Lijit

JEM is the mastermind behind AdminChronicles and an expert in all things office/work-related. What better way to share her expertise than by starting a blog? On AdminChronicles, she provides advice on telephone etiquette, lists some interview don’ts, helps with how to handle criticism, and offers ways to master Outlook. (Who couldn’t use information like that?)

How long have you been blogging and what made you start?

AdminChronicles was on the “launchpad” for approximately a year prior to its official launch in July 2008.

I started AdminChronicles to share my knowledge. I have had a very diverse and progressive administrative career. As the Office Manager for a direct report to the chairman of a Fortune 500 company, I mastered the “unwritten” rules for providing support at that level–tools that were far beyond the traditional typing, filing or scheduling meetings. The science of providing support to a senior-level executive is much more nuanced than people would expect and I wanted to share my first-hand knowledge with my peers in the hopes that it would help them achieve career success.

What has been the greatest thing you’ve received from blogging?

The greatest thing that I have received from blogging is the relationships that I have established with other bloggers in my niche. The opportunity to avail myself of their expertise has been invaluable to me as the editor-in-chief of AdminChronicles as well as to me as a “working” member of the profession. In addition, blogging has allowed me to sharpen my communication skills (both written and verbal)–I’m confident that there’s a book in me somewhere!–and develop skills in the areas of web/blog design, marketing and social networking.

Of all the posts you’ve written, what has been your favorite and why?

My favorite post is a two-part series titled, What is a Board of Advisors and Why Every Smart Professional Should Have One. This post is my favorite because it is somewhat of a blue-print of my own career. My success is without a doubt owed to both my ability to partner with other administrative professionals as it is my own desire to succeed.

What online services or tools do you recommend to other admins and why?

One of the tools that I would most recommend to my peers is CEO Express, an internet interface for executives. The site filters and organizes the content executives need on the Internet while adding features to the site to make their lives even more streamlined and efficient.

My other favorite online tool is AdminSecret (where I am a featured writer). AdminSecret is one of the premiere social and career networking site for admins.

If I had to make just one major recommendation for my peers it would be to READ. Reading not only helps me to sharpen my writing skills, but it helps me to frame my thinking in a way that allows me to partner successfully with executives. On my nightstand this week is Cathi Black’s (the president of Hearst Magazines) book, Basic Black: The Essential Guide for Getting Ahead at Work. My other favorite book for admin professionals is written by Rosanne Badowski (the assistant to Jack Welch), Managing Up.

How has Lijit helped you to be a better blogger?

My association with Lijit has allowed me the opportunity to guide the progress of my blog by allowing me to understand my readers interests. Lijit serves as a “real-time” view of what is working and what isn’t working. It helps me to tailor my offerings to meet my communities needs.

A big thank-you to JEM for sharing her thoughts on blogging and what it takes to be successful doing it. If you want to dig deeper into her admin knowledge, be sure to visit her blog and use the Lijit search to find out even more.

Although we wish we could sponsor and support each event and charity that comes our way, unfortunately, as a startup, we can’t every time. However, we believe in giving back and sometimes it’s the little things that count the most. This is why we’re happy to be sponsoring 12for12k’s charity tweet-up in cities across the US, Canada and Australia, taking place on April 18th, in conjunction with Mom It Forward. Check here to see if one of the tweetups is in a city near you to join in!

What is 12for12k, you ask? Headed up by a loyal Lijit user and friend, Danny Brown, the 12for12k Challenge is “the combination of social media and fundraising.” The organization’s aim is to raise a minimum of $144,000 for 12 charities over the course of 2009, with a new charity being supported each month and the proceeds go directly to charity.

The concept:

• 12 months of the year
• 12 charities, a different charity each month
• $12,000 per charity

For more information about 12for12k, you can check out their website.

To donate for the April Charity, pay it forward, here:

**Many thanks to Grace for taking the lead on this and writing a fantastic blog post!

April 15th is a day that can strike fear into the hearts of many Americans. To show our support, we’re happy to share what some of our publishers had to say about today…

–If you’ve forgotten what today is, refresh your memory and check out the blog Don’t Mess with Taxes. Besides having an awesome name, they have posted a very handy to-do list which should help anyone still confused about what they need to do today. (When you’re done with the list, watch the tax propaganda video they’ve posted featuring Donald Duck.)

–Wondering why we pay taxes? MOMocrats has a post up that explores that very question and comes up with some good answers.

–Taking part in a tea party today? One of our publishers has a post up explaining his view of the tea parties happening all over the country and why ordinary Americans should be upset with out current tax system.

–Wondering if tax reality lives up to the media hype? One publisher has a post citing research that shows how Americans perceive what is fair when it comes to paying taxes, while another publisher references the very same research in his post to show that Americans are happy with what they’re paying.

–Excited to be done paying your taxes? The Foundry blog has a friendly reminder that everyday is tax day and provides a list of the taxes that you pay throughout the year.

–Curious as to how we might fix some of our current tax problems? The folks at Angry Bear say that the solution might involve taxing soda pop.

–Looking for a little poetry to brighten your mood? Check out The Moderate Voice and the lovely ‘Tax Day’ poem that they’ve posted. And yes…it rhymes!

–If all else fails, may we suggest three of our publishers that are certain to help out on a day like today? Headache and Migraine News posts about the differences between a cluster and a real migraine, The Happiness Project is an entire blog devoted to posting ways of being happier, and if all else fails, head over to Drink of the Week to try one of the many tax-relieving beverages that he shares.

We wish you only the best on this (somewhat) stressful day and welcome any taxing comments you may have!

[Photo credit: 427]

Not soon after Ryan lost his kite, I told him he was the lucky next employee to be featured on our company blog. As you might imagine, this was enough to turn Ryan’s frown upside down. I was happy to return the favor since Ryan is continually bringing a smile to everyone’s face in the office. Whether he’s sharing his tea stash (seriously, it’s next to his desk) or teaming up to play foosball, Ryan is, as we like to put it around here, good sauce. Judge for yourself after reading his profile…

What is your Lijit contribution?

As part of Lijit’s Web team, I code some of the core components of our application that users see on a daily basis. 90% of the work I do involves some sort of acronym, such as “PHP” or “XML”, with the exception of “JavaScript”. I also contribute to foosball development in the office - being the “less skilled” half of any team I join - by helping to keep my teammate’s foosball skills sharp.

What sound or noise do you love and why?

One of my favorite sounds is someone asking me “Do you have lunch plans?” because I enjoy getting out of the office and getting to know my coworkers on a different level. And, by the time I’m asked that, I’m almost always very hungry. I also enjoy hearing “Let’s get some drinks” and “Yes, I will make out with you”.

When I work, I usually listen to downtempo music, followed by podcasts such as “This American Life” or “CastaBlasta”.

What turns you on creatively, spiritually, or emotionally and why?

Problem solving and overcoming challenges is extremely rewarding to me, and I’m lucky to be in a profession where that is essentially the job description. When coding through a problem, there are a few Zen moments, when everything makes sense and you know you are on the right track. It’s a good feeling.

Working out is awesome too - and can definitely get me going. I almost always feel great after a workout.

What profession, other than your own, would you like to attempt and why?

I’ve discovered that I enjoy teaching - not necessarily in an academic setting, but I enjoy explaining things and helping people learn and grow.

Something you’re guilty of…

Perhaps I make fun of Twitter too much. Or not enough?

I can be a heavier drinker - of caffeine.

Sometimes people can’t tell when I’m sarcastic. And I was really happy to answer these questions.

Although Ryan can be an occasional rule breaker, as evidenced in the above photo, he’s generally an upstanding guy who writes a mean haiku when he’s inspired. Also, while he may say he makes fun of Twitter too much, you can find and harass Ryan on there if the desire strikes you. I appreciate him being a good sport and taking the time to help make our blog that much cooler. Plus, I can attest that he’s a good guy to have hanging around.

You might remember, back in January, that we announced comment integration if you were using a third-party commenting system like Disqus, Intense Debate, or JS-Kit. Then, in early March, we looped Wordpress comments into the mix. But, if you were a blogger using Typepad, you might have felt a little left out.

No more, ye Typepad users! With last night’s release, you too can now experience the magic of having comments show up in your search results.

(Let’s take a moment to fully celebrate this…)

With that out of the way, there is one thing you have to do if you want to see those comments displayed within your search results. But it’s not hard, it’s totally worth it, and we have the utmost faith that you can do this.

You have to enable your comment feeds within your Typepad dashboard, which is easily done by following the four steps outlined above. After logging in to your Typepad account:

Step #1–> Click on the ‘Weblogs’ tab along the top.

Step #2–> Choose the ‘Configure’ tab.

Step #3–> From there, go to ‘Feeds’.

Step #4–> And finally, check the box to enable comment feeds on indivual posts and pages.

When you’re done with that, be sure to save your changes at the bottom of the page, sit back and enjoy the enhanced functionality of Lijit that we keep striving to bring you! If you have questions or need help with doing this, please leave us a comment and we’re happy to help.

(With all the conferences we are attending or speaking at this year, I am betting the joke of using Lijit in the blog post title might be wearing thin. Or not.)

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the Web2.0Expo in SF as a blog partner. While attending the conference was cool enough, I also got to attend a special blogger roundtable with Tim O’Reilly. We got to discuss government and the internet’s role, including the importance of openness. We discussed all things social media and the power of bloggers. We even discussed the business of publishing real books!

It was really thought provoking session, and certainly the highlight for me.

Luckily, I wasn’t the only person in attendance from Lijit. Both Todd Vernon and Walter Knapp joined me, enabling us to not only connect with many of our Lijit partners in the SF Bay Area, but attend several really informative sessions, such as Beyond Buzz: On Measuring a Conversion and the keynote by fellow Boulderites Jake Nickell and Jeffrey Kalmikoff of Threadless.

Coming on the tail of SXSW, Web 2.0 Expo was a very different conference. There seemed to be more established tech companies like IBM, Novell and Nokia in attendance and exhibiting. The conference overall seemed to be more subdued and relaxed.

Frankly, that made the sessions easier to attend and more enjoyable. There were less parties, although I have to say that Brady did a great job with Ignite SF.

Of the conferences that we have attended this year, Web 2.0 Expo was definitely a highlight. The only thing that could have made it better would have been if I spoke! (Guess I will have to change that next year or at the NYC event…:) Maybe we can get several Lijit folks on the bill?)

Today, we gathered as a company for one of our regular brown bag lunchtime meetings. The point of these brown bags is for different people to share their area of speciality at Lijit, helping to keep us all informed of what everyone else is working on. We also wanted an occasion to celebrate our newest publisher, a little site that you might have heard of, and there was really only one way to do that properly.

Cheeseburgers all around! Luckily, our CEO was feeling especially sentimental and did a great job of recording the event for posterity. Thanks for the pictures Todd!*

*Although if some of us had known you were taking pictures, we might have tried a little harder to look awake…no offense, Shawn.

The best part of Todd documenting our cheeseburger feast? Getting to watch Walter, our COO, really enjoy his burger. We’re talking edge-of-your-seat excitement here people.

See? We do know how to have fun without alcohol.