Archive for the ‘Sphinn’ Category
Tuesday, July 1st, 2008 |
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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 | 9 Comments »
Wednesday, June 4th, 2008 |
This Featured Guest Post is by James Duthie of Online Marketing Banter
Image by dmax3270
Do onto others as you would do to yourself. It’s a fine philosophy to
live by. The laws of karma state that our personal actions & behaviour influence
future experiences. In other words, we’re responsible for our own destinies
and the ultimate happiness & success we achieve. I can’t think of
any other environment in which karma is more relevant than social media…
Free is the new currency of the Internet. Social media is a perfect example.
How many people make real money from blogging? Very few. Yet every day millions
of bloggers produce content for free distribution. Why? Because they believe
in karma. They believe that giving their content away will lead to positive
future outcomes, whether they be business or personal.
Social news communities such as Digg and Sphinn are even better examples of
karma in action. A selfless attitude is expected within social news communities.
Good karma can only be earned by dedicating free time to positive community
activities such as:
- Submitting content that the community values
- Creating relationships with other community members
- Contributing to blogs of community members via comments & guest posts
- Reading and voting for your friends’ content
- Adding meaningful insights to conversations within the community
- Asking for nothing in turn for your positive contributions
People who succeed in social media embrace the principles of good karma. They
don’t ask for support from the community, but they receive it anyway because
of the positive contribution they make.
Newbies in particular need to display the strongest faith in social media karma,
because the karmic circle takes time to turn. In my case it has taken months
of participation within Sphinn before the good karma returned some personal
rewards. But good things come to those who wait…
Social media karma in action
About a month ago I crossed paths with a blogger named Robin Cannon. Robin
manages Fog of Eternity,
a blog dedicated to web design, social media and online marketing. Like me Robin
is fairly new to the game, and is still establishing his blog and audience.
I liked Robin’s work and quickly subscribed to his blog. I also began
to submit his work to Sphinn and StumbleUpon because his stuff was well written
and deserved a broader audience.
According to Robin, it was my social media support that helped give his blog
the kick start it needed. A number of my Stumbles helped him generated thousands
of visitors a day (who ever knew my Stumbles were so powerful…?). Before
long that momentum grew and he was averaging over a thousand visits a week.
In fact, in just a couple of weeks he had far surpassed my own traffic levels.
Robin has thanked me a number of times for the social media love I gave him.
He didn’t need to. After all, social media submission also shines the
limelight on the submitter if it goes hot… But despite that, Robin made me
a special offer recently. Noticing that my own blog design was a little uninspired,
Robin offered his design skills to help give it a little spark. As someone without
an iota of design experience or skill, this offer was like gold to me!
And that, my friends, is the circle of social media karma in action.
Robin never asked me for social media support, but I gave it anyway because
his work was great quality. I would never have dreamed of asking Robin to redesign
my blog, but he offered anyway out of goodwill.
If you’re not succeeding in social media, perhaps you should take a look
at your own behaviour… Are you exuding an aura of good karma…?
Author Bio:
James Duthie is an Australian
digital marketing expert. He writes on all things social media, blogging,
SEO & digital marketing at his blog - Online Marketing Banter. Subscribe
to hear more of his ramblings here.
Posted in Blogging, Guest Posts, Social Media, Social Networking, Sphinn | 13 Comments »
Tuesday, January 8th, 2008 |
(The following story is a teeny tiny made up)
This morning as I was surfing my usual Social Media sites I took notice to
something that was very familiar. It was my avatar. The avatar I use on all
of my Social Networking sites. But, it wasn’t on one of my usual Social Networking
sites. Then I took a closer look and I saw that the Title of this particular
post was called, "Q&A With TheNanny612". What?! I didn’t agree
to any interview!! I didn’t answer any questions!! Oh, Wait! Did I? Oh,
no….. wasn’t last night just a nightmare?!
As I was sitting quietly Sphinning and Stumbling as usual. This crazy, freaky
looking brain guy kept popping up on my laptop asking me questions. I was nice
to him the first few times he appeared. I simply said, "No thank you",
"Not interested", "Don’t want any". Finally, I screamed,
"Leave me the F**K alone and get the H**L off of my computer!!!".
I thought that did the trick because I hadn’t heard anymore from him, until……my
computer crashed!!
"Damn it!!" I hate when this happens right when I’m trying to Sphinn
this Rock’n Search
Engine Journal post!! UGH, now Marty
is going to get it first!! He’s always up my butt to sphinn things before me!!"
As I was working on trying to get my laptop back online it appeared to be juicing
itself to come back up again, but instead that freaky brain guy is back on my
computer again. This time I couldn’t get rid of him or turn the computer off
at all. And, he kept chanting, "I’m going to catch your brainwaves,
Nanny. And, there is nothing you can do to stop me!! I’m going to catch your
brainwaves."
The next thing I remember was waking up the morning with a huge headache and
feeling a bit violated. But, for the life of me…. I couldn’t figure out why.
That is until now……
Mark Dykeman of The Uncanny Broadcasting Brain Blog caught my brainwaves
and has plastered my thoughts all over the front page of his Blog.
Okay, okay…. maybe this story is a bit of an exaggeration and maybe I even
changed the story a teensy tiny bit. But, I got you reading, huh?!
Anyway, Mark at The
Uncanny Broadcasting Brain Blog Interviewed me and the entire Q&A
With TheNanny612 is over at his Blog. So, please check it out and let me
know your thoughts.
Thanks for the great interview, Mark.
Technorati Tags:mark dykeman, shana albert, thenanny612, interviews, humor, blogging, social media, sphinn, social networking
Posted in Blogging, Humor, Interviews, Social Media, Social Networking, Sphinn, Web 2.0 | 6 Comments »
Friday, December 28th, 2007 |
Photo by luc legay
2007 will be ending in the next few days and 2008 will be beginning. It has
been an amazing year for me. It was In 2007 I became very involved in Social
Media Activity. I am looking forward to 2008 and everything that it has to offer,
but before I can simply say Hello to 2008 and Goodbye to 2007 I wanted to list
my favorite posts from all of my favorite Social Networking sites…. StumbleUpon,
Sphinn, Twitter, and Facebook. *Keep in mind that these posts are my favorites
and nothing official.*
Favorite StumbleUpon Posts of 2007
StumbleRank - Ranks the
Top StumbleUpon Users.
A
Comprehensive Guide to StumbleUpon: How to Build Massive Traffic to Your Website
- Maki of DoshDosh wrote this mini guide on StumbleUpon because he thought StumbleUpon
has enormous potential in maximizing brand exposure while fitting nicely with
a long term site building strategy.
How
to Use StumbleUpon for Your Business: The Definitive Guide - Tamar writes
this great post for 10e20.com.
The
Why, How and Who of Marketing in StumbleUpon - Garrett French writes this
very in depth post regarding StumbeUpon and using it for Marketing purposes.
Building
Your Blog With StumbleUpon - A ProBlogger Guest post by Skellie showing
how to use StumbleUpon to increase your Blog Traffic.
Stumbleupon
mathematics for stumblers - Tim Nash gives us his thoughts on how he believes
the StumbleUpon algorithm works.
How
to Use StumbleUpon to Promote - David Risley of WebbyOnline explains in
detail how to Use StumbleUpon.
StumbleUpon
Will Love Us Even When Google Doesn’t - Brian Wallace writes about
the effectiveness of StumbleUpon.
5 Tactics
For Driving Traffic From StumbleUpon - Cameron Olthuis writes for Search
Engine Land showing you how StumbleUpon is a great way to bring large amounts
of traffic to your site…. at times even bringing more traffic than digg.
How
to Set Up a Domino Effect of Traffic - Vandelay Design writes how he greatly
increased his traffic by setting up a Domino Effect with StumbleUpon.
25
Reasons You Get Thumbs Up - Andy Beard comes up with a list of 25 reasons
why you might get a Thumbs Up on StumbleUpon.
Analysis:
StumbleUpon’s Top 50 Stumblers - Glen Allsopp felt there wasn’t a
lot of information on StumbleUpon on how to become a Top Stumbler. Glen researched
and posted his findings.
6
Reasons to Love StumbleUpon - Marty tells us the 6 reasons he loves StumbleUpon.
Writing
for StumbleUpon: High Impact Content “Above the Scroll” in Four
Easy Steps - Muhammad Saleem points out that with StumbleUpon having your
important content above the scroll is extremely important.
How
Important is StumbleUpon? - Rose Sylvia shows us how to use StumbleUpon
to its fullest.
Favorite Sphinn Posts of 2007
Sphinn
- The Social News Site Every Search Marketer Should Be Using - Rand writes
in detail 10 reasons why Every Search Marketer should be using Sphinn.
Please
Don’t Ask Me to Sphinn Your Stories (and How to Use Sphinn and Similar
Social News Websites) - Tamar writes this excellent post about Social Networking
Etiquotte.
Why
Sphinn Needs a Dumbass Button - Digg has a "bury it" button….
Greg Boser suggests a "Dumbass Button" for Sphinn.
Fool Proof
Sphinn-Bait Tactics to Reach the Front Page - Kelvin Newman writes in detail
how to reach the front page of Sphinn.
A
5 Pack Of Sphinn Interviews - Todd Mintz Interviews 5 members of the Sphinn
Community.
How
to Dominate Sphinn in 4 Easy Steps - David Harry comes up with the Sphinn
Domination Plan.
The
First (un)Official Sphinn Awards - Day 1 - Jeff Quipp at Search Engine People
offers days 1 of the (un)Official Sphinn Awards…. freakin hilarious.
The
(un)Official Sphinn Awards Part 2 - David Harry Holds Part II of the Sphinn
Awards at his site and it is equally as funny as Day 1.
A
Very Beginner’s Guide to the Sphinn Network : Tips and Tricks - Mack
offers up some tips to New User’s of Sphinn.
Sphinn:
In Depth Traffic Analysis And Advice - Matt Jones did his research and offers
his traffic analysis and some Sphinning tips.
20
Top Sphinners You Should Know - Here is a list of 20 Sphinners and their
sites that you might not know, but should.
Sphinn Google Gadget
- As if I didn’t adore Pat of SEOish enough he comes up with this amazing Sphinn
Google Gadget.
Favorite Twitter Posts of 2007
The Big Juicy
Twitter Guide - Caroline Middlebrook puts together a very detailed guide
to Using Twitter for Marketing.
Guide
to Twitter as a Tool for Marketing and PR - Lee Odden puts together a great
post with tips on using Twitter as a Marketing Tool. Lee’s community offers
tons of wonderful Twitter Tips!!
The
Several Habits of Wildly Successful Twitter Users - Bren at Slacker Manager
offers tips and advice for Successful Twitter Wanna-be’s.
Eight
Ways Twitter is Useful Professionally - Anne Zelenka offers 8 ways to use
Twitter Professionally.
Use
Twitter To Boost Your Marketing Strategy, No Really - Chris Bennett offers
his ideas to user Twitter as part of a Marketing Strategy.
The
Top 5 Ways Smart People Use Twitter - Sharon Sarmiento suggests focusing
on these 5 smart uses of Twitter to keep from falling into the Twitter abyss.
Is
Twitter TOO good? - Kathy Sierra writes this post showing her struggle with
Twitter…. In this post you can see her struggle with Twitter being a waste
of time and the rest of the world chanting Twitter’s wonderful goodness.
Twitter
vs. Pownce: Who Pwns? - Tamar takes a close look at Twitter and Pownce and
compares the two.
Twitter is Paying
My Rent - Marshall Kirkpatrick writes how he uses Twitter to come up with
stories to blog about. At the time of this post 6 out of his 7 last posts wint
to the front page of Digg… the same stories he came up with thanks to Twitter.
Twitter
CAN be Useful! Who Knew? - Due to Twitter coverage of the fires back in
October Jennifer Laycock saw an incredibly useful way to use Twitter….. Her
brother and his wife were able to subscribe to the Twitter Feed and quick and
easy access to instant updates as they drove across the country safely.
Favorite Facebook Posts of 2007
The
Facebook Marketing Bible: 24 Ways to Market Your Brand, Company, Product, or
Service Inside Facebook - If you are looking on exactly how to Market on
Facebook this is a "Must Read" by Justin Smith.
12
Ways to Use Facebook Professionally - Judi Sohn explains why Facebook can
be a great addition to your web working toolbox.
How
to use Facebook to Promote your Blog - Brian Wallace compliles some tips
on how to promote your blog using Facebook.
Not
many people know this, but I invented Facebook - Lyndon says, Let us all
rise up and shout, “I INVENTED FACEBOOK.”
Your
Private Facebook Info Isn’t So Private - Lisa Barone shows why adjusting
your Facebook privacy settings may not be enough to keep people from seeing
inside your Facebook Windows.
Seven
Steps to Graphing Your Facebook Strategy - Dave McClure offers an indepth
look at Facebook. This is a great post for anyone new to Facebook.
A
Successful Facebook Marketing Campaign - Social-Media-Optimization.com compares
a successful Facebook campaign (Target) with an unsuccessful campaign (Walmart).
How
to Develop a Hit Facebook App: 29 Essential Tools and Tutorials - SoftwareDeveloper.com
comes up with Resources to help you build a successful Facebook app that users
will love.
You
too might be a Facebookaholic, if: - Dave McClure gives us 17 hints that
we might be a Facebookaholic.
Who
needs Google? Facebook’s stealth ad system - ValleyWag
gives us the details on Facebook’s Ad System.
Mash
Pets, SuperPokes, Vampires, or Zombies? What are Your Social Network Ice Breakers?
- Mark Laymon shows us how he uses certain Facebook applications to "Break
the Ice".
A
Girl’s First Time….. being Poked - Ok, this post is one of mine.
Sorry, I just crack myself up. 
Is
The Horde At Facebooks Walls? - Tim Nash writes this post for Clicks.ws.
on the how-to’s of Advertising on Facebook.
Web
Strategy: What the Web Strategist should know about Facebook - Jeremiah
Owyang tells us what we need to know about Facebook as a strategic marketing
channel.
Technorati Tags:social networking, social bookmarking, stumbleupon, sphinn, twitter, facebook, 2007, social media, social media marketing
Posted in Facebook, Humor, Link Love, Social Bookmarking, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking, Sphinn, StumbleUpon, Twitter | 18 Comments »
