Why I Started MarkTzk.com

by Mark Tosczak on July 15, 2008 · 6 comments

I promised yesterday I would write a longer post about why I started this blog. This is that post.

So, why did you start this blog?

I have four main reasons for starting this blog:

To create value for others by creating content that’s useful, informative and entertaining.
To express myself creatively through writing, pictures and other forms of content.
To conduct experiments in online marketing and social media and further develop my expertise in those areas.
To build my brand as an expert communicator and a marketing and public relations strategist.You had a blog, thoughtsignals.com, for years. Why go to all the trouble of creating a new one?

I blogged at thoughtsignals off and on for almost eight years (and wiped it clean and restarted it several times, which is why you don’t see eight years of posts there). But thoughtsignals was originally intended to be an outlet for whatever I happened to be thinking about. As a result, it was rather unfocused.

I decided the best way to bring focus to my blogging was to start over. MarkTzk.com may evolve over time, but it will focus on the topics that are important in my professional life – marketing, management, productivity, writing and other stuff. Included in “other stuff” are things like what I think about the news media, tips on creativity, social media, business strategy and more.

What’s with the name, MarkTzk?

Well, the first part is my first name, Mark. My last name is Tosczak. (It’s pronounced with the ‘s’ and ‘c’ silent, and a long ‘o’ and short ‘a’. So think “toe,” as in your big toe, plus “Zach,” as in Zachary.)

After spelling my last name almost every day for more than three decades, I’ve learned that most people have trouble with it. And if you can’t spell it, it’s not going to a very good URL. And even if they can spell it, people often have trouble pronouncing. So Tzk is a very rough phonetic spelling of my last name.

MarkTzk is also my Gmail address and my Twitter ID, so it’s easy to remember.

OK, is there anything I can do?

Three things:

First, please subscribe, either by putting your email address in the subscribe form over there on the right hand side to get a once-a-day email with the latest blog posts in it, or by subscribing to the RSS feed in your feed reader.

Second, please comment. Leave a comment in the comments below this post, or below other posts that interest you. Or email me a comment privately if you prefer. My email address is over there on the left side of the page. Any feedback you provide can help make this a better site for everyone.

Third, if you’re on Facebook or LinkedIn and we’re not connected, please Friend me or Link to me. And if you’re on Twitter, you can find me there at http://www.twitter.com/marktzk.

P.S.

By the way if you blog, and I know you, and I haven’t put you under my list of bloggers I know, please email me and I will correct that oversight.