Archive for the ‘Websites’ Category
Tuesday, April 14th, 2009 |
I was fortunate enough to attend the Information Architecture Session at IM
Spring Break and I’m so glad I did. This session was another brilliant one
as the panel consisted of Steve
Plunkett, Todd
Malicoat and Carolyn Shelby.
For those of you who don’t already know…. Information Architecture is the
way a website is organized to make it user-friendly as well as search-friendly. You want users
to not only easily discover the site, but be able to follow the information
on the site so they can easily get to their ultimate destination. Without the
proper information architecture you might be bringing the wrong kind of viewers
to the website. Or, you might be getting the right type of viewers, but they
can’t locate what they need once they get there. Could you imagine a viewers
frustration if this happened? Trust me…. they would never come back once they
have those kind of struggles on your site.
A bad information architecture outcome can be virtual suicide for any website,
but with the help of this amazing panel they have brought us all one step closer
to Information Architecture Nirvana. So, without further ado…. here
is what went down at the Information Architecture Session at IM Spring Break.
First up was Steve Plunkett
Steve spoke about Information Architecture and how it affected Search.
The three categories that he went into detail about was…
- Collected Data Structure
- Search Evolved: File Management – DAO ( Digital Asset Optimization )
- Conversions and Forms
Collected Data Structure
- Domain authority
- Directories, flash and filenames (see Digital Asset Optimization)
- Activity within record, references, file changes, relocations.
- Bounce rate (www/email/groups)
- Segmentation
Search Evolved: File Management & Digital Asset Optimization
Steve when into great detail talking about the fact that Search has changed.
No longer is it just about optimizing a website, but also other digital assets
such as….
- PDFs - There are 25 fields in .pdf that you can optimize for Google.
- Spreadsheets
- Feeds - RSS Segmentation
- Social profiles
- employee cost
- personality research
- Video/flash
- Podcasts
- Whitepapers
- Games/widgets
- Images
- Analytical challenges
** Steve pointed out that EVERYTHING you do points back to domain
name. Name all of your files, images, PDF’s with keywords and domain name.
Conversions and Forms
- Conversion paths - users answer questions in a form and then they land
on a page that delivers tailored content to their specific answers.
- Conversion reporting
- Email database
Things to Remember
- Help search engines find your site by building your website in a search
friendly data structure
- Leverage content by optimizing digital assets
- All search results are not created equal. Always keep the end in mind (conversions)
to provide value for SER
Next up is Todd Malicoat
As far as Information architecture goes Todd Malicoat gave us some awesome
tips for two different types of websites: The Blog and the eCommerce site….
Blog
- Use snippets - Instead of having the entire post on the
front page Todd suggests using just snippets. This way there is no duplicate
content on the site.
- link to your best posts - Put a section on your blog that
lists your "best of" posts.
- funnel pagerank and anchor text
- automated internal linking - Automated internal linking
keeps pages themed and helps older posts. Related Posts plugin for WP helps
to automate the improvement of building an internal link structure
- Tag clouds - Not always great to use - dupe content and
dilutes link pop
eCommerce
- Link to top selling products - home page, every page, body
- Use another word other than "Home" for the Home page….
such as the name of your product.
- French Fry Pages - These type of pages offer little value
and dilute link population (such as the privacy policy page)
- sitemaps- These work great for very large sites work well.
They help funnel the juice.
Todd explains that search engines aren’t as smart as some might think….
"Search engines are smart…but not that smart. You really want to spoon
feed them the information you want them to have."
Next up was Carolyn shelby
Carolyn talks about how to determine the best architecture model for
our needs….
- All in One - everything on the homepage
- Flat - all pages peers, every one accessible from each
- Hub and Spoke (Daisy) - useful for multiple, distinct linear
workflows
- Strict Hierarchy - lower-level pages can only be accessed
via its parent
- Multi-Dimensional Hierarchy - many way of browsing to the
same content
Content Creation - Create an outline (Yes, a real outline)
- She mentions if you don’t know how to do an outline you really
need to go back to school to learn. It is just that important.
- define the site topic
- Do keyword research - pay attention to the phraseology
that your audience uses; pay attention to most common search phrases; explore
your niche to get ideas for additional topics.
- Mingle with the peasants - interview customer service,
talk to sales people who deal with the public, read consumer reviews (online,
offline, wherever), talk to non-your-industry people about your topic. This
where you can get some of the best and clear ideas.
Some tips that Carolyn mentions…
- Remember we are not Normal - Carolyn mentions that due
to the industry we are in and the experience we have in search …. "We
are not normal…we do not search like regular people…we’ve been touched…"
So, in order to remedy this we need to think outside of the box when it comes
to Content Creation and Research.
- Check your 404 logs to see what people are typing in as
a "guess". This can help identify the terms the site’s audience
uses.
- Don’t forget the Logs - As far as Keyword Research goes
Carolyn says, "Keep track of internal site search logs. Look for clues
in access logs."
- Keyword Research Tool - She also mentions a great site
to use to get keywords is SeedKeywords.
- Don’t forget to Think outside of the Box - Carolyn even
mentions that she has even used a more nontraditional method to this that
really works. She has her daughter’s friends come over and then she asks
them, "If you were to search for "such & such"
how would you go about finding information on that?" And,
without offering them any help she watches what they enter into search to
find the information on that topic. She watches step by step how they go about
getting information on that topic. Here she gets a real clear
answer on how some people might search for a certain topic.
Carolyn did a recap of both of her IM Spring Break Sessions
on SEO 101. So, make sure to check that out.
It was another awesome session at IM Spring Break. Steve, Todd and Carolyn
gave us a bunch of really terrific information to insure our success with Information
Architecture. Remember, it is your job to make sure that when readers or users
come to your website they can quickly find the information they are looking
for. One way to lose a user forever is to make finding what they want
difficult. Follow the suggestions and tips this amazing panel gave you… and
you will be on your way to information architecture bliss.
Above image
by Dana
Lookadoo
Posted in Conferences, SEM, SEO, Tips and Tutorials, Web 2.0, Web 2.0 Basics, Websites | 4 Comments »
Friday, April 10th, 2009 |
The IM Business panel at IM
Spring Break was one of the most anticipated sessions at IM Spring Break.
Apparently, it was a favorite from Scary
SEO and they were asked to come back and speak again. However, there was
one minor change….. Tony
Adam was going to speak on the panel along with Christopher
Hart and Pamela Lund.
I’m sure Tony must have been a little nervous…. after all there was a lot
to live up to. As a matter of fact, Christopher Hart pointed out to me that
Tony wouldn’t even be considered to be part of this "team" officially
until he passed the test…. the test being making his session rock. Tony was
being put on the “Chris Hart probationary period” until he proved himself worthy
of this Internet Marketing Dream Team made up of Christopher Hart and Pamela
Lund.
So, here is how this session went down. Read on to find out if Tony Adam rocked
his session and passed his probationary period.
Chris Hart Begins
Corporate Evolution
- Maturing of the proposal process
- Many views are represented from the start
- Most important is the C-Class Executive, Buy-in from the top Down - "C-class"
being Chief Whatever (CEO, CIO, CFO, etc…) The Chief Whatever
needs to be part of it from the very beginning.
How Budgets have changed
- SEO, SEM, PPC, SMM, SMO and any other A-E-I-O-U styled acronyms were additional
budget line items.
- Those who embrace change are rewarded those that fight the change will lose
out.
- SEO, SEM, PPC, SMM, SMO are not specific projects…. They are all part
of the business and effort.
Costs
- Services are not driven through menu selection
- Return on investment is not calculated with a formula
Corporate evolution
Metamorphosis happens - Corporate Evolution/Budgets/Proposals
Just as wild animals such as the Cicada, Elephant and Blue Whales have metamorphasized
to adapt to the World around them to ensure their survival…. we have to do
the same as well. Those who embrace change will be rewarded. Those who don’t
adapt and instead fight change will have to find new jobs.
Chris reminds us It’s not a big ticket item, it’s all
of the things that happen behind the scenes.
Bottom Line….
The old Corporate no longer works … SEO, SEM, PPC, SMM, SMO needs to be considered
from the start….. before anything begins. Corporate evolution requires it
all to be part of the entire strategy from the very beginning.
Pamela Lund up next
In the beginning
- Be confident when quoting
- Give realistic expectations
- Educate your clients
During the project
- Over communicate
- Prioritize tasks to appear more productive
- Use a project management system
Ongoing communication
- Assume nothing
- Document verbal communication
- Schedule meetings intelligently
- Don’t pretend results are good if they aren’t
- Don’t lie
**If you lie you will get caught. If they check on something that you
had said with another marketer that marketer will be more than happy to throw
you under the bus.**
If it hits the fan
- Have someone else you can bring in
- Don’t use accusatory statements
- Don’t get angry or raise your voice
- Be prepared to walk away (aka firing clients)
Tony Adams is up next
You want people to get excited about what you are doing.
- Step 1: understand the culture - Pay attention to the culture
of an organization.
- Step 2: Personalities - There are many different personalities.
The "always angry"; the "combative type"; the "know
it all type; the "disapproving type"…. Tony says you want this.
- Step 3: Listen - There are always deadlines…. Everything
will always will be urgent!!
- Step 4: Relationships - Create relationships and partnerships
- make meaningful connections. Get yourself some BFF’s!!
- Step 5: Get Involved! Make sure to get involved in every
meeting you can.
- Step 6: Influencing - This is where your chops don’t mean
a thing!! Take a break and knock one back!!
Tony being the amazing person he is….. makes sure to have plenty of
Beers for everyone attending this session proving his "take a break
and knock one back!!" is an important part of the process.
This is where the high fives come in!!
- Step 7: Provide the resources necessary - provide the tools
necessary to succeed! Create SEO Guidelines, create avenues of sharing your
knowledge.
- Step 8 make sure they play by the rules - Review, Review,
Review. Pretend you are QA and make sure they play by the rules.
- Step 9: continue the evangelism. You now have buy in and
relationships. Keep them happy. show them the numbers…show them the results.
Keeps them happy.
If you take anything away… relationship + influence and persuading
= it will get you there.
Wow!! I’m sure I don’t have to explain to you that not only did Tony pass his
probation period per Chris and Pamela, but he NAILED it!! He was amazing as
was Chris and Pamela. They are and will forever be the Internet Marketing Dream
Team in my book. It was another amazing session at IM Spring Break.
Above image
from session taken by Dana
Lookadoo.
Posted in Conferences, SEM, SEO, Tips and Tutorials, Websites | 1 Comment »
Friday, August 22nd, 2008 |
Wow!! I have been nominated for the Hot
Blogger Calendar!!
What is the Hot Blogger Calendar? It’s a real honest to goodness calendar filled
with hot guy
and girl bloggers
from all over the internet.
And get this, the winner will travel to New York City for a Real Shoot Party….
with Photographers, Make-up Artists, Stylists, DJ & everything. Exciting,
right? You bet!!
So, please vote for me (nominate me) here
(will open in a new page).
The more nominations I get the better chance I will have to
move on to the next level…. where the real voting begins.
** Note - when you get to
the voting/nomination page you will need to enter a few bits of info below.
Yay, you all helped me get nominated for Hottest Female Blogger…. now
the real voting begins. Please take a moment to vote for me now that the official
voting has begun. This is the final vote and your vote can help send me to New
York City for a Photo Shoot to include me in the Hot Blogger Calendar. So
please Vote!!
Posted in Misc., Social Media, Websites | 18 Comments »
Wednesday, February 20th, 2008 |
Photo by chbradshaw
When I was a kid I would walk 6 miles to school in snow that was up to
here (points to his shoulders).
I remember as a young girl my Grandfather telling me stories like this. And,
when he would say this to me I would be thinking, "Thank G-d I wasn’t born
in the "old days"…. I would have had to walk to school for miles
and miles in snow up passed my head!!"
But, you know what? I think we were all born "in the old days".
I believe we all rolled our eyes at our Grandparent’s stories and we were all
pleased that we weren’t born in the "old days" and that our lives
were easier than our elders…. and, yet in time we all will become elders.
It was just yesterday I was talking with my 11 year old about writing a report.
My son was explaining to me what is involved in the 6th grade when you have
to do research for writing a report. And, I heard myself say,
"When I was in the Junior High (yes, it’s true…. they didn’t call
it Middle School back then) and I was learning how to research and write reports
we didn’t have the internet to do our research. We had to do our research
in a Library. We used a Card Catalog to determine where to find information
regarding what we were doing a report on. The Card Catalog told us what Encyclopedia,
Book, Magazine, Newspaper or Microfiche to find it in. Research took much
longer than the report itself. All my research was written out on index cards,
which was then hand written out on paper, spell checked with a dictionary
and typed out with a typewriter. The typewritten report was then double checked
and all typographical errors cleaned up with white-out and manually fixed."
My son just rolled his eyes at me. It was just at that moment it occurred to
me that I am one of them!! I am a Story Teller from
the "Olden Days".
Just like everything else from then to now…. Education has changed. The World
Wide Web changed education in the 90’s. And, Web 2.0 and Social Media has
Changed Education with the new Millennium. We now have what I’d like to call
Education 2.0.
How Web 2.0 has changed Education
Education
|
Education 2.0
|
- Homework - The teacher wrote homework assignments
on the board. The student would copy the homework assignments into her
daily journal to remember when she got home.
|
- Homework 2.0- The teacher still writes homework assignments
on the board.
- Student uses his Cell phone to text the homework assignment to
himself to remind him later.
- Student pulls up his homework assignments on the school website
when he gets home.
|
- Parents - Parents check homework. Because it has
been a long time since the parent has learned these materials herself
she reads the chapter in the textbook or goes over the child’s subject
notes.
|
|
- Studying -
- Students used their notes, text books and Study guides to study
for an upcoming test.
- Rewrite notes to help absorb the information.
- Fellow Students pass their notebooks around with classmates to
make sure they all have the correct notes.
- Study Groups.
|
- Studying 2.0 - Teachers still provide Study Guides
and textbooks to study. However, students don’t have to share notes
taken in class on notebook paper.
- Student rewrites notes to help absorb the information. But, rewrites
their notes online using a social platform, so that classmates can
share the notes…see mynoteIT
- Students chat via Instant Message to study.
- Study via school chat rooms
|
- Reports -
- Go to the Library to do research.
- Card Catalog to find out where they can locate the facts and information.
- Encyclopedias, Books, Magazines, Newspapers and Microfiche.
- Make notes on Index Cards.
- Hand write report and spell check using a Dictionary.
- Type report using a Typewriter or Word Processor (90’s).
- Putting together a report from research to end takes a very long
time…. students would know a month or more in advance.
|
- Report 2.0 -
- Students can do their research at home.
- Students have access to a world of information at the fingertips
via the Web.
- Podcasts, Wikis, Blogs, Vlogs, Picture and Video Sharing.
- Students have tons of software to choose from to put together
their reports…. all software has spell check to easily check the
student’s spelling without the need for a dictionary.
- Putting together a report from research to end takes a fraction
of the time as it once did.
|
- Oral Reports / Public Speaking -
- Research would be the same as above (look at Reports)
- Visuals that you would want to use for your oral report would
probably be hand made using poster board, markers, glue, and anything
else a student would need to make a point using visual stimulation.
Visuals would be time using imagination and materials.
|
- Oral Reports 2.0 / Public Speaking 2.0 -
- Research would be the same as above (look at Report 2.0).
- Students could get their visuals using social Media and Web 2.0
as well.
- Flickr
- Google Image Search
- Students can enter exactly what kind of visual they are trying
to put together into search to find how to make it. For example,
if you are doing an oral report on the Solar System you might enter
"how
to make the solar system" into search. Here you will find
plenty of choices of projects on how to build a solar system perfect
to use as a visual for your oral report.
|
- Tutoring - If the Student’s parents felt that she
was falling behind on her studies a parent would call the teacher or
Guidance Counselor so they could locate a Tutor to help study with the
Student at School or at home.
|
- Tutoring 2.0 - Tutoring no longer has to be done
at school at all. It can completely be done at home in several manners.
Tutoring 2.0 can be done via:
- Instant Message with the Tutor
- School Website during a tutoring chat one on one with tutor or
tutor with an entire Study Group.
- Online with one of the many online
tutoring groups.
|
- Cheating - Unfortunately, cheating was there then
and remains in education now.
- Write answers to Quiz / Test questions on hands, jeans or soles
of shoes.
- Get a copy of the Quiz / Test.
- Pass homework around to others to see.
- Get Cliff notes of a book (instead of reading the book) to study
for a test or to do a Report.
|
- Cheating 2.0 - Cheating remains, but it goes to a
whole new level of cheating.
- Text Message answers to friends
- Pre-written reports and essays found online.
- Using music players to record information
- uploading information to memory sticks.
- Emailing homework assignments to fellow classmates.
|
*I do not agree with cheating. It is listed here because whether we like it
or not…. some student’s cheat. I’m simply showing how cheating has changed with
the addition of Web 2.0.
My child rolls his eyes at me as I use to roll my eyes at my parents and grandparents.
I’m sure my children will experience the same thing with their children as well.
Technology has changed so much in the 30 some years I have been around…..
how much do you think it will change in the next 30?
Technorati Tags:web 2.0, social media, education, parenting, family, kids, children
Posted in Blogging, Social Media, Social Networking, Vlogging, Web 2.0, Web 2.0 Basics, Websites | 22 Comments »
Wednesday, January 16th, 2008 |
Photo by KoAn
I wrote a post on Collective-Thoughts yesterday, "What
if Social Media were a Disorder?" And, even though it was meant to
be a humorous post playing on the fact that many, myself included, are obsessed
with Social Media. I got to thinking that maybe for some it actually might be
thought of as a disease that they are afraid to catch. It was not that
long ago that I felt that Social Media was “The Leper”.
I remember a couple of years ago before I had accepted Social Media I was a
stubborn Webmaster. I enjoyed my silent World. I enjoyed having total control
over my Websites….. control over my business. I felt that keeping out other
opinions would be the best thing for me. After all, nothing good could come
from opening up the doors to communication between the world and me. I am a
control freak when it comes to my business. I think that I have been successful
in part because of my need for control. But, what I didn’t realize was that
much of my fear of Social Media was keeping me from more success.
There were two Big things I hated….. two things standing in the way between
me and Social Media.
- Change - I hate change. Adding a Blog to my websites meant
a lot of change. Change is very frightening for me because it
makes me feel a loss of Control…. which brings me to my next big problem
with accepting Social Media.
- Loss of Control - I am a total control feak. I felt that
adding conversations to my business was going to ruin everything I worked
so hard to achieve. I had a huge fear of negative feedback from customers,
negative comments from competitors and spam.
There were other fears (as
Rachel of BehindTheBuzz points out in her post), but these two were the
biggies for me. And, these two fears were not only holding me back from Social
Media, but from bigger success. I never imagined all I was missing until I took a good look
back on how far I’ve come since I entered its world. But, once I added a blog
to my Preschool Curriculum
eCommerce site (my 1st taste of social media) good things began to happen. Good
things like:
- Increased traffic
- Increase in incoming Links
- Moving up the Serps
- Branding of my Business name & Products
- Wonderful Conversations with People in my Niche.
- Increase in Friendships
- I enjoy what I do so much more
As a Webmaster I felt that as long as I didn’t allow Social Media in to my
Business then I could keep all other opinions (other than my own) out of my
business. But, the fact is that whether I liked it or not my readers, customers
and potential customers would be talking online about my products. These people
would be discussing my products online in Message Boards, Social Networks, Blogs,
etc…. whether I was participating or not. At least if I participated I could
respond to their comments whether good or bad. And, if I received Spam as comments
I would have a chance to monitor the comments before they went live. So, at least I felt that
ultimately I was still in control. And, this sense of control put me at ease.
I am not that great at taking constructive criticism, so the thought of negative
comments on the Preschool Products that I designed and created myself makes
me a bit nauseated. But, I’m dealing with it…. quite well actually. All comments
on my eCommerce site have of all been pretty positive and proactive. I have
actually enjoyed the interaction with my customers. I had forgotten how much
I had missed social interaction. I think that communication between myself and
customers have made my company more approachable and human. And, when the time
comes that I have to deal with a truly negative comment in the public eye I
will respond the best way I know how…. with honesty and sincerity.
Technorati Tags:social media, social media marketing, blogging, social networking, web 2.0, websites, webmasters
Posted in Blogging, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking, Web 2.0, Websites | 10 Comments »
Sunday, January 6th, 2008 |
This past Friday Darren Rowse of ProBlogger
wrote a post, Using
StumbleUpon to Get on the Radar of Other Bloggers . In this post Darren
wrote how he had taken notice of me and my work due to my stumbling his posts
a few times. He mentioned in this post that he recognized me as a person who
had stumbled his work more than once and he landed up taking a closer look at
my StumbleUpon profile where he noticed my many sites and even subscribed to
this Blog’s feed.
Darren Rowse mentioning me on his blog has got to be a definite high point
in my Blogging career so far. However, after taking 24 hours to sit back and
just think about how wonderful it was to be mentioned by Darren on ProBlogger…..
something occurred to me. What if my StumbleUpon profile was different? What
if I hadn’t taken the time to add clickable links on my Profile? If I hadn’t
taken the time to make my StumbleUpon profile stand out would this amazing high
point in my Blogging career have past me by??!! Jeeze, the thought makes me
shudder.
So, I wanted to take a moment and post a few things that I did with my StumbleUpon
profile that might have made a difference between Darren taken notice of my
work or not.
Why my StumbleUpon Profile Might Have Stood Out to Darren
- Avatar - I chose the same Avatar that I use on all my other
Social Networking Sites. This way people would recognize me from one Social
Networking Site to the next. I used an image of myself, but many people use
other things such as their company’s logo, cartoon characters or any other
graphic that makes them stand out. For me, it was just a basic picture of
myself.
- Profile Name - Again, just like with the avatar, I chose
the same profile name for my StumbleUpon profile as I use on all of my other
Social Networking Sites…. TheNanny612. However, I have to say, TheNanny612
is not a very good Profile Name at all. It has nothing to do with what I do
for a living….. It is actually more of an Inside Family Joke that no one
would understand unless I explained it to them. But, now that people already
recognize me as TheNanny612 it wouldn’t be very prudent for me to change it
now. However, this might have worked in my favor as well… I haven’t run
into another Profile Name that is even similar. So, it probably does stand
out quite well.
- Profile Details - Choose a well thought out description
of yourself. It shouldn’t be very long as readers probably won’t stick around
very long. Get right to the point. Write your details well, spell correctly
and be descriptive.
- Clickable Links - Make sure that any website links that
you would like to mention on your Profile Details are clickable. Your StumbleUpon
profile is a great place to promote your sites. When people of the SU Community
arrive to your profile page and want to learn more about you the chances of
these readers checking out your website are so much greater if your links
are clickable. I’m not sure if Darren of ProBlogger would have copied and
pasted my link into a browser had I not made my links clickable. So, this
is very, very important.
This is what my StumbleUpon profile page would have looked like had I not
made the links clickable:
This is what my StumbleUpon profile page appears like now with all the links:
It’s really simple to make a link on your StumbleUpon profile clickable. Let’s
say you have a site called My Site and it was located at www.MySite.com. This
is how you would make that link clickable on your SU profile.
Go to your StumbleUpon’s profile page and Click on the Link that says, "Preferences".
Once this page opens up click on the link that says, "Public Profile".
This is where you are going to edit your Public Profile. You will see a box
below where it says, "Introduce yourself to Everyone".In this box
is where you are going to enter your Profile details.
In the spot of your details that you want to be a clickable link you use the following code (changing mysite to your site’s info): <a href="http://www.mysite.com/">my site</a>.
(Don’t be alarmed, the StumbleUpon system will automatically add a "No
Follow" to the coding.)
Click Save Profile and when others take a look at your profile the phrase
"my site" should look like: my
site.
There is an area on the edit Public Profile page that you can enter your website….
it will look like this:
However, oddly enough, your website’s link does not appear on the first page
of your StumbleUpon Profile. Your viewers will have to click on the tab that
says "About Her/Him". And, then they will come to a page that they
will see the link of your website.
This is an extra click that the viewers of StumbleUpon have to make to find
your website’s link. This is another reason why I decided to make clickable
links on my SU profile page.
- Multiple Website Links - When I first opened my StumbleUpon
account 6 months ago I had 8 Websites that I wanted to list on my StumbleUpon
profile page, but not only did it look funny… it looked almost Spammy as well.
I had a discussion with Todd Mintz of SEMPortland
who suggested that I purchase my name, Shana Albert, as a domain for other
reasons than StumbleUpon. His suggestion was a good one for so many reasons.
And, having the domain ShanaAlbert.com
worked out on my StumbleUpon profile as well. The ShanaAlbert website is a
simple static web page with all of my websites and blogs listed on that page.
With a simple click on the link on my SU profile page a reader will be sent
to my website that has images and links to all of my sites. This way my StumbleUpon
profile will not be inundated with outgoing links. I don’t want a reader to
feel overwhelmed when they are reading about me….. I just want them to get
a sense of what I’m passionate about. And, I believe that Darren got all of
that from a simple look at my StumbleUpon profile.
Technorati Tags:stumbleupon, social media, social media marketing, smm, tips, tutorials, social bookmarking, social networking, blogging, problogger
Posted in Blogging, Social Bookmarking, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking, StumbleUpon, Tips and Tutorials, Web 2.0 Basics, Websites | 35 Comments »
Friday, December 7th, 2007 |
Yesterday I wrote a Post on Collective-Thoughts, Wow,
Social Media is a lot like High School!! . It is a humorous look at how
Social Media has many similarities to High School. Both Social Media and High
Schools have Popular Crowds, Clubs, The Bad Boys, Rule Breakers, Goodie-Goodies,
Parties, Peer Pressure, and Gossip. I hope the readers enjoyed it as much as
I enjoyed writing it.
I’ve learned that using analogies is a great way to explain things that are
normally difficult to explain. There are many people on the net that find Social
Media and Web 2.0 very confusing. Analogies help explain something confusing
to an individual by comparing it with something they already understand. So,
here I have listed 12 articles that use cool analogies to explain different
aspects of Social Media.
Join the Conversation or Break
Into the Conversation? - Sean at Grin & Grumble compares Social Media
being a Pool and Bloggers being the different types of swimmers in the Pool
of Social Media.
The
“symphony” of social media - Dee Rambeau at CausePlanet.org
writes a creative analogy comparing a symphony orchestra with social media.
Why Corporations
Should Blog (Hint, it’s not SEO) - Josh Hallett at Hyku uses your love for
your significant other to prove a point.
Marc
Canter’s vision of the open social network - Chris at Particls Blog comparing
Facebook and other Social Networks are like Shopping Centers.
Fly-Fishing
Where the Fish Are - Ann Handley at Marketing Profs Daily Fix writes about
fishing using flies was not unlike marketing using the tools of social media.
Social
Media, the Pond Analogy and the Old Media Disconnect - sean at Scrollin’
On Dubs compares Marketing with the spreading of ripples in a glassy pond.
The
Ethics Of Social Bookmarking - xrayspecs at The Internet Marketing Neophyte
compares a new site to a piece of driftwood.
Social
Media Marketing is Similar to a Fishing Tournament - Mark Laymon at Collective-Thoughts
Bookmarking
Solutions: Quick Access vs. Long Term Storage - Jay White at Dumb Little
Man compares Social Bookmarking to paper filing systems.
Advertising
Tips (with Sex examples) - talisman.org explains what marketing is using
Pick-up Lines and the such.
Online
social networking, an extension to human evolution? Arun Radhakrishnan at
TechRepublic talks about the relation between social networking and human evolution.
The
Virtual world and the Real World - An Analogy - Karthik Vijayakumar at Water
Droplets compares The virtual world to the real world.
Technorati Tags:social media, social bookmarking, social networking, analogies, social media marketing
Posted in Blogging, Facebook, Humor, Social Bookmarking, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking, Web 2.0, Websites | 8 Comments »
Tuesday, November 27th, 2007 |
Image by gutter
After reading a post regarding Women
having an easier time in Social Media yesterday I wasn’t ready for
my past insecurities to come flooding back to me. After all, Wingnut’s
post was just poking fun at an
issue that is certainly not new in the virtual world. But, I think the reason
it started to get to me more and more over the past 24 hours is because the
gender issue hit a sensitive spot for me.
Before the World Wide Web became my place of business I worked full time in
a very stressful, high paced business that was made up of more than 95% men.
I earned my spot there, but getting there and staying there was not an easy
one for me.
A bit of My Professional History
I started working for this business back in 1994…. I was just 23. I started
as a temporary with the hopes to gain a permanent position after 30 days. After
all, up to this point I got every job I had interviewed for. I am an over achiever
and a perfectionist. Not always a great combination for me as I tend to be very
hard on myself, but past employers seemed to have liked those traits.
The first month at this business went extremely well. I had a strong grasp
of my responsibilities, got along well with my colleagues, and my immediate
boss mentioned many times he was impressed with my work. But, what made me feel
that the permanent position was "in the bag" for me was when the President
of the Company pulled me in to his office to tell me that he was thrilled with
my work and that I was ready to be on my own. “Yes, this job is mine!!”
6 Months later and I was still a Temporary employee. Talk about frustrating!!
What the heck was I doing wrong? I couldn’t understand. After all, this
Company was spending a fortune to keep me as a temporary. Why wouldn’t
they just hire me full time? Well, it wasn’t long before I got my answer.
I was called in to the office of the Sales Manager, who was also one of the
three owners of the Company. We started talking about my position at the Company
and he mentioned that the outcome of the project he was now giving me would
determine whether I got the Permanent position at the Company. It was then that
he told me that up until this point that he was the "thing" that has
held me back from the permanent position. Apparently, he had many conversations
with the other two owners and he would not agree to hiring me permanently until
I had proven myself. He didn’t think I could handle the job as I was a
young attractive woman. These were his words… not mine.
WHAT?! I was devastated. After all, I couldn’t change this.
I couldn’t take my knowledge and skills and fix this one. I am a woman…..
a SMART woman.
I couldn’t fix the gender issue, but the one thing I could do was try
even harder to impress him. I could prove to him that even a young lady could
keep up with this high paced, stressful business. And, that’s exactly
what I did.
11 Months from the month I started that job I finally got that permanent full
time position and I stayed there 8 years.
I left that place of business in 2001 and started working out of my home as
a Webmaster. Once I started my Webmaster business I rarely had interaction with
others in the professional sense. I was my own boss and the absence of human
interaction was a well needed change of pace.
Enter Social Media
As the Web World evolved my business as a Webmaster needed to evolve as well.
I needed to add
human interaction back into my Business. Enter Social Media.
I had no idea that when I started adding Social Media into my business activities
that the same
anxieties of working with others in my past professional life would come
back and haunt me.
This is not directly about Wingnut’s post…. I actually enjoyed his post.
The issue is my past insecurities of being a young female professional in a
man’s world. I earned my spot then and I will keep trying to earn my spot
in the Social Media world now as well.
Technorati Tags:social media, gender differences, web 2.0, insecurities, business, social networking
Posted in Social Media, Social Networking, Web 2.0, Websites | 14 Comments »
Wednesday, November 21st, 2007 |
If you are a Small Business Owner the thought of Social Media Marketing can be
very overwhelming. There are so many options out there for Social Media Marketing
that the already very busy Business Owner might shy away from Social Media all
together.
Since Social
Media is so important to see the true potential of your Web Business I want
to show you some some ways that a Small Business Owner can start getting their
feel wet to Social Media Marketing without taking a huge plunge.
Add Social Networking Buttons to your static Webpages
There is no reason that only Blogs should enjoy the benefits of Social Bookmarking
buttons. Static Websites can benefit from this social media marketing activity
as well. Social Bookmarking is a way that users can tag their favorite sites
with different keywords which help them to organize the content. Tags help others
find your content and to help search engines see your content.
Adding Social Bookmarking Buttons to a Web Page will make it very easy for
someone to bookmark an article or product from your website. When a page from
your website is bookmarked it makes it very easy for your webpage to be shared
with others on the web. Plus, it is another way for search engines find a link
to one of your webpages and spider your site.
Check
out these Social Bookmarks. Choose which Social Bookmarks fit your Website’s
content best.
Start Commenting on Blogs
Commenting on Blogs is a great way to get Incoming links to your Website. The
more links you have coming in to your Website not only brings in new potential
customers and clients, but it can also move you up in the search engines.
Making comments on Blogs is a great way to not only increase incoming links
to your website, but it is also a way to get the attention of the readers reading
the blog post and the blogger himself. If done correctly and often enough you
might even become a known expert in your field or niche. Check out Lifehacker’s
guide to weblog comments for lots of great Comment Tips.
Participate in Answer Sites
Participating in Answer Sites, such as Yahoo!
Answers and Answers.com,
is not only an excellent way to get links coming in to your site, but it is
another wonderful way to become known as an expert in your field. Make a point
to spend some time on one of the major answer sites and answer the questions
that you know you have the correct answers to. Place a link to your site in
your Profile and you will find not only will people look towards you for their
answers, but they might even become frequent visitors to your site. This form
of social media marketing is excellent if you are a service based small business.
Choose an Answer site that you want to work with and spend at least an hour
or two there each week to reap the true benefits of this type of Social Media
Marketing.
For more information check out Yahoo!
Answers, Answers.com,
Social Networking
Social Networking is a way of interacting with other people in a web community
setting. These web communities can be niche specific (professional,
dating, pets,
friends to name a very
few) or the communities can be very broad (StumbleUpon,
Digg, MySpace).
The whole point of any of these Social Networking Sites is to help form relationships
between people with a common interest from all over the world.
For a Small Business Owner utilizing a Professional Social Networking site,
such as LinkedIn, is
so important. With Professional Social Networking sites you will be able to
create your Business Profile which summarizes your professional accomplishments.
Within your Social Networking Community you will be able to locate clients,
find Business opportunities, search for jobs, discover connections, locate former
colleagues, clients, and partners and locate other professionals with the same
interests as you. It is very similar to Business Networking in your Local Community,
but you are not limited to location. You will be networking with professional
people from all over the world.
Check out some Other
Social Networks not Mentioned above.
Have Customers Review you Online
The major search engines have come a long way when it comes to local search.
Google supports searching by IP address. Which means that Google can target
according to the geographical locale of the searcher’s IP address. This
is great news for small businesses who make their living by selling items or
services to people in their community or surrounding communities. If Google
and the other major search engines have your Business in the local search engine
directory it could bring you to the top of the search engines in your area for
your keyphrase or niche.
To make sure that your business will appear in the local search for your area
make sure to go to the following links and submit your Business address, phone
number and other business information. Many people no longer use phone books
to locate local businesses, they use the Web to find them. Make sure they can
find you too. Click on the following links to Local Search Engines, Directories
and Yellow Pages and enter your Business’s information.
While you are adding your Business listing to the above Local Search Engines,
Directories and yellow pages do a bit more research to see which of these also
offer reviews. Once you have done that follow the simple steps below to have
your customers review your business.
- Go through the listings above to see which have review capability.
- On a Postcard or Index card simply ask your customers if they would like
to review your business. Make sure to include a link to one of the Local Search
Review sites on the card. You can even offer them a coupon or discount off
a future purchase for your review.
- Send these Review Cards out to your Customers.
Many of the above Search Engines, Directories and Yellow Pages will show your
reviews next to your Business Listing. If you have great reviews this could
bring you a lot of extra business.
Twitter
If the thought of starting a Blog seems frightening at this point, but you
wanted to participate in something that lets you stay in touch with your customers
or clients… maybe Twitter is for you.
You don’t have to be a wiz at writing to use Twitter as you will only have
140 characters to get your point across. But with a bit of Networking on Twitter
to find the right followers it might be the perfect place to announce sales,
new products, or services. For more information on using Twitter as a Marketing
Tool check out The
Big Juicy Twitter Guide. Here Caroline offers you detailed information on
how to use Twitter.
All of these Social Media Marketing Ideas are a wonderful way to get your business
name out there, increase your incoming links, and increase traffic and sales.
All of these Social Media Activities take some work. However, if your time is
limited or you feel apprehensive about jumping head first into all the Social
Media Activities that are out there, just try one of them and see how it goes.
Get a taste of it. If you find you enjoyed it and it brought you increased traffic
and/or sales maybe add another Social Media activity. You can do as little or
as much as you would like. No need to feel intimidated by Social Media…. do
it at your own pace.
Technorati Tags:social media, social media marketing, social networking, social bookmarking, small business
Posted in SEM, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking, Twitter, Websites | 19 Comments »
Tuesday, November 13th, 2007 |
Social Media is an important part of my daily routine. Since I started adding
Social Media to my Daily Schedule I’ve seen an increase in daily traffic,
incoming links, sales on my Preschool
Curriculum eCommerce site and I’ve met the most amazing, brilliant
people that enjoy the same interests as I do.
It sounds wonderful, right? Well, up until last Friday I would have said an
energetic, “YES!!” Now, I’m not so sure.
Last Friday I was comparing what my goals were for that week and what I actually
accomplished. I was horrified to see that I fell short on many of my goals for
that week. For me, that rarely happens. I am ridiculously structured. I need
to be… I run a business out of my home while taking care of three children.
Schedules and "To-Do" Lists are what helps keep my crazy busy life
a bit more sane. So, when I saw my list having tons of items not crossed off
I was determined to see where all of my time was going. This is what I came
up with:
The following times aren’t exact, but gives you a rough idea of the
time I spend doing particular daily duties.
7:30 am
- Get up and start getting my 5 year old ready for School and make sure my
11 year old is awake and getting himself ready for school.
8:30 am
- Feed 4 year old Breakfast.
- Check email
- Print off ABC Home Preschool orders for the last 24 hours
- Process all Credit Card transactions
- Email Customers with their ship dates.
9:30 am
- Use my Feed Reader to check out the new Posts on my Favorite Blogs
- Stumble
and Sphinn posts appropriately.
- Comment on any Posts that I feel I can contribute to.
- Bookmark posts to come back
to later.
10:30 am
- Check out what’s new on Sphinn. Sphinn items I find interesting
- Stumble and/or Bookmark items I find interesting from Sphinn.
- Comment on Sphinn items.
- Check what’s new on FaceBook.
Respond to FaceBook messages and Notifications.
11:30 am
- Quick Stop at MyBlogLog
to see who stopped by my Profile
- Reply to Messages
- Quick Thank-you emails for Stopping by.
- Check what pages StumbleUpon friends sent me to check out…. Respond to
each.
12:30 pm
- Lunch for 4 year old and myself.
- Work-out and Shower.
2:30 pm
- Finish Writing a Post for one of my Blogs
4:00 - 9:00 pm
- Dinner, Homework and Family Time (Trust me, this time is not a break….
I’m sure you Mommies and Daddies know what I’m talking about.)
9:00 pm
- Begin online research on the next days post.
- Make Notes on the direction I want to go with post and any outbound
links I want to use
10:30 pm
- Process orders for ABC Home Preschool
- Package Orders for tomorrow’s shipment
12:00 am
- Go through Feed Reader once again
- Make Posts and Comments on other Blogs
- Sphinn / Stumble Posts
- Go thru Sphinn once again
- Stumble a bit
- Twitter
- Try to finish catching up on emails
Bedtime is between 1 am and 3 am. Lately it is closer to 3 am.
Keep in mind a few things about the above generalized schedule:
- Nowhere did I mention any interaction or quality time with my children.
I have a 4 year old who spends his days with me. So, the work I mentioned
above is done around my time with him during the day.
- I mentioned nothing about extracurricular activities for my children which
happens at least 3 times a week in which I also attend.
- In addition to this blog I have many
other sites that I work on.
- On a daily basis I speak and / or chat with the people I network with online. This
must be squeezed into my daily schedule.
- Daily tweaks and article writing for my static websites
The above schedule was just to give you a very rough idea of how my basic work
day goes. And, how much time, at a minimum, I work on Social Media. My plate
was full before Social Media entered my life. Today my plate is over flowing.
I love Social Media I just need to learn how to manage my time with it better.
If I attempt to keep going at this pace with a schedule like this I’m
sure Social Media will take my life. I am determined to come up with a Time
Management Plan for Social Media that works for me. As it is something that
is not only working for my business, but that I love very much.
During my research in the past couple of days I came across three wonderful
posts that offer some time management skills when it comes to Social Media.
- My
Half Hour Social Networking Plan - In this three part series Kevin Palmer
gives us the details of his 30 minute Social Networking Plan. Kevine breaks
his plan down into three posts 1. The
First Ten Minutes 2.
The Second Ten Minutes 3. The
Final Ten Minutes
- The
10-Minute Daily Guide to Building Your Social Media Profile - Ben Yoskovitz
offers some of his amazing Time Management Tips for Social Networking.
- 7
Ways to Own Social Media Before it Owns You - Brian
Wallace explains that Instead of suffering from social media overload,
look at a few other disciplines and tips for help.
So, please…. please Help Me!! Social Media is trying to take my life….
Do you have any suggestions? I would love to hear them.
Technorati Tags:social media, time management, social networking
Posted in Blogging, Facebook, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking, Time Management, Twitter, Web 2.0, Web 2.0 Basics, Websites | 23 Comments »
