Over the last few days I’ve been in Austin Texas attending the South by South West Interactive (#SXSWi) conferences. Sometimes known as ‘Spring Break for Geeks’ I try to get out to this gathering each years because there are so many of my colleagues in attendance and it is an opportunity to meet up with old friends, network, do a little business and a meet a few readers at the same time.
Today is the last day of SXSW (I return home tomorrow) and despite some late nights I woke up this morning with a start on the dot of 5am (jet lag sucks).

When I was a Media Studies undergrad in the late 90s, I vividly remember assembling clip packets. These were photocopied bundles of my best written work that were shipped off to print media. The goal was to get paid assignments or a full-time job.
Years later, as I made the transition from print media to digital media, physical clip packets evolved into e-mails and links. Not only was it a time saver, but I saved money on envelopes and postage too.
Through the years I picked up more blogging gigs and the world was grand. Who needed newspapers and magazines anyway.

Smoke signals. They were effective in ancient China when soldiers needed to communicate over the Great Wall. But send one up today and your message will go up in – well – smoke. Getting the attention of a blogger you would like to work with or for is no easy task. Life feels like one big cluttered inbox. Here are a few ways to cut through the noise.
1) Write about them. Bloggers are not a vain bunch, but they do check their referring traffic on a regular basis. Insult them on your Website and they will defend their honor. Compliment them and they will be thankful.