I've been meaning to write this post for a while, but it's pure self-promotion :-) The reason I am compelled to is because many times I hear, "I didn't know you did that!" when talking to a long-time friend or in some cases a blog reader. So Josh, what do you do? I'm glad I asked that question.

Primarily I provide consulting and development services related to blogs and other social media spaces. What does that mean? I help companies monitor blogs and build their own blogs. In many cases I help companies from start to finish, in other situations I assist with specific aspects of a project/implementation. I've worked with dozens of companies in a variety of market segments.

One of the problems of being a blogger and working with larger companies is that I can't always talk about some of the cool projects that are coming up...but all in good time :-)

Here are a few highlights of 'What Josh does":

Blog Consulting
In this role I provide consulting to public relations firms, marketing/advertising agencies, corporations and media outlets. Consulting contracts can be only monitoring and basic engagement strategies, or full-blown blog development projects. What's being said about us? Should our company blog? What should we blog about? How do we handle negative comments? Those are all questions I help answer.

Blog Design
Recently I have been doing quite a bit of blog design, this includes all graphical elements as well as CSS work. In some cases I am responsible for all aspects of the integration, in other cases I simply provide a new 'skin' to an existing blog. Sometimes blogs need to be tightly integrated with the look and feel of your site, other times there needs to be some distance between the two. There are other aspects to blog design besides 'looking good'. That's where I think I can provide an advantage.

Blog Software
I work in all the major blog software platforms, i.e. MovableType, WordPress and TypePad and to a lesser degree in Blogger, Expression Engine, etc. I can handle just about all aspects of blog software installation and configuration. Associated with this are all the ancillary tools available to bloggers, i.e. FeedBurner, Flickr, etc.

Media Consulting
One of my primary clients is a large newspaper. I've been helping guide them into the world of conversational news. Over the course of the past few months we've launched ten new blogs with many more on the way. During the entire process it's been interesting to watch the changing perception of blogs and bloggers within the newsroom.

Market Research
Some have said that the blogosphere is the world's largest focus group. In some cases I have worked with consumer products companies to research blogs and other social media to evaluate the need/perception/reception of products. Give me a topic, chances are people are talking about it on blogs.

Blog Monitoring
For monitoring I am often training clients how to use the numerous free tools available for keyword monitoring, other times I assist in the monitoring. Knowing that a blogger has said something positive/negative about you is one thing, knowing what to do with that information is something else. That's where I come in.

Speaking
This is something I really enjoy. I speak quite frequently about blogs and social media to a variety of audiences. Presentations can last between 45 minutes and 4 hours. I try to present the material in a fun and informative way that engages that audience while avoiding lame PowerPoint slides.

Of course this list is always changing as new issues appear and the blogosphere evolves. Need some help with a blog? Contact me.

-- Commercial over :-)