Debbie Weil is a corporate blogging and social media expert, online marketing consultant, speaker and author of The Corporate Blogging Book (Portfolio). She consults with large companies, CEOs and senior executives on how to create blogs that connect with customers and attract media attention.

Is it bragging when you mention your children’s blogs? I dunno. But it can’t be that common… yet. My son just moved to Japan for a year to teach English. He has a blog. I think it’s great. Read his 23-year-old musings on Japanese culture at tokyotim.blogspot.com.

I’m working on a report about blogging as a business tool. And I don’t want to leave anything out! Please click through on the link below to ask your single most important question about blogging effectively.

It’s quick and easy. You just type your question in to the form provided and click Submit. We’ll randomly pick five folks who will each get a free copy of the report.

CLICK HERE to ask your single most important question about blogging effectively.

I’m wondering… do political consultants and candidates need advice on how to launch and maintain a blog as part of a campaign strategy? Please use the comments link below to add your input on blogging for politics.

When our power went out last Friday after Hurricane Isabel swept through Washington DC I was pleasantly surprised by the peace and quiet in my office… No electricity, no computer, no electronic files, no online access, no email, no spam. I could think and work without the constant clutter and intrusion of the Internet. I cleaned up stacks of paper that had been sitting for weeks. I found time to take a breath… and to think. It was such a relief.

There’s a lesson in here someplace…

That’s the headline on a recent issue of Living Fit. Does it make you want to find out more? (Sorry, I couldn’t find a Web site for this publication. You’re not missing much… )

I had coffee this morning with neighbor and business colleague Tom Graham. Tom maintains that everything he learned about effective copywriting for the Web comes from those schlocky health & fitness magazines at the grocery checkout. His favorite is Men’s Health.

Here’s a gotta-read more headline from a recent issue of MH: “7 Pains You Should Never Ignore: These common aches could be nothing. Or something far worse… “

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it

deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig!

Thanks to B.L. Ochman for this tidbit. It reminds me of when my kids were in 1st grade and they were encouraged to WRITE… and spelling be damned. “Inventive spelling” (as the teacher called it) was considered a plus. I still have some of their stories, sumwer.

If you’re looking for a one-stop guide with a ton of useful resources for online copywriters, visit Nick Usborne’s updated Resources page. It includes software for writing, project planning and Web page design, a list of books, research sites, useful e-newsletters to subscribe to and more.

I just ran across this 1st person account by Michael Wilson of descending the stairs in one of the Towers and surviving 9/11. Riveting. Real. Read it. Thanks to Halley Suitt for pointing it out.

My mother is one of the smartest people I know. She is not, however, a fan of the Web or the Internet. To my knowledge, she’s never read a single issue of my newsletter, WordBiz Report, for fear that her computer might get a virus should she open the email.

After reading yesterday’s posts (which I alerted her to), she sent the following note: “Debbie, I enjoyed your piece on 9/11 and congratulations on getting mentioned in the Washington Post. To my dismay I got into your blogs and I can’t imagine what a smart and capable person like you is doing engaging in this infantile and boring activity. love, mom.”

Hmmm… well, I suppose anything your mother says to you has a grain of truth in it.

Mom, I hope you’ll give blogging another chance. And I’ll try not to be boring.

P.S. What do YOU think? Is blogging “infantile and boring”? C’mon, lemme have it. Don’t hold back if that’s what you’re really thinking…

Kinda nice to get a mention in your hometown newspaper, particularly when it’s the Washington Post. WordBiz and this blog are on the front page of today’s Business section in the Digital Capital column by Ellen McCarthy. Ellen wrote up the “blogging for business” panel I participated in earlier this week. Here’s the article. She makes some good comments.