North x East is a blog about best blog business practice. After a few minutes of reading, there was enough subtle humor to keep our attention. And we had a favorable score in theirEmail Habits quiz too. Also, it is clear that if for any reason the author, Collis Ta'eed, doesn't hit the major leagues, then anyone with half a brain who reads and implements his ideas surely will. We will have some of that.

What's in a name?

The name, pronounced North by East, relates to the direction your profits go over time if you are doing things right. Although it is a snappy title, for the record, the recently conceived North x East is not quite as original a name as it seems. Its antithesis is SouthxSouthWest, a web design show that has been in existence a few years now.

Maybe opposites attract though, because there is plenty of evidence in the clean layout of North x East to suggest that Collis knows how to put a blog together. Very clean and tidy and well organised, especially the comments in the sidebar of each article.

The content of North x East.

The blog's content should appeal to anyone at sxsw or at all points of the compass interested in websites and website promotion. Apparently it has been up and running a few weeks only, but there is plenty of evidence to suggest that the man from Down Under knows how to write. And he is turning out a couple of articles a day, so he clearly likes to write too. A good combination. This time next year, it will be a hefty on-line tome.

The tone of posts

In general it is a serious subject, marketing, and business. Of course it shouldn't be treated like fluff, else it doesn't add up to much, but many people miss the point, thinking that business is different from any other aspect of real life. This is evident when you come across writers who feel the need to dress up basic tenets with jargon and stats. For no reason, topics that should only take a few minutes to absorb suddenly become University degrees.

As pisstakers, we definitely prefer the lighter side of stodge when it comes to learning about anything. North x East delivers! There are a lot of insightful posts too, especially good are the bullet point ideas for promoting blogs, getting free traffic... The article on blogs being too easy to create was also right up our street.

Will the posts last?

I suspect the content of these first posts is evidence of pent-up long held knowledge that he is now splurging out with ease onto the internet. What will happen when he has covered his primary ideas? Writer's block? Probably not, judging by his inquisitive mind, already planting the seeds for a look into indexing bots. And there is plenty of research going on too with mini reviews of software to help out bloggers, so I suspect the volume and standards won't drop. (But if his blog goes by the wayside, according to one of his own posts, he will have plenty of company.)

Conclusion about North x East

As long as the standards are maintained and it stays focussed, there are only good times ahead for North x East. Let's hope he practices what he preaches and what he preaches pays off in practice too.

We have submitted our natty theme to a few web design galleries - one of his ideas - so let's see what happens with that good tip. Of course, Collis knows a thing or two about galleries, as he is the brains behind a stock Flash website Flash Den. See, cross pollination of blogs and other online presences is another great tactic!