Heya!

I've been wondering where you'd gone.  :)

My interest are probably a bit different from most, but I'd really be interested in seeing a story about *how* you do your job.  You buy cell phones for the largest company in the world - how do you decide which ones you think will be right for our customers?  Do you test them out before hand?  Do you get to bring them home for a week to really give 'em a work out?  Do you get to play with them on a regular basis before they're released?  Do you throw darts at a dartboard and randomly pick items to carry (I think there are some buyers that actually do that... ;)

Also, I think this could be a great way to let us know about upcoming models of phones we can expect to see in stores and *why* you choose them over all others.

I look forward to checking out what you have to offer.  Thanks!  -Richard

Actually, blogging is not hard work if you truly have a passion for your subject (I believe you do, so this is not a slam on you). If you do love your subject, the words will flow and there is no need to be funny or interesting. Your passion will come through naturally and people will be drawn in.

You guys have a huge platform here to express yourselves and I hope you'll continue to update and utilize the opportunity that many of us could only dream of.

AL

When will we be able to offer customers Cellular South phone service in our Connection Centers? Or even better when will the expanded inventory service be available again?

Thanks for the advice.  I am slowly coming to realize it really is all about passion...and that your topics may not be everyone's cup of tea.  I am honestly relieved that there is no need to be funny or interesting, because as anyone can tell that is a tall order for this hombre.  Thanks again for the advice.

Clay -- Email me directly for questions about the business.  But we will not be carrying Cell South in Walmart in the foreseeable future.

Clay -- Email me directly for questions about the business.  But we will not be carrying Cell South in Walmart in the foreseeable future.

I agree wit you 100%.  When I bouht a new BlackJack II, I started a blog to give people tips and ideas on how to to things with the phone and what I found interesting.  After about three months, I covered all the new stuff about this phone and I struggled to come up with compelling topics.  Hang in there.

As far as what I think you should blog about, being a Wal-Mart rep, I would say it would be cool to blog about different gadgets that Wal-Mart (and Wal-Mart online) sells.  I generally have some disposable income ready and am looking for neat stuff to buy.  I look to two gadget blogs (Gizmodo and Engadget) to find new stuff.  I know Wal-Mart probably has lots of cool stuff, but it is too onerous to find it online if you don't have a specific item you are looking for.

So my vote is to find cool stuff that Wal-Mart sells so I can find out about them.

Blogging itself isn't too difficult as long as you enjoy and have a lot of knowledge paired with the passion about the topic you are writing about. The tricky part is getting your material exposed to masses of people. Growing a blog is much more difficult that writing on it.

You are in a much better position that thousands of other bloggers who start from scratch. I remember when Check Out blog first launched and I thought to myself that it was about time one of these leading corporations decided to get smart with launching a blog.

Blogging is very powerful and can easily be a very cost effective form of advertising. While Walmart pays big bucks for television commercials, they too also NOW recognize the effective and affordable power of marketing the business with a blog. It would be great to see other leading corporations follow the lead of Walmart and start blogging.

As far as topics go, I think the blogging team here could make better use of YouTube and also step out of the box a little further and not feel so restricted with the topics to write about. A lot of the times when I read the blog I feel as if you are very limited with what you can say.

Overall though, I think you as well as the rest of the editors are going very well. Let your guard down a little bit and if the big boss man doesn't approve of your post, then let that conversation in itself be your next post and watch it go viral. lol ;)

Oh I absolutely hear you on the hard work! I love every minute of blogging and the social media initiative for "corporate" but sometimes we all need a little wind!  I've enjoyed your blog from a corporate inspiration standpoint (not much of a gadget girl myself) so keep up the good work! (and send a little wind my way, won't you?) :)