EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is my response to a terrific post by Waverly’s Philippe Beaudoin asking, “What’s the future of journalism?”
“Social network for curious minds” is a great tagline.
Here is an excerpt from an article I wrote in 2010:
“In the colliding worlds of traditional and social media, the line of distinction is not as clear. Even though there are no real technological boundaries to limit the number of blogs, news sites, etc., it is only a matter of time before the over-abundance of writers will manifest itself in the form of Aldous Huxley’s greatest fear and lament that truth would somehow “be drowned in a sea of irrelevance.” If not irrelevance, then one of information overload.
This, of course, is the point that I have tried to make with so many of my fellow bloggers who insist upon occupying the familiar and therefore comfortable confines of a somewhat singular, and yes, even myopic website in which they calculate reach by the number of visits to a lone URL address versus measuring their expanding market presence through multiple social media venues. Taking into account expertise and, of course, the caliber of one’s writing, some of the most amazing flowers bloom in the isolation of the desert without so much of a passing notice by the world they inhabit.”
The takeaway, build knowledge-sharing communities. https://bit.ly/3tW0wqP
Regarding the vision of building knowledge-sharing communities, I want to introduce you to what are known as the Next-Gen Rebels because they remind me very much of the exciting and necessary things you are doing at Waverly Philippe Beaudoin:
Joël Collin-Demers Joselina Peralta Rich Sains Mathew Schulz Dave Jones MCIPS Kelly Barner
- These individuals don’t focus on likes – they focus on building meaningful dialogue
- They eschew artificially created prose in favor of thought-provoking content that reflects knowledge, personal experience, and active reader participation.
- They shed the shackles of playing the SEO algorithm games in favor of rolling up your sleeves in the trenches of “community” engagement. And yes, after 40 years in this business, I have always viewed SEO and other such machinations as playing the casino where the house always controls and never loses.
On the above points, I speak from experience: - In May 2007, I launched my blog, which is still going strong with 14,700 followers
Between 2009 and 2019, my BlogTalkRadio podcast averaged 15,000 listeners per month – with some on-demand segments being downloaded 35,000 times
My advice – through multiple social channels be engaging, be original, and be consistent!
“There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self.”
Aldous Huxley
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Procurement Insights 
Colin Cram
January 14, 2024
The procurement blog is not dead, but more may be demanded of procurement bloggers. Business and government are much more complex than they used to be. For instance, supply chains look like becoming a major headache – which they are already for many people. Globalisation is much less attractive than it was, even if the cheapest suppliers are the other side of the world. Technology, particularly AI, will create radical changes for many businesses, but prediction is difficult. Blockchain was going to be amazing and many bloggers climbed on the band-wagon – where is it now? Crypto-currencies are another issue. To use them or not to use them? That is the question. (Thanks to W Shakespeare). Fraud prevention can be a big headache. Cyber attacks can be a big problem, but try too hard to prevent them and the business or organisation could seize up. Also, to whom are blogs targeted? Global businesses, big regional ones, national ones, medium sized ones or small ones? Public sector? In which service or product category? All of this provides plenty of opportunity for procurement bloggers.
piblogger
January 14, 2024
Instead of writing the word “right” more than a dozen time, I will write Right x 20, Colin.
By the way, here is the Feedspot 2024 Top 90 Procurement blog ranking – https://business.feedspot.com/procurement_blogs/
Colin Cram
January 14, 2024
Well done, Jon, with your 7th place. Keep blogging and you will rise further up the table.
piblogger
January 15, 2024
Thank you, Colin.
I really appreciate your support over the years.
Bogdan Kolos
January 15, 2024
Fully agree with the main message from the author. Write about something that keeps you passionate, everything else will come. I think people can still differentiate the commercial or SEO-focused posts from something value adding and original. There should be some personal touch in your posts to make them feel relevant.
piblogger
January 15, 2024
Short, succint and on the mark, Bogdan.
Thank you, for commenting.