Bittersweet Blogphony

Top Ten Best Social Media Practices:

with tips from Chris Brogan and Maria Azua

*Accurate to our MDIA 470B classroom

Throughout the last ten weeks, I've picked up on the top ten practices for social media that can help increase online presence, drive readers to your blog, and retain those readers using tactics, tools, and a big ol' smile on your face.

Here goes nothing!

1.) Build a Few Accounts

To participate on the Web these days requires that you build some accounts at various Web platforms. These are called passport accounts, because you need them to visit these virtual places. Create new accounts such as:

• Google Accounts - well, so you can use the best tools on the Web provided by Google, duh!
• Digg - A social news site
• Reddit - Also a social news site, a bit more social, though.
• YouTube - A video sharing site for that video visual presence.
• PayPal - For electronic money transfer.
• Amazon.com - Shopping site to get your goods and sell them too!

2.) Design a "Home Base" that your passport accounts surround

The Home Base is your blog/website. Not everyone needs a blog. But most people who want to develop a personal brand do. If you want to use a paid site, by an easy-to-remember, easy-to-spell, content appropriate domain name if you can. Don't be TOO clever!

A really nice layout doesn't have to cost a lot, but shows you're more than a social media dabbler. Make sure it's easy to comment and easy for people to subscribe to your site's content. Load time is imperative, so test out loading your page to make sure it doesn't take too long.

3.) Tips for Content

Create new content on your "home base" regularly. If you don't update daily, then at least 3 times a week. The more others can use your content, the more they will adopt it. Write brief pieces with lots of visual breaks that allow people to absorb content.

Images draw people's attention. Try to add a graphic per post like this:

Peter Cashmore, Founder and CEO of Mashable. Include one of these bad
boys in every post and you're sure to bring the crowd back.

4.) Community

Remember that community and marketplace are two different things. Make your site and your efforts heavily about other people. It circles back. Make it easy for your community to reach you. Contribute to your community's blogs and projects. Thank people often for their time and attention (this alone can go a long way, and I can attest to that).

Remember two things, if any: Always be human; your community knows more than you, ask them questions often.

5.) Use other social media networks, a lot.

Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, EVEN MYSPACE! Create accounts on these various social media platforms and accomplish two things: 1.) find new audience that you didn't have before. 2.) Prove to existing audience that you are present all across the social Internet = retention.

6.) Things to Avoid!

There are a few easy land mines that you should avoid to remain credible and successful at blogging.

• It's okay to remove foul language and unruly commenters from your blog.
• DON'T delete comments that criticize you, provided the people stay civil. This is just begging for a brawl. It's considered poor in taste. Besides, that's one part of blogging: understanding what people think of you. Instead, learn from your critics and let them know you will make changes.
• DON'T repurpose other people's content without appropriate permissions. Learn about the Creative Commons and understand the differences in intellectual property laws and regulations.
• Lastly, avoid posting only business content. Keep your blog and social media presence to all things. Remember, be human.

7.) Social Media Toolkit

Here's the quick list summary of what you will need to get started.

• Listening tool: Google Reader
• Search tools: Technorati and Google Blogsearch
• Home Base blog: WordPress.com or WordPress.org
• Scratch blog: Tumblr.com or Posterous.com
• Better reach: FeedBurner
• Mobile Blogging: 12seconds.tv, Utterli, Qik
• Social Conversation: Twitter
• Social Profile: Facebook
• Business Profile: LinkedIn
• Social Bookmarking: Del.icio.us
• Collaboration: PBwiki
• Shared documents: Google Docs

8.) Your Blog is Part of Your Resume

Remember that your blog may be personal but reflects your business life as well. Keep posts, comments, and interactions on your blog somewhat professional and demonstrate faithfulness and respect to your readers. Blogging is like writing out your experience for a resume, line by line. Employers will want to know more about you and your blog/social media presence can help speak for you.

9.) Making a Business from Social Media

Bloggers are making money in varying degrees, depending on their advertising and/or consulting opportunities. Using social media for viral advertising is popular, but mostly because it's low-cost, low-barrier technology that permits folks to get a message across through different channels. PR, marketing, advertising is obvious, but on the other hand, we have a potential for internal tool usage, or the tools being distributed to employees of a company. There are many possibilities.

10.) Be Economical

Most of the tools that you can use to enhance your presence are FREE! That's RIGHT, FREE! Here are a few tools that you can use, free of charge:

• Use Skype for free voice conversations (and video)
• Use WordPress.com to host your blog
• Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, Google Docs, FREE
• Wikis
• Online (or "cloud") storage is usually very cheap, if not free.

Brogan's Tips for Social Media for Business

Brogan came up with some very handy tips for using social media for a business.

To begin, he poses the question: "What are you trying to do with social media?"
And to answer him, I would say that I'm trying to do a few things with my small business.

My small business consists of selling this poster I designed

What I want to do with social media for my business:

• Create an online presence.
• Solve customer issues.
• Update customers with new deals / sales.
• Give the company a personality.

So there are a few things I took out of Brogan's list of 50 Considerations for Social Media Use.

# 3. Pick three social networks to join based on where your customers might be. Three might sound like too few, but it probably will be too many.

The first site I joined to give my product some notoriety was www.Goodsie.com, which is an ecommerce storefront that connects me to thousands of other online stores created by small businesses like mine. The next two sites were naturally a Facebook and Twitter account, both of which I display the product and customers can post pictures of their posters. In fact, I have some help in running some of these accounts, which brings me to...

# 5. Get a second (or maybe third) person in the company to build accounts on these places. Nice to have backups, in case you get busy.

Because of the many orders I receive online and in person, I can't be the only one running my design company. I have brought on a few other students to help me with handling orders and shipping. They have also helped me with building a personality on the official Facebook and Twitter accounts.

# 13. Use tagging and metadata to improve your blog's search features. Most newer blog software has this built in. If not, look for plug-ins.

My Goodsie.com account has the ability to add tags to the products that I add. This makes it easier for someone who is looking for "OU" "poster" "art" "frame" "print" and the like. Also, this allows potential customers to see my poster come up in the search results after Googleing my product.

# 18. On social networks, look for ways to contribute, even when they're not directly related to your company or product.

On the Princeton Review Poster Twitter and Facebook accounts, I have found ways to post things in Athens or OU news that attract attention from the student body or alumni. This gets my product exposure without having to advertise it.

# 22. Use notepad or Evernote files to jot down post ideas when you don't have a moment to write. Return frequently.

This, this, this, this, this. I use Evernote no matter where I am. If I'm at my computer, or anywhere else, it's on my phone. When I get an email about a suggestion for my design company, I clip it with Evernote and save those ideas.

These are just a few ways that Brogan says I can do to make my design company more successful.

USE THE FORCE, LUKE!

The TED Talk Tan Le, which demonstrates the newest brainwave monitor technology that fits on your head, absolutely blew me away.

In fact, I caught myself trying to accomplish what the demonstrators were trying to accomplish in the video by using my super concentrated brain power. I think it's a fascinating advancement in technology and it has definitely come a long way from the first brainwave headgear decades ago.

I think that this technology can either hinder or assist our human connection, depending on how it's implemented into our society. If we choose to implement it into communication, we can speak and interact with others more easily. This is a double edged sword though, as actual physical interaction would hinder, possibly leading to a less communicative society. 

This means that society needs to be informed on the importance of social interaction and collaboration, because sooner or later this technology will encourage introverted activity requiring little or no effort. How will this technology bring our civilization down??

TWEETING FROM THE BRAIN!

People will be able to compose tweets in their head and send them up to 200 times a day. This alone will end our world. I mean come on, think about it.

TED Talk on Open Source

We Screened Howard Rheingold's TED Talk Yesterday and...

It was eye-opening, mind-blowing, jaw-dropping and entertaining. You have to admit, Mr. Rheingold is quite the comedian.

In our Social Media Management course, we took a day to discuss the open source movement and the characteristics that make it up, such as collaboration and cooperation.

• Rheingold says cooperation and collaboration are crucial to human existence. He reminds us of our primitive days when families hunted small game for themselves until other families began cooperating to take down larger game. To fast forward, he examines the opportunities we can have with this planet and outer space if collaboration was increased to full potential.
• When we talked about open-source in class, we realized the sacrifices that have to be made to create programs and operating systems for no profit. But we also discussed what great things come about open-source software, such as the benefits of rapid advancements in technology and a larger workforce of programmers.

I have been interested in open-source for a while and use many open-source programs.

• I think that the open-source movement is a step in the right direction. It's difficult to stand for something that could ultimately adhere to ultra socialism, but I believe it is in the world population's best interest to collaborate without the agenda of profit maximization. 
• The odd's of open-sources success are not likely due to our social and political ideology, but we see open-source programs become mainstream applications every year, and some programs that have been around a long time. The success of Linux operating system provides outlets for indie coders to develop better software and lead to advances in computing.
• I think as more people become computer literate in the world, especially developing countries who recognize success of collaboration, we will see far more open-sourcing software and technology.
• I believe in open-source but I can't go completely open-source. You never go full open-source.

Where Is My Mind?

I've been juggling quite a few things this Spring Quarter. I don't know how to juggle, so sometimes it becomes an issue. When I'm stressed out, I do some yoga on mountains. When there are no mountains, I go to Subway and treat myself right with the full combo. That's right.

Things I'm juggling (not in order of importance):

• Waking up early
• Indoor Soccer
• Tweeting
• Classes
• Selling posters
• Finding an internship
• Finding food to eat
• Finding friends
• Bloggering
• AND MORE!

It's okay, I can do less eating and more internship finding. At least that's what my mom said.

Very peaceful and uncomfortable without padding 

I hope to find an internship in the L.A. area this summer with a production company where I can get some real hands-on experience with getting coffee. My heart, my soul, for God sakes my luggage is still in L.A. (seriously, LAX lost them).

I'm most excited about making connections, "starting over", and clubbing with the Beibs.

Making connections = Networking

Networking with tools like LinkedIn, Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Phone.

I will use the power vested in me to:

1. Connect with other professionals.
2. Update my blog to stay current, or "hip".
3. Produce laughter with colleagues.

There's a few problems in the way. I need $$$. Living in Los Angeles isn't that cheap and virtually all internships are unpaid. Okay, so maybe that's the only problem, but it's a big enough problem to seem like multiple problems (airfare, car rental, FOOD, water, shelter.)

Calm down, deep breaths, "Woo-sah, woo-sah". I just need to buckle down and focus on the critical things in life.

like food.

This is what I'm studying for

Criss Cross Applesauce

The Class Thus Far

This course strikes me as very interesting and right with my interests. I did not expect to learn some of the useful history of the internet that we are being taught, but it aids moving forward with social media management.

The most interesting thing we have been studying are wikis. It's funny to think that the collaboration and interaction we have on the internet wasn't always there. When I was young, I remember GeoCities popping up and people could create their own web pages in "cities". This is the same concept we have today, but obviously with a more efficiency and attractiveness. Yes, I'll admit that I had a GeoCities web page dedicated to Pokemon when I was 8. Big whoop, wanna fight about it?

I'm taking this class to learn what this guy with the googley-eyes has already mastered.

The most boring thing in class is using BLOGGER! No offense to blogger, but I don't think companies these days are using it to reach out to the mass population. We are scribing a journal all over again, just as in MDIA 203. I have faith in our learnéd leader, MCK, that we will be learning more about other social tools that can be used in the professional realm.

The biggest lessons have come from Social Media 101, by Chris Brogan. Only 2 years old, it is chalk-FULL of ideas for promoting business, finding an audience, different management techniques and tools, and more! When I tell companies that I studied Social Media Management at Ohio University, and that I can assist their company with tuning in to their audience, I will be using a lot of advice from this great little book.

Being a Constructive and Responsible Adult

Say Something

Brogan explains in his book, Social Media 101, that even though many great blog posts deserve or should expect some comments, readers don't always have time to write anything. Either that or they are just straight up lazy (like me). Even Brogan admits to forgetting to comment on most of the blogs he reads! What a great role model!

Now that you've admitted you don't have a minute of free time to leave a comment, what can you do to contribute in less amount of time? Brogan say you can use the many tools such as Google Reader, FriendFeed, StumbleUpon, and more to at least pass along the content to your network. That way, you're friends and followers can see what goodie goodie stuff you've read YAY!

Yeah yeah, so I wrote a lil somethin' on a few blogs:

• Amanda's "Blog Critique" post
• Chris's "Dan Harmon Poops" post
• Carly's "What the BLOG?" post