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We recently attended at blogging conference in Chicago, SOBCon07, and David Armano of Digitas was one of featured speakers. David implored us to *stop calling ourselves bloggers.* And he presented the point that the word blogger can have a negative meaning.

I think a blogger is someone who decides to launch a weblog , and it's true, ANYONE can do that. Maybe we do need to separate ourselves somehow*Are they successful? Do they tire out? Is it interesting? Or boring? Are they someone who blogs with no real direction or mission or passion about what they are doing? Are they blogging in a vacuum?

A blog starts to take shape after the first 60 days. Then you start to have a good idea about what you can offer the blogosphere. Is this something you can stick with and are passionate about? Can you keep things interesting and attract readers. David Armano suggested perhaps PERSONAL PUBLISHER or even PRODUCER is a better, more fitting term for us who write/blog. As a personal publisher, we treat our blogs with respect. We handle them with great care. We put a lot of time, energy, and thought into every post. It's a business. It's a resume. It's about relationships. It's not just random posting and ranting. It's actually a lot like a pizza! We could be compared to chef's or pizza makers.

Think about the streets of New York City. Pizza by the slice everywhere! But who has the best pizza in New York City? Ask 10 New Yorkers, you'll probably get 10 different answers. It's all good, it's a subjective question. Some people like it with a lot of cheese. Some like more sauce. Some like sweet sauce, some like a more salty sauce. But the point is, every pizza maker tries to deliver the *best* pizza possible. They research their ingredients and experiment until they feel they have the right combination. The point is, as a producer, as a personal publisher, we try to create something special people will like. A lot of love, sweat and tears go into a serious blog. By comparison, beginner bloggers don't always do that.

We are so thankful and glad we attended the SOBCon07 event and can't wait till next year! But most of all, we are thankful for destiny bringing us together with Liz Strauss of Successful and Outstanding Blogs, for without meeting her, our life of Personal Producing would not have went down this road it's on now. Thank you Liz!

Derrick Sorles
Michael Snell