Mark your calendars. If you are a WordPress junkie and you live anywhere near the Dallas/Fort Worth area, you better be in Frisco on March 29th and 30th for our very own WordCamp. "The largest gathering of WordPress bloggers, podcasters, designers, programmers, and aficionados that Big D has ever seen." 

Saturday will focus on general user topics. Sunday's focus will be mostly developer topics. Did I mention it's only $20 to attend?!?!? Coffee, snacks, and lunch will be provided both days. Register now and you'll get a WordCamp t-shirt as well.

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While a lot of people are MySpace savvy, many MySpacers still don't understand the difference between a MySpace blog and a professional, public blog. MySpace is typically the place for random half-thoughts and copies of email spam and pics from one's latest night on the town or baby photo shoot. It's a place to share stuff with friends, hence the tagline: "A place for friends." But MySpace doesn't challenge people to fully develop their thoughts or share information in sensible stages. In fact, I'd say that the majority of MySpace bloggers are lazy, only posting anything when they have an inspirational blip, which typically disappears mid-post. 

Brian Clark shared another valuable post on strategic content development from his Innovative Content series recently. This is stuff that every aspiring blogger should read and every established blogger should revisit. Because regardless of our background and experience, it's easy to get busy and lazy and let the content of your blogging suffer. And let's face it, everyone loses when your blogging suffers. 

Rather than plagiarize Brian's content, go read the post for yourself. When you are taking on a new blogging project, it's good to begin by asking yourselves the right kind of questions. It can be difficult to break out of the generic mental vomitting style of MySpace, but just asking yourself these questions and following these three steps will prepare you to write a more informed, adult sounding piece. 

Always make sure you have fun with blogging, but part of the fun lies in doing something well. Nobody would pay Kobe Bryant if his shots were all air balls.  

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I've found through personal experience that you definitely CAN spread yourself too thin. You know all those professional bloggers who make five figures a month? They don't own as many blogs as I do. They know what they're doing. They focused on 1-3 niche topics where they would be able to blog and blog and blog without quick and easy burnout. Not me. Oh no. 

You see, I'm the type of guy who buys a domain name and feels compelled to host it with blog software as soon as possible. Some of these domains I thought I would sell, and eventually I will. But in the meantime, I have put this huge burden on my shoulders to maintain too many blogs on too many topics. Despite what my parents think, I simply do not have that much to say on a daily basis.  

So how do like me find a way to overcome overwhelmingly random interests? Pick three domains to be blogs. Make one your personal blog. You can take full credit for this personal blog if you want, or you can keep it anonymous. Use this blog to vomit all your randomness into. Who knows? Maybe you'll build a following over time. Beyond your personal blog, pick two topics max and dedicate yourself to covering them. Give yourself a full year of blogging on these three topics before adding another, and add only one new blog per year IF ANY. 

This may seem like it will take forever to establish yourself online, but you'll do far better than I started out if you limit the number of blogs you own and operate. It's okay to cover every topic under the sun as long as you isolate that blog from your niche blogs. There's really no reason to own and operate 7-11 blogs unless you miraculously build a staff of bloggers to do the heavy lifting for you. 

You'll do well to learn how to moderate yourself from the beginning. You'll save yourself a lot of stress and frustration if you do. Best of luck, and happy blogging! 

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I'm going to use a lot of generalizations here, so if that is your only comment at the end, save it. 

After a profoundly enjoyable evening with a local writer's group, I walked away with a newfound sense of appreciation for artists. I am an artist, though you couldn't tell by my daily production. Duty calls for marketing messages that compel readers to act. But at my center, I am a poet and creative writer. 

And while the tips from Copyblogger, Problogger and dozens of blogging, branding, and marketing experts are invaluable for corporate blogs, the same principles are stifling and unnatural for many strictly creative types. I call all creative types "artists", because anything creative can be art: words, paint, dance, sculpture, song, design, etc. 

I've spent the lion's share of this site's existence on marketing principles recommended by the experts. The danger there is missing the forest for the trees. CultureFeast will be two years old in November. Prior to this, the only writing I showed anyone outside the office was poetry, prose, or journal entries that I felt were worth sharing. 

You have to be careful not to suffocate your art with marketing. It happens all the time. You have something worth sharing, but in order to get the public's attention, you have to walk a fine line balancing marketing and artistic sincerity. 

My advice: read the tips and study effective marketing strategies, but realize that they must not overtake the art. Balance. It's not a fun word. It's not a sexy word. Balance is not a popular concept, because it's one of those responsibilities people don't want to take the time to mess with.

Be true to your art. Look for ways to hone your craft that can make it more successful without losing power. Whether you post words, photos, or video, there are sure-fire ways to improve your presentation without sacrificing content. There are also plenty of opportunities to focus on results rather than the message.

There are enough self-improvement gurus already. Guard your art with your life! If you don't, you'll discover that the purpose of your art has declined from the pleasure of creation to that of recognition. Recognition is wonderful, but it's fickle and fleeting. The first and foremost active ingredient in successful artistry is quality product. Preserve quality at all cost.  

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Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to interview Penelope Trunk, author of Brazen Careerist: The New Rules For Success, and columnist for Yahoo Finance and the Boston Globe. Her blog, Brazen Careerist, is also a well-established blog and a worthwhile read for aspiring professionals everywhere. 

I had the opportunity to interview her at length, so enjoy!  

Daniel Dessinger: First off, thanks for agreeing to take the time to talk with me. I know you're busy with your columns, a new book, and speaking engagements. I recently read on Wendy Piersall's blog, emomsathome.com, that you just spoke at the BlogHer Conference in Chicago just a few days ago. You spoke with Stephanie Cockerl and Nina Burokas about personal branding, correct? What were the top three takeaways from that session?

Penelope Trunk: I am not sure what people actually took away from the session, since there was subsequent online hoop-la. But here are three things to think about when you want to create a brand out of yourself:
1. What do you stand for?
2. What do you not stand for?
3. What do you give people that is unique to you?

Daniel: Is this your first time at BlogHer? Can you describe the atmosphere of the conference and tell us how it differs from other conferences you attend?

Penelope: Well, I can compare this recent BlogHer to BlogHer Business -- I went to that. And, not surprisingly, it was much more business oriented. I went toSXSW earlier this year, which is also full of bloggers. SXSW had a lot more men.

Daniel: Based on Wendy's comments, I'm picturing a collection of professional work-from-home women who have the conversational floodgates burst open for this three day event. Is that a fair description? Um. I don't know very many of the work-from-home bloggers and I didn't talk with many when I was at BlogHer, so I'm not really sure about the answer to your question. I do know Wendy. I have come across her blog before because she has such a successful business.

Daniel: Changing subjects, I've kept with your Brazen Careerist blog for a little while now. My coworker is infatuated with you and, sadly, he is passively wishing you were single. I guess you've found a professional way to turn on the charm!

Penelope: Not a question, right? But tell your co-worker thanks

Daniel: Your tagline is: Advice at the intersection of work and life. How would you say you've done at balancing "work and life?"

Penelope: I don't believe in balance because it implies that the two things are competing. I try to create a life where things are working together, and I feel whole and integrated. That said, I'd have to say I'm not doing the greatest job. It's very hard to do. One of the reasons I blog is to be with a community of people who are trying to improve things at the intersection of work and life and we're all doing it together.

Daniel: The reason I ask is because, for all your interesting perspectives on work culture and Generation Y, you manage to throw everyone off with a few posts on your marriage and the difficulties that arise in your personal life. Do you ever regret exposing your issues to the world? Does the transparency adversely or positively affect your life at home?

Penelope: I never regret talking about myself in an authentic way. I don't really know another way to connect with people. I'm sure that one of the things that my husband likes about me is that I'm authentic, no matter what. He is that way, too. So doing it on the blog seems inevitable. 

Daniel: One more personal question I have to ask: How does your husband feel about having your marriage issues made public knowledge? This is a tender subject for me, since I guard my relationship with my wife very closely. I don't pretend that we don't have our problems, because we have plenty. But until something is dealt with, I feel that to expose her faults to anyone other than a trusted adviser is disrespectful.

Since I'm willing to accept that everyone can and does feel differently about how to approach these types of issues, I'd just like to hear your thoughts on the subject.

Penelope: Newsflash: Your wife talks about your sex life with her friends. Every woman does. Men have a skewed idea of how private their marriage is because men don't talk about marriage with men. How do you think women learn to give blow jobs? Not from men.

That said, my husband doesn't care about what I write. I know it's hard to imagine. But try to imagine being married to me at all. A handful, right? In that sense, blogging about the marriage is nothing.

Daniel: My instinct is to apologize for mentioning your personal life, but I remind myself that you intentionally made it public, so you must expect to be asked about it.

Daniel: I read a bio about you somewhere, and it mentioned how you went from professional volleyball player to writer. Could you tell us, briefly, what it was that opened the door for you to transition into being a writer? If you could, highlight a few key circumstances that you might call open doors or an unexpected turn of events in your favor.

Penelope: I think the most important thing was that when I was playing volleyball, I was great at getting sponsors to pay to put their name across my chest. So I inadvertently discovered that I was really good at marketing. I have used that knowledge each time I changed careers. I've said to myself, how can I leverage the marketing talent to make a smooth transition?

Daniel: You have a book out there for sale entitled: The Brazen Careerist:The New Rules for Success. I've read that another book is in the works. Can you give us a hint as to the title or subject matter of this one?

Penelope: No.

Daniel: When can we expect release? 

Penelope: 2008

Daniel: While the feedback on your blog is mostly positive, I've read some overwhelmingly negative feedback from readers of your article at Yahoo Finance. Did you make some enemies early on, or what? I get the automatic feeling that you're rocking the boat too much for comfort in some reader's minds.

Penelope: Yeah, I think you're right.

Daniel: Do you think the feedback on Yahoo Finance is just the natural result of a wider audience, or is it the specific readership demographic that seems to be a bit more old fashioned and stuck inside-the-box?

Penelope: Both. I think when you get a wider audience you inevitably get more people who are not thinking along the same lines you are. It happens with everyone, I'm sure.

Daniel: You mentioned to me recently that you're already living my fantasy of blogging and writing for a living, and that this isn't the end of the line for you. Given the ability to choose, what is the next step in your career? Beyond that, what do you envision yourself doing in five years?

Penelope: I am actually in the middle of figuring that out right now. I'm thinking it's getting time for a next step. Stay tuned....

Daniel: Does being a woman help to propel you in your career? I ask this because my wife is very attractive and intelligent and doors just open for her that wouldn't budge for me. I think you're the total package if you can pull off the intelligent, witty, fashionable, attractive, and confident woman image. I'm not calling women eye candy, but it seems that these days, the world (beyond redneck borders) opens its doors to attractive and intelligent women. Thoughts?

Penelope: I think men like to do business with women they would like to have sex with. It seems totally normal. The same is true in reverse. This is why good-looking men and women earn more money than ugly men and women.

Daniel: I often wonder if our (yours and mine) motivations aren't opposite.While we both blog for personal branding purposes, my motive in blogging and writing is self-expression. The writing is the joy... The proverbial cake,if you will. Positive feedback is the icing. Would you say that writing is a means to an end, or the end itself in your career?

Penelope: Are you asking if I get joy from writing? The answer is yes. I could never write five posts a week if I didn't truly love to write. In fact, I've written in lots of different formats, and there is nothing I have loved more than blogging.

Daniel: With millions of blogs out there in the space, what are the top 3 recommendations you can make to someone who wants to build a readership for one reason or another but has no additional claim to fame such as writing for the Boston Globe or Yahoo Finance or publishing a book? Without those tools in their belts, what can bloggers do to establish a name for themselves?

Penelope: Write regularly, write on a focused topic, and write great posts.

Daniel: Can you predict 3 of the most radical shifts we have yet to see but can expect in the workplace as Generation Y takes center stage?

Penelope: Decentralized leadership, unapologetic focus on family, and financial downshifting

Daniel: What common beliefs does the average Joe or Jane need to revise in order to break through the "average career" barrier?

Penelope: To get a special career you need to specialize. People get nervous specializing because it narrows the types of jobs you can take. But being an expert instead of a generalist actually makes you more employable as long as you shift your expertise as the markets shift.

Daniel: Any parting words of wisdom to the less Web savvy readers out there?

Penelope: Blogs do not require you to be web savvy. If you start reading them without worrying about whether you undertand them, you will start to understand them. Click a lot.  

Thanks for taking the time to respond, Penelope.

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I found myself enjoying (for lack of a better term) an existential crisis in terms of my CultureFeast identity. For so long, I focused on the Google Analytics, and constantly looked for blog topics that would draw in search visitors. But I don't need to rank for Randy Galloway's name or discuss the latest web 2.0 news to enjoy a fulfilling blog culture. CultureFeast has been anything but focused, and that means I have been anything but focused.

I reprimanded myself this evening when I realized that I no longer enjoyed blogging. I contribute to four blogs and one article column, and I am sick and tired of fitting into the mold of SEO / copywriter / PR consultant. Each of those jobs can be rewarding to the right person, but that person is not me... at least, not right now.

Yes, I will continue to offer those services to those in need. But there's more to me than marketing. Way before I knew anything about marketing, I wanted to write books. I wanted to tell stories and I wanted to share life experiences. Ideally, I would find a market in young, curious adults who have more questions than answers. No, I don't pretend to offer all the solutions to life's problems, but perhaps I could share some wisdom that would make other people's lives easier and less confusing.

The problem with writing from the heart is that people read what you write. It's much like journaling, only without the privacy. That means that in the midst of my professional pursuits, those snoopy clients, employers, etc. may very well track me down online and read these words and reconsider working with me based on my publicized opinions and views.

Hence the spineless underpinnings of the blogosphere. Those intensely popular and utterly shallow industry blogs. Okay, I'm being a bit harsh, but only because I have no respect for an industry that promotes lives without political, ethical, spiritual, or moral beliefs. Everyone is so nice, they have no personality. We're all a bunch of identity-less bloggers who have sold out to become well known.

Well, you can have it. I'd rather be uncommon. I'd rather be true to myself than to make millions as the how-to guy.

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For those of you looking at CultureFeast, wondering, How much traffic does this site really get? What kind of ROI can I expect from advertising on this blog?

Whether you're interested in advertising or not, here's the skinny:

Traffic is way up. The site saw 3,766 visitors and 5,505 page views in the past 18 days (April 13th to April 30th). May 1st saw 245 visitors in one day. That's small beans to megastars like Copyblogger and Problogger, but it's good news for us.

Posting has been slow lately, due to busy schedules. I'm even more amazed at our traffic since we're currently getting more new content daily from Papaya Clothing Company fans' comments than actual blog posts.

I have a list of topics to cover in the near future, so keep checkin' in and drop us a note whenever you can.

Oh, and I want to recognize Sarah Kuglin. She's been a friend for ten years, and she's one of the first to create a MyBlogLog account. The rest of you need to get off your duffs and setup your profiles. Since most of my friends are technology illiterate, one of my next posts may be a list of communities and websites everyone should join.... Yeah... that's a good idea.

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