Paul Chaney - Internet Marketing Social Media Consulting

I Think I'll Just Be Me

For weeks now, I've had this ongoing saga over the issue of branding. The latest chapter had to do with whether I should continue to brand myself as the Social Media Handyman, or take a more grandiose approach and call myself a "company," something like Paul Chaney & Associates.   

Since my primary role is as a consultant I wanted to be able to offer services not only to businesses, but to agencies as well. I felt that having a company name might put me in conflict with them. 

While I'm very fond of the handyman brand, I found it limiting in terms of attracting larger clients. I'm still keeping the handyman around, but may reserve him for another idea I'm considering that's particularly focused on small business. (And, of course, the domain name leading to this site is TheSocialMediaHandyman.com, so he's not going anywhere anytime soon.)

In the end, I decided just to be myself, Paul Chaney. If there are services that I can't provide personally, such as Web design, I'll broker them out to a select group of trusted partners.

So, here I am, simply Paul Chaney, Internet marketing consultant, trainer, speaker and author. It's a pretty good fit, don't you think? Sammy does. 

Redesigning My Blog

UPDATE: As you can see, the folks at Typepad came through with a fix for me regarding the custom banner issue. And, they did it over the weekend. Hats off to Zalary, my Typepadista. 

Don't be alarmed if this is not the blog you've come to recognize. I'm redoing some rebranding and the redesign that comes along with it. Like it? 

I used Typepad's Magnetic theme in the dark blue version, reduced the width and the number of columns from three to two, and cleaned up the sidebar. 

My next feat involves creating a custom header to resemble something like you see at Dave Ramsey's site, but I've run into a little trouble with the CSS. No worries though...I've submitted a help ticket, so I'm sure the problem will get resolved shortly.

Here's what the header will look like. Click the image to see the full-size version:

 
Also, I'm going to get a new headshot done to replace the one you see now. 

You might wonder why I've chosen to move away from the social media handyman theme. It's a business decision. Don't worry. I am still and will always be the handyman! 

Rebranding update...domain name troubles... just giving you a heads-up

As mentioned earlier, I've been in transition so far as my branding goes, and finally things have settled down. Just for the record, here's how it's turned out:

The Social Media Handyman site is where I'm hanging my hat, and it's a Typepad blog. Though I've mapped the domain, only the "www" version seems to be working for now.

I've taken ConversationalMediaMarketing.com out of the loop, except to forward it to the new Typepad blog with a 301 redirect. However, the forward doesn't seem to be working either. *sigh*

I've set up a new site for my book, The Digital Handshake, and, for whatever reason, it's not loading. I'm thinking the hosting service is having troubles as I can't reach their site either.It's almost comical. 

Focusing CMM blog to reflect content of book

Face it, this blog started out with a clearly defined purpose, but has morphed into more of a "whatever strikes my fancy at the moment," and that's no way to run a blog, not for the long-term at least.

That's why it dawned on me to use the blog as fodder for the new book I'm writing...not exclusively, but largely. Taking that tack brings with it a couple of benefits at least.

1. You get to see the core of the book develop right before your eyes.
2. You get something other than screeds and rants. The blog becomes what I've always wanted it to be, an informative, helpful piece of online real estate. That's not to say you won't still get the occasional rant or knee-jerk reaction to some news breaking in the blogosphere, but I hope that becomes less frequent.

So, when does this start? As soon as I can get to it, but within the next week or two at the most. Stay tuned!

Changes to the Conversational Media Marketing blog

You may notice some changes to this blog. (You do notice them, don't you?)

First, I'm playing around with Typepad's CSS functionality and the ability it gives you to change the theme header to use a custom one. I'm no designer, but do like to mess around a bit with Photoshop. (So, please no comments on the header design. It's only one of many I'll try until I get something halfway decent.)

I also changed Typepad themes going from the 'Curves Blue' theme to 'April Showers'. The only problem with the new theme is that the right-hand columns aren't quite as wide as the previous one, so the My Blog Log widget sits right on the border. Being the OCD person that I am, that bugs me, so much in fact that I'm not scrolling down the page that far. (Out of sight, out of mind.) I'm sure I'll continue to play with themes until I find one that works.

Finally, I took Google Adsense ads off. I've always had a love/hate relationship with them anyway. Somehow, in the furtherest recesses of my mind I thought they gave the blog more credibility. Instead, they just got in the way. A Darren Rowse I'm not!

As you can probably tell, I like blue. It's calming they say.

What's your Bucket List look like?

A new movie is about to hit the theaters January 11 called The Bucket List, featuring veteran actors Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman.

The plot revolves around two elderly men (played by Nicholson and Freeman) who find themselves sharing space in a hospital cancer ward and decide to make a list of things they'd like to do before then kick the bucket; a list which includes skydiving, driving a pair of Shelby Cobras and seeing the Great Wall of China among other things. They then set about doing them.

So, what's your bucket list look like? (Mine is below.) 

I have an idea I'd like to proffer. Let's start a meme. Yea, I know memes are kind of tired and "been there, done that," but this might be fun.

Create your bucket list anywhere you'd like and invite five others to do the same. Create it on your blog, Facebook, wherever. Doesn't matter really, just do it. If such a meme already exists, perhaps the two will meet.  And if you don't mind, leave a comment to let me know.

All I want for Christmas is an Amazon Kindle... Christmas 08 that is

I'm a tech gadget wannabe. I'd love to have the latest and greatest, but, alas, my budget won't allow for it. Something about paying a mortgage and car note I'm told.

Still, that doesn't negate the fact that I'd love to have an Amazon Kindle! Unfortunately, there is a seven month waiting list, according to one eBayer.

Get this... this guy is offering a Kindle for auction that he doesn't even own!

Paying homage to my site sponsor, Bizzuka

It's not the purview of this blog to talk about the company I serve as marketing director, Bizzuka, and rarely will you ever find it mentioned here. However, John Munsell, Bizzuka's CEO, has agreed to sponsor the site and, as such, it's only fair that I pay homage with this single post.