AFTER EIGHT YEARS OF BLOGGING

I have now been blogging for almost eight years. I will post my annual blog report on May 7. I have decided to start a new series of podcasting shows on Blog Talk Radio. First out is John Cox on May 23. I have asked the following individuals in the past, if they were interested in participating in my podcast:

• Jonathan Hoenig of CapitalistPig LLC.
• Craig Biddle of The Objective Standard.
• Jean Moroney of Thinking Directions.

I am planning to start out with an interview every month and then later on increase the schedule with a show every week or two. I want to build a bank of potential guests over time, so please give me your suggestions on topics and guests. Do you want to participate as a co-host now and then?

Listen to my Cinch cast for my thoughts on the format of the podcast, tech. questions, etc.



In order to continue my journey as a social media enthusiast, I will strive to become a thought leader on how you could use new online tools for gathering business intelligence information and then implement the data through the whole organization, including the value and supply chain. For this purpose, I will set up Ego Sole Trader on Squarespace's platform. [Editor's note & full disclosure: Associate tag link.]

I want to continue to write pieces for other blogs, e.g., Open Forum by American Express. I am very glad that I have the opportunity to contribute with material to Anita Campbell's Small Business Trends and Small Business Trend Radio. I enjoy being a moderator at the social bookmarking and networking site BizSugar. I have received an offer from the marketing manager of ClearSense (part of European Directories) to start writing guest blog posts.

Watch "No one leaves" ad for After Eight and then enjoy the blogiversary party on May 7!

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MELTING POT AND INNOVATIVE IDEAS

Please read my new post, The Melting Pot Bubbles with Innovative Business Ideas, on Open Forum.


Image source: screenshot of Open Forum.

Related: My posts, IMMIGRANT VISA PROGRAM and USA - LAND OF OPPORTUNITY.

BACK TO BASICS

I am glad to see that my post on Open Forum, Productivity Tools For Your Worklife, has been "retweeted" so many times. I want to highlight C. Scyphers, who gave a short & sweet summary of my post:

scyphers says: Tips for managing time: (OpenForum) Recap; Actual inbox, empty email, mindmap, small tasks, take notes, always improve (1st October 4:19, Tweetmeme / Twitter.)

Anita Campbell of Small Business Trends, wrote the following comment on my post:

Martin, good article! I have tried, but I find it impossible to a zero inbox -- or even close to zero, say 30 unread emails. Unfortunately, my unread emails number in the 3-figures or 4-figures. Of course, most of those are monitoring emails, such as Google Alerts, or newsletter subscriptions, or email notifications about comments on my various blogs. I've tried setting up special folders and automatically pushing certain emails to those folders so I can review them later. That helps. But even so, unread emails just accumulate in my inbox. Then eventually they get archived, and that helps keep the numbers down. Of course, my business is mainly Web-based and 99% of everything we do involves email. But I wonder if others have the same problem? -- Anita (Open Forum, idea hub - topic: innovation, October 2009.)

As I said in my post, I have struggled with maintaining an empty email inbox for a long time. At the moment, I have 8794 messages in the inbox... I have to archive them and start from scratch again. I am sure that the GTDInbox is a great application and solution to this problem. Please read, Why Email is Addictive (listen to the rats), for a possible explanation to the email "problem"...



Amanda Stillwagon, editor of Small Business CEO, has used an excerpt of my post in her post, Work Smarter With Productivity Tools. Please feel free to leave a comment here, at SMBCEO.com, or a vote at bizSugar.

I will go back to basics and use a low-tech solution:

• Stack of index cards with a clip, a.k.a a Hipster PDA. I am using pre-printed to-do cards by Stiernholm Consulting.
• Small pens. I am using a TEC pico pen and a Fisher space pen.
• Notebooks. I am using Moleskine notebooks.

For inspiration, I will participate in Stephen Smith's "work.life.creativity" forum and continue to read Todoodlist by Nick Cernis. [Editor's note: If you are interested to read Todoodlist and at the same time support my blogging, please click the "buy now" button. I wonder if I have to add a disclosure to this post? Read Duncan Riley's post, My FTC Disclosure, and have you done yours yet?]

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POST ON PRODUCTIVITY TOOLS

What kind of productivity tools do you use in your worklife? Read my post, Productivity Tools For Your Worklife, on Open Forum.


Image source: screenshot of Open Forum.

40 YEARS OF SPACE TECHNOLOGY

How did you commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing? I wrote a new post (The Space Race Is Finding New Heights) for Open Forum.


Image source: screenshot of Open Forum.

ECONOMY FOCUS ON OPEN FORUM

I have a new piece published on Open Forum. Please click the "yes" button if you find the post (Stay Focused On The Economy, Politicians) useful. You are welcome to write a comment too!

PURCHASING INDEX AND BUSINESS CYCLE

I have written a new piece for Open Forum. The post is describing how you could keep up with the business cycle by following the Purchasing Managers' Index.

Related: My post, FIVE TRENDS ACCORDING TO INC. MAGAZINE.

INNOVATION AND MIND MAPS

I have registered an account at a web based mind mapping application called, Mind42.com. Talking about maps, please read my new post, New Innovation Hubs On The Map, on Open Forum.

CAT BLOGGER LOOKING AT THE DATA

Here is one reason why haven't been blogging for some days. Morris the cat has occupied the workspace and is stretching out all over the keyboard. I am not sure how he is predicting the future, but maybe you would find my new piece (The Challenge In Forecasting - Looking at the Right Data) on Open Forum a tad interesting in today's situation...

LESSONS LEARNED FROM MY STARTUP

I have a new piece published on Open Forum by American Express. Please feel free to vote ("yes") and write a comment if you think it was useful to read my post, Five Lessons Learned from my Startup — And why I’d Do It Again.

MY TAKE ON SOCIAL MEDIA

My first post in 2009 will include several things, e.g., reflections on 2008 and plans for this year, my future blogging schedule and other social media activities.

We had to restructure our company and close down the physical meeting place in Gothenburg due to the economical situation. We will continue with the business idea and during these two years we have established plenty of good relationships for the future. We are looking into the possibility to set up a virtual community online so we could keep in touch with our old customers and business contacts and create a new type of network.

I have been exposed to a potential big business opportunity in the field of renewable energy. More about this later on...

I have received the opportunity to write pieces for Open Forum. My latest one has the title, Will Social Media Tools Be Monetized In 2009? I look forward to your comments and feedback.

Reading material:

• The Meaning Of Friendship by Michael Arrington of TechCrunch.
• Virtual Water Cooler by Barbarella.

I have about 350 followers at Twitter at the moment. I probably follow 400 individuals in the near future. I have started to use Facebook again and I have more than 200 friends there. I will start to use FriendFeed on a regular basis. You could find my feed on the Facebook wall.

I am thinking of creating a special room at FriendFeed in connection to my future podcast interviews at Solid Vox. The following individuals will soon be scheduled for an interview:

• Jonathan Hoenig.
• John Cox.
• Scott Holleran.

In order to get my work-life more in balance, I have to get back on track with my studies of Getting Things Done and the practical implementation of the system. The GTD-IQ quiz told me that I belong to The Crazymaker/ Visionary quadrant. [Via Lifehacker.] Check out Robert Scoble's interview with David Allen.

Related: My post, WRITING DOWN NEW RESOLVING THOUGHTS.

BUSINESS IN AMERICA

I have tried to give several reasons for why America is a great place to run a business on Open Forum.

WILL YOU BE A LEADER?

I have a new piece published on Open Forum. I am thinking of writing an e-pamphlet on leadership based on the trader principle sometime in the future.

CONTRARIAN VIEW ON OPEN FORUM

I have a new post on Open Forum. The piece is titled, Contrarian View Versus Mainstream Opinion, and it is covering business magazine covers as a contrarian indicator for making investing decisions, Alan Greenspan's "shocking" statement and a real defense of speculators on the financial market, and a golden book tip. Please feel free to spread the good word and submit a "yes" vote if you find the post useful. You are of course welcome to write a comment.

OPEN FORUM BY AMERICAN EXPRESS

You could read a piece by yours truly over at Open Forum blog. You will find "a wealth of resources for savvy business owners" at the site powered by American Express Company. The title of my article is Time To Bring Back The Smiley Face To America. Please feel free to comment on my post and you are more than welcome to spread the good word!