One of my greatest teachers these days is my newest student Gregory Stringer, a 56-year-old disabled retiree who has returned to school for retraining, and that includes a heavy dose of Social Media Networking — which is how we met not long ago.

In the LinkedIn group, FUTURE SOCIAL MEDIA, Endaf Kerfoot presented a Discussion Topic asking the 3,000 group members to introduce themselves:

“Introduce yourself to members of the group – who you are, what you do, where your social media strategy is at/going, what you want to know more about, where you see your own Future of Social Media…”

Gregory and I both introduced ourselves to the group, and then after reading Gregory’s “elevator speech,” I decided to ask him to connect on LinkedIn.  The rest, as they say is History.  🙂

We now email one another, read & comment on each other’s blogs, and share tips. When I was reading through Gregory’s blog Grannelle’s Social Media, I was particularly intrigued by this article:

Tips for educators starting out blogging with students

[. . .  so  Gregory kindly allowed me to re-publish it here as a Guest Post]

My name is Gregory Stringer, and my Internet handle is Grannelle. Six weeks ago I had no idea what SNS was, or even stood for. Today, I am very active on many Social Networking Sites. In addition to blogging, I also “tweet” (http://twitter.com/Grannelle), have a MySpace page (http://www.myspace.com/grannelle), track my wellness odyssey on Limeade (https://limeade.com/SecureLogin.aspx), and list my professional information on LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com/in/stringergregory).

Many sites offer the ability to blog as well as network. What follows are a few of my “secrets” for successful blogging in particular and for joining in on associated SNS in general.

1. Develop a profile document – Almost every site asks for the same general information when registering for access. I have therefore found it helpful to create a document that includes information such as name, address, e-mail, and any other information that is requested on each site I am interested in joining. By keeping this information current, I can simply copy and paste whatever is needed in the required fields. This can be a great time saver, and it insures that my data is consistent.

2. Investigate which sites you want to join – Since I am very active in not only blogging, but also commenting on articles I’ve read, I find it helps to narrow the field somewhat by only registering with those sites I am most interested in visiting. These may be news sites, blogs, and so on. It is very easy to get lost when surfing the ‘Net, especially when clicking link after link. Ergo, I will bookmark a site that looks intriguing, and when I have time, return to examine what is there. If it looks like something I think I may be enticed by, I’ll take the time to register. If not, I delete the site from my bookmarks.

3. Use an auto form-fill program – I use RoboForm with IE8. This way, I don’t have to track passwords every time I log on, though I do keep a secure record of all passwords. Again, this is a time-saver, and as a student, I find my time is at a premium. With a simple click, my user name and password are entered at each site I visit.

4. Link sites to each other – I post my “headline” on Twitter, and add a link to my blog site here at Edublogs. I also will link other blog postings, i.e. MySpace, to my main blog. I find it handy to link comments I make on one site to pertinent blogs. This serves to increase my visibility across the Web.

5. Ask questions of more experienced bloggers – As a newbie, I find I must often seek advice from others, such as Ms. Sue Waters (Sue Waters Blog), who shares some terrific instruction at The Edublogger (http://theedublogger.edublogs.org/). Ms. Waters, a technophile and apparent chocolate lover, hosts a wealth of erudition for those of us just starting out.

6. A default picture to post – I currently don’t have one, but I plan to go to one of the larger discount stores that offer portrait shots at economical prices. This is handy, as it gives a face to the “voice”. People like to know a little about whom they are speaking with, and a recent picture is helpful. It also gives your postings a more professional, as well as personal, feel.

I hope the reader has found something helpful here. If you have questions, or if you’d care to add to what has been said, please feel free to leave a comment. For me, blogging is a large part of my educational experience, and in any scholastic endeavor, the participation of everyone only increases the adventure. Won’t you join me in the journey for wisdom?

NOTE: Gregory recently received his first internship as an SM marketer and has already been offered a full time position upon graduation. His future plans include earning a BS in either marketing or e-Business, and advanced degrees in Internet Marketing.

FURTHER READING FROM GREGORY:

What kind of Netizen are you

What are the keys to social media participation