Brad Marley

I’m beginning to wonder if anybody looks forward to these posts, or if I should reduce the frequency to once-per-month.

While I ponder that, check out this week’s links

• Something, Something, Something, Detroit (Vice World) – One local writer is fed up with the way Detroit has been portrayed by the national media, and here’s why.  It’s actually a pretty compelling read.  Did you know that some of the Detroit’s structural casualties were actually abandoned long before Detroit became the symbol of the nation’s recession? It’s true. Read about it. 

• Networking for Dummies (The Writer’s Coin) – The guy at the Writer’s Coin shares his view on networking and why it’s more like socializing.  It’s good food for thought the next time you attend a networking event.

• If It’s Important, Do It Every Day (World’s Strongest Librarian) – The premise of this post (which I won’t spoil) is so simple that it sounds too easy.  But I’m assured that it works.

• Does Social Media Make PR Agencies Obsolete? (David Fleet) – In a word – no.  But David goes on to explain why we’re not going to become obsolete any time soon (which is good, because I have a baby on the way.)  However, the fact that anybody can reach out to a journalist via social media sites means we’ve got to raise our game because we’re the pros, not them.

You can find all of my links on my Delicious page.

I have good news and bad news.

The good news is that the weekly grab bag of links is returning after a brief hiatus during which I was writing 30 blog posts in 30 days.

The bad news is that I only have five links to share with you today.  Being busy (I almost wrote "busty") at work and enjoying some vacation days have limited my link retrieval, but that's not an excuse. 

If there's one thing I learned from my '30 days' project, it's that a regular blogging schedule is the way to go.  So you can expect to see the weekly grab bag appear on it regularly scheduled day and time, moving forward, unless the Internet breaks.

• How To Influence Me (NewMarketingLabs.com) – Chris Brogan (you may have heard of him) shares tips on how to influence him.  You might not care about influencing him, per se, but these tips are applicable to just about anybody.

• Personal Branding Becomes a Necessity in Digital Age (PBS.org) – In a time when people are being laid off and/or switching jobs at a rapid pace, personal branding has become more important than ever, and here's why.

• 65 Poorly Designed and Totally Impractical Gadgets (Gizmodo) – I recently discovered the joy that is Gizmodo's Photoshop contests, and so should you.

• Bloggers: Are You Being of Service or Self Serving? (Copyblogger) - Why do you blog?  If it's solely to make money, your content might suffer as a result.

• 73 Ways to Become a Better Writer (Copyblogger) – Subject says it all.

• Constant Seige (ClaytonCubitt.tumblr.com) – This is awesome.  It's an eyewitness testimony from a doctor who witnessed the execution by guillotine of Henri Languille in 1905.  While that in and of itself is not awesome, the fact that he determined Mr. Languille's eyes were responsive to his shouts 25 to 30 seconds after decapitation is, frankly, kind of amazing. 

As always, you can find all of my favorite links on my Delicious account.