Good Works Grapevine

Every morning I wake up to about 500+ posts of some sort or another to read, so I decided to pass out a little link luv today to a few of my favorite bloggers.

• Marketing Misfit Blog - Mayra Ruiz is a wonderful lady with a fresh, strategic take on all things marketing.
• Inkthinker | Freelance Writing Blog - Kristen King does a great job with this blog for writers…and she throws in great contests and stories about her dogs.
• Chrisbrogan.com - Chris Brogan is a visionary in the social media space and is an all around nice, accessible guy. If you are the least bit interested in social media or marketing, check out this blog.
• NTEN - I love NTEN. In my opinion, if you are a non-profit, you should immediately run - don’t walk - and join NTEN. Membership is extremely reasonable, the people are fantastic and you will get so much information about nonprofits and technology you won’t know what to do with it all. And…if you sign-up, be sure to tell them that Beth Bates sent ya as I’ll get my renewal for free. Hey - what’s a little harmless promotion?
• FrogLoop - I really like Care2’s Frogloop blog although I do wish they would update it more often. Great resources for nonprofits as well as new initatives.
• Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology - I met Michelle at NTC 2008 and she is a fabulous resource for all things open source.
• The Responsible Marketing Blog - I just enjoy this blog. Patrick Byers does a great job of putting a socially concious spin on everyday happenings and products.
• Happenings, Advice and Other Technology Thoughts! - This blog by my friend, Shashi Bellamkonda, is chocked full of great thoughts, ideas and resources on technology.
• Pop Candy - OK, I get one guilty pleasure. I love USA TODAY’s Pop Candy blog by Whitney Matheson. She is incredible clever and witty and shares my obscure sense of humor. Live it. Learn it. Love it. POP CANDY.
• Basic Instructions - OK, two guilty pleasures. Basic instructions is HILARIOUS.

Beth Kanter ran a great post about pitching to bloggers as a nonprofit. Great way to get exposure for your organization - good stuff!!

Many thanks to WeTV.com for giving me the opportunity to blog about animal welfare. My new blog just launched and it looks great. Fantastic job WeTV! Check me out!

So you’ve set-up your social network - Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Fickr, Twitter - now what? One of the critical paths to success within a social network is participation. Social networking does not to adhere to the “if you build it, they will come” mentality. You must engage your audience and participate in the conversation. Blog regularly. Comment on the blogs of others. Comment on Facebook “walls”. Comment on the photos of others. Reach out to your constituency and understand their needs. Then, do what you can to support them through regular discussion. Share your ideas. Spend a little time everyday feeding and tending to your network. Social = human interaction. People want to be seen, heard and be part of something bigger than them. By talking with your audience, your social network is sure to thrive and grow.

Blog Directory - Find Better Blogs at Blogged.com

This is a brand new blog directory with a fairly complete foundation of blogs. Blogs can be rated and users can save favorites, share with friends, etc. Check it out.

Here’s what they say about their service…

Blogged.com is a directory that offers ratings, reviews, and comments on a categorized list of popular blogs. Our blog directory is completely free to use and does not require any registration or sign up process. Blogged.com also offers a social network community that allows bloggers and readers with similar interests to connect with each other. This service is also completely free but will require users to fill out some basic sign up information.

Blogged with Flock

9 Reasons to Use WordPress and to Kiss HTML Goodbye

This is a great breakdown of why you should consider using WordPress as your simple, effective content management system. I have used WordPress not only for this blog but for my Wet Nose Willy’s blog as well and I must say that it’s worked out really well. I have also done WordPress installations within my clients’ design templates. Definitely check it out as a free, simple CMS.