Jim McLaughlin's Blog

Shane Snow is co-founder of Contently.com, a marketplace for freelance journalists and brands-turned-publishers. Bounce rates are the bane of a blog’s existence. The higher the number, the less engaged the reader (and the more depressed the blogger). A sticky blog means more engaged users. It means more opportunities to turn them into advocates who then… Read more

Walking around Munich on a recent trip, I was impressed by the throngs of bicyclists whizzing by (move over, Amsterdam!). But what struck me even more was what the cyclists did when they dismounted. They left their bikes unlocked. In Boston — a relatively safe city — I’ve become paranoid about bike theft, carrying around… Read more

I have been using Symbaloo for about a year now. I really like it a lot. It is a visual way of sharing bookmarks with other people. The “pages” you create in Symbaloo are called a “webmix” When I first started using Symbaloo (the education version), they didn’t allow you to embed your webmix anywhere.… Read more

Getting stuff done is overrated. Knowing where you are going and how to get there — strategy — is everything. But many managers still spend too much time doing and not enough time thinking. Your first challenge is learning how to stop the action. But focusing and thinking about the big picture are not as… Read more

According to a new paper by researchers from Cornell, University of Pennsylvania, and the University of North Carolina, creative ideas make people uncomfortable. via Freakonomics » Why We Desire But Reject Creative Ideas. Read more

Even the most wired classrooms know the screeching silence of that great technological dis: “Unable to Connect to Server.” It’s the 21st century classroom’s equivalent of nails on a chalkboard. But whether you’re trying to connect kids to learning in a fully loaded classroom or one with no technology – or even if it’s at… Read more