10 things to do while waiting for your domain name to propagate

Most of the time the Internet does a very good job of creating the illusion that everything can now be instantaneous. You’re on the phone with a colleague on the other side of the world, editing a Google Doc together, and the second you see that typo appear she...

5 steps to create your social media toolkit

This entry is part 3 of 5 in the series Social media in 3 hours a week

Building a social media presence around a specific area of expertise is your best way to connect with a network and audience that cares about your work, and gets real value from your online contributions. This blog post walks you through the 5 steps that will get you up and running with three tools that will let you build and maintain a credible online presence as an expert: a Wordpress blog, a Google Reader account and a Twitter presence managed through HootSuite.

Fixed: Troubleshooting your Thesis upgrade to 1.8 from 1.6

The short version: Has your Thesis site gotten messed up after an upgrade? The problem may be as simple as some lost settings. Use Thesis Design Options to restore them to your previous or preferred choices. It won’t take long so you don’t need to panic....

Predicting the future of the “personal brand”

Yesterday Dan Schawbel published an interview with me on his Personal Branding blog. I have previously criticized the “personal branding” vogue both on this site and on my HBR blog, so I warned Dan he might be in for a rough ride! Much to his credit, he...

The 8 stages of professional commitment: social media edition

I’ve recently crossed the commitment threshold. Not the romantic commitment threshold — heck, that’s easy, considering how little software is required (usually). I’m talking about the professional commitment I make to each project I take on,...

11 ways Twitter can change your life, as told by its users

Online conversations change lives. That belief drives most of my work and writing, which is why I’m always so interested to hear people reflect on the ways that social media affects their relationships, career or self-image. A few months ago I collected some of...