Blogs | Spiderworking.com's Social Networking blog

May 11, 2011

3 Ways Social Media Can Help You Blog – pt. 1 Research

The title of this post is a bit of a misnomer after all blogging is social media. However I was inspired to write this series of blog posts by the KLCK Bloggers network in response to a presentation I gave at the last meeting.

Researching your ideas for blogs or gauging the opinion of others can be a long process. Social media makes it easier. Asking your social media communities for opinion and suggestions is a fantastic way to get new insights on what you are doing. But what tools can you use?

Facebook Questions

The recently launched Facebook Questions tool always gets a great response. The beauty of this tool is that you can ask the question on your own page but as people respond their friends see the question and are encouraged to respond giving it a larger reach than simply your own community and freinds. There is also an option for respondents to add their own answers, suggesting answers you may not have thought of before.

Ask Twitter

Simply putting a question out on Twitter can provoke responses. My recent call out for Facebook landing page examples returned lots of suggestions, some of which made it into my Bloggertone post.

Linkedin Answers

Linkedin is a huge mine of information and the Linkedin Answers tools allows you to get suggestions and answers from Linkedin users around the world even if you are not connected to them directly or through a group. You will find Linkedin Answers by clicking ‘More’ on your Linkedin home page and selecting ‘Answers’ from the drop down menu. Answers are categorised by topic.

Linkedin Groups

Linkedin groups are a fantastic resource to ask you question or monitor trends within your industries. Again it gives you the opportunity to gather opinion from people outside your networks.

Quora

There’s been a lot of buzz around Quora this year. It’s simply a questions and answers network but it’s very well used and has become a fantastic space to find out anything about everything. Although mostly techie at the moment it is growing. It can be used both to answer your own questions

Internet forums

Whatever industry you are in there will be a forum or message board for you. Searching these out, joining them and becoming an active member can be a great resource for information.

What other social media do you use for research? Do you have any tips and tricks to share? If so let me know by leaving a comment below.

Tags: Blogging — Tags: blog, Blogging, Blogs, Facebook, Facebook questions, Internet forums, Linkedin answers, Linkedin groups, Quora, research, Social Media, Twitter —

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October 13, 2010

Drive traffic to your blog and supe it up – KLCK in Kilkenny

I believe that blogging should be the hub of your social media campaign. I’ve seen the results that blogs can bring both for driving traffic to your website and as establishing you as an expert in your field. But it can be hard to get started and even the most proficient bloggers are always learning and growing. It was for all of these reasons that earlier this year with the help of Lorna Sixsmith of Garendenny Lane Interiors I set up the KLCK (Kildare Laois Carlow Kilkenny) Bloggers network , with the aim of sharing knowledge and become better bloggers together.

Monday night was our first meeting in Kilkenny and we had two excellent speakers. Marie Ennis O’Connor whose blog ‘Journeying Beyond Breast Cancer‘ attracts massive amounts of traffic talked about how to get more people to read our blogs. There was something for everyone to learn from her presentation including me! You can view here slides by clicking here.

Ken McGuire followed on the theme from last month covering some of his favorite WordPress Plugins, a great selection that would enhance any blog, most of which I will be adding to this blog soon. You can view his presentation by clicking here.

If you would like to know more about the KLCK Bloggers Network ‘Like’ our Facebook page. You can view the blogroll of attendees here.

The meeting this month was hosted by The Pembroke Hotel in Kilkenny and we were blown away by the facilities a big thank you to everyone there for their hospitality.

The next meeting will be on the 8th of November somewhere in Kildare, speakers and venue TBC.

Tags: Blogging — Tags: bloggers, Blogging, Blogs, Carlow, Journeying Beyond Breast Cancer, Kildare, Kilkenny, KLCK, KLCK bloggers network, Laois, Pembroke Hotel, Social Meida —

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July 28, 2010

Our Partners – Let O’Connell Copy blog for you

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This week, we return to the whole area of blogs and blogging. Diarmuid O’Connell from O’Connell Copy and a commercial writer with many years of experience puts forward the argument for getting someone to do the dirty work – the writing!

Ghost-Blog your way to higher sales

There’s nothing spooky about it. Hiring a professional writer to come up with and write blogs for your business brings sparkle to your online presence and a shine to your social media strategy. And from about €60 a blog, you’ll not find better bang for your online buck.

But you may well be thinking … what would I need a blog for? As for writing it yourself, many folk shudder at the thoughts of it. They usually say…..but I hated English in school and cannot stand writing about myself.

I know the feeling – I gladly ask an accountant to handle my tax and a recent technology meltdown was resolved in minutes by my IT guy.

You’ve read other company blogs and you know how powerful they can be. A professionally written blog, optimised for Google and other search engines will ensure your website has a much, much better chance of getting hits. More hits… a bigger audience…more sales.

It’s easier than you think. My clients usually send me a few bullet points by email or just give me a shout. And over the phone, we come up with a few ideas to get you started. I’ve written for over 30 industry sectors from technology to tourism and from finance to politics and everything in between.

If you love writing your own blog, just keep in mind what you want to ‘say’. Sounds obvious but a good blog post makes one point clearly and retains the right characteristics of your personality and that of your business.

But, if you want to have your blogs ghost-written by a professional writer and put the fear of God into your competition – get in touch….today! Log on to www.oconnellcopy.com or email me at diarmuid@oconnellcopy.com.