Category Archives: Sharisax Is Out There

Sharisax Is Out There

Why am I here?

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“What do you want your website visitors to learn about you?”

That question began chapter 18 — “Website conversations” — in Patrick Schwerdtfeger’s popular step-by-step guide for small business owners, commission salespeople, and service professional: Webify Your Business, Internet marketing secrets for the self-employed.

“Your website visitors need to find out if your website has what they are looking for . . . or not.”

Patrick suggests that you answer this question right away by including positioning statements “front and center” on your Home Page. He advises writing down statements like one of his: “Tactical Execution offers tested marketing strategies for small business.”

So I thought I’d follow his direction and list a half dozen Positioning Statements for SHARISAX IS OUT THERE:

  1. Sharisax Is Out There [SIOT] offers step-by-step lessons on how to accomplish basic tasks on popular social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
  2. SIOT discusses solutions that can help small, medium, and large businesses apply technology to reshape their organizations and take advantage of the evolving communication landscape.
  3. SIOT presents interviews with business professionals who are social media influencers and users.
  4. SIOT reports information provided during social media conferences and events.
  5. SIOT shares tips and other content from popular social media books.
  6. SIOT offers my own personal observations of the huge changes in our lives because of the paradigm shift –the New Normal in business and marketing.

Now it is your turn. Make a list of statements and then prioritize them in a logical order, i.e., What you want people to do first, second, third, etc.

“A conversation is taking place and you can script your side of it the same way some companies use scripts for customer service calls.”

You have complete control over your website, and you should take advantage of the opportunity, according to Patrick:

“Figure out what you want them to learn and then build a path for them to walk on. If you do, it will dramatically improve the conversion rate your website delivers.”

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Guest Post, Sharisax Is Out There

Social Media Monitoring: Critical for Business Success

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Success with social media strategies requires monitoring and reporting, but with so many tools available, what should you choose?

This was a Discussion Topic that has so far generated 88 comments on the LinkedIn group: Future Social Media. Among the individual site recommendations was a response from Alan Stevenson who offered several tools to consider, so I asked if he’d put his knowledge into a special Guest Post for my readers:

Guest Post by Dr. Jim Hamill and Alan Stevenson

This article will provide an overview of Social Media Monitoring tools, what they are, what benefits they can provide for your business and how you should begin to think about the solution(s) that meets your needs.

Just as Google Analytics has forced us to think differently about our website, Social Media Monitoring tools are forcing us to think very differently about our wider web presence.

What are Social Media Monitoring Tools

One of the major trends on the Web has been the emergence of Social Media Monitoring Tools – applications which allow companies to monitor the conversations taking place about brands, products, competitors or industries across different social media platforms:

WHO is saying WHAT, WHERE on the social web.

We have identified over 100 companies operating in this space, as summarized in Tag Cloud above.

Social Media Monitoring solutions range from no- or low-cost tools such as Google Alerts, Trackur, Social Mention or ViralHeat to more expensive and sophisticated tools, such as Scoutlabs, Radian6, SM2 or SocialRadar.

Some tools are sophisticated, but expensive

The most sophisticated (and most expensive) tools allow businesses to monitor and evaluate the following:

· A river of news: all the information pertaining to your business, industry, product or competition

· The volume of relevant mentions

· The topic trends (peaks and troughs over a period), tying in with events, other marketing initiations or potential reputation issues such as Nestle and a Palm Oil protest

· Details of what is being said at an aggregate level, from all content. Usually displayed as a “tag cloud” containing mentions of key words or phrases

· The mention medium: tweet, blog post, forum post, news item, video or image

· The importance of individual mentions with an ability to rank and further tag or categorize e.g. this mention is about “jobs”; “finance”; “competitors”

· Overall sentiment or tone (with some serious caveats); which mentions were positive or negative. See the idolstats site for an innovative application of this feature

· Language variants, some supporting analysis in 10 or more languages

· The perceived importance of mentions, channels, sources or individuals (in other words your influencers)

· Updates and changes as they happen, usually as email alerts or RSS feeds

· The opportunity to identify “actionable insights” e.g., the Banff Tourism Authority that noticed the potential viral impact of a squirrel or the Southwest Airlines team that got behind a video of their rapping flight attendant

Others are free, but with limitations

The free tools provide “some” of the aforementioned features and for many businesses (arguably most businesses); combining one or more free tools is good enough. I’ve highlighted a few to consider below:

Google Alerts – Searches Google’s index across blog, news, video, web and groups for your key search terms. Results can be provided by email or as RSS feeds and it provides an extensive range of results (updated daily) but does not include Twitter results (yet). Further analysis (such as relevance or importance) or search within comments over a period of time can be facilitated through use of a Feed Reader (Google Alerts feeding Google Reader). A good starting point for any business in this space.

Social Mention – Provides a good level of social media analysis for specific search terms and includes sentiment analysis. Using the advanced search facility, terms can be customized to a great extent although there is limited use of authority or relevance in results. Not as feature rich as Blogscope and reports are fairly basic with less ability to specify dates or drill into results. Also, alerts are on basic search terms only.

How Sociable – Not a bad way of quickly getting a handle on how sociable a company or brand is. It scores your business across a range of networks and blogs. Simply, it creates a search query in each channel and rates the response. Although not 100% accurate it is a useful tool to track progress.

Trackur – Does the usual things well (aggregates search across video, web/news, twitter). Provides results in one place where filtering can take place but deeper analysis is not possible. Sentiment tracking is manually configured i.e. you set positive, negative, neutral for each return (the system defaults to neutral for all).

Blogscope – An initiative from the University of Toronto. It provides popularity curves and key words for any search and has good links to articles and videos (with preview facility). You can drill down by date and conduct comparison searches. The presentation aspect of the tool is excellent. It captures data from the main blogs and one or more video sites (although I suspect only YouTube). It does not appear to pick up Twitter and there is limited ability to analyze content further or even monitor on an ongoing basis.

A solution ‘fit’ for purpose

Businesses that receive a high number of mentions on a regular basis or those that have a portfolio of products and services to manage, will require the range of features and level of analysis only available from the more sophisticated “high end” tools. The debate currently taking place on the LinkedIn group: Future Social Media is testimony to the difficulty that then exists in determining which of the many tools on the market is the right tool for you.

It is often compelling to use the feature list of a product as the starting point for selecting a solution. Or indeed become fixated by what tools do or don’t do as well as their counterparts. This invariably leads to problems. I should also say that all of the leading Social Media tools are limited in the following:

· They do not analyze sentiment well; they are unable to determine automatically and to a high degree of accuracy positive or negative mentions and often err on the side of caution i.e. make the majority neutral
· They will not calculate Return on Investment for you
· They will not interpret the findings for you or take effective action for you
· They are not an answer to further manual processing and manipulation

My answer to the question of which tool to use or which tool is best, is the same answer for any business looking to monitor Social Media. The tool or tools you use should depend entirely on your prioritized needs or requirements e.g. if you are only ever going to receive a few mentions a month, why pay a high fee to monitor those conversations? If you are only ever going to monitor conversations in English why do you need a tool that translates tweets into eight different languages, as cool as that function appears?

Put another way, you must consider your rationale for monitoring Social Media in the first place. This rationale should be closely aligned to your overall Social Media vision and objectives and tied in to your key initiatives (YouTube Channel, Facebook Page, Twitter account, Website or Blog etc.). In this sense, you will certainly be considering a Social Media Monitoring solution that augments the range of ‘channel’ specific analysis tools that already exist, for example, Google Analytics, Facebook Stats, YouTube analytics, and so on.

Social Media Monitoring tools can support your Social Media Strategy in a number of ways:

  1. Market Knowledge and Intelligence. Where your customers, partners, competitors and staff are hanging out online.
  2. Customer Insight and Understanding. What your customers and their influencers are saying about you or your competitors.
  3. Engagement with a potential network of high value, high growth prospects. Identifying key posts and follow-up actions.
  4. Interaction with Key Influencers. Identifying influential sources for incorporation into a wider strategic response.
  5. Reputation Management. Timely identification of potential reputation issues.
  6. Improved Sales and Marketing. New prospects, customer and market opportunities.
  7. Improved Performance Monitoring. Monitoring a number of measures of Social Media performance (very different than those we use to measure Website Performance). We like to call them the 4I’s of: involvement (views, followers, members etc.), interaction (posts, comments, ratings etc.), intimacy (sentiment, affection, aversion to the brand) and influence (forward, share, retweet etc.).

The question is what do you really need and what is a nice-to-have?

Knowing this will help you focus in on a more detailed set of requirements, features and functions that you can then use to compare and contrast solutions. You might also consider using a free or low cost solution as you formulate your Social Media strategy (determining where your customers are hanging out and which channels you should engage) but then commit to a more robust package to support your implementation and ongoing performance monitoring.

In conclusion, we believe Social Media Monitoring tools herald an exciting new era for the Web. Just as Social Media is relevant for most businesses and industry sectors then so too are Social Media Monitoring tools. However, choices should be made around which tools are fit for purpose for your business. If you start your exploration of this area from the perspective of what you need and what you are trying to achieve, we believe you will find a solution just right or certainly good enough. If you start from the feature list on the vendor’s website, you may well give up or procure a tool that offers limited long-term value.

Social Media Monitoring, when used correctly, will support and enable many of the activities that are now critical to your future Social Media success and your future business success.

We look forward to your comments.

Alan

Alan Stevenson

e: ast3v3nson@gmail.com

w: www.linkedin.com/in/asbusinesssolutions

About the Authors

Dr. Jim Hamill and Alan Stevenson are acknowledged experts in Web 2.0/Social Media having successfully delivered on a wide range of consultancy projects in both the UK and internationally. They own and manage two very successful online communities – the tourism industry professional networking community ‘Tourism 2.0’ (www.tourism2-0.co.uk); and the ‘crowd sourced’ Web 2.0/Social Media e-Learning Community www.web2-0cpd.com. Alan has been advising businesses around strategic use of Social Media Monitoring tools for some time.

Dr. Jim Hamill


Alan Stevenson


e: jim.hamill@ukonline.co.uk

w: www.linkedin.com/in/jimh7171

e: ast3v3nson@gmail.com

w: www.linkedin.com/in/asbusinesssolutions

Figure 1: Social Media Monitoring Tools – Tag Cloud  Source: The Authors

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Blogging, Sharisax Is Out There

How To Do Social Media By The Book

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One year ago today, I wrote my first blog post: Follow me along Social Media Revolutionary Road . . . and what a ride it’s been — life altering, for certain.

The lessons keep on coming, especially on how to do this blogging gig. While there is NO one right way to blog — or become an “A-List Blogger — there are some Best Practices that win friends and influence people.

SHARISAX IS OUT THERE will evolve and apply some new strategies in this second year, but four months ago I followed some “best practices” and began a second blog using a very consistent design with fewer categories and a list format.

Check it out:

This Social Media Revolution is changing our lives and our selves: As fast as we are figuring out what to do next, we hear about yet another site, another tool, or another app.

Early Adopting Tech Geeks love this stuff.

But what about the rest of us . . . especially those who may still think “blogging” is a silly word, Twitter is stupid, and Facebook is a waste of time.

How to start doing “it”

Ralph Waldo Emerson, 19th century American philosopher and essayist, said that

“We are all looking for someone to tell us what to do.”

That’s one of the reasons why people write books, why bookstores and libraries are great places to hang out, and why book lovers like me scour the shelves for the newest, greatest information.

Find Top Tips in these Articles: The purpose of this blog is to share some of the best advice I’m reading from the most current books on social media and internet marketing — many of these books you will want to read cover to cover.

Categories click on choice below:

Ethics

Journalism

Marketing

Public Relations

Social Media Strategy

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Interview, Sharisax Is Out There

Friends Become Good Clients via Social Web

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Whenever Leora Wenger’s photo icon pops up on my Facebook and Twitter pages, I get a very warm, happy feeling. It’s only been a few months since we met online through super-networker Larry Brauner, but I now consider Leora one of my really good friends and someone whom I can count on for support and comraderie.

Over these past few months I’ve learned so much about Internet Marketing, Web Design, and social networking in general from Leora that I wanted to introduce her to all my friends online. From stay-at-home-mom to Web Developer and Designer, Leora’s growth has inspirational lessons for us all.

Follow your passion like Web Designer Leora Wenger . . .

Learn how to build great relationships for business and pleasure

Here are a few questions Leora answered about building her business:

1) Has your life made a dramatic change in the last few years, and if so, can you describe it.

Can’t say drama, but I have increasingly been doing more and more business.
In the past year, I’ve made many connections via social media, and a few of them have become clients.

Fourteen years ago I was a stay-at-home mom; I totally wish social media had been available in the way it is now so I could have connected with others so easily.

Last year I did some great in-person networking in New Jersey with people I met via Twitter.

2) How did you begin building websites?

I’ve loved the internet ever since I was an administrator at the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science in Cambridge, MA.

With another staff member, I wrote a program to put the Lab’s phone directory online (I was doing human resources for the Laboratory and taking computer science classes at night). This was years before there even was a World Wide Web!

The web came out when my boys were little; I heard about the job of “webmaster,” and despite the masculine title I decided that was what I wanted to do. So I taught myself online and by reading tech books — and asked questions of anyone with a technical background.

3) When did you get started with what you want to call social media, and why did you start?

Almost three years ago I wanted to learn WordPress. Also, I liked the idea of sharing art via a blog.

Here are two of Leora’s watercolors:

Not only have I become an expert in WordPress, I’ve made friends around the world, learned photography by connecting with photo bloggers, learned how to encourage comments on a post, and had a great time, too.
I would encourage anyone who wants to blog for business reasons but is timid to try a personal blog. You can even do it anonymously and get good blogging practice. Unfortunately, my original idea of sharing my art via blog is happening less and less; business and family come first, so I have less art time. I still take photos every few days and on family trips.

4) What behaviors do you practice that are “Social Media”?

Like the Barney song, say Please and Thank You: If someone visits your post and leaves a comment, try to visit one of her posts and comment. It’s called “social” for a reason – good manners are important.

On Twitter, learn to RT (retweet) – read what your followers are tweeting, and pick a few favorites to retweet. Answer and ask questions – both are interactive.

5) What are the top lessons you have learned about life and/or business since you began your Life on the Net?

  • Listen to your client. If client is being difficult, perhaps it is because you haven’t set clear enough boundaries. Make it clear what you can and cannot do. And find ways that you can both agree, so you will both be happy. Don’t sacrifice your own needs for your client, and don’t say nasty things to your client when you are angry. Catch your breath, assess the situation, talk to someone else about it, and figure out a way to resolve it, if possible.
  • Put it in writing. You can do this formally or informally, but this is related to setting clear boundaries about what you will and will not do for client.
  • Do work that is fun. Or sometimes fun. Sheesh, if you hate what you are doing, it will show in your work. Sometimes I get boring assignments, but I like all my clients. Love hearing from them. They make me smile.
  • Work on your strengths. Gravitate toward people who encourage you, rather than the naysayers. Listen to critics only if it’s constructive.
  • Established businesses have an easier time paying than startups. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do work for someone with grand ideas, but in my experience, it is important to be careful, especially if you really, really need the income. Choose clients wisely.

6) How do you deal with balancing work and family?

Years ago I read the 1985 version of What Color is Your Parachute? On page 222 (I still have my copy) there is a long list of handicaps one might have such as “I am too shy” or “I am a foreigner” or “I come from another planet.”

The point is, whatever your handicap is, there is an employer or client who is NOT put off by your handicap.

If your handicap is being primary caretaker for 2 or 3 or 4 or more kids, then you have a common handicap, one that many share. Figure out how to schedule work time, family time and me time in a way that works for you. Connecting with others with similar restraints via social media can be beneficial and encouraging.

Thus I would say for myself, finding others online who are balancing work and family has been great in encouraging me to move forward, even if we have very different professions.

7) What business advice have you found confusing?

Recently, I read a branding expert that said “pursue your passion.” Unfortunately, some people would then end up sitting on the beach all day.
In my early twenties, every few months I would change my career direction, based on what interested me at the time. I never got very far with any of the career options. Someone wise then said to me, “Leora, just pick something and stick with it.”
OK, that works for me.

Follow Leora Wenger on Twitter and tell her I said hello.

🙂

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Guest Post, Interview, Sharisax Is Out There

Social Media is Really All About Building Community and Supporting One Another

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Social media has changed my life — and if you are reading this, no doubt social media will be changing your life AND your business, as well.

Social media platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook have allowed me to meet and engage with a host of new friends — this is a very supportive community of individuals who interact with one another in a win-win situation for all of us.

I met Deepak Gupta on Twitter through some mutual American Marketing Association friends, and when he asked to interview me for his blog, I was honored.

Interview with San Francisco Social Media Evangelista — Shari Weiss

by Deepak Gupta [3/21/10]

I had the pleasure of interviewing and gaining insight from San Francisco’s own Social Media Expert – Shari Weiss. You can follow our discussion below:

What did you do before becoming a social media evangelist and how did you get into that industry?

My 35-year career has combined careers in magazines, corporate communications, and education – most recently as a marketing lecturer at San Francisco State and freelance writer for Wal-Mart/Sam’s Club. Early in 2009, I discovered Social Media and Social Media Marketing, and I’m convinced this revolutionary new communication opportunity will continue to change our world for the better.

What qualities and traits make for a good social media evangelist?

Open-mindedness must play a huge role because much of the new technology is foreign to generations of people raised with traditional methods and tools of communication.
Passion goes a long way in supporting the commitment necessary to continue studying every new tool and strategy as it is introduced AS WELL AS helping convince others of the ultimate benefits in store.
Knowledge of sociology and psychology to understand and empathize with people.
Honesty and authenticity in spirit and practice is critical to model best practices.

What tools of the trade do you use throughout your typical day and how do they help?

1) Email is number one, and I check my mail dozens of times every day.
2) I keep my Tweetdeck open throughout the day to see if any of my friends have written to or mentioned @sharisax – I have met and begun relationships with dozens of fellow Tweeters, some of whom have become partners and friends.
3) My email often leads me to notifications from Facebook and LinkedIn. Of late, I have been spending more and more time checking and participating in LinkedIn group discussions.
4) I have two blogs that I write articles for several times a week AND respond to commenters, all of whom I am excited to approve and reply to.
5) I do not yet have a SmartPhone, but I see that as coming soon. SOON has come. I now have a Droid and will be blogging about my SmartPhone/SmartBooMR adventures.

I cannot help notice how many people call themselves social media experts. Are they just throwing the title around or are there really that many social media experts out there today?


No comment, except to say that it is difficult to become an “expert” when something new is coming out all the time, and it is difficult to always know what will achieve “critical mass” and what will fade away as yesterday’s forgotten buzz.

Some of our readers are up and coming social media experts. What advice can you give them and how can they get that seal of approval of becoming an expert in the industry?

My first piece of advice is to forget about getting into social media to become an expert. Better to find the perfect fit for your particular skills/interests AND the tools and strategies that will help you provide value to others. In my case, I love both writing and teaching, so I blog and conduct workshops to help others learn everything I know.

Currently what are the best websites for promoting social media and why?

Without much doubt, Facebook – with its 400 million users – is, and will be, Number One. I do believe that YouTube – the second most popular search site – is a platform that should be understood and used to reach the most amount of people. I, personally, love Twitter and suspect it may replace email in certain circumstances. LinkedIn has great potential for those business types who learn how to use its many facets. Finally, with all its resources – particularly the brilliant minds in the organization – Google is bound to play a growing role in all our communications.

What kind of tips do you have in writing stories for our Readers?

I agree with the Common Wisdom that the best articles tell lots of “stories,” particularly case studies and narratives that show people accomplishing goals.

Also write clearly and simply, don’t whine, and tell the truth.

Give us one of your biggest accomplishments? What are your future goals?


One of my biggest accomplishments has been to continue my first blog SHARISAX IS OUT THERE with an ever growing passion . . . and a never-ending selection of juicy topics to learn and write about. And now I’ve started a second blog HOW TO DO SOCIAL MEDIA BY THE BOOK, where I share great lists of information from the wonderful social media books that I read.
I have begun offering workshops to friends and small business people and plan to help small businesses begin to implement social media strategies. In addition, I am working on a magazine-type blog for Baby Boomers.

We cannot ignore that the popularity of social media is skyrocketing. What advice do you have for people who want to use your ideas to promote their business?

GO FOR IT! That’s what social media training is all about – helping people use these tools to build their businesses and help others.
**

BTW, You can find me in a number of places online:

Linkedin http://www.linkedin.com/in/shariweisssf
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/shari.weiss
Facebook Fanpage for Performance Social Media http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/Performance.Social.Media
Ning: http://performancesm.ning.com/
Twitter http://twitter.com/sharisax
Google profile: http://www.google.com/profiles/shariweissSF
Friendfeed http://friendfeed.com/sharisax
YouTube http://www.youtube.com/sharisax
Squido lens: http://www.squidoo.com/readandchat
Delicious http://delicious.com/Sharisax
Digg http://digg.com/users/sharisax
and
my San Francisco State website: http://online.sfsu.edu/~sharisax/

PHONE: 415/897-6052

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Sharisax Is Out There

Social Media Strategy Best Practice: Think BIG, Start small

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There’s lots of confusion out there about How To Do Social Media RIGHT, according to Axel Schultze, founder of Social Media Academy.

In several of the Leadership classes I recently took with Axel and other #smacad instructors, we discussed a very structured way to help organizations plan for social media engagement.

“You can NOT  have an agency do “The Social Media Thing” and let the rest of the company do business as usual. Social Media must be a mindset for the entire company.” —Axel Schultze

Humans are built to be social; they’ve been trained to be automated — and accepted it.

So organizational structure needs to help us get back to relationships. Then we can collaborate with customers to build:

  • better products and services
  • loyal customers and employees
  • a community of people who are so enthusiastic that they recommend your company to their friends and family.

Over 80% of people stop buying products from companies when their trustworthiness comes into question. People spread distrust to friends and associates. Over 33% who lose trust in a company openly campaign against that company on the Internet.  Edelman Trust Barometer

Step by step approach to Social Media Participation

STEP ONE: Assessment – include customers, partners, competitors, and your own team. The more you know in the beginning, the clearer your path. Old Chinese Wisdom: “The First Step Lays the Whole Journey.”

STEP TWO: S-W-O-T Analysis – your own strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, i.e., based on your initial assessment. Most plans fail if there is no initial data from which to analyze progress.

STEP THREE: Team – Put together a group that includes customers and other representatives from your ecosystem. Customers will get better products and services by having more influence in the future directions of a company.

STEP FOUR: Actions – Plan precise and detailed programs to create awareness, change behaviors, and make things happen. A clear framework will outline who is responsible, what resources are available, how each program fits into the overall strategy, and what changes and rewards are made after a program is completed.

STEP FIVE: Reporting – Initial and ongoing assessment is critical. Select monitoring tools: know how to use them and what to do with the information. Observe  conversations and sentiments. Correlate community engagements with revenue streams.

What are you aiming for?

#1 Objective: Be part of the recommendation chain.
#1 Change: Create a better customer service experience.
#1 Implication: Shifting organizational gears in product development, customer support, human resources, sales, and marketing.
#1 Realization: Social media changes are a cross functional business initiative, more than just a marketing campaign.
#1 Result: Business growth through advocacy.

BEST PRACTICE TIP: Develop and gradually grow your engagement without a big bang, splash, or mega event. Just be active — one activity after another.

Understand that programs need to be compelling, fun, and unique. Creativity reigns. See what others have done, but take those ideas and make them your own.

If you’d like to contribute to a brainstorming session, tell us what “brainy” ideas you’ve had — whether you’ve tried them or not. Who knows what we can dream up together.

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Sharisax Is Out There

How To Write That First Blog Post on WordPress.com

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Many of my blogging students leave a workshop with all the confidence in the world, i.e., they’ve got a Blog Name and a new theme, and we’ve even put up one post with a photo.

But then they get home . . . and what do they do next?

NOW they can come “here.”

What you’ll learn below:

  • What the initial Dashboard looks like
  • What an Edit screen looks like
  • Where to type on the screen
  • How to Bold, italicize, underline, etc.
  • How to Save Draft, Preview it before it goes “live,” and then How to Publish it so it is “live”
  • Brief description of TAGS and CATEGORIES

Dealing with your WordPress Dashboard

(1) Here is the Dashboard screen that may be somewhat daunting at first [or second or third] glance:


(2) Take a look at the left side of the Dashboard and drop down to the section titled Posts:

Look at the four options: Edit, Add New, Post Tags, Categories

— a — As you might expect, you will Click on “Add New” to start your first post.

— b — For your information, you will be using the “Edit” to make changes on any post once it has been saved — whether it is still in “draft” form or after it has been “published.”

— c –“Post Tags”  and “Categories” are not really necessary because you can access these features as you Edit a post.

Now click on “Add New”

(3) Here is the screen you will use to write your article:

— a — Write a title. Any title will do for now, but keep in mind that your TITLE is of critical importance. So before you actually publish the article, do give the title a lot of thought.

— b — Drop down to the Text Box

(4) Here is what you could see:



Note TWO differences between the two screens in addition to the Title words and Text words.

— a — Look at the right hand top corner of the text box. You will see the word “Visual” is highlighted. If you check the blank text box above, you will see that the top right hand corner shows HTML is highlighted.

NOTE: Unless you are an HTML expert, you will want to create your posts in the “Visual” mode.

— b — Look at the left hand top corner of the text box. You will see the words “Upload/Insert” and five icons. Immediately below are two rows of icons beginning with the capital letter B [for Bold].

NOTE: The last box in the first row is called the “Kitchen Sink.” If you ever just see one row, then click this button, and the second row will appear.

(5) The Visual Editor allows you to make changes in text that you have highlighted.

Here are your options in the first row:

B = Bold; I = italic; ABC =strikethrough [e.g., financial document uses];

The next two boxes allow for a bulleted list and a numbered list.

The “quote mark” is used to indent portions of the text, e.g., for quotes. The style of the quote may be quite different, depending on the theme you have chosen. Some themes will put a Large Quote Mark in front of the quote. Other themes will put the quote in a white box.

The next three boxes are for allignment: align left; align center; align right.

The tenth and eleventh boxes [which are NOT highlighted in the screen shot above] are used to link your text to a URL. Once you highlight the text and click on the “link box” you will see a new box open up, and you can write [or paste] a URL.

The twelfth box is for an advance option called “Read More tag”: I wouldn’t worry about this one for now.

Spellcheck should be familiar

The second last box can toggle between a full screen and regular screen.

Finally is the KITCHEN SINK which toggles between one and two rows of Visual Editing tools

Second row options:

The default in the first box is for standard text. The drop down box will allow you to enlarge the text size for Headlines and Subheads. Different themes will treat the Heading 1 and Heading 2 and Heading 3 differently. You should experiment, but the Common Wisdom is that you should not use Heading 1 in the body of your post. Usually your top headline/title is Heading 1.

U =underline; the next box is Full Alignment

The fourth box offers different colors for your text.

Ignore the fifth, sixth, and seventh boxes for now. They are used when posting from other sources.

The horseshoe-looking icon will offer a drop-down box of Special characters like accents and cent signs.

The next two boxes will help you “un-indent” and indent.

Then you will have an opportunity with the arrow curving to the left to “undo” or the arrow curving to the right for a “redo”

Finally, the question mark will open up a help section for the Visual Editor.

(6) Save Draft — Preview — Publish

— a — As when writing with any wordprocessing program, you may want to save your work often.

You can see the “Save Draft” button. Press it whenever you’d like. Then you need to wait for the page to reload in the saved version.

— b — Next to the Save Draft is the “Preview” button. If you press this button, you can see what your post will look like when it is published, BUT it will not be published until . . .

— c — You press the “Publish” button. Once you do publish, then, you will see the word “Update” instead of Publish.

(7) Tags:

Tags are the KEYWORDS that will provide your article with SEO, i.e., Search Engine Optimization.

Common wisdom these days is to choose phrases, rather than single words. As the instructions tell you, put a comma in between each phrase. Then press “Add” . . . and, of course, Save Draft again.

(8) Categories:

In the beginning, many people confuse tags and categories — I know I did.

Here is one way to think about categories: What are your “Ultimate Concerns”?  What do you really want to talk about in your blog?

My suggestion — which I have learned and have not yet heeded in my own blog — is to stick with ONLY five or six categories. This will be the easiest way to organize your articles for your readers, and you as well. [And I will be limiting my number of categories soon.]

NOTE: You will be given one category “Uncategorized.” The one you see that says “Family” was added by clicking on the link that says “Add New Category.” [To DELETE a category, you will need to go to the Drop Down box underneath the word Categories in the POST options where we first began.]

Some final words BEFORE this article turns into an eBook:

If you’d like to know how to insert a photo or a video [and don’t want to figure it out for yourself], then please leave a comment with your question, and either I will answer or another reader will help.

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Interview, Sharisax Is Out There

“Please Contact Me If I Can Be of Assistance” — Gregory Stringer

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With TEN LinkedIn groups in common, it is no wonder that Gregory Stringer and I have become online buddies. We met on the Future Social Media group in response to Endaf Kerfoot’s invitation to introduce ourselves. Here was Gregory’s response:

Hi! I am a student of e-Commerce, currently seeking my AAS in Web Design. I will be going forward to earn undergraduate and advanced degrees in e-Business. I’m always open to connecting with like-minded others. Please contact me if I may be of assistance.

I took him up on his “offer” — not so much for assistance but just to connect and share ideas . . .  and we have, i.e., commenting on each other’s blogs; emailing questions & answers; tweeting updates; and Gregory even contributed an article for this blog: Tips for Teachers who want to blog

His background in both technical and business disciplines combines “high-tech adroitness with industrial métier” [from his LinkedIn  profile] as he seeks a career as an E-commerce specialist.

Here are some of Gregory’s views on the Social Media Revolution and his role in Future Social Media.

Interview:

Gregory Stringer, Social Media Learner & Thought Leader

What inspired your interest in social media?

My own induction to Social Media began with an off-hand remark from my Introduction to Communication Technologies professor, Walt Reedy, at Pellissippi State Community College in 2009, where I am currently seeking an AAS degree in Web Design.

Professor Reedy mentioned a course on lynda.com about Social Media Marketing. I was very new to Social Media, and it was part of the course to write a blog. I began to explore such sites as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and MySpace. I was immediately hooked by the concept of Internet community, and since I already had earned an Institutional Certificate in e-Commerce, decided at that time that this was what I wanted to specialize in.

What qualities and traits make for a good social media evangelist?

I think first and foremost a love for the ability to communicate. One must be companionable and have a genuine attentiveness in the interest of others. Also, an understanding of Internet technologies is paramount. These two dissimilar disciplines should be mastered to some degree, ideally achieved through a post secondary education.

To have a passion for the phenomenon goes without saying. e-Mail, updates on Twitter, and maintenance of a presence on Facebook and LinkedIn, as well as other lesser known social Internet communities are commanding aspirations.

What advice can you offer others who want to embark on this “Long and Winding Road”?

My personal suggestion would be to study subjects that are consistent with Web design, e.g. HTML, Photoshop, Internet technologies, site design, etc., as well as courses in psychology, sociology, communications, and all aspects of e-Business. Predominant among these would be elucidation, expression, and interchange.

In addition, there is no substitute for practical experience. Starting a blog on Edublogs.org, a site known for student blogs, and where there is a wealth of assistance for beginners, Twitter, by reading the tweets of others and doing a few of your own, establishment of Facebook and MySpace pages, again accessing the sites of others more experienced, and most importantly, becoming a member of LinkedIn.

What kind of tips do you have in writing stories?

When I first became a magician, my mentors explained that in creating and performing a well performed illusion should be like a story: that is, it should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Therefore, a great assistance for me when I started was to read the blogs and tweets of others. Two of the best I can recommend are Sharisax is Out There and (growl) Practical Marketing Solutions. Also, for the beginner, edublogs is hard to beat.

Give us one of your biggest accomplishments? What are your future goals?

My own greatest accomplishment in the field of Social Media would likely be my gaining an assignment as a Social Media Marketing intern. Of course, having the assistance of mentors/teachers such as Shari Weiss, Mark Schaefer, Walt Reedy. and many others have given me the guidance and instruction which made this possible. My future goal is simply to finish my education and gain my undergraduate and advanced degrees. Only then will I consider myself a true Social Media professional.

What do you have to say to those who want to use your ideas to promote their business?

One of the greatest things in Social Media is the fact that so many successful participants are willing to share. This is how I learn. I welcome others to do the same with me. My own blog, Grannelle’s Social Media, currently a school project that will evolve into a personal project, is a great way to see how I have developed. I invite everyone to read it to see how things can and will improve with time and effort.

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Sharisax Is Out There

Can This Blog Help My Sister and Her Beau Win a Global Honeymoon?

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Not only is social media the answer for business, but it’s a lot of fun as well . . . especially when sisters can help sisters.

My sister Connie and her “fiance” Arne are entering a contest to win a Honeymoon Tester trip around the world sponsored by the Irish Times and runawaybrideandgroom.com.

Why not take a few minutes:

Read her post, view her video and vote for my sister:

Arne de Beaufort and Connie Balcher are in love and want to share their joy with the world and particularly people who want to discover romantic getaways all over the globe.

“We are not your average contestants… Look at our ages.

Although we’ve never been to Ireland, we are inspired by the writings of James Joyce, especially Ulysses and Dubliners.”

They are entering the Runaway Bride & Groom contest — which ends April 7 — and would love it if you vote for them:

SEARCH for Arne de Beaufort on the site and VOTE http://www.runawaybrideandgroom.com/ultimatejob/search/tag/arne

You’ll need to CLICK on the part that says RATE VIDEO


“We are also great fans of the Irish custom on celebrating a honeymoon with a bottle of Meade (Bunratty Meade in this case).

This honey-based drink was believed to have powers of virility and fertility, and it became custom for bride and groom to drink Meade for one full moon after their wedding, hence the word “honeymoon”. (from the bottle)

We also want to represent other honeymooners, especially the BabyBoomers.”

Here’s the link to Connie’s own blog post

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Sharisax Is Out There

Your HR Department Can & Should Help You Become a Human Talent Organization

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The Buzz about our world’s Big Shift [i.e. the New Normal in business] is filtering through to some company executives who are now looking to their marketing departments for guidance and appropriate strategies using Social Media.

Hold on a minute . . .

Many of you are missing an even more important benefit of the technological improvements available through this “thing” called Social Media:

The Ability to Recruit & Retain Top Talent

or the Human Relations Identity Crisis

Today’s workplace environments are extremely complex, but most Human Resources departments are sticking to a “business as usual” mindset, according to Adrienne Corn who discussed “Social Media & The New Human Resource Department: Leveraging Human Talent with Web 2.0” with the current Leadership Class group at Social Media Academy.

Factors like globalization, technology, and a tough economy all contribute to today’s challenges — and organizational structure needs to adapt to 21rst century demands.

“We need to let go of the Efficiency Model that took us through the last century where people were ‘assets.’ Today, however, we need to realize that People are People. Processes must change. Human resource departments must stop focusing on filling cogs in a wheel.”

“People are not cogs. They need a sense of purpose in an organization. They need to feel invested. Research shows that when people lack engagement, productivity suffers.” — Adrienne Corn

Human Resource Departments need to become Human Talent Departments

Here are are the six key functions of HR — or HT, as we should begin to call it:

  1. Finding Talent
  2. Attracting Talent
  3. Training Talent
  4. Benefits Management
  5. Retaining Talent
  6. Refreshing Talent [exit mitigation]

Social media tools can be used to help companies perform all these functions to bring in the right people for the right places.

“Everyone brings strengths to an organization, but they are not always utilized. When you bring the right people ‘on the bus’ and identify their key strengths, you can put them in the right place and you will get ‘default’ productivity.”

“The purpose for compensation should not be to get the right behaviors from the wrong people. Companies need to look for people to FIT inside their community — whose values reflect what the organization stands for and whose participation will contribute to building the brand.” — Adrienne Corn

Younger generation is making a huge impact on the Future for all of us

The new workforce is more tech savvy, has different work ideals & priorities, and less automatic respect for authority. They have more choices concerning Where, When, and Whom to work for. They have “social capital” and value networking and building community. Companies need to “get with the program,” according to Adrienne. They can do this only by letting go of static, linear, impersonal processes that set the company/HR department apart as an adversary. Trust needs to replace control and suspicion

Social Media tools can gather real information and build trust

Here are some of the strategies successful HT managers will be using to find and hire talent:

  1. Create community spaces
  2. Cull & Comb those spaces for talent
  3. Communicate with talent interactively and transparently
  4. Convince talent to join through value-matching (birds of a feather)
  5. Interactive interviews through social media conversations

Training via manuals will be replaced with interactive learning communities like Employee Wikis with Q&A’s. These same communities can offer engaging and motivating process that build trust in the people and the organization, increasing the likelihood of staying at the job and being engaged and productive on the job.

RECOMMENDED BOOKS

Good to Great by Jim Collins

NOW, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham & Donald O. Clifton

The Living Company by Arie de Geus

Therefore, to cope with a changing world, any entity must develop the capability of shifting and changing, of developing new skills and attitudes: in short, the capability of learning — Arie de Geus, The Living Company

Adrienne Corn is an instructor/founding faculty member at the Social Media Academy where she lectures on the intersection between social media/web 2.0 and Human Resources/Human Talent.

Adrienne founded VENTUS, a career development, education and research company that provides career pathing for individuals, career education for organizations and research in these areas for the industry at large.

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Sharisax Is Out There

Inbound Marketing: Build Genuine Relationships for Mutual Gain

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Are you a HubSpot Fan?


If you are, then this article will be “speaking to the choir,” but if you don’t know anything about HubSpot AND you’re trying to learn everything Out There about Social Media, read on.

Initially, I “stumbledupon” HubSpotTV, which is a weekly Friday afternoon podcast featuring Karen Rubin and Mike Volpe, two 30-somethings who chat about social media issues of the week and often bring in social media influencers for “expert” viewpoints. You can review past segments by going to the archives on Itunes — or clicking on the thumbnails to the right.

Then I began subscribing to the HubSpot blog, which in addition to sending me a constant stream of articles like these:

The Importance of Google Page Rank: a guide for small biz execs

Marketing Budgets Shifting to Digital

Tweeting to Women, Try Entertainment; Tweeting to Men, Try Opinion

. . . and often sponsors great webinars like

State of Inbound Marketing 2010

How to use Video for Online Marketing

Blogging for Business

Finally, I’d like to recommend a recent book by HubSpot founders Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah — Inbound Marketing — Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs.

“We look to those in our communities for recommendations and referrals before we make purchases these days.” [authors]

The fact that industry gurus David Meerman Scott, Seth Godin, and Guy Kawasaki have recommended the book — especially in light of what we know to be true today— guaranteed me that reading Inbound Marketing would be a valuable investment of my time.

Part of a series of books called The New Rules of Social Media, Halligan and Shah’s book offers both elementary lessons and more technical information, from —

  • (A) how to grade your current website and set up a blog to
    (B) building LinkedIn groups, gathering followers on Twitter to
  • (C) hiring “Digital Citizens” and using the right tools to make better marketing decisions.

One dozen take-aways from the book:

1) Google users search for specifics, and that is why your keywords need to be specific to increase your find-ability.

2) Your website is “1 to many” while your inbound marketing efforts are “many to many.”

3) Ten years ago, your marketing effectiveness was a function of the width of your wallet. Today, your marketing effectiveness is a function of the width of your brain.

4) The great thing about a blog article is that the page, the Google rankings, the links, and the subscriber are all durable assets — they give you value forever.

5) You have to make it easy for customers to spread the word about you.

6) The “authority” of academic papers can be determined by number of other papers that cite it. The “authority” of a web page is calculated based on teh number of inbound links from other web pages and the authority of those pages.

7) The next time you host a business event (conference, webinar, training session, etc.), use Facebook events to invite people and get RSVP’s.

8 – Use tools like Twitter Search to find influential Twitter users in your industry. Begin forging connections.

9) “Conversion” is the art and science of encouraging site visitors to further engage with your business. The true power of inbound marketing lies in its ability to not only stretch the top of your sales funnel (and pull more people in), but also to stretch the middle (get more to convert).

10) Every page on your site should have a Call To Action.

11) The idea behind lead nurturing is to maintain ongoing communication and dialog with these leads so that when they’re ready to buy, your product is at the top of their mind.

12) The good thing about inbound marketing is that everything is completely measurable.

FURTHER READING:

19 steps to getting found in social media

8 questions to ask job prospects re: their online experience

8 Give-Aways that companies may use as Calls To Action

4 SEO tips for creating great page titles

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