You’re online or you wouldn’t be reading this — but if you’re a business owner, or just someone that finds Internet facts interesting, this post is for you.

Check out this list of Who’s Online from the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Did you know that Technorati is currently tracking 112.8 million blogs and over 250 million pieces of tagged social media? They also report that bloggers update regularly (over 1.6 million posts per day, or over 18 updates a second.)

The New York Times published an article recently that cited a survey that said only 5% of small businesses with fewer than 100 employees are blogging. Doesn’t sound like many …but with 25.3 million of those same biz types, that translates into about 1.25 million that DO have a BLOG.

With blogging, podcasting, vidcasting/YouTube.com affording low cost and no cost of production, it’s simply inexcusable not to be using any or all of the above to promote your message!

I’m reading a book by Timothy Ferriss called the 4-Hour Workweek. The tagline (and the fact my brother recommended it) is what got me – it reads, “Escape 9-5, live anywhere and join the new rich.” Ok, it’s cold in Indiana (13 degrees this morning), I only wish I could work from 9-5 and who doesn’t want to be rich? I certainly don’t buy into all the concepts within this book, but find it to be filled with great thoughts, tips and ideas.

Reading it has got me thinking quite a bit about the 80-20 Rule. The 80-20 Rule is the Pareto principle and it states that 80% of the effects comes from 20% of the causes. It isn’t new. But think about it for a moment. No, really let it sink in – and apply it to not only your business, but to your personal life as well. I was sold on the 80-20 concept at the end of my workday yesterday when I looked at my to-do list. I spent 80% of my day fighting fires and completed 20% of the items on my list. Sound familiar?

In business, 80% of the consequences flow from 20% of the causes; 
80% of the results come from 20% of the effort and time; and
80% of your profits come from 20% of your products and customers. In personal relationships, I would bet that 80% of your problems stem from 20% of the issues you deal with everyday. Would I be right? Soooo….what 20% of the sources in your life result in 80% of your happiness?

I think that if you apply this rule to your life (and your business), it will help bring clarity to the things that are important and those that, at the end of the day, really don’t matter. If you can pinpoint the 20% of your inputs that result in 80% of your outputs – you can start finding ways to eliminate the other 80%. And more importantly, as you eliminate that nasty 80%, you’ll have more time to work on that 20% of the sources that result in 80% of your happiness.

It’s evening, and you’re sitting in front of the television watching your favorite station. Your program is interrupted by commercials at regular intervals – so many times in fact that you can’t simply ignore them or excuse yourself to get a drink or go to the restroom each and every time an advertisement comes uninvited into your living room. So which ones do you remember? Quickly – name one.

If you’re like me (and many others), you remember commercials that are humorous. Humor in advertising is a delicate method of attracting attention and forcing interaction with a product or service. If it’s funny – we laugh.

Have you seen the Capitol One credit card commercials? There’s a series that revolves around ‘black out dates’, making light of what rewards you might receive from your credit card company. You know the one – the family is dressed for a skiing trip but it’s a hot July day. They ride the ski lift sweating in their winter gear; the father springs down the slope on skis – not sliding but taking a bumpy trip down the rocky slope. Just as he stands up and waves his arms saying, “I’m ok!” the mother (being a good sport) takes her turn down the incline, mowing his battered body to the ground once again. While I still trash the company’s direct mail offerings for credit that I receive in the mail daily, I would possibly take a closer look if ‘rewards’ were important to me when choosing a credit card company.

Adding humor to your marketing concept requires a careful balance in order that credibility is maintained. Everyone’s view of humor isn’t the same – nor do we interpret specific offerings or even recall them the same as our neighbor might. Let’s face it – a lot of people just don’t have a sense of humor, and humor in advertising is risky. When done right, it works very, very well and can create a comfortable and positive image for your company.

Here are a few points for you to consider:

• Advertising humor works best with established and commonly purchased products or services.
• Advertising humor needs to be well suited to its audience.
• Advertising humor needs to be product or service specific.
• Advertising humor has a relatively short life. The first time we see it, we may laugh out loud. But after a while, although we still may smile at the joke, it’s not so funny any more.

The most important point to remember – no matter if you choose to use humor in your advertising campaign or stick with a more traditional form of promotion — is that you MUST entertain your audience to be effective.

You get up in the morning and check the weather, the local news, the national news, your favorite blogs and forums, and then your workday begins. Your day is filled with an endless stream of phone calls and interruptions; you check your email every two minutes and put out one fire after another. And then, at some point you shake your head and wonder where the day went. You have lost sight of what you were attempting to accomplish in the first place. Sound familiar?

The ease in which we are able to connect via technology is great isn’t it? But I’ve found that it also provides us with endless distractions. In the midst of communicating and the ease of connecting with others, it is easy to lose your message and focus.

Albert Einstein said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

It’s like the abused spouse that welcomes home the mate, believing that things will be different, even knowing nothing has changed. It’s like the alcoholic that walks into the neighborhood bar and tells himself he’ll only have one drink this time, knowing that he’s made that promise over and over in the past and failed.

While it’s easy to see Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity play out in those examples – what about for the rest of us? What about in our careers and lives in general?

Are you happy with what you’re getting? If you’re not satisfied with your personal or business life today, and you wake up tomorrow and go through the same motions while expecting a different result — that is… well… insanity.

Blogging is an easy way for website owners to add new content to their existing online Internet presence. Frequent changes not only keep sites current and informative, but also allow for a more pesonal type of communication with those who visit.

Blogs have the potential to help create stronger emotional bonds with clients/customers. Those who have the ability to write down their ideas in a compelling manner while sharing knowledge, allow readers to interact with the “human side” of an organization. Blogging is a useful tool for branding loyalty, and may also be a great way to get feedback, as readers often react to certain posts or suggest their opinions. Posting valuable information of interest showcases your business as having expertise in your field.

Blogs are easy to start and hard to maintain — if you agree that ‘time is money’, then blogging isn’t cheap. If you have quite a bit of information to share, you most likely are limited on the amount of time you have to spend typing it out for inclusion to your site. Every business should have some sort of publishing strategy, so why not take the plunge and try blogging?

RSS (Real Simple Syndication) is the tool most often used to notify users of new updates. RSS technology is still relatively new, and statistics show that only 4% of Internet users knowingly use it. Incorporated with other techniques, your blog can be put to work to increase your site’s hits and revenue.