Expected Outcomes

Posts Tagged ‘Social Media’

I often wonder how people stay up-to-date on their social media tools.  Several times a month it seems like the Facebook look and feel gets tweaked.  I took a month long class on Facebook  during Q1 2011 and a lot of the information is already out of date.

This month I am taking a class that is easily 40 hours in length, not including my own study time in reviewing what I am learning, on social media tools.  I read at least 10 different newsletters that come to me daily and try to limit my research/learning time to no more than 4 hours daily.  After all, I do have a couple of businesses to manage and a dozen or so authors to return emails to daily.  When I read something new, or listen to a podcast that has something in it I have not heard before, I research it, the person saying it and then figure out how it integrates into my business and my consulting. How can a person who is running a business, writing a book or having a life stay up on all this?

Which tools do you use regularly? Please, share how you manage to stay up-to-date on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and the other tools by commenting on this post.

To me, challenges are opportunities.  What is a nearly insurmountable challenge to some businesses is an opportunity to me.  So as I talk to potential clients and customers about how blogging is the logical bridge between their business and their social media and the rest of the world, I am frequently asked by them, “What is your greatest challenge when blogging?”

Examples of blogging challenges -

• Writer’s block -

Everyone knows about writer’s block. But when you have been in business a while and know it like the street you live on, finding something to write about just comes naturally.  So that can be a challenge for some, but it is probably not the norm.

• Grammatical and contextual expertise -

Some people do not even know they have these challenges.  They go through life unaware of word spellings and proper grammar usage because they did not learn it in elementary school, nor was it corrected in the advanced studies.  Some people know they shortcomings in this area, but are at a loss as to how to correct the issue.

• Technical issues -

Which platform to be on – do they use Typepad, Blogger, WordPress hosted, WordPress self-hosted?

Once the platform decision is made, learning the tool and being able to insert galleries of pictures or a video or podcast can be challenging.

Internet connectivity can frequently be a challenge.  If your host has problems, you have a problem. Is your site slow to load? Are the pictures not the right size?  Do they not present well?

Is the blog part of your domain name and site or is it jury-rigged to your website?

So when I reflect on my answer to the question, I have two challenges.  Both are great opportunities and both feel like mountains to be climbed on any given day.

In a nutshell – my number 1 is SEO.  Keeping up with SEO (Search Engine Optimization) so that every article is completely optimized is challenging for nearly everyone.  I study and read and learn, but there is always more.  Just about the time I think I have it figured out, a major search engine adds something to their algorithm, changes a parameter, puts out some new direction they are using to judge our entries and there goes my learning curve ….again. Still everything I learn, as I learn it, opens more doors and provides greater opportunity.

Super Blogging - My other challenge relates to a site I have recently initiated for a group of writers.  I am the publisher of a travel site magazine, Striped Pot, with a dozen plus writers from around the nation and a few international writers.  These people are great travel writers and fabulous people.  But keeping them motivated, publishing articles, copy editing, technical issues, disseminating stats and keeping the site up and running smoothly is a little like herding cats or nailing jello to a tree.  How do I describe this challenge?  It is the best, most exciting opportunity and I am blessed many times over to have every one of these writers publishing. Welcome to super blogging!

What is your greatest challenge to blogging?  Let me know in the comments below.  And if expected outcomes can help turn it into opportunity for you, we will!

The social bookmarking site, Delicious – owned by Yahoo, may be either sold or shut down, leaving its users without a social bookmarking site.  Information was leaked this week after layoffs that affected Delicious and other tools Yahoo owns.  It was then reported on All Things Digital by Liz  Gannes.  Of all the products expected to be shutdown Delicious seems to have brought out the most angst among users, indicating its popularity.

Yahoo says they are still supporting the site and will let its users know if that changes.  I have bookmarks on Delicious.  Do you?  What do you think of losing Delicious?  Leave a comment below and state your case.

I did a search on Amazon.com, my favorite bookstore since I purchased a Kindle a few months ago — sadly, just before they dropped the price on the 2nd generation Kindle

I wanted to see if there were books I could recommend to my clients on Social Media Marketing.  I did all my homework – checking the “Look inside” and reading as much as I could tolerate of every book that had a title that sounded like my clients could take advantage of.  I would love to be the consummate pro, the complete answer to my clients’ needs, but the truth of the matter is, no one can be that for anyone.  People have to do some research on their own or pay an employee to do that.  Then they have to use that knowledge to advance their business marketing strategy. 

I am going to be reviewing, recommending and saying what I think of these books over the coming weeks and months.  Here are some social media marketing books I have checked into.  I have already done my preliminary analyzing. I will be offering reviews in the future. (I might add that I have added some business books and business-person products in a carousel in the sidebar that might be of interest as well)

When the sun comes out in Seattle, we all want to do more, see more, be more.  I, for one, am regularly accused of being solar-powered.  I feel very energized if I can get an afternoon on my deck in the sun.  How about you?

It has been a rough Spring and beginning of Summer here in Seattle.  The sun has not been as evident as it was last year.  But if you are like me and get your energy from the sun, think about capitalizing on that extra energy and getting into Social Media – for yourself, or your business, so that on the gloomy days you can be on your computer and capitalizing for your business. 

A blog is a great way to start that process too!  Many people think they must first get on Facebook, and then on LinkedIn and then on Twitter, when the first thing they might actually want to do is start blogging.  This past week I helped a writer – who has been a print freelance writer and relatively new to being an online writer – get her blog started.  We designed a custom blog site with her photos from some trips she has taken in the past, colors that pleased her eyes and a style that felt professional yet warm and friendly like her personality.  Check it out – http://travelsmartwithjodie.com.  She was unfamiliar with the WordPress platform and tools so we had a 2 hour phone consultation included in the development of her blogsite on how to use the tools.  She is blogging daily and excited over the possibilities.  When her new book is completed, she will be advertising and selling it on this blogsite as well.

Just one of the many ways to make the gloomier days in Seattle a little brighter!