Archives for October 2010

A Few Places to Catch Me This Week

I always feel “weird” writing these types of posts. I always worry that they come across as, “Hey, look at me, I’m popular!”, when nothing could be further from the truth (and hopefully that’s how you feel too).

Anyhoo…

I’m extremely flattered and honoured to have been invited on/interviewed at a few places recently, and they all take place next week. Just like London buses – they all come at once when you might just want one.

So. The places.

Marketer Monday Chat on Twitter

The first place I’ll be is tomorrow’s Marketer Monday chat on Twitter, or #MMchat. Hosted by Jeff Ashcroft, Marketer Monday is part of The Social CMO brand, and visits a different topic each week with various marketing professionals. Jeff kindly invited me to co-host tomorrow’s chat, and the topic will be The Increasing Role of Content as an Engagement and Marketing Tool.

It should be an interesting discussion, and if you’re on Twitter and are free tomorrow (Monday November 1st) at 8.00pm Eastern, pop along and join in. You can follow or contribute to the chat via the #MMchat hashtag.

PRapalooza on BlogTalk Radio

The next stop on the “mini-tour” is over at Joe Hackman’s BlogTalk Radio show. Titled? PRapalooza (snazzy!), I’ll be joining the uber-talented PR ladies Gini Dietrich and Shonali Burke (who has one of the best voices I’ve ever heard).

We’ll be talking about technology and PR, and the ever-changing role of PR in a social media-led world. Particular focus will be on the relationship between bloggers and the PR industry – always a topic that inspires passionate responses on both sides. You can find more details over at Joe’s blog, and the actual BlogTalk radio channel can be found here. The discussion is on Wednesday November 3rd at 3.00pm Eastern.

Rise to the Top

The last, but definitely by no means least, of my online sojourns is over at The Rise to the Top with David Siteman Garland. Recognized as one of the top resources for entrepreneurs, The Rise to the Top is a veritable treasure chest of business advice.

David and I chatted recently about starting your own business; the connection between trust and influence; how to not be a dick in business; and much more. You can see the video chat this coming Thursday, when it goes live on the Rise to the Top website. David’s a great host full of energy and passion, and I think you’ll enjoy the chat.

Anyhoo. These are just some places you can find me this coming week if you’re interested. And even if I bore the heck out of you, the other folks at each place will definitely entertain. Hopefully you can make some, if not all.

Cheers!

Two Quick Ways to Promote Your Blog

Although it may seem like an obvious question, do your blog readers know who you are?

Do they know what you do, how you do it, and how to ask you to do whatever it is you do for them?

While there may be a host of reasons for you to write your blog in the first place, none of it means anything if you don?t offer a clear-cut picture of who you are, what you do and why you should be read. After all, if your blog readers don?t know who you are why should they read you over the next guy?

The good news is, you can take this out of the equation with just some minor house-keeping.

Tell Your Readers All About You

No, this isn?t an invite to go all broadcaster mode and start spouting off all the great (and not-so-great) things about you. It is, however, one of the first things any blogger should have ? an About Page. This is the single most important aspect of your blog when it comes to letting your visitors know who you are,? after the content itself.

Sure, your content may be great but who?s the person behind it? While an About Page can have whatever information you want on there, some of the key information should be:

Bio ? who you are and what you do.
Contact ? either? a link to your main Contact Page or a contact box (either on-page or in the sidebar).
Outposts ? where else can people find you online.

How in-depth your About page is is up to you. You can have testimonials, projects, clients, etc ? the limitations are yours to choose. Just make sure you do have an actual About page, though ? even if you?re a personal blogger, it?s part of building that relationship with your community.

Tell Your Readers Why Your Blog

There are over 180 million blogs online today, and that?s just the recognized number from Technorati ? the true figures are probably much, much more. So why should readers choose yours over the hundreds or thousands of others in your niche? Let them know why with an About This Blog page.

Why an About This Blog page when you already have an About page? Simple ? new readers of your blog can immediately see if it?s for them or not, and it?s your blog?s elevator pitch, as opposed to simply who you are. Features of this page should include:

Topics ? what you write about. For added effect, break it down into categories and link to each tag for that category.
Sitemap ? this helps readers old and new navigate your blog. Again, this can be on-page or a link to it.
Subscription Options ? if people like what they see about your blog, you are offering a way for them to get the latest, aren?t you?
Archives ? perfect for allowing new readers to see just what it is that makes your blogging voice stand out.

The Benefits to Bloggers

A great About This Blog page acts as the perfect complement to your personal About page and really lets your blog readers know all about you and what you do. As a blogger, there are key reasons you want to do this:

Business ? allows potential clients to see why you?d be a perfect fit.
Personal ? the first steps to building the relationship with your community.
Portfolio ? if you have external resources elsewhere online, your About pages can direct your visitors there.
Search Engines ? you want to be found. About pages help strengthen your online visibility.

These are just some options for having a solid About This Blog page. There are more ? the choice really is up to you.

How about you? Do you have About pages? If not, what other ways are you using to help your blog readers know who you are?

If you enjoyed this post, make sure to hop on over and subscribe to For Bloggers By Bloggers, where we share a ton of free blogging tips daily.

image: Choconancy1

Hallowe’en or Social Media?

It’s Hallowe’en weekend. Time to spend with the family and act like kids in a candy store again, with dress-up, neighbourhood wanderings and scary movies.

But did you know that Hallowe’en is one of the earliest pointers for social media as well?

Check it out.

Good Versus Bad

One of the earliest origins of the Hallowe’en celebration is a festival to ward off evil spirits. Before pumpkins became the symbol of Hallowe’en, turnips were carved instead.

This related back to “magic masks” being carved in olden times, to be worn to scare away evil spirits.

Compare that to social media and business practices. Social media allows us to connect with businesses that are doing things well (good spirits), and avoid those that are treating their customers like crap (evil spirits). We can also block people we don’t want to connect with – or, banish evil spirits.

Apple Bobbing for Business

While there are a ton of party games for Hallowe’en, one of the most popular is bobbing for apples. You place a bunch of apples in a tub of water on the floor, kneel on a chair above them with a fork in your mouth, then aim and release the fork. The goal is to pierce a bobbing apple, which is your prize to keep.

Now. Think of social media. Think of the tools available to help you laser target your customers. Think of the information available to let you target your marketing message. Think of how your aim can be true every time. Think of how your business can be the fork and every apple a potential customer.

Community Spirit

If there’s one thing that I love about Hallowe’en (apart from the cool costumes and the pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks), it’s the way the local community tends to come together. Kids mingle with other kids, parents from different streets get to know each other, and whole neighbourhoods open up to one another (if only for a night).

Now look at blogging. Look at the communities that can build up around that. Look at Facebook groups, and Twitter chats. Look at the way YouTube brings viewers from across the world to a single page to enjoy the same media. Look at how businesses and customers are connecting. Look at how social media lives up to its first word.

We may think social media is this cool new thing that’s going to change the way we communicate forever.

But haven’t we already been doing that for hundreds of years anyway?

Happy Hallowe’en, everyone!

All Your Blog Redesign Are Belong to Us

Hey guys.

So I’m in a bit of a quandary, and was wondering if you could help?

I’m about to update the look and feel of my blog, as Lisa from SceneStealer Graphics finalizes some design tweaks over at my development area. It’s been a long road for Lisa, as she’s had to work around some of the Headway theme’s quirks and programming.

But it’s almost ready to be switched on.

However…

I’m now toying with the idea of a more minimalist look here (sorry Lisa!). I’ve always liked the uncluttered feel of websites and blogs like Presentation Zen, and Ari Herzog’s recent minimalist redesign struck a chord with me.

I started looking for designs I liked, and came across this one (click on image to expand):

So, my quandary is this. Do I continue with the design as it currently is, with Lisa’s cool enhancements (and they are very cool!) or do I go with the minimalist look?

What’s your take? Share your thoughts below – after all, at the end of the day, you’re the guys who keep coming here to read. So the design needs to be as pleasant for you as possible.

Cheers!

Note: This blog no longer runs on the Headway framework. Instead, it’s a custom WordPress design by Lisa Kalandjian of SceneStealer Graphics.