All Posts By marcdanziger

I’ve written a few times about the importance of ‘quality’ in building online communities.

Today the LA Times confronts the question, as a heated screed in response to an editorial on immigration was first left up, then taken down in response to reader reactions.

The comment in question was clearly heated and racially charged.

And I think we have an interest – especially about important and controversial issues – in promoting civil disagreement.

I’m very happy that the Times was willing to bring the issue up for discussion and comment (you can hop in and comment as well).

But there’s something here that makes me a little queasy. I think we play by somewhat different rules when we move from commerce to policy,

As I was coming back from my bone-liquefying cold (defined as one that leaves you draped over the sofa like a boneless chicken), I got a last-minute request to stand in for Andrew Nystrom of the LA Times on a LA Press Club panel discussing trends in the news industry in the face of all this customer-generated content.

They just sent over some pictures….

Here’s the lineup. From the right, Mickey Kaus of Slate, Erin Broadley of Village Voice newspapers, Thomas Kelley of Yahoo, me, Jill Stewart of the LA Weekly.

Here’s Jill laughing at my ineffable smugness (I’m putting this picture here to try and train myself not to ever, ever use that facial expression in public again).

I had three basic points,

It’s getting there…

Small Business Social Media Part One V Draft
View more presentations from Marc Danziger.

By that I mean that we assume that most people do what we do and follow our normal cycles…that’s uniquely dangerous for consultants and trebly dangerous for new media consultants.

I was just at the eye doctor, and commented that I’m probably in front of a monitor 9 to 10 hours a day. From reading newsfeeds and early emails at 6:30 in the morning to one last glance at the blogs at 11pm just before I go to bed.

It’s what I do for a living as an information worker – I email people, write things, research things, build presentations, and read and approve other people’s documents.

I had a small moment of Zen clarity the other day; I was reading Chris Brogan’s blog where he wrote about ‘5 Things Small Business Owners Should Do Today Online.’

I’ve been digging into what the contemporary Web means for small businesses a bit, and I’ve come to an interesting conclusion.

Most small businesses are probably wasting their money on their web presence.

I’m not talking about businesses that have sophisticated transactional capabilities on their site, or about businesses that engage customers with blogs or even meaningful catalogs.

But the typical small business website…like the one that my friend and physical therapist has looks like this:

…clearly isn’t doing the owner any good at all. I know; I checked.

If I search for the business by it’s specific name, the first and second results are the business site.

But if I search for it using local search, neither Yahoo nor Google registers the site.

Look closely.

Here’s a presentation I’m working on that will be the core of a longer work (say it!! a book!!) I’m noodling over…

Small Business Social Media Survival Tips Preso (*Updated*)
View more presentations from Marc Danziger.