Darned if you do, darned if you don't

Managing an online presence is sometimes difficult, but not having one is fatal for anyone who wants to market products or services these days. So, any number of websites, blogs, and applications are available to help webmasters and others manage an online presence.

Perhaps the most basic way to manage an online presence is to create one. The bare minimum is a website or a blog. Some people confuse the two, but a blog is usually limited by the software and templates made available by the host, but a website can be far more creative. If I could only have one, it would be the website. However, many blogging services are free. This one is, rather obviously, Blogger, which is a Google product. I have another blog (on a totally different subject) with another service, and each one has a different look and feel because the software does differ. I have enjoyed working with both of these, and free is a really good price.

Once something good is published about me, I can put in links or quote the item in my blog or on my website. If something bad is published, usually, I can respond. How one responds to online criticism is actually a hot topic in marketing these days. Just remember the Domino's fiasco, if you want to know why it is necessary to respond to negative online publicity. One of the main tips I have for that is to remember that anything that is written, even online, can be shared. Finding the right balance between entertaining and damaging can be difficult, because bland gets no notice.

I have mentioned using Google Alerts in a previous post, and I do have a number of those set to let me know, via email, when web users access my web information. That service, although quite good, is dependent on Google's search engine, so I have been looking for something else, and I have found one that seems to do the job.

Addictomatic searches various online sources of information. If you are wondering what others are saying about you online, set one up with your online identity as the subject. Or, if you are fond of a type of literature, a band, or a gaming platform, that could be the subject instead. Do try it out. I was impressed with this app.

Great Minds Think Alike (but not)

I blogged about Galaxy Quest recently, and now I get an update from Sci Fi Dimensions touting their most recent post, which discusses Galaxy Quest. Great minds think alike, right? Maybe, maybe not. You'll have to hop over there to read their discussion about this film, which won a Hugo Award in 2000. For those of you who are not science fiction fans, the Hugo is the big one. It's the Oscar of science fiction. Famous episodes of television shows have won best dramatic presentation, such as the marvelous "City on the Edge of Forever" from the original series of Star Trek. Other films which won include such icons as Star Wars and Alien. My favorite science fiction author, Lois McMaster Bujold, has won best novel four times and won best novella for her superb "The Mountains of Mourning."

Will the new Trek win the Hugo this year? People are talking about it; that's for sure.

Star Trek Update

Over at the Sci Fi Dimensions ezine, which is now a blog, I read some of the recent reviews. While watching the reboot of Star Trek, I kept noticing that the writers borrowed some concepts, and Bill Ritch has pointed those out in this post. Hop on over and enjoy his "Name that Movie" entry.

What is the Best Star Trek film?

I happened upon the link (just click the title of this post) to a photo gallery which answers that question, in pretty much the same order that I would have put the films in the Star Trek series.

However, perhaps the best Star Trek film is not a Star Trek film at all. The first time I saw Galaxy Quest, I was amazed and laughed so hard that I could not believe anyone could pack that many gags into a script. Having been a guest and a paying customer at science fiction cons, I embraced the whole concept behind Galaxy Quest.

My family is taking me to see the new Trek film for Mother's Day, but if you can't get to the theatre and still want to remember the good ole days of television science fiction, watch Galaxy Quest. Such fun, and it has stood the test of time quite well.

The Next Big Thing—

I have devoted several blog posts to technology, especially eBooks and devices which read them, because I really do believe that is the future of publishing. Around the country, newspaper subscriptions are falling, indeed in some cases, plummeting. A variety of factors have contributed to the demise of newspapers, but the bottom line is that they have an old-fashioned business model, and without substantial change, they will not survive.

Reasons for the change from print to electronic publications vary, but instant access, portability, and a vast array of products are all cited as aspects which are beginning to lure consumers away from bricks and mortar book sellers.

Amazon.com has stepped up the transition with its reader, the Kindle, and ebook vendor Fictionwise was purchased by Barnes and Noble recently. During my holiday shopping late last year, I was in a Books a Million, and one of their sales people was circulating through the store, showing off the Sony reader and handing out flyers.

Newspapers are going through a great deal of change; the Atlanta Journal Constitution sent their ultra-liberal editorial director to Washington, DC, and downsized the paper. Other newspapers with a large market have consolidated or disappeared altogether. Some local papers are doing better, due to a lack of competition, but just being small and local does not mean instant success.

Conversely, a number of smaller book publishers who specialized in eBooks have also folded, as larger publishers have embraced epublishing.

Like most transitions, this one won't happen overnight. Electronic publishing does continue to experience revenue growth, in a time when recession has struck so many industries. Avid readers should keep abreast of developments in electronic publishing, because print media is gradually fading away.