You may think this is an odd title and even stranger subject for today’s chat!

It comes because yesterday was an awesome day in Indy that concluded with a mini-session/social networking event in one of the city’s newest & most charming areas near downtown.  The mini-session I attended was entitled “Web 2.0″.

The title refers to the shift that has happened with the internet.  And what a shift it is!

When the internet first began to come out of the shadows & be a ‘force to be recokened with; it was primarily ’static’.  You put up a few pages, invited others to come find you & hoped those pages accomplished your goal.  But nothing on the pages changed.  That is unless you went to the expense of changing them on a regular basis.  And if you aren’t a ‘techie’ - then another cost incurred.

Over the past several years, the internet has moved from ’static’ to ‘dynamic’.  Meaning it has become a tool for ‘communication’.  A mutual exchange between thee & me from wherever we happen to be!

Thus the sudden proliferation of social networking sites, blogs, tags & ‘wikis’.  Don’t ask me to explain”tags” & “wikis”.  It was a “mini-session” - remember?

The origin of this shift came from a presentation that a fellow gave at a major conference about 5 years ago. Wha-la, it has arrived!  And much of it has to do with the growth of Google and it’s thirst for fresh content.  Static was just that - static.  Dynamic is fluid & that’s what Google likes.  Thus all the other ‘google-wannabes - like it too.

Recall that I’ve talked here before about the importance of blogging.  And doing it on a regular basis.  Well there’s more than one important reason for doing so.  Blogging on a regular basis keeps Google ’spiders’ on the crawl to keep up with your ever-changing content.

What if you have one of the 700,000,000 websites in cyberspace that is simply a ‘marketing’ tool or a ‘presence’ in your geo-area because you want to get info to a larger audience?  And your site doesn’t change because it wasn’t built that way.

Well let me add this disclaimer!  I am not  the resident expert in these matters.  I just regurgitate what I’m learning.  But my advice is to add a BLOG to your current site.  Write to it daily or at least 3-4 times a week.  If you’re not a great writer or don’t have the time to spend - get assistance from someone who does write well. 

For instance, you might ‘borrow’ a college student majoring in creative writing or a field closely aligned with yours with above average writing skill; who would love the opportunity, experience & exposure.

I’ll say more about Web 2.0 as we move along in our daily chats, but for know I just wanted to give an overview of what I’m learning so you can learn it too!

BTW - you don’t have to be a ‘geek’ or a ‘technocrat’ to BLOG!  All you need is one of the blogging software platforms, such as WordPress (which is what we use at A Women’s Place) and a little help from a friend who has the knowledge & experience with the platform & a willingness to help.

How’s that for encouragement to move into the 21st century with all the youngins’ who can manuever an object with the same name as a creature we used to swat with a broom.

Have an awesome day with great creative thoughts and many successes along the way.  And a special happy birthday to AWP member, Cindy Hartman!

Linda, a fellow journeyer