I have to rant for a few minutes about the whole Facebook - Friends You May Know feature. I can honestly say that out of the dozens of people that pop up in that little box, I’ve known 3 and only been inclined to add 1. Who are these people? Where do they come from? Why does Facebook think that I want to be friends with these strangers? I find it all very odd.
On a happier note - FlogBlog on my Facebook profile is finally updating after months of staleness, so I’m pretty excited about that. However, I just noticed that its not FlogBlog anymore. Now its Simplaris Blogcast. Who knows? At least its working.
Enough ranting. Have a great night!
Posted on Aug 11, 2008 under Beth's Obs, Blogging, Kool Toolz |
Happy Monday everyone! It’s a lovely day here in the DC burbs and I’m giving a little thought to my Monday morning routine (which is really my daily morning routine). Setting aside the household “must dos” (like letting the dogs out, cleaning up any mess from the night before, sending my hubby to work, etc.) how do I get the most from my AM time? I will admit that I am not a morning person and I’ve started sleeping in a little later in order to catch up on some much needed R&R. So, I’m usually not coherent until 10AM. Most of my friends are up at the crack of dawn, but I am much better in the evening hours.
I am looking for a little advice (and getting up earlier ain’t happening) so here’s my plan. May there are a few tips you could share to help me streamline my tasks?
- Check my news and blog feeds. I have a gazillion of these set-up and really find value in all of them for different reasons. The problem is, this morning I’m looking at about 414 posts to go through. I prefer the Feeds option offered by Flock, so I’m not sure whether there is a more useful tool out there. Is there a more effective way to manage feeds that you can share with our readers?
- Write my blog posts. I currently write for 5 blogs with more on the way. One is weekly and the rest are daily. I know that I need a better work flow for blogging and should really study Chris Brogan’s blogging work flow. It’s a great process.
- Check for RFPs. Until I get my business really moving, I’m checking the web for RFPs (got one on my desk that’s due Friday). Looking for blog help, small web development projects and the likes. What I find here lays out the rest of my week.
- Return phone calls. Inevitably, I need to return calls from Friday.
During the week, I do a little of this, but Monday AM is by far the time suck for catching up. During the week I tweet, blog, write proposals, write technical docs, write strategy docs, prepare for speaking gigs, etc. My latest endeavor is setting up a GoodDogz.org presence in Second Life. So, my weeks are busy.
I guess I’m just a sucker for time management and am looking for some suggestions/tools for managing my freelancer time.
I am in the process of writing a social marketing plan for GoodDogz.org. We launched our new website about 2 weeks ago and, without any type of promotion, started immediately receiving blog comments, new NING community members, new LinkedIn group members, etc. It was truly amazing to see how quickly the new social aspects of the site snowballed. Adding these tools to a non-profit site was easy, cheap and effective. Here’s what we added:
That’s it. By adding those 4 tools, we were able to quickly gain more interaction with our audience, more interest and ultimately better resources for our users.
The next step is to create a strategy for promoting and using these tools. Although we were lucky enough to have “built it and they came”, a strategic plan is important to not only establish engagement but maintain an audience of loyal users who will come back often and participate in the conversation. More to come on that and I would love to hear the ideas of others on getting the word out.
Posted on Aug 02, 2008 under Beth's Obs, Blogging |
I had a client ask me, “How often should I blog?” I immediately rose high to my blogger pedestal and answered, “You really should be blogging daily, certainly no less than weekly. You have to remember, it’s all about engagement.” To which he said, “We’re a group of attorneys with full case loads. How in the world can I commit to blogging daily?” At the end I acquiesced and told him that if they could blog weekly, they would be in a better position than they are now - which is blogging less than monthly - and that we could track to see how that was helping their SEO, conversion, etc.
Yesterday, I thought about this conversation again, and looked at my own blog. How pathetic that I feel so comfortable wagging my finger at the client for not blogging daily while I can barely push out a post a week. My stats have gone down (I think as StatPress seems to have stopped working), my feeds have dropped off - I am a pathetic little soul.
The truth is - you (and I) should blog as often as possible. Yes, it’s good to have a blog plan and work flow, but hey - sometimes you just have something to say. Instead of waiting for that prophetic thought to come to mind - blog about the little things as well as the major stories in your life, business or organization.
I made the life decision to abandon the cushiness of predictable, full-time, salaried employment to venture out into the world of freelance consulting again. My hope is that I can blog, write, consult and help organizations better utilize web and emerging technology. But, all in all, I look forward to getting back out there, on my own terms, and finding the opportunities to do what I love the best - marrying people who need technology with the most effective solutions.
As I step down from my pedestal, I vow that if you give me the rest of the weekend off, I will practice what I preach and blog, blog, blog!
I couldn’t decide whether to blog about this or to download these first…so I downloaded them first.
Mashable.com, my personal fave blog for social media goodies and news published a fantastic list of plug-ins for anyone running a Wordpress blog. I just downloaded the plug-ins that I didn’t have and took a pause so that I could share. Take a look at the list and let me know what you think!
20+ Must-Have Wordpress 2.5 Compatible Plug-Ins
Posted on Jul 05, 2008 under Blogging, General Social Media |
As most of us have heard, the Associated Press (AP) have come down hard on bloggers. There are certainly varying opinions on who is right and who is wrong in this situation. But I think that the bottom line is that bloggers need to be more vigilante about researching and learning the guidelines for publications. I am a firm believer in the First Amendment and understand that blogging is a new and gray area. But, let’s face it, we don’t want to be sued or worse for something that we’ve written. Here are a few helpful articles on how these guidelines are now being handled (and I hope that I don’t go to jail for linking to them):
I’m also reading We’re All Journalists Now, which so far has been a pretty interesting read.
Please share your thoughts.
A Sample Blogging Workflow | chrisbrogan.com
Chris Brogan blogged recently about blogging workflow - which boils down to - you want a company or organizational blog - now what? This is really chocked full of sweet, tasty tips and advice. Thanks, Chris!
Posted on Jun 13, 2008 under Blogging, General Social Media |
This book is a must for all up and coming bloggers - We’re All Journalists Now by Scott Gant. Good book that was chatted up on NPR about 6 months ago. Pertains to how the law is reshaping to keep up with the internet.
Many thanks to WeTV.com for giving me the opportunity to blog about animal welfare. My new blog just launched and it looks great. Fantastic job WeTV! Check me out!
So you’ve set-up your social network - Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Fickr, Twitter - now what? One of the critical paths to success within a social network is participation. Social networking does not to adhere to the “if you build it, they will come” mentality. You must engage your audience and participate in the conversation. Blog regularly. Comment on the blogs of others. Comment on Facebook “walls”. Comment on the photos of others. Reach out to your constituency and understand their needs. Then, do what you can to support them through regular discussion. Share your ideas. Spend a little time everyday feeding and tending to your network. Social = human interaction. People want to be seen, heard and be part of something bigger than them. By talking with your audience, your social network is sure to thrive and grow.
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Beth consults with businesses and non-profits on social media tool selection and strategy and helps her clients find effective ways to leverage these new mediums to meet business goals.