In a recent talk I gave, I recommended using images to spice up your blog. I think it's great, and I often include images in my posts where I can. I typically grab screen shots, or use pictures I have, but I have linked from the Internet.

However someone asked me about copyright. My reply was that linking an image from another site should protect you from that. There was a case that went to through the courts that held a link, meaning a hot link (using the "img src=" tag), wasn't a copyright violation. But copying the file to your service and using it, was a violation.

However a few other people posted links to complaints people had made about hot linking, saying it was "bandwidth slurping or stealing."

I can see both points, and so I'm not sure what the proper thing to do is. I'll say this:

• If there's a copyright notice, like on a photo or cartoon, don't use the image.
• If someone complains, take down the image or link.
• If it's a large site, like Amazon, use a link, but give credit to them. Amazon actually allows you to save their images off to your server.
• If it's a small site, ask them.

That's probably the best solution. I think that I'll give credit on future photographs that I use in my writings and copy them to my server.

I had a great session for the 24 Hours of PASS on Building a Better Blog. Not sure how well the other sessions went, but I got lots of nice comments via email and Twitter at the end. I don't know when PASS will get the recordings live on their site, but they did make them.

I made a recording of my test that I'll try to process and toss up here later if anyone's interested in how it went down from my side. I won't put up the 40 minutes, but I'll slice up a 5 minute segment if I can.

Hot Linking

A few people asked about hot-linking images. I said that you could do it either way, upload a copy or hotlink. Some responded that hot linking is bandwidth theft. I guess that's one way to look at it, but copying their image can be copyright theft. Courts have found that copying images is copyright theft, but hot linking is not.

The reality is that it's up to the source to decide what's right and wrong. If they don't want you linking, then they'll usually tell you. If that's the case, then just take it down, and find another image.

I've got a new presentation on blogging slated for next week during the 24 hours of PASS. The event is a series of presentations, 24 in all, on Sept 2-3, running continuously from people all around the world.

I'm scheduled for the 10am MST, which is 5pm GMT, which works well for me. Kids will be at school and it should be a quiet time around here.

The presentation takes some ideas and thoughts I've had from working on the Modern Resume for people as well as looking over those blogs from technical people that seem to be highly ranked, as well as those that make a good impression on me.

So sign up today! There's all kinds of SQL content to choose from.

I added a new blogger to my list. I was surfing around for a few good examples to use in my upcoming presentation for the 24 hours of PASS and stumbled upon Barry Young's blog, Moving SQL. Since one of my goals for this year was to regularly update my list, I decided to add him.

I've been corresponding with Barry for a few years and met him last year at PASS. He's been a great contributor here on the site for years, and I think he's done a very nice job with his blog. I'd urge you to check it out.

In my Modern Resume presentation I have a few slides on blogging, a couple of which are hints and tips on "how to blog." The second one starts out like this:

• Don't copy other posts
• Don't copy other posts
• Don't copy other posts

I know that repeating something three times is supposed to be a way to get people to remember something. This is one of those things that I think is really important to stress to people, especially after a few incidents in the SQL world lately.

Joe Webb recently wrote "The theft of ideas and content" after some of his content was plagiarized. I've seen a few other professionals in this the SQL Server world respond to similar issues of their own content. A couple professionals, Brent Ozar and Tom LaRock did a short presentation on how to deal with this.

You can't build a brand of your own if you don't do the work. It sounds cliche, it sounds like the advice you'd get from your parents. Do the right thing no matter what. Lots of people think that everyone lies on their resume, and I'm sure many do, but it can come by to bite you later. Here are six examples of people who lied on their resume and got caught.

In today's world, it's getting easier and easier to check up on plagiarism. I strongly urge you to do your own work.

Your blog is a part of your resume. It's a part of what people will look at before they call you for an interview. Even after you have the job, this survey said you might get fired if they discover you lied on your resume.

I don't know that I'd fire someone for lying on their resume, but I certainly would if I found you copying someone's blog and claiming it as your own.

My presentation went well at the Baton Rouge SQL Saturday with about 30 people attending. It was the early morning session, and a few people afterward told me they thought it was a good session with advice they could use.

The poll numbers were interesting, though this was a slightly different group. Only about half of the people were SQL professionals, with a number of DBAs and project managers in there along with the SQL people. Very few people knew the authors, and that’s what I expected, and I had 4 of 30 blogging, just slightly above the 10% mark I’ve seen.

In the profile poll, it was very different. I saw:

• Myspace: 18% ( a few people used this to check on kids)
• Facebook: 50%
• Twitter: 35%
• Plaxo: 8%
• Linked In: 33%

That’s a shift, with Facebook beating out LinkedIn for the first time. Also a lot of Twitter people, though given the hurricane issues still on people’s minds, perhaps not.

I had a few questions and decided to repeat some good answers here:

Q: I have a a personal Facebook profile, what do I do about business contact friend requests?

A: My thoughts here are that you should consider a separate business Facebook profile if you get invitations from business colleagues.

Q: What about having a personal blog?

A: Definitely keep your personal life separate on a different blog. There are so many easy to use blog services for free that it makes sense to have a separate one for your non-career related beliefs, thoughts, etc. I have updated my slides to note this.

Q: Do you update your status when looking for a new job if your boss can see it.

A: It depends. I have never had issues letting my boss know that I’m not happy, and giving them specific reasons. I’ve also told them when I’m looking for a job. However I did have one senior manager that I could never have told since he would have fired me on the spot, or I think he would have.

My feeling is that you want to be open, but if you cannot, then use a recruiter and be sure that you let them know this is your issue. Let them submit your resume, maybe without a name, and have them look for you.

When you start applying for jobs, and face competition from other candidates, who do you think gets the interview? Is it the middle 50%? The bottom 20%?

I bet you're thinking the top 5-10 candidates are granted interviews, which in today's world of electronic resumes, could be the top 1% based on some of the numbers I've seen from hiring managers. It's not uncommon for a single position to get 300-500 submissions.

How do you position yourself to be in the top ten percent? I have on easy way that will help you along.

Blog.

In my research over the last year, and in giving a presentation on the Modern Resume to hundreds of people, it's been fairly consistent in my audiences that about 10% of the people out there that come to these events blog as a part of their career.

And that's the 10% of people that care about their careers and are willing to work on them.

Just by doing a blog you can separate yourself from many other people. You give every potential interviewer or HR person more information, and more reasons to consider you as the top candidate instead of others.

Would you rather interview someone that has a large profile and you have an idea of how they think from forums and blogs, or someone that just sends you a two page resume summary? I've always believed that more information is better, and it helps you make better decisions.

HR people, along with managers, are getting smarter. They don't just hire based on MCSE credentials, or any others. They look beyond that, and the more comfortable they are with you as a candidate, the better image (read "brand") you present, the more likely you'll get the call back.

Now you need to write good blogs. Be simple, tackle things you know well, and have someone proofread your entries. You are showcasing communication skills, as well as knowledge, and keep that in mind.

One of the things I recommend to people that are looking to get into blogging is that they write 10 posts before they publish one. That way they can see if they like writing, but also have a pipeline of content to publish. They can schedule these out, 1 a week, or 1 every 2 weeks, and then continue writing each week. This way they'll never run out of content, even if they don't have time to blog one week.

I set a goal of blogging every day at SQLServerCentral, and so far I've done a good job of blogging this year, only missing a couple days, even only a couple vacation ones!

However last week, being on vacation, I hadn't scheduled any posts, though I managed to do a few anyway. In leading up to vacation, I'd neglected to push forward, and as a result, I only had one post scheduled for this week.

So I've been working from notes, trying to turn a few of the ideas and notes I've had into posts for the rest of this week. I've gotten two scheduled, but I need to knock out 2 a day for a week or so to get caught up.

It's late, it's been a busy day, so why bother to spend 10 or 15 minutes at night jotting things down?

For me there are a few reasons, but the main one is that it's cathartic. I can unwind a little, let go of things, and sometimes think more clearly. When I was doing more authoring, a little writing after work helped to cement some ideas in my head, and many times gave me something to ponder or work on overnight or throughout the next day.

Taking a few minutes to write usually just makes me feel better, and better understand what's happened in my day.

No.

Blogging is not for everyone and you don't want to give the impression you are something you are not doing something right if you don't blog. Not everyone is a writer, not everyone likes putting their thoughts down, and not everyone is brave enough to publish out on the Internet.

It takes a thick skin, and even after doing this for years, I still get attacked regularly, and I don't always take it well. I'll admit it gets to me. Luckily I have a good support system with my wife and friends that can pick me up when I've had a particularly nasty comment.

I do a presentation on The Modern Resume, telling people how to big a more noticeable presence in the world, making yourself stand out more. I think blogging is the easy way to do this, but there are others:

• Volunteer your time - Answer questions online, help out a non-profit group, or something like this.
• Lead or manage - at your company, mentor someone, work with a church or other community group
• Do your own research - Learn how to do something, and then show your boss or a prospective employer.

I don't think you can get away from writing completely since you'll need to document and explain things you've done. However it can be as simple as notes you've made to yourself and a few lines on your resume or CV.

Writing is a skill, however, and I'd encourage you to develop it. If you don't want to blog, it still makes sense to pay attention to how you communicate in email, in reports, and in documentation. Learn to do it better and your career will benefit.

This was one of the first books that I grabbed on my Kindle at the Business of Software Conference in 2008. I had a number recommended, and got samples during the conference, but since I’ve been blogging  a lot, and have enjoyed lots of what Robert Scoble has done, I decided to get this book.

I've followed some of Robert Scoble's writings at Microsoft and since, and I think he has interesting things to say.I'm not always thrilled with his delivery or interviews, but he makes me think.I think a lot of his presence comes through in this book, and I found that it really made me rethink what I was doing with my blog. It gave me ways to think about my audience, think about what I was writing as more than just a "about me" space, and moving me more into a"consider the audience" type of mode. I still write what's interesting to me, but I am looking to grow and expand that to grow my brand. That's not for everyone, but it does make you think.

The book is divided into sections, talking about different aspects of blogging, and there are lots of stories about how blogging has helped grow a number of businesses. By explaining what benefits they've seen from blogging, they reinforce the idea that blogging can really help you. In talking to Andy Warren, friend and business partner at End to End Training, didn't seem to like it as much as me, and he thought that the examples were of "first movers", people that got in first in some area, or grew to be the biggest and that you couldn't necessarily compete with them.

There's some truth to that, but I think there isn't one big audience in any space. There are lots of audiences, and they overlap. Multiple people can grow their brands, and gain a following, especially in this new era of RSS feeds.

The book definitely pushes corporate blogging and talks about how bringing a more human face to your company, getting away from the Press Release/ controlled communications can help you. I tend to agree since there is so much information out there, and you can't control your image as you could in the past before we were so highly connected. Adding a blog, in addition to formal communications, helps people to better understand who you are.

I definitely recommend this book for business bloggers, but I'd also for people that want to grow their personal brand. Think of yourself as a company, your products are your skills, think about how to talk about them.

This is in the presentation I've given a few times, but I thought it made some sense to put these things out here as well.

I see there are a few major ways for you to build your brand and raise your profile in the modern world that is highly interconnected and built on digital technologies. I'll give a quick summary here and then expand upon each of these in future posts.

1. Blogging
2. Leadership
3. Authoring
4. Speaking
5. Volunteering

There are some variations, but these are the main ones.

Blogging

I separated this one out because it's more personal, it's off the cuff, we allow for mistakes and it doesn't necessarily mean exposing yourself. You can blog offline, save the entries and then publish them only to perspective employers when they interview you. I do think you should have a career blog that shows off what you think, learn, do, and understand.
And you don't have to be a great writer!

Leadership

You can be a leader in your company, be a manager, run a project, be a thought leader, but this involves taking responsibility on to help others (or things in the case of a project).

Authoring

This is a step above blogging where you are showing what you know. This is definitely public presentations of your work. It can be within the company, perhaps working on a manual, a procedure, or something else formal that others will read, but your name is attached to it.

Speaking

A step beyond authoring is when you actually teach someone. This can be one on one in your company, a brown bag lunch to your peers, or standing in front of a group at a conference.

Volunteering

I think the last stage of your career in anything is giving back to the community. You've built some expertise, you're comfortable, and so you now have the time and freedom to help others. This doesn't mean leading them, but giving them assistance. It can be speaking, running a group or event, or even working with a charity of some sort.

Take credit for it, use it for your brand, but be sincere. Don't do it because you want recognition, but do it because you want to help.

I'll talk more about each of these in future posts as I further the develop the ideas and get more of them down on paper.

I've been trying to comment on a few interesting blogs here today, but for some reason I can't. It seems others can, or at least they have in the last day, but my account isn't working, despite the fact I've posted other blogs and scheduled them out.

Grrrr that's annoying. I've dug through the database, but CS makes this a pain and I cannot figure out where the blog comments are stored. Very, very frustrating.

So this is a test post.

I write on a daily basis, and while I don't find it hard to come up with things to say, it is hard to write something great every day. Actually it's probably hard to write something great ever.

I try and I think there are some great things I've written, but in trying to get something done every day, I find it hard to write something that will stick with people. Something that is inspirational and touches people. And it's not just me. I find it hard to find anything out there in the hundreds of pieces I read each week.

I Ride

I found this one from an unlikely source: my wife. I read her blog regularly, mostly to just keep in touch with how she's doing with horses. Typically she writes about how she's doing this or that with the horses, how the ride went, etc. It's one way that I learn more about her and see what she's doing in life. Most of the time when I follow her writing I think it's more for her clients and people working with horses than anything.

However when I read this post, I had to stop and read it again. I could feel the passion and it really meant something. It really touched me a bit, not because it's my wife, or because I like horses (I don't), but because the intensity of someone's emotion came through.

It's the type of passage I wish I could write more often.

We upgraded our blog server yesterday, making some changes and better integrating the blogs into the site. We now have things looking consistent, a menu on the blog site, and single sign-on!

I, however, didn't have that yesterday. There was a mixup in mapping my blog to the account I use on SQLServerCentral and all of a sudden I couldn't blog yesterday. When another user complained they couldn't, I admit that I was a little peeved when I called the developers, and actually still am, but I also over-reacted a little. You see, I forgot the one important thing to examine when troubleshooting.

"Is it just me? "

 And it was, with the other user being confused about the new layout and my account being mixed up, things didn't appear to be working. We had a call to work through things and decided on a few things to fix and what the issues were. Some things are being done and hopefully we'll smooth them out early next week.

Despite finding the issue with my account, apparently a bug in the integration, I had to wait until today when a restart could reset the caching on the server and get me logged in. So I was without access for a day, and I had a couple things to blog, but decided to sit on them until today.

I'm curious what people think about the new blogs, any SSC member can comment, and anyone can get a blog, though you still need to send me a note. (webmaster at sqlservercentral dot com)