“I want to see Lenin’s body!”
“No way! That’s just gross, I wanna go shopping!”
“What the hell are you thinking? You can shop in Amsterdam!”
“Forget it, I’m outta here. You guys all suck”.

I was chilling in the park of Eternal flame for the Unknown Soldier in Moscow, when my travel companions decided it was about time for a fight about the schedule. Once again, I had found myself in a study trip with stubborn companions.

Some human beings aren’t what you call…

Continue reading An unique way of group traveling to go beyond tourism

When I introduce people to the beautiful world of blogging by telling them about all the indirect advantages like the enrichment of your social life, they often share the same doubts. Most heard questions: “Who am I to start blogging about this subject?” They feel like they’re nobodies and absolutely not in the position to write about their passion or profession.

The feeling that they’ll never be an authority or expert, holds a lot of people back to start a…

Continue reading How the “nobody syndrome” costs us great bloggers

The blogosphere was stirred up by gossip blogger Paul Boutin. In a successful attempt for some linkbait, the Valleywag correspondent announced the death of blogging on Wired.com:

The blogosphere, once a freshwater oasis of folksy self-expression and clever thought, has been flooded by a tsunami of paid bilge. Cut-rate journalists and underground marketing campaigns now drown out the authentic voices of amateur wordsmiths. It’s almost impossible to get noticed, except by hecklers.

He criticizes the immpersonal character of blogging and supports that with…

Continue reading Self-obsessed gossip blogger: “blogging is dead to me”

One of my friends recently got one of the best birthday gifts an ambitious guy can get: the modern self-help classic It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want To Be by former creative director for Saatchi and Saatchi Paul Arden. The marketing maverick died in April, but I think about his common sense lessons on a daily basis.

At first, the book seems kind of cheesy, like most self-help books. Yet as soon as you’ve started reading,…

Continue reading Paul Arden: “do not seek praise, seek criticism”

Just go with it, what do you have to lose anyway?

Maarten Besseling did the same. One of his friends, a singer, had a bad break up, so he invited him to come on a trip to a cabin somewhere and make music. Several years later Besseling releases yet another album in his music series “in a cabin with“. By now, he has traveled to remote cabins in Iceland, Greece, South Africa, Australia, Mexico, and fifteen other places.

That last cd…

Continue reading A bad break-up, sleepless nights, and chopping wood

During a very hectic Web 2.0 Expo week in New York City, I did luckily find some time to work on my Dutch ebook about blogging. Chapter two concerns blogs and communities and I figured social media guru Erwin Blom was the man to interview about this material. So while enjoying a couple of beers in an Irish pub, we discussed whether blogs are communities or not.

We had a hard time coming to a solid conclusion. Sure, if you follow…

Continue reading Building a community on your blog with Yahoo Pipes

This post contains the best tip of your life. I realize that’s quite a bold statement, especially coming from a 22-year old chap. But it’s really important, since it’s the one tip you DON’T want to hear.

It’s just after five ‘o clock in the afternoon when the first kite surfers hit the water. They’ve escaped their cubicles to jump over San Franciscan ferries. I’m on the run as well. After the three-day conference Supernova, I’m about ready to admire a…

Continue reading The best tip of your life concerns black convertibles and Karel Appel

Kevin Kelly’s legendary essay about a 1000 true fans was an eye-opener for many people who had been trying to live from what they love to do most. He wrote that whether you’re a blogger, musician, aspiring film maker, or painter: you’re in need of a 1000 fans who are willing to spend 100 dollars per year on your work (acquisitions, merchandise, donations, tickets, you name it).

Since this article was published, many people started thinking of ways to reach and…

Continue reading How to get true fans: pick a sentiment

How can you use your corporate blog to promote your company? Even when you don’t have anything to blog about company-wise? Last week I interviewed Yakov Sadchikov from visual search engine Quintura, a Russian-based start-up, about these questions. He surely knows the answers to them, as his corporate blog is often featured on major tech news outlets like Techmeme and TechCrunch.

Good corporate blogging leads to indirect benefits

“In general, the company releases a new service or version once every…

Continue reading 7 essential tips for corporate bloggers who want to write remarkable content

There’s a weird contradiction surrounding Twitter. If you’re a heavy user, most of your social life consists of the conversations on the microblogging service. Yet when you go to a random bar, nobody in there knows about the damn tool. It’s everything and nothing at the same time.

Now let’s think of a your blog as a bar. The percentage of people knowing about Twitter is probably somewhat higher than in an average bar - yet most of your readers…

Continue reading Twitter? Never heard of it…, want a beer?