold companies for millions of dollars and yet have never reflected upon their experiences and taken the wisdom that comes from this process. Brad is the opposite; he has this train of thought where, regardless of success or failure, he will dissect certain situations and determine the underlying reasons why certain actions failed or succeeded. This skill set is very important to have, and I think this is why Brad would serve as such a great teacher, and coincidentally, as a great blogger (his blog can be found at http://www.bhargreaves.com). Speaking to Brad reminds me of listening to Reid Hoffman; both are constantly reflecting and analyzing prior experiences.

When you speak to Brad, you understand that he loves the essence of entrepreneurship and that he will be building or helping entrepreneurs for the rest of his life. To him, each day provides a learning experience and I think because of that, he is going to continue to be a rising star in the entrepreneurial community.

Vinicius Vacanti: Vinicius is the co-founder of Yipit, which is a daily deal aggregator. Prior to Yipit he worked in private equity at Blackstone and the Quadrangle group.

There haven’t been many entrepreneurs who have impressed me as much as Vinicius. He reminds me of a story Ron Conway gave of the Google founders, who were a bit of wall-flowers at tech events but who soaked in information from other entrepreneurs and seemed destined to found a great company. Vinicius is humble, a bit on the quite side, but is very bright and approachable.

When I first met Vinicius he was presenting Yipit at the Product Group event, and had just recently raised over $1.5 million from Ron Conway and several other investors. At the end of his presentation he asked the group for our advice, and I was surprised at how genuine he was in his request.

The second time I saw Vinicius was when he was presenting with several other successful entrepreneurs on how to get PR for your company. When Jordan Goldman, founder of Unigo, began speaking, Vinicius, who was seated a few seats down on the podium, took out his notepad and began taking notes. I had never witnessed a speaker doing this before! That one act embodied why I respect Vinicius so much.

Vinicius is a rising star in the NYC scene and for good reason. For entrepreneurs starting out he serves as a great model: one who is humble, always willing to help others, and is constantly learning. Vinicius also has a great blog at: http://viniciusvacanti.com/.

David Cohen: David is the founder of TechStars, the author of Do More Faster, and he had previously founded several successful companies. Although he normally lives in Colorado, because he will be spending more time in NYC I felt justified to include him on this list. I have only met David once at the book tour event he and co-author Brad Feld were holding in New York City. A colleague who worked at the incubator Rose Tech Ventures had told me about the event at the end of the day and I had attended without knowing any details.

At this time, TechStars had just opened a program in New York, so for all entrepreneurs interested in the program, David was a basically on a pedestal about 1 mike high (I had heard his name often but had never seen him).

I recall going up to this person (at the time not realizing it was David), striking up a conversation about entrepreneurship, and then asking what had brought him to the event. He kindly introduced himself and told him he had co-authored the book the event was promoting.

At this point I was very embarrassed (I was very interested in the Tech Stars program), but when I apologized, he kindly replied:

“It’s ok, I wouldn’t expect anyone to recognize me.”

As opposed to a number of successful entrepreneurs who may have been rude, condescending, or who would have made a joke, David was genuinely kind. His friendliness had a powerful impact on me. David is one of those people you meet that you want to help because you know that individual is such a good person.

Jordan Goldman: Jordan Goldman is the founder of Unigo, the web’s largest resource for college reviews. I only had the chance to speak to Jordan once at an event at Dog Patch.

What stood out from Jordan was his charisma; he vibrates positive energy. When speaking to him after the event, I felt like I had just taken a red-bull. Although he is a young CEO, I see why he has done so well in that position.

I think Jordan’s charisma derives from his positive energy. The reason why this is so important to a founder, is that regardless of what happens to his Jordan’s company (Unigo has run into hard times in the past), I have the feeling that Jordan will always remain positive and optimistic. I can’t think of a better trait to have when a company is in a rough period.

Introspection, humbleness, kindness, and charisma. These 4 NYC entrepreneurs have really impressed me and I am positive they will each have great years in 2011.

Technorati is a website that ranks the authority and influence of blogs. They have a popular section where they rank the most popular blogs by category. What is interesting is the insight you can gather from examining the most popular blogs. If you are looking to create an influential blog, one of the first steps you should is take is to look at the best practices and commonalities among the most popular blogs. Here are some shared characteristics from the top blogs on Technorati:

1. Own Domain Name: You will not see any blogs on the most popular list that are branded with other blogging platforms (For example: www.myname.wordpress.com.) If you do not currently own a URL, then you purchase one for your blog. This won’t cost you more than $15 a year. The reason this is important is that incoming visitors will judge your blog very quickly based on it’s appearances. Visitors are not going to read every article before making judgment; most visitors probably won’t even read one article. There are millions of blogs online and a limited amount of time in each person’s day.

2. A Well Designed Blog: Although you may think that you don’t have the resources to create a well designed blog, it is not very expensive or difficult to create a unique and attractive design for your website. This is important for the same reason as the above point; users will judge your blog based on it’s appearance. Most internets users recognize common WordPress or Blogger templates and it is very telling about a blog if these templates are used. A visitor may wonder why a writer is using a WordPress template. Are they not willing to invest in the design of this blog? If this writer is not willing to invest their time and resources into this blog, then why should I invest my time in reading the blog?

3. Hyper-Focused On One Space: All of the most popular blogs are hyper focused on one space (or at least began that way.) TechCrunch.com focuses on internet startups, Mashable.com on social media, Engadget.com and Gizmodo.com on gadgets. Even Huffington Post, which now covers a number of areas, began as a blog about politics. When you create a blog, focus your attention on one area. You can always expand your blog to a number of areas in the future after you have built your audience, but in the beginning aim to be a thought leader in one space.

4. The Founders Are Passionate About The Space: Michael Arrington (Founder of Techcrunch.com) was deeply entrenched in internet companies (having previously worked with startups) and Arianna Huffington was deeply involved in politics when she started Huffington post (she had run for office in California). The reason why this is important is that these writers wrote articles that they knew their market would find interesting because they themselves were a part of their target market and found the articles interesting. The lesson here is to write about what you know and are passionate about. You’ll not only love writing, but you will have a better understanding of the material. As an added benefit, being a part of a targeted community can help because you will be well connected with your audience. Michael Arrington of TechCrunch.com always receives the inside news on startups because everyone in Silicon Valley knows him.

5. Navigation And Linking: Popular blogs not only make the navigation very easy on the blog, but they also link their articles well to one another. For example, in the popular technology blog VentureBeat.com, at the end of each article are 2 recommendations for articles on the blog that you might also want to read. The articles also contain hyperlinks to other articles on the website. This is so important because it not only gets users to spend more time on the website, but it also allows the user to discover articles that they had not previously known about. Even if you create the best article in the world, it won’t have any value if users can’t find it.

6. Most Popular Application, Etc.: The majority of the most influential blogs have a section dedicated to their Most Popular posts, Favorite posts, or Most Recent posts. Again, this provides an outlet for users to find other posts that they may enjoy reading.

7. Integration With Social Media: Popular blogs integrate social media very well with their websites. They encourage sharing among readers. For example, on articles on popular blogs a user has the opportunity on the post to ‘like’ (Facebook), ‘Tweet’ (Twitter), Digg, etc. This is important because a great source of traffic can come from these social media outlets. If you are creating a blog, include this social media functionality. Companies (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) make it easy to do so.

8. Use Catchy Titles: Popular blogs understand how critical it is to create catchy titles. If you find a blog post with a title that you like, make a note of the title and iterate on it for one of your own articles.

9. Utilize Twitter And Facebook: The most popular blogs have Facebook Pages and Twitter accounts that they not only promote, but also relay their articles through. This is so important because it gives blogs an additional channel to connect with their users and promote articles to. If you are not yet a thought leader in a certain space it may be difficult to continually bring direct visitors to your website, but if a user follows you on Twitter or becomes a fan of your Facebook Page, you can get them to visit continuously through these channels. If you look at TechCrunch.com you will see on the right hand side how their Twitter and Facebook accounts are promoted well.

10. Memorable Images: Popular blogs include attractive images. In almost all of their articles they include a great looking picture; readers enjoy seeing this. For your blogs, don’t just include a random picture. Make sure that the image is catchy; you can even potentially include a humorous photo.

When you are browsing through popular blogs in the future, make sure to note certain aspects and features that you like. These can potentially be added to your own blog as well.

Are there any features on popular blogs that you particularly enjoy?