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Building a Brand through Social Media - IM Spring Break

If you wanted to know how to use Build a Brand Using Social Media then this session was the one to attend. Jeff Quipp, Brian Chappell and Li Evans were an amazing combo…. Together they were the perfect mixture of How-to, tips, suggestions, visuals….. absolutely all the facts needed to give you a good start in Branding.

Jeff Quipp discussed the How-to’s of branding by going into great detail on what Social Media can do for Branding. Brian Chapell added his thoughts and tips on monitoring your brand and Li Evans finished off this amazing session on Building a Brand with video and photo sharing.

All three speakers made sure to cover everything from the most basic to more complex. They gave us the social media recipe to whip up the best branding dish for any company…. large or small.

Here how it all went down…

First up was Jeff Quipp

Define Your Brand - How do you want your Brand to stand out?

Many Businesses often wonder what Social Media can do for them. Jeff did a really great job at explaining this in great detail.

Social Media Helps….

Create awareness of the Brand
Communicate the Company’s / Product’s Key Messages
Instill trust in the brand
Naturally propagate the crafted message(s)

He goes on to explain the 3 Steps to Branding via Social Media

List the Key Messages
Determine the best content formats to convey your messages (video, audio, text)
Craft the content - Must support the key messages you wish to convey…. at least for branding purposes.
- "just in time" blogging
- make the news- do something sensational!
- resource/educational posts
- the message must reflect positively on the company!!!
Determine the best Social Media to Employ
Test the Content
- If the Key is in getting others to carry the chosen messages forward…. test it first (if its not news)
  - StumbleUpon Ads
Refine content and retest

Using the solicited feedback, refine the content. Retest, again soliciting feedback.

Network to Promote
- Get involved in the chosen social media
- start befriending others and promoting their GOOD content
- Be sure to promote good content!!!
- Seek out key influencers and particularly support their stuff.

Brian Chappell was up next

Brian immediately reminds us that "You have to make sure you know your target audience…. otherwise you are wasting your time. Social Media is not a salt shaker. You can’t apply social media marketing tactic onto regular strategies to see success. Social media can not be an after thought…. has to be thought of at the core of marketing initiatives."

You need to be creative…. there is no cookie cutter approach to Social Media.

Brian urges us to extend our brand off of our site…. secure names elsewhere so no one tarnishes our brand. He suggests Streko’s site CheckUserNames.com as a good place to do this.

Must Monitor & Interact in Real time

Social Monitoring Benefits:

Product Development
Customer Service
SEO / Marketing Initiatives
Monitor your Competition

Don’t forget about SEO

Empower your customers - Let them build the ad, create your idea and implement new product offerings.

Next up was Li Evans

Building a brand through Social Media - Through Video & Photo Sharing

I love that Li went into using Video & Photo Sharing to build a brand through Social Media. For someone like me who is very visual I can understand the importance of branding this way.

Li starts with, "So you have serps and links….now what? How do you get people to remember you?"

Branding is essential. Even your avatar is important. Li reminds us that our avatar is who we are…this is how people relate to us.

Tips

Make sure your avatar is your brand.
Make sure your pictures are saying things about your brand
Start your own group and encourage people to share their pictures / videos and join the group.
Extend your brand and talk to the people that are part of the group.
Bring influence of the brand into the picture.
Don’t forget the Tags!!
Keep your marketing consistent - ex. icon / logo on videos and photos
Brand your Channels - w/ consistent colors
No matter how small your company Branding Matters!!
Don’t forget about branding even in Local.
Optimizing is fundamental
Research where your audience is.

**YouTube - YouTube beats Yahoo for searches. That’s pretty cool. And, it shows us how important videos can be in Search.**

Li ends with saying that “Branding and Being Social Is Key”

So, as you can see it was another amazing session at IM Spring Break. Follow the Branding Recipe that Jeff Quipp, Brian Chappell and Li Evans suggested and I have no doubt you will be off to a great start with using Social Media for Branding purposes.

Posted in Conferences, SEM, Social Bookmarking, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, StumbleUpon, Tips and Tutorials, Web 2.0 | 2 Comments »

Leveraging Social News and Bookmarking at IM Spring Break

Tuesday, April 7th, 2009 | im-spring-break

This session was amazing. It reminded me a lot like a baseball line-up. Before you start thinking that I totally lost my mind let me explain a bit why I say this.

First up to speak was Neal Rodriguez. And, speak he did!!

In baseball the first player in the line-up is generally a person that is fast. A player that has a great potential to steal bases. He gets the rest of the line-up motivated and ready to play their hearts out. And, this is what I feel Neal did during this session. He motivated the audience and got them ready for the rest of the game.

Seriously, he could have been talking about cleaning the lint out of my laptop keys and I would have listened intently to everything he said. He had me wanting to stand up and cheer with excitement just by listening to his passion and watching him talk about something he felt strongly about.

Social Media in the Grind ‘09

Neal explains how Social News is directory that’s unbelievable. Social News are the stories that make you go "WTF!"

Unbelievable is part of the ingredients to the entire recipe. Stories need to be compelling and controversial.

Assault the reader!!

Make your reader say, "Hell Yeah!"

To Do that:

Do your homework - Study sites that make the front page frequently. * Di66.net *
Reciprocity - Help your fellow socialites. The Key to any relationship. * Source - DiggStatistics.com *

Neal reminds us that "The More you do the better your will get at it."

In baseball the middle of a line-up has the power hitters. These are the baseball players that have a great chance of getting a home run. These are the players you can count on for giving you what you came to the baseball park to see. In this case that is David Snyder and Todd Malicoat.

David Snyder spoke about "How not to utilize Social News and Bookmarking"

He reminds us that the keyword is "Social". Social News & Bookmarking exist as a place to center conversations and sharing around content. And, the end user is the most important part of this process.

How Social News and Bookmarking can be used by marketers….

Not an end means, but a tool to increase visibility of content, and conversation around content.
You get what you give from Social Media

DON’T

Hire people for pushes where you pay based on the outcome
"Push" content without first thinking about the community
Approach social bookmarking as a business looking to engage.

The next power hitter up to bat was Todd Mailicoat

He spoke about "How to sell social media marketing for in house SEO’s"

Show a Competitor
- fear
- uncertainty
- doubt
- greed
Show the Stats
- digg
- delicious
- reddit
- stumble
- buzz propeller
Introduce the Concept - The plan
Show the Value
- Explain the Value of the links
  - theme value
  - power source
  - outbound links
  - unique linking domains
  - placement
  - age
- Explain why link baiting and viral marketing
  - global link popularity
  - sometimes anchor text (based on title)
  - Better Rankings
  - Links competitors can’t get
Close the Concept
Add the Bonus - lots of traffic and branding
- such as premium content

So, as you can see this entire session was amazing….. it kept me on my toes wanting to start the wave.. All three speakers hit the ball out of the park and kept the audience happy and cheering for more. No doubt in my mind…. A Win!!

Posted in Conferences, SEM, Social Bookmarking, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking, Web 2.0 | 2 Comments »

Chris Winfield Rocked the IM Spring Break Opening Keynote

Thursday, April 2nd, 2009 | im-spring-break

It is Day 1 of IM Spring Break here in beautiful Deerfield Beach, Florida. And, Dave Snyder, Loren Baker and Jordan Kasteler have an entertaining and educational day planned out for us. Day 1 of IM Spring Break is dedicated to Social Media…. which I am totally excited about.

First off was Chris Winfield’s Keynote. Chris is the President and Co-Founder of 10e20. His Keynote was absolutely the perfect way to open up Day 1 of IM Spring Break. Chris spoke about Social Media in Business brilliantly…. I love how passionate and excited it was to speak about it…. Totally motivating. It was awesome to hear him speak.

Chris began his keynote by announcing that Social Media Marketing in Business is way more than just Facebook and Twitter.

Social Media is one big conversation.

Now, this is when Chris gets into the true nitty gritty of Social Media Marketing in Business. He begins talking about the question that many of us as Social Media Marketers have heard asked hundreds of times….

Why would a Business Want to get involved in Social Media?

A business should get involved in Social Media for a number of reasons. Such as,

achieve recognition with a wider audience
create/ improve reputation
enhance credibility
attract evangelists
public relations
link attraction
traffic

Ok, so now we know why businesses should get involved in Social Media. But then what? What types of Social Media should Businesses get involved in?

No worries… Chris covered that as well. And, in great detail.

Types of Social Media Businesses should get involved in

Blogs
MicroBlogs (Twitter)
Social Networking
- Myspace
- Facebook - Facebook Ads & Facebook Pages
- Niche Social Networks
Online Videos (YouTube)
Forums & Groups
Photo Sharing - (flickr & photobucket)
Yahoo Answers
Online Review
Wiki’s
Social News and Bookmarking Sites

Even after going into great detail on all of that Chris then went into making sure people know who you / your business are.

Let people know where you are

Have your social links in your email signature
Include your social networks on mailing lists
On the business web site make sure you have links to where people can locate you online…. your other social networks / profiles.

Chris then goes into how to build up a network of people online.

How to build up a network of people

Check their website - many websites list where you can find them on other social networks.
Go to digg & other social sites’ profile page and see if they list their other social networks there
on social sites there is usually a way to direct message them
go to conferences and talk to them and find out how to connect with them.

Chris finishes his keynote by reminding us that, "Social Media is opportunity for you!!!"

Posted in Conferences, Social Bookmarking, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking | 3 Comments »

Spring is in the Air…. Can you spell Spring Break??

Thursday, March 5th, 2009 |

I’ve been kind of out of the loop for a few months. I’ve been dealing with some family issues and lowered my social media work load a bit so I could deal with the issues. Things are beginning to get easier and I am beginning to be able to find some breathing room. Winter was difficult and long, but happily Spring is on its way and I totally can’t wait for it to arrive.

Spring brings new hope for me and also brings warmer weather, beautiful flowers, leaves on the trees, fresh air and the sounds of children playing outside. April brings May flowers. But, there is something else that April will bring to the Search and Internet Marketing community… A conference that is one of the most talked about, anticipated and affordable conferences in Search. Not sure what I’m referring to??? Well, let me spell it out for you….

I - Internet Marketing - Three days of Internet Marketing focused education and networking in beautiful Florida. Sounds good to me.

M - Money - This Search Conference is only $370, but is packed with 3 days of awesome sessions and great parties. At this cost it’s a steal!!

S - Social Media and SEO Days. A day will be spent on each. And the Speakers on those days Rock. Speakers include Kenny Hyder, Greg Finn, Brent Csutoras, Reg Saddler, Todd Mailcoat, Neal Rodriguez, Li Evans, Jeff Quipp, Brian Chappell, Carolyn Shelby, Wil Reynolds, Rhea Drysdale, Steve Plunkett and Rae Hoffman. Day 1 Moderator - Jordan Kasteler and Day 2 Moderator – Loren Baker. I told you they rocked, didn’t I?!

P - Poker Tournament - There is a Poker Tournament on the first night. You never know how that will turn out, but you know it will be a good time!!

R - Rhea Drysdale - She will be speaking during SEO day and I’m totally looking forward to this. Not just because I’m hoping that she will appear as SheRa, but also because I was lucky enough to meet Rhea a few months back and I think she’s wonderful, but have yet to hear her speak. So, I can’t wait for that.

I - Information - You can count on learning plenty of new and useful information from the speakers who happen to be some of the best-of-the-best in our industry.

N - Networking - Oh, Yeah!! This conference will have tons of chances to network with the speakers, monitors and other colleagues in our field. This conference is small, only a few hundred attendees, that makes the chances you will be able to spend some time with the speakers quite likely.

G - Goals - They have two main Goals with their events. 1. be the best value in Internet Marketing conferences and events; 2. to provide the best education and networking mix available in an Internet Marketing conference. Sounds great to me.

B - Beerlympics - Okay, I’ll admit it….. I have no idea what this actually is, but I’m dying to find out. I have no doubt that the Beerlympics will be one of the highlights of the entire event.

R - Rae Hoffman - I have yet to have heard Rae Hoffman speak nor have I been fortunate enough to meet her at any other conference. But, I love her blog and I’m hoping to get to meet her at this event. Not only is she speaking at this conference she is also doing the Keynote on day 3.

E - Entire Event - Hello?! Have you not been paying attention?? Check out what I mentioned thus far….. This event ROCKS!!

A - Affiliate Marketing Day - Affiliate Marketing Day is day 3 of this conference and it is sure to be a great day of sessions!! Check out the speakers…. Michael Streko, Aaron Chronister, Rae Hoffman, Frank Watson, Brandy Eddings, David Szetela, Chris Hart , Pamela Lund and Tony Adam. Moderator – David Snyder

C - Community - Many of the attendees are part of the online communities that you frequent on a daily basis. This is your chance to network with these members face-to-face. And, meet other members of the community that you have yet got a chance to get to know online. This is a great way to build up your friends in the online community…. by meeting them face-to-face.

K - Keynotes - 3 Amazing Keynotes by impressive members of the Search and Internet Marketing Community.

Day 1- Chris Winfield
Day 2 - Neil Patel
Day 3 - Rae Hoffman will be giving the NDA Keynote

I-M S-P-R-I-N-G B-R-E-A-K

So, if you haven’t figured it out already….. I am talking about the IM Spring Break Conference coming up next Month. It takes place from April 2-4 in beautiful Boca Raton, Florida. Like I mentioned earlier the cost is so reasonable at $370 for the entire 3 day conference. And, if you use the code SEO when booking the hotel it will only cost you $119.00 per night. Totally an awesome price.

Check out the IM Spring Break Sessions….. they sound wonderful, don’t they?!

So what are you waiting for? Go buy your tickets now for IM Spring Break!! Hope to see you there.

Posted in Conferences, Parties, SEM, SEO, Social Bookmarking, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Sphinn, Tips and Tutorials, Web 2.0 | 7 Comments »

I get back to Social Media Basics on Hobo Blog

Thursday, August 28th, 2008 |

I wrote my first ever guest post over at Hobo SEO Blog. No, It’s not about SEO….. it’s about my true love, Social Media.

Shaun asked if I would write a post on how to get involved in Social Media and I couldn’t be more thrilled. I don’t write about the basics of Social Media often enough. I have a tendency to get too advanced or talk about special techniques. It was nice to get back to the basics.

Social Media can be very intimidating for many, so I broke down the process into four steps making the process a bit easier to handle.

Figuring out what you want to get out of Social Media
Creating your Profiles
Learning the Community
Becoming an Active Part of the Community

So, check out my guest post and let me know what you thought.

Posted in Blogging, Guest Posts, Mixx, SEO, Social Bookmarking, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking, Sphinn, StumbleUpon, Tips and Tutorials, Twitter, Vlogging, Web 2.0, Web 2.0 Basics | 9 Comments »

A Recap of my 1st Wonderful Year using StumbleUpon

Monday, August 4th, 2008 |

Happy 1st Anniversary StumbleUpon

July marked my first anniversary being a member of the StumbleUpon Community. It has been an incredible year for me. I have met some wonderful, wonderful people. And, I have stumbled across and discovered some truly amazing websites. Sites that if it wasn’t for StumbleUpon I probably wouldn’t have come across them in the first place.

I spent this past weekend going through my stumbles over the past year. It was a lot of fun to see the sites and my reviews over the past year. There were tons and tons of Stumble-Reviews to go through…. After all, at the time of me writing this post I had stumbled 7,357 pages, 27 videos and 876 photos. It truly has been an amazing year.

I love StumbleUpon. I love it for so many reasons. Here you will find 113 things I have learned from using StumbleUpon

113 Things I have Learned from using StumbleUpon

Inspect all food before you purchase.

We could learn a lot if we listen to the wisdom of children.
That a Nintendo System can be completely homemade.
That Business Strategy Can Be About Love
Helped me Learn Sign Language
Learned to Identify where I was Sacrificing my Freedom
Multiplication Songs & Raps to help me teach my Children.
Mother Nature is AMAZING & Beautiful!!

That I can use my Local Newspapers to Promote my Blog Offline
That even the Busiest of People will Lend a Helping Hand to a Newbie
100 Painless Ways to Cut Calories
I can be a Positive Parent
You and I can Erase our Fears.
I can find awesome recipes using only what little ingredients I have at home.
How to Relieve a Bee Sting in under 30 Seconds.
I found out what Tarot Card I am. What Tarot Card are you??
Found Tips to Immediately Increase my Confidence.
There are certain things I need to remember when launching a new site.
That it only takes 90 minutes a day to become a better blogger.
There are special ways to draw StumbleUpon Users into your blog.
How to Run a StumbleUpon Advertising Campaign for my Blog.
How even Blogging can make a Difference in the World.
That a 5-year old can Deliver a Baby.
10 Things You Can Blog About On The Weekends
Creating a Sneeze Page can Propel Readers Deep Within my Blog
There is actually a time when Getting Lots Of Visitors To Your Website Isn’t Good.
There are at least 5 essential things you ought to know about StumbleUpon
PageRank can be explained with a Cool Graph.
Why Top 10 Lists are still the Best
Found out that there are 7 Easy ways to get more Weekend Traffic to my Website.
Tons of Fun Activities that Moms and Dads can do with their kids.
What it would look like if SEO’s mated.
Learned that I need a Seasonal Search Engine Optimization Strategy.
Found out that Social Media has a Direct Influence on Search Engine Ranking.
A Splash of Colo r can make me Smile

I learned that even I can open a Beer with a Lighter. Thanks for that Pat…. I love showing off to men in the Bar.
Saw what Google Search would look like if it was designed in Comic Sans.
Found Sphinn shortly after it was born…. another turning point in my professional life.
Avatar Optimization - Why Top Sphinners have photo avatars while top Diggers have graphic ones.
How I can deal with Criticism.
That there are unusual ways that I can use StumbleUpon.
I found that I love to learn SEO from Patrick with the Hitchiker’s Guide to Linkless SEO.
It sucks to be on top - the downside of Social Media.
I learned there are 10 Steps to Building an Online Media Empire
Muhammad showed me 4 reasons I should be blogging on weekend.
Found out how to get traffic & links from Popular Blogs…. thank you Maki.
Apparently, random funny pictures are good for my health.
Brian Wallace taught me taught me the Ode to StumbleUpon.
That I can become a Success in Online Networking.
5 StumbleUpon BuzzKills
That I can get help for Writer’s Block.
I even learned How to Read a Painting.
I found out that my good friend Brian Wallace thinks my StumbleUpon reviews are verbose. No worries, Brian…. I still love ya.
What I already thought was reinforced when I read that a Blogger can be successful by being nice.
I learned there is such a thing as Time Management when it comes to Social Media.
Learned to Optimize for Universal Search.
Kind of Morbid, but I found a web page that tells me how many people died the day I was born. Approximately 130,755 people died worldwide on my birthday.
The difference between SEO & SMO.
Pictures can help explain The Difference Between Marketing, PR, Advertising, and Personal Branding
I was reminded what makes for a successful Blog.
Logos can be freaken funny!!
Which Hook Attracts the Right Fish?….. in regards to Link Baiting.
Dosh Dosh has taught me so much about the Importance of Social Media Marketing.
I learned that blogging is a lot like Sex.
I had no idea until I can across this page that there are 23 types of Social Media Users.
I learned that People in the SEO & Marketing Industries are some of the Funniest People I know.
Kim of Cre8pc showed me how to build a better website by writing about her son’s challenges with his sport, football. Such a loving post…. absolutely unforgettable.
There are ways to build traffic that have nothing to do with Google or SEO.
A Web Page of Words that Feel Good. Thanks Michael.
Found that Others Felt the Same Way about Sphinn that I did.
Tips to writing my Best Post Ever.
Tons of Free SEO Tools
Found out there was such a thing as "Social Media Hangovers".
Darren showed me how my StumbleUpon Profile put me on his Radar.
Learned how to divide my time for maximum exposure.
Size does matter when it comes to blog posts.
Stumbled across the best explanation of what it feels like to live with a chronic illness (PDF file).
A simple workout for Bloggers.
Why some pages don’t get stumbled.
The Importance of StumbleUpon categories.
I learned Do’s and Don’ts when it comes to babies.

How to find out if I am a Social Media Addict.
I can now say, "I Love You" in 100 different languages.
10 Commandments of Social Media
Chris Brogan reminds me that I need to recognize when to scale back…. I don’t need to say "yes" to everybody.
I found out Why Guys like Girls.
I came across a Comprehensive Guide to Keyword Research for Bloggers
Finally I learned how to fold a fitted sheet correctly. Normally I use my arms to wound it up.
I learned how to Go with the Flow.
How to write a report that a client will "get".
I learned how to blog and work-off 600 calories at the same time.
That photos can say so much more than words. What do you think this photo is saying??

I learned that there is a difference between healthy and toxic love.
How to simplify my life with kids.
Even Digg can play some April Fool’s Jokes.
Found out ways to reduce stress.
Food can taste as good as it looks.
I located a bunch of great moms on Twitter thanks to Wendy.
I was shown a bunch of reasons why Twitter is a great Social Media Too l.
I was surprised to learn that it wasn’t only MY children who don’t recognize when the bathroom door is closed.
How to make a dollar stretch during a recession.
How to bury negative posts about you or your company.
Tamar with the help of Weezer shows me a thing or two about Viral Marketing.
More ways I came across to say, "I Love You".
StumbleUpon gets my mind thinking with a question that stumps me.

Little did I know that there was something called, "Blogger Imposter Syndrome". You can even take a test to see if you suffer from it.
How to Find the Perfect Image for your Blog Post.
I had no idea that cigarettes could teach me something about branding.
Kids can teach us how to be happy.
Learned that there are certain techniques that will make your blog or website sticky.
I stumbled across a thing or two about Link Building Optimization.
That I can actually SEO my site in less than 60 minutes.
And, apparently I will stumble into the happiness of my life.

Posted in Blogging, Humor, Link Love, Parenting, SEM, SEO, Social Bookmarking, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking, Sphinn, StumbleUpon, Time Management, Tips and Tutorials, Web 2.0 Basics | 21 Comments »

TheNanny612 and the Three Avatars

Tuesday, July 1st, 2008 |

I wrote a post regarding my avatar change on Collective-Thoughts. This post is a continuation of that. The avatar I had chose at the end of that post didn’t work out. And since my 6 year old daughter helped me come up with my final choice for an avatar I decided to write this post in the form of a Child’s Story, "Goldilocks and the Three Bears".

Image by Super Dave Chen

TheNanny612 and the Three Avatars

TheNanny612 was a Young Lady who spent much of her days Social Networking. She had her own land in her part of the Web 2.0 World.

Normally this Social Media Lady would had been content to go about her usual Social Networking, but on this day she chose instead to cut off her long curly hair. Knowing that once she did this she would have to perform the duty of choosing the right avatar for her part of the Web 2.0 World named Social Desire.

It was on this day that TheNanny612 Avatar Journey began.

TheNanny612 didn’t think the duty of choosing an avatar would be a difficult one. After all, what is the big deal, really? An avatar simply is a picture to help members of Online Communities know who you are…. is that really such a big deal?

So, TheNanny612 simply had her picture taken a few times with a cell phone. She chose the best of the batch of pics, cropped it and sized it perfectly. She made each picture into different sizes to easily accommodate the different requirements at different Social Networking Communities. The smallest Avatar size is 50×50 for Sphinn and StumbleUpon uses a 475×475 on its About page.

TheNanny612 Avatar #1

475 x 475	50 X 50

She really liked this picture, but it was so dark. She didn’t realize how dark until she had it resized to fit Sphinn’s 50×50 Avatar requirement. The size Avatar for Sphinn is so small & so dark that it is terribly difficult to recognize who the picture is of….. That will never do.

TheNanny612 sighed as she really thought this was going to be simple. "Oh well.", she said as she moved on to the next stop.

She took a look at the first picture to see what the problem was and came up with a few of things.

To dark.
Little Contrast. TheNanny612’s dark hair against the dark chair. There was absolutely no contrast.
The picture was taken with a Cell phone. The quality of cell phone pictures aren’t always good enough to work with.

So, TheNanny612 decided that she needed to do things differently. She decided to do everything completely opposite from what she did last time.

She dressed in a white blouse and sat on a light rug in front of a cherry stained door. This is how the picture looked in its largest and smallest forms:

TheNanny612 Avatar #2

475 x 475	50 X 50

TheNanny612 was initially happy with this photograph. She likes the black and white look and the contrast is nice. But, notice how the picture changes when it is made smaller. The change in size makes it difficult to recognize that its TheNanny612 at all. She began to think that there will be no 50×50 avatar that will be easy to recognize, but she knew that wasn’t true. After all, her last 50×50 avatar was easy to recognize.

So, TheNanny612 went back on her search for the Perfect Avatar…. the Avatar that was "Just Right."

The problems with the 2nd Avatar?? There were a few…

It’s a lovely shot large, but when made smaller it is difficult to recognize.
The picture is simply to light. The black and white look washes TheNanny612 out. She will not stand out compared to others which is very important in Social Networking.
The contrast problem in the 1st photograph caused TheNanny612 to dress in light colors, but this did nothing for the photograph either.

TheNanny612 was truly frustrated. She asked out loud, "Why is this so hard?" All of a sudden it came to her…. she needed to figure out what made her original Avatar Memorable.

What made the Original TheNanny612 Avatar Memorable

An Unusual Head shot
Sepia - I didn’t use Black & White….. Sepia added a bit of color.
Side Angle
Not the entire head
Nothing much else in the background.

More determined than ever TheNanny612 decided to stick with what seemed to work with her original avatar. The most important thing to her was that the avatar needed to look just as good small as it did large. And, up until this point that had been TheNanny612’s struggle. She needed to stop posing so much & get back to basics…. get back to what worked for her in the past.

TheNanny612 decided to hand the camera to her 6 year old daughter and allow her daughter to snap a few random shots. Little did she know the perfect avatar would be taken by the young child.

TheNanny612 went through all the photographs taken by her daughter that day. She came across one that she felt would be a perfect fit if cropped just right. This is what she came up with:

TheNanny612 Avatar #3

475 x 475	50 X 50

The first first Avatar was too dark, The 2nd Avatar was too light, and the 3rd Avatar was just right!!

With each Avatar mistake TheNanny612 learned something and the final Avatar was the nicest in all the Land.

The Moral of this story…

Sometimes things don’t go well the first time around or even the 2nd. But, as long as you make each a learning experience then the outcome is usually good one.

The End.

Posted in Humor, Social Bookmarking, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking, Sphinn, StumbleUpon, Tips and Tutorials, Uncategorized, Web 2.0, Web 2.0 Basics | 12 Comments »

The ABCs of Social Media

Wednesday, June 11th, 2008 |

Social Desire will be featuring Guest Posts for the next few weeks. Today’s Featured Guest Post is by Mark Dykeman.

Image by Steve & Jemma Copley

Everyone’s got a Top Ten list, an 8 step guide, or some other how-to post to succeeding in social media.

This isn’t one of those posts. Not exactly. Not really.

OK, maybe a little bit.

What I’ve done is to take each letter of the alphabet and try to find one or two words that can be used to describe social media. I’ve tried to cover many of the important points and aspects of social media that I’ve picked up through my own activities. I hope you enjoy and find it useful.

The A – Z listing for social media

Ask/Acquire – social media is a place where we can ask questions and acquire knowledge; there are tons of great resources out there.

Bold – push yourself and test your limits. Try things that might have scared you in the past, either due to lack of confidence or experience. Be bold!

Communicate – it’s all about the conversations.

Demonstrate – show people what you know; help educate them. (note: I was very tempted to use the word "desire" here… )

Evaluate – absorb everything you can, but keep a critical eye open. As you meet different people you’ll gradually get a sense of who knows their stuff and who doesn’t. Don’t accept advice blindly – think it over and make up your own mind.

Friend – "friend" has become a verb in social media, where you give or are given permission to share stuff with other people. It’s a key component of social media, hence the word "social".

Give – contribute to the body of knowledge with your own thoughts, ideas, tips, tricks, critiques, and others. It’s not valuable if you keep it to yourself.

Help – as per give, take the time to do favors for other people. Answer their questions; show examples. You get a lot back from this, even if it doesn’t happen immediately.

Ideas – social media contains some of the coolest parts of higher education – the discussion and refinement of ideas.

Join – if you’re going to be social, join groups that interest you. It’s all about relationships.

Knowledge/Learn – this K and L go together like peanut butter and jelly; learn stuff, increase your knowledge.

Mentor – help a beginner and you could have a good friend for life.

Name – names are important, doubly so in social media. Meet people, remember their names. They’ll do the same for you!

Open – be as transparent as you can. Consider different points of view, as well. Speak respectfully, but freely.

Passion – that burning sensation isn’t an, um, infection, it’s the power of love and desire when you discover something that you love to do.

Question – questions drive social media. Why? Because we all want to find answers!

Reveal – tell the world about yourself to the extent that you feel comfortable to do so. People want to know something about their follow social mediaites!

Share – as with giving, sharing means doing things that don’t just benefit yourself, they benefit other people as well. Give credit where credit is due and share the rewards!

Teach – again, show people what you know and we all benefit.

Understand – this is critical, because language is an imperfect means of communication. It can be very easy to misinterpret someone else’s writing, especially if it hits an emotional hot button. Make sure your reactions are tempered by understanding so that you know what was really meant within a communication.

Vigor – show some life there, sparky!

World – it’s a big world out there and social media will expose you to places that you never knew existed.

X-Ray – look inside and see what’s really happening. Don’t be fooled by exteriors or pretenses. Get the real story.

Yearn – satisfy those self- actual cravings, at least temporarily, through social media participation. But stay hungry – there’s always more.

Zen – practice, be mindful, and learn constantly as a path to enlightenment (of sorts). You might not become a spiritual master, but these principles can still lead to fulfillment in social media.

Social media from A – Z – there it is. I hope you were paying attention because there’s a test coming up!

(Of course, the test never ends… )

If you enjoyed this post check out more of Mark Dykeman’s work at Broadcasting Brain, his blog about communication and social media.

Posted in Blogging, Guest Posts, Humor, Social Bookmarking, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking, Tips and Tutorials, Uncategorized, Web 2.0, Web 2.0 Basics | 12 Comments »

Offline Reality Online

Tuesday, May 27th, 2008 |

Social Desire will be featuring Guest Posts for the next few weeks. Today’s Featured Guest Post is by Peter Newsome of SiteMost.

Image by Lady-bug

Offline Reality Online

When I catch-up with friends we’ll usually talk about the highlights of our week, we’ll have a whinge about the things that got under our skin and we will vocalise our opinions some of the current events that we feel strongly about.

Take away the face-to-face interaction, convert the speech to text (although not in every case thanks to how easy it is to create and share audio and video content) and you have a blog.

When I get home from work, I’ll look through the cupboards and fridge and work-out what I’m going to make for dinner. Once I’ve made a decision, I’ll usually vocalise this to myself - “Tonight I’m going to make spaghetti bolognese!” (yes, I know that talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity and a lot of my friends already think I am a little insane).

I’ll also continue talking to myself as I prepare the meal “a little bit of oregano, a dash of wine…” and as the TV is usually on in the other room, I’ll often make comments about the day’s stories “Interest rates are up again, there’s still conflict in the Middle East and Britney Spears did what?!?”

The above examples of small conversations that we have with ourselves everyday could easily be seen by having a quick skim through Twitter logs.

When you’re at school, the more friends you have, the ‘cooler’ you are – aka MySpace, Facebook etc. etc.

Take away the cheesy voice-over and Benny Hill music from ‘Funniest Home Videos’ and I’ve just described at least a third of YouTube’s content.

My mother sticks little yellow Post-It notes on the side of her computer monitor listing websites she’s found and wants to remember how to get back to them – if she understood what I was talking about when I tried to teach her about del.icio.us

For your daily dose of tabloid news in an online format you don’t need to look much further than Digg. And just like you’ll need Amy Winehouse throwing-up on your shoes if you want your pic in the tabloids, you’ll also need some Social Media Celebrity Endorsement if you want your articles to appear on the front-page of Digg.

So as you can see, most online social media has been inspired by something offline (even if the inspiration was far from the examples above, you still get the general idea). The only problem is that there is still a very big disconnect between the real and the virtual worlds.

It’s like comparing reality TV with actual reality. I don’t know who’s reality it is, but I can’t recall the last time someone locked me in a house with a bunch of strangers and recorded my every move whilst making me perform challenges like eating worms or pouring spiders on my head, or watched me painfully sing karaoke, or become a model, or survive on a desert island or made me lose half my body weight etc. etc.

Sure, it might be entertaining, but it certainly isn’t what happens to you and I on a daily basis.

I’ve met bloggers that write well, seem quite entertaining and have hundreds of subscribers but in person they are very shy and introverted or waaaay over the top and are incredibly annoying to have a conversation with.

Whereas other bloggers that only have a handful of regular readers have been charming, interesting and insightful when I’ve met them face-to-face.

There was a guy I went to school with who still lives with his parents, works for the local government in an accounting role, hasn’t changed one little bit from the weedy, nerdy, annoying guy from senior school… but his Facebook page says he has 300+ friends.

Now I’m not trying to say that one’s online persona is inversely proportional to how popular they are offline… there are some really great people that I’ve met who are very popular both online and offline.

Although I think that we should observe how the online world has taken most of its inspiration from the real world and as it continues to do this, there will become a requirement for social media mavens to genuinely be as interesting and insightful in reality as they are online. Otherwise they may find that the virtual reputation they’ve worked so hard to build won’t hold-up as the two worlds (offline and online) become one.

If you enjoyed this Guest Post you can check out more of Peter’s work at SiteMost. And, while you are at it subscribe to the SiteMost Feed.

Posted in Blogging, Guest Posts, Social Bookmarking, Social Media, Social Networking, Twitter, Web 2.0 | 1 Comment »

Do you want to be my Facebook Friend?? Stop Threatening Me!!

Thursday, April 17th, 2008 |

Image by Miky Jpeg

I have been a little disappointed in Facebook lately. Well, maybe not Facebook directly, but instead some of the people that I have agreed to Facebook Friendships. And, due to the tactics these people are using on Facebook to pass the word about things they feel strongly about has caused me to not spend as much time on FaceBook in general.

In case you aren’t aware…. it was only a few months back that I was singing my praises about Facebook. I spent a lot of time there. I was able to do my social networking in ways that I couldn’t do in other Social Media arenas. I love Social Networking in all different ways, but what is so cool about Facebook is some of the very cool Applications that Facebook has. Some of these applications helped me interact with fellow marketers and bloggers that I didn’t know too well before facebook, but due to the fun networking via these applications caused me to take a closer look at their websites and blogs. But, recently something has started to happen that has not happened to me in this last year of using Facebook until recently…. "Chain Messages."

I’m not sure if Chain Messages is what this "thing" is actually called. But, this is what I’m going to call it. Chain Messages reminds me of a chain mail, but is is done through Facebook Applications. These Chain Messages are rude, forceful and threatening and I’m more than a little bit irritated that they have entered my Facebook space.

Here is an example of a message I received earlier today that has me so upset. I have removed a couple things from this screen shot. I removed the name of the person who sent me this FunWall post. I have also removed the name of my Facebook Friends from the "forward to:" section.

Now, this isn’t the first Chain Message I received, but this one really has me bothered. I’ll get into the reasons why this particular Chain Message has me irked, but in the meantime let me list what makes a Chain Letter a Chain Letter, so we can compare the Old Fashioned Chain Letter to this Chain Letter 2.0.

Wikipedia tells me that a Chain Letter is…

"A typical chain letter consists of a message that attempts to induce the recipient to make a number of copies of the letter and then pass them on to as many recipients as possible… Common methods used in chain letters include emotionally manipulative stories, get-rich-quick pyramid schemes, and the exploitation of superstition to threaten the recipient with bad luck or even physical violence or death if he or she "breaks the chain" and refuses to adhere to the conditions set out in the letter."

Wow, that definition sounds very much like the FunWall Post I received above. Let’s check out another. The following is from FraudBureau.com. Here they explain the Anatomy of a Chain Letter.

"Every chain letter is comprised of three components:

* The hook. The letter will try to grab your attention so that you will read the rest of it. Some common themes are "Get Rich Quick", to appeal to our desire to make money or "Virus Alert" to hook us by arousing our fears.

* The threat. Once you are hooked, the letter arouses your fears by telling you about the terrible things that will happen if you do not continue to keep the chain in tact. The threat is usually realistic enough to get you to continue the chain.

* The request. The request is usually the demand to distribute the letter to as many individuals as possible. "

Ahhh, so there are three components to every chain Letter. Very interesting. Well, Let’s see if there are three components to this Facebook Chain Message…

The Hook - "Someone will either call you or talk to you and tell you that they love you." Not a get rich scheme, but definitely something that many people are desperately looking for.

The Threat - "I better not see anyone breaking this one or see deleted." Well, I know this is not a specific threat, but it is an empty threat at least. It is playing on the fear of many people with social networking…. not having other’s support.

The Request - "These are ribbons for Soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Pass it on to everyone and Pray." Definitely works on the emotions of many.

Hmmmm…. very interesting. Seems like this FunWall Post has all the makings of a Chain Letter to me. Dress it up whatever way you want to, but it is what it is… a chain letter.

What has me so upset about this particular Chain Message is the fact that it plays on the emotions of many people. We all know and love someone who is helping fight wars in Iraq and/or Afghanistan. And, this message is using our emotions to get us to do what they want us to do.

You know what really gets me is that I might have helped passing around the support ribbons to my Facebook friends had I not felt threatened. But, after reading the entire FunWall post I didn’t want any part of it. I wonder how many others who received this same FunWall post felt the same way I did and didn’t forward the message to their Facebook friends as well.

And, that brings us to another topic which I won’t delve to far into at this time….. friends made online. Should they have the same qualities of real life friends? OF COURSE!!! The social skills and etiquette that your mother and father taught you should still apply online. No parent in their right mind would teach their children the skills of threatening their friends. So, if you wouldn’t treat your friends in the real world with threats then don’t do it online.

You want to be my friend online?? Stop threatening me!!

Posted in Blogging, Facebook, Social Bookmarking, Social Media, Social Networking, Web 2.0 | 16 Comments »

Social Desire

Archive for the ‘Social Bookmarking’ Category

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Spring is in the Air…. Can you spell Spring Break??

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113 Things I have Learned from using StumbleUpon

TheNanny612 and the Three Avatars

TheNanny612 and the Three Avatars

TheNanny612 Avatar #1

TheNanny612 Avatar #2

What made the Original TheNanny612 Avatar Memorable

TheNanny612 Avatar #3

The ABCs of Social Media

The A – Z listing for social media

Offline Reality Online

Offline Reality Online

Do you want to be my Facebook Friend?? Stop Threatening Me!!

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