Our world is changing. Now that’s very cliched, you may say. But if you look around a bit, then our way of information gathering to idea spreading has changed over time. Much due to the advent of internet. Internet is shaping our culture in way which we wanted to. Web 1.0 era is over as we have seen much discussion about it and the new world order of Web 2.0 is here. And with the introduction of Web 2.0, came the concept of Social Media. And this very revolution has changed a lot of things: For us and the business models of the world. You can frame it largely as we are in “SPECS Economy” i.e. Sharing, Peering, Engaging, Collaborating and Socializing culture.

In the world where we are using tools like Twitter, Facebook etc to connect people across the boundaries, so why can’t we use these mass collaboration tools to help each other prevent some of the worst feared catastrophes which have more often than not paralyzed the entire human race. On this regard, Google has taken a new initiative to save the world via the internet. They (Google.Org) are funding a non-profit group called “InSTEDD“. The idea is to alert citizens of the world against disease outbreaks & natural disasters and coordinate relief efforts in the event of disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina and Tsunami etc.

Today is one of the glorious day in the history of Indian business. The much talked about Tata’s 1-lakh ($2700) car was launched today in the Auto Expo Show at New Delhi.

I won’t go much into the details of the car or the euphoria surrounding the launch, since it will be all over the media tomorrow. But I want to share some thoughts about the launch. Actually I came to know about the launch details from Twitter (thanks to Gaurav Mishra). He actually twittered the news while Mr. Tata was announcing it.

Few things happened while this development was taking place. First, Tata’s Nano featured among the top most search in Technorati on 10th Jan, 2008 i.e. the world was searching for more information about Tata’s Nano and secondly, the blogosphere was buzzing about Tata Nano.

It’s very rare to see such euphoria among people across the world for a product launch like this and that too Indian product. But here the product has the capability to be a standard by itself, both for customers as well as industry players across the world. Tata’s have made it possible to break the myth that cheap products are inferior in quality.

The launch of this small “Big” car (as much the hype) can be traced back to the corridors of Apple’s Steve Jobs launching iPhone. So when Steve Jobs comes with his keynote speech about iPhone’s launch and people across 130 odd countries watch it, then much of the PR, Branding and Marketing is being done there itself. So now Indians have something to boast about. So when Mr. Ratan Tata comes out with Nano’s launch speech, people around the world want to listen to what he has to say (Citation from technorati).

So from a marketer’s point of view, the job has been well done and an incredible story of hope & dream has been passed to the people. Now the “Idea-virus” has to spread. So Tata’s main task would be to do some good PR activities (not much in marketing) to keep it hot unless it faces some crucial issues relating to customer services due to the initial hype.

Still I’m happy that an Indian brand has nudged the expectations of world-wide public and Tata’s Nano will definitely put India in the limelight for much needed innovation in the Indian context.

Once in a while, people ask me this question i.e. How to build traffic to my blog? The other day a friend of mine popped this question to me. I was far from surprised since I’m not a SEO guru or a internet traffic wizard. But yeah, I have been pulling some decent (trying to be humble) amount of traffic to my blog. So here are my 50 small tidbits for those who are interested or in a mood to have some fun:

1. Write which people will be interested in.
2. Don’t write about your ex-girlfriend or how your mom keeps pestering you.
3. Make love to Search Engines. Remember that Google is your new best friend.
4. Learn to be an expert in your field; At least try to be..
5. Be the first to break or announce news.
6. Long post sucks; believe in KISS (Keep it short & simple) philosophy.
7. Write timeless posts which can be read after one year even.
8. Bait inbound links by writing definite posts.
9. Being controversial helps.
10. Write about your sexy hot girlfriend. Give pictures if needed
11. Include bright and shiny widgets to grab attention.
12. Encourage comments by conversational posts i.e keep it open ended.
13. Give a free brownie to your commenter’s.
14. Tag your posts in Del.icio.us, Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit, Furl etc.
15. Have some influential bloggers talk about you. Period
16. Use images in your posts. Helps in assuming the idea of your article.
17. Work on the visual appeal. Yours is fine but more on the blog.
18. Include Categories, Most popular posts & Recent Posts.
19. Write about topics which are easy linkbaits for other bloggers like about gadgets, Google, Web 2.0 etc.
20. Have some influential friends who can help you spread your blog. Being Social is most important.
21. Use Twitter to perfection. Try to have followers/following ratio greater than 1.
22. Post on weekdays since there are more readers.
23. Post on weekends since there are less blog posts.
24. Use RSS and “Subscribe to Email” tab in your blog.
25. Keep a check on Technorati on top searches. Set Ping automatically or take help from someone smarter.
26. Don’t write about something which you will hate to read.
27. Learn SEO or buy “SEO for Dummies” for long term advantage.
28. Write in English or better write in Japanese.
29. Use third party way of driving traffic by posting in SlideShare.
30. Email friends about your new posts. Remember friends not foes.
31. Comments on other bloggers site, even though their posts suck sometimes.
32. Think I’m your pal..you know what to do!
33. Get back to your comments and give feedback.
34. Remember your blog’s url is your new name. So use it wherever possible. Try using it in your resume.
35. Sometimes not listening to other bloggers giving suggestion helps.
36. Create your own USP about your blog like Marketing, Social Media, Web 2.0, Technology blah blah.
37. Use Facebook to promote if you like Zuckerberg or use any SNS to let people know about your blog.
38. Increase your social circle..If not refer back to No 20.
39. Take ideas or get inspired by other people’s writing.
40. Stop being boring.
41. Surprise your readers. Write about Osama Bin Laden.
42. Create a niche for your blog through posts. Remember there is always someone interested.
43. Add some videos of Paris Hilton or some podcasts with J. Lo.
44. Create a buzz by publishing something newsworthy like Einstein’s Theory of Relativity was wrong or something like that. But it should be true and not a rumor.
45. Don’t over promote yourself at the expense of your reader’s attention.
46. Love blogging and have passion for it.
47. Look for new topics to write on from other people’s twitter conversations.
48. Don’t be vague in your posts.
49. Make a lot of online friends in different SNS & Bookmarking sites. Again refer to No 20.
50. Last but not least, be patient.

So here are my 50 advices to get traffic to your blog. So feel free to give your ideas (satirical, humor or relevant).