Over the week we go through a lot of content - news and blog posts, how tos and conceptual posts on the state of the internet. Every Sunday we share some of our favourites with you.

Check out the links and let us know in the comments if you have any questions or if you read any great posts this week!

For this week and next, I’m on my own since Lara decided to take a much-deserved vacation.

Karen

I love when “boring” businesses call us for help. Because often, they aren’t nearly as boring as anyone thinks on the surface. Seeing businesses that show personality regardless of the product’s sex appeal is always great to see. (Hubspot)

We learned as kids not to judge a book by its cover, but your website/blog design really will get you judged. Here are a few rules to take into consideration when you’re considering your blog layout. (BloggingPro)

The nice thing about being a small business owner is that we don’t have to wade through the mire of corporate red tape before we decide to post to any social network. We just have to stay tuned in consistently enough to respond to the unexpected. (SmartBlog on Social Media)

I’ve had some interesting discussions this week around post-level insights on Facebook. There were extensive discrepancies in the numbers being reported. Then I found out that Facebook announced that there was a bug affecting insights. Here’s hoping this clears up the muddle.

Do you ever wonder how to make your content more interesting and memorable as a business? Learn to be a storyteller. (Web Ink Now)

The Media Mesh

Here’s what you might have missed from us this week:

Social Capital is looking for Speakers and Sponsors!

Writing bios that connect

Skip the gimmicks, share engaging content, and don’t annoy your fans

Chris Hadfield and the amazing world of technology

App of the Week

I used to highlight a different app each week that I enjoy using and this week I’m going to re-introduce the feature. The app I’m currently relying on heavily is Dropbox. I’ve finally got a place where all my data and files are backed up. Additionally, the syncing and sharing have been invaluable to Lara and me. We’ve dramatically reduced our use of Google Docs, which doesn’t have the more robust capabilities we need as a business that we can get from Microsoft Office.

Despite spending most of my days immersed in using and learning about new technologies, there are some days when I am in complete awe at what technology has made possible.

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield is currently on a five month mission leading Expedition 35 on the International Space Station.

While spending his time in space, Hadfield is doing something a bit differently than others who have gone before him - he’s sharing his experience with the world on a daily basis with social media.

Using Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube, he regularly shares what he’s seeing and what he’s learning. Not only that, he’s doing it in a fun and entertaining way. I am blown away not only by the fact that the technology for him to do this now exists, but also at his willingness to share so much (and how good he is at it).

He has run Reddit Q&As

He has done live feed events with University students and also with elementary school students

He produces fun videos on life in space

He tweets very regularly, sharing beautiful images from space

He updates his Facebook page

He tweets with Captain Kirk! (my favourite part about this story is that George Takei, Leonard Nimoy and Will Wheaton all got in on those tweets too :)

He writes music and then sings it with the Barenaked Ladies and a choir back on earth!

Ten years ago, “social media” didn’t exist. Today Chris Hadfield is sharing his adventures in space with 44,000 Facebook fans and 420,000 Twitter followers. Because of that, people like me know more about what is happening in space than we ever would have thought to learn before.

18,000 miles an hour - that’s how fast the space station is moving!! It orbits the earth 15 times a day! Just blows my mind!

Have you been following Chris Hadfield? What are your favourite new space facts? :)