8 New Social Articles on Business 2 Community |
- You’re Too Cool for Facebook
- Use Twitter to Brush Up On a Second Language
- How To Write A Blog And Make Money Doing It
- 7 Reasons Every Job-Seeker Needs to Blog
- How Long Should A Blog Post Be to Keep Your Audience Engaged?
- Building A Simple Social Media Dashboard with iGoogle
- Software to Drive Your Online Community
- Adding the Google Plus Share Button to PDFs [Video]
| Posted: 28 Jan 2012 02:15 PM PST
Why? (Soooooo glad you asked!) The way I see it, two things are keeping you from realizing what Facebook is and how to use it for business success. One, you're ignorant. You don't really know what Facebook is and why one out of every 11 minutes spent online is spent on Facebook. You have not taken the time to experiment with the tool yourself. You have not taken the time to read the multitude of articles available on how to use Facebook to make business friends and influence them. Two, you're lazy. Ok, lazy may be too harsh a word, but maybe you're just "too busy" doing all of the other things that you're doing to build business. Here's the thing. Your customers are on Facebook. People in your community. Professionals who share your interests. Members of your target markets and ideal prospective customers. All on Facebook. Without you. And all those moms and grandmas? Guess what? They're the ones making 80% of the purchasing decisions. Too cool for Facebook? It's like you got invited to a party but decided you were too cool for the venue. Your customers are there, and they'll try to miss you. On the other hand, maybe they'll simply make new friends!    |
| Use Twitter to Brush Up On a Second Language Posted: 28 Jan 2012 02:00 PM PST
1. Identify accounts tweeting in your language of choice (search the language to find them). 2. Add a few of the accounts tweeting in your language of choice to your favorite Twitter list so that your Twitter stream is sprinkled with tweets in the language you hope to polish. Study those tweets when they appear: look up the words you don’t know and look at how the words are phrased. Fácil. Eso es todo. (Easy. That’s it.) On the Subject of Twitter Lists I do, however, have a private Twitter list of my “content stars”, tracking accounts that consistently share good content. Why is it ’private’? I am vigilant and ruthless in maintaining this list: if the content doesn’t meet the mark, you’re off the list. I’d rather not hurt feelings, if anyone were to care. This list is a column in TweetDeck (I’ve begun testing the waters with Hootsuite) that is always up and where I look in throughout the day. It brings me the best content and, now, it has started to help me brush up on my Spanish. So I just thought I should share this tip. Buena suerte! (Good luck!) How to Create a Twitter List (or Shameless Promotion of One of My Niche Accounts)
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| How To Write A Blog And Make Money Doing It Posted: 28 Jan 2012 01:30 PM PST Is it really possible to make a living through Blogging? Yes. Many people have become multi millionaires, become respected news stories themselves and have gone on to found and develop large media companies as a result. So the fact of the matter is why can't you? In this post we will look at how to write a blog and make money doing it. Pete Cashmore started his blog from is bedroom in Scotland. Now Mashable receives 20 million unique monthly visitors, has over 580,000 subscribers and is one of the most respected sources for Internet and social media trends. Political website The Huffington Post was started by Arianna Huffington and sold to AOL for $315 million dollars. Another technology blog, Tech crunch, which covers technology start ups and web 2.0 was also sold to AOL in a reported multi-million dollar deal. So yes, there are many examples of now famous bloggers who started out small and have gone onto make huge fortunes through blogging. Of course these bloggers are engaging writers and have knowledge of an area that is in high demand. If your plan is to learn how to write blog and make money online then you will need to find your voice and know how to blog effectively. Because quite frankly if you have nothing interesting to say, then people are not going to start trawling your site to see pictures of your cat in a washing basket. How do you get Started Blogging?
Now you might think that sounds quite easy, but it is not! One huge myth that I feel the need to dispel right here is that just by starting a blog and writing a few posts you will not get thousands upon thousands of readers. Nor will you get hundreds of clicks to whatever affiliate product that you are trying to sell. There is no shiny new system on the internet that can bring you those people! Trust me, I have looked! That being said I will outline below 3 ways that bloggers make money through blogging. How to Write a Blog and Make Money Doing it – 3 Methods.
There are many ways to monetize your blog, however those methods might not fit your strategy. In fact you may be using your blog to build your brand and authority on certain subject matter so that over time you can grow a fan base, become recognized as a leader and as such make money through speaking engagements or by releasing your own products and continuity programs. So there you have it, How to write a blog and make money doing it. Ultimately the name of the game is consistency, quality and patience. By practising all three over time you will see a return on your investment either thorough advertising or developing your own business asset.   |
| 7 Reasons Every Job-Seeker Needs to Blog Posted: 28 Jan 2012 10:30 AM PST Have you ever considered the ways a blog can help you get a job? I meet a lot of young people entering the work force and I always recommend blogging as a way to get ahead … in almost any career. Here's why: 1. Show what you're made of. In any interview, you normally have to try to convince people that you know what you know. In a blog, you can SHOW them. Blog about current events in your industry, your view on trends and developments and demonstrate your areas of expertise. 2. Build a professional network. There are lots of examples where people found jobs through connections in a blog community. Just last week I helped connect a young woman into the professional marketing scene in Chicago because I was impressed with her blog. Your blog community can certainly become a professional network. 3. Engaging versus advertising. Let's face it. No matter how creative you get, a resume is still an advertisement. I struggle reading carefully through a lengthy resume. However, I will read interesting stories on a blog all day long. Compelling content is a way to engage prospective employers in a way that will hold their attention. 4. Point of differentiation. In today's world, blogging may be an expectation of many entry-level jobs. Demonstrating an ability to create content may just be the difference that gets you the job over a non-blogger. 5. Sharpen your professional skills. If you're going to blog about a subject, you need to know your stuff. Putting out thoughtful content requires that you stay on top of your game, which will certainly be an advantage to you, especially if the job-hunting process is a long one. 6. Expand your reach. Building your personal brand means showing up in all the places a prospective employer might find you. Of course that usually means LinkedIn. But having a link to a blog on your profile, as well displaying a feed of your recent blog posts, gives a potential employer stalking you on LinkedIn more ways to connect with you and learn about your skills. 7. Extend the interview. Here is the last thing you say to your interviewer: "I've enjoyed our time together but there is so much more I could tell you about my abilities. I hope you'll take a look at my blog (the web address is on my resume) so you can see for yourself the way I think about things." And you know what? They'll do it. You have just extended your interview by another 15-30 minutes and that may make all the difference! What do you think? How has blogging helped you in your professional life? Mark Schaefer is a marketing consultant, author and college educator who blogs at {grow}. You can also follow him on Twitter: @markwschaefer.   |
| How Long Should A Blog Post Be to Keep Your Audience Engaged? Posted: 28 Jan 2012 09:30 AM PST When people first step into the blogging arena there are many questions that seem to stop them in their tracks. Wondering what to write about and how long should a blog post be, to name but a few. In this post we are going to talk about post length and how it can impact the engagement of your readership. The first thing you need to consider is what is the goal of your post? By that I mean there should be a purpose for everything that you write. Is that purpose to build social currency, advertise a product or service, highlight your expertise or simply voice your grumblings? That will impact the length of your post. A product review will be longer than a personal grumbling, in contrast, writing a post in response to a comment you have received may be short, highlighting your expertise on a subject. If you have developed a loyal fan base then your readers will know what to expect. The chances are they will read your blog whether it is 1000 or 350 words. However for a new reader to your site, unless you have the ability to grab them by the proverbials from the headline, and then continue to present educational, enlightening and entertaining content, they may simply become another statistic in your bounce rates. With the proliferation of content available on the internet and the fact that many people prefer to opt for video or audio format over text then writing a blog post that is too long can be detrimental, however I still feel that a mix of both is natural. I want you to recall the last 5 conversations that you had. How long where they? 5 minutes, 10 minutes, an hour, 30 seconds? Where they all the same length? Unlikely. And that is my point. Conversations naturally take on different lengths of time dependent on the message or topic being discussed. That is how a naturally structured blog should look. Just enough words to deliver a compelling message through value adding content. How long should a Blog Post be for effective Search Engine OptimizationWhen writing blog posts, search engine optimization needs to be taken into consideration. Why? Because if you don't, then no new users will find your content. I am not suggesting for one second that you should write for the search engines before your readers, if you do then your readers will simply fall away! What I mean is search engines are the biggest source of traffic for most sites. If you neglect what the search engines want, the best possible answer to their customers' search queries, then the search engines will forget you and in fact might not even rank your post. To read more about SEO On Page Optimisation click on the link. How can you keep the new users on your site?If you have gone through all the hard work of getting people to your site then you need to know how to present your content so the readers follow all the way thought to the very last full stop. Get to the pointThere is nothing more frustrating than reading two paragraphs of text and taking absolutely nothing from it. So don't do it. Be clear on your point, make it and move on. Include sub headersSub headers are a great way to break up block after block of text. If titled well it allows the reader to skim the copy until they find exactly what it is they are looking for. Sub headers also help with your. Knowing how to blog effectively will mean you will not worry about the length of the post you will focus all your energies on delivering your message with clarity. So, How Long should a Blog Post be. Does Size really Matter?Personally I don't get too hung up on the length of the blog post. What I aim for is to deliver on what I set out to do and that is to provide relevant and compelling information on the title of the blog post that I am promoting. There are some posts on my blog of 450 words and others of 1500 words plus. Other opinions suggest that a blog post should be around the 500 word mark. I guess what I am trying to say is there is no definitive answer. Just give your audience what you said you would and the length of the blog post will not matter.   |
| Building A Simple Social Media Dashboard with iGoogle Posted: 28 Jan 2012 09:00 AM PST When you start monitoring social conversations it takes a while to figure out which words and phrases return the most relevant content. There are many excellent subscription tools available, but until you have narrowed down your search terms and brand terms, it's a smart idea to use a free tool. iGoogle is one easy-to-create and easy-to-use dashboard. Here's how to do it:
Brand names, competitors, descriptive phrases about your products, and so on. 7. Now add feeds of content to each tab. 8. In a new browser window go to the web, news and social search engines and do a search for the brand names and phrases you have chosen to monitor. You can use Yahoo News, IceRocket, Social Mention or Topsy. (If you use Icerocket or Topsy remember to adjust the language you want to see.) 8. Find the RSS feed for each search. You may have to hunt around the page, but it will be there. 9. Click that link and follow the instructions to add it to your Google Homepage And voila! Once you have added all the search feeds from news, blogs, twitter etc., you should have a dashboard that looks something like this Monitor these feeds of conversations every day for two weeks. Make a spreadsheet and keep track of conversations that are particularly relevant or the people who talk about you or your competitors often, very positively or negatively. This simple dashboard will help you organize your listening efforts. If you analyze the content it will also be a great tool for learning what people are saying about you and how you should respond. Once you have narrowed down the conversations and the people you need to follow you can upgrade to a paid dashboard. You can use the phrases and feeds you know to be relevant and use a smarter tool for long term monitoring and social intelligence gathering.   |
| Software to Drive Your Online Community Posted: 27 Jan 2012 04:40 PM PST Social Engine is a company determined to stay on the cutting edge. The web-based software powers more than 8,000 community sites (social networks, online communities or websites). But the company's philosophy goes much further than just being the community software development platform of choice. It's based on the philosophy that the community is the best arbiter of what's useful and relevant, and it backs up that claim by allowing any developers to manipulate the source code or even the front end code. "Our platform is 100% customizable. We don't limit third-party developers as to how they can customize our software," explains Community Manager Jasper Aguila. And developers are taking advantage of it. Out of all of the social networking software on the market, Social Engine boasts the most plug-ins—nearly 600 and counting. Some of them are very creative, such as Social DNA/OpenID Connect, which allows users to create a social hub around a member's social identity on a website. The Community Ads Plug-in lets users create targeted ad campaigns on their sites that include classified ads, events and videos, and it integrate with Social Engine's payment system, so it can charge users for ads based on clicks, views or days, with different pricing models. Then there is the Directory/Pages plug-in, which lets you create a directory system for businesses, products, activities, etc., with navigation and search engine optimized pages. And that's just three of nearly 600. Social Engine is doing well in its category, but it plans to continue innovating. Up next, Aguila says, is finding a way to get on the curation bandwagon. Curation—a way of filtering content effectively based on user preferences and other factors—is a hot concept right now. In January, for example, Twitter acquired Summify, which helps user filter their social media streams. Twitter surely plans to use some aspects of Summify's technology in its own site. "We're committed to keep evolving with the web, and since Web 3.0 will be all about curating content, that's where we want to be," Aguila said.   |
| Adding the Google Plus Share Button to PDFs [Video] Posted: 27 Jan 2012 03:30 PM PST With the rise of Google+, it is important to allow your audience to share your content on this social network. If you rely on PDF documents for brand awareness and lead generation activities, adding Google+ share buttons will allow to increase the reach of your content. See video below for the tutorial Step by Step:
Also here is another helpful tutorial from Dino Dogan. Have you added the Google+ button to your PDFs? If you know of any other cool tricks, let us know in the comments below! The Ultimate Guide to Social Media for Small Business   |
I have a few acquaintances and even family members who think it's some sort of badge of honor that they aren't on Facebook. When we talk 'business' they lean back and with a disdainful look on their face proudly assert that they aren't on Facebook, and they never will be. I read the dumb comments about how Facebook is just for grandmas to look at pictures that moms post and how "that's all it's good for."
Many moons ago, I spent a wonderful semester in Sevilla, Spain studying Spanish…among other things. Since then, I have struggled to keep and expand my aptitude for the Spanish language. Very recently, it dawned on me that I should use Twitter to help me in my quest (like the tie to the photo!). Here’s how:
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