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May 25, 2011

3 Ways Social Media Can Help You Blog – pt. 3 Find Inspiration

If you get bloggers block Social Media can help. This week in part three of our series on Social Media and blogging we look at how it can help you find inspiration for blogging.

Be inspired by others – Blog Directories

I find I am inspired by other bloggers, some that work in social media and others that just produce well written interesting content. But how do you find blogs to inspire you?

There are a number of popular blog directories. Technorati, AllTop, BlogCatalog are some of the most well known. If you’re in Ireland or have an Irish interest Irish Blogs is fantastic. A quick internet search will also provide you with topic or industry specific blog directories.

Search these for blogs of interest and be inspired!

Social Bookmarking Sites

StumbleUpon, Reddit, Delicious and Digg are full of great links and information that can both help you guage what is trending in your industry and inspire you. Search for topics that interest you and they will throw up lots of interesting stuff you might not find elsewhere.

Google Alerts

Google Alerts is not only a fantastic research tool but it can also give you a snapshot of what people are talking about relating to a specific interest. Once you have discovered the current trends write a blog post with your particular insight into the topic.

Linkedin Groups

What are people talking about or looking for information on in your Linkedin groups? If specific questions are coming up write a blog post addressing these questions or topics. Ask your own questions on Linkedin Groups or within Linkedin Answers to discover what others think, aggregate the answers in a blog post or answer the question from the feedback you have received from others.

Click here for part one on research

Click here for part two on finding readers

Do you have any secrets on finding inspiration for your blog? If so I’d love to hear your comments below.

Tags: Blogging — Tags: alltop, blog, blogcatalog, Blogging, delicious, digg, Google alerts, inspiration, Ireland, Irish, irish blogs, Linkedin, reddit, Social Media, Stumbleupon, technorati —

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January 12, 2011

Improve the power of your website links on Linkedin

Have you noticed that some Linkedin profiles have edited their websites to describe what they are (see above)? Changing your website titles like this makes your links more clickable as well as adding to the SEO value of the link. If you are stuck with the default ‘company website’, ‘blog’ tags this tutorial is for you.

Click ‘Profile’ on the top menu bar and choose ‘Edit profile’ from the drop down menu.

Scroll down to the website section.

Click ‘Edit’ next to the website you want to change.

On the next screen choose ‘Other’ from the drop down menu on the left hand side of the website you want to edit

A new box will appear with ‘Website Title’ written inside.

Replace this text with a description of your website: e.g. Social Media for Business

Type in the url of your website (including http://) in the box next to your description

Scroll to the bottom of the page and click ‘Save Changes’

Check your profile, your website description should now appear as a hot link on your profile page.

Thanks to Susanne McCabe from Totem.ie for suggesting this blog post. If you have a burning question about linkedin leave a comment below and we’ll do our best to answer it.

Tags: Linkedin — Tags: customise Linkedin websites, Linkedin, Linkedin profile, Linkedin websites, profile, search engine optimisation, seo, Social Media —

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September 29, 2010

The Rules Of Social Media – The Results Are In

This has been a really interesting discussion. We started in July with the second round in August. Finally we have a comprehensive list of the dos and don’ts according to all of our social media communities. A big thank you to all of you who took the time to contribute.

A big surprise for me was how strongly people felt about some issues. And I have to bow to popular demand and point out that the list below is simply a list of guidelines. There are exceptions to every rule and some people find even the highest rated don’ts work for them. However I would exercise caution, whatever your strategy it is important to measure the results clearly and consistently. Is social media really working for you and if not how can you adjust your behavior for better results?

I have also resisted adding my opinion to the survey so far as I wanted to see what others thought but now that the results are in I’d like to add my vote to ‘Do be polite, considerate and respectful’. I see this frequently abandoned in the heat of the moment and I think it is important to remember that everything we say on the Internet reflects on our business. Being controversial works but there is a fine line between controversy and rudeness, a line that I strive not to overstep. Having said this, again there are exceptions to the rule, controversy and rudeness, if it suits your business could be a big draw.

The Full List as suggested by our online communities:

Do give benefit to your community
Do be different
Do be funny
Do be interesting and relevant
Do be polite, considerate and respectful
Do be sociable
Do build a strong network
Do comment on blogs
Do complete your Linkedin profile
Do converse and reply when someone attempts to engage you
Do create your own App for Facebook or Smartphone
Do get involved in discussions
Do have an open and public Facebook page so those not on Facebook can access it
Do personalise Linkedin invites
Do post useful resources
Don’t insult people
Don’t apply ‘Old Media’ strategies to social media
Don’t be a creepy lurker
Don’t be repetitive
Don’t broadcast, engage
Don’t have personal conversations on Twitter (do it privately)
Don’t invite people who will get no benefit from it to fan your Facebook page
Don’t join Linkedin groups and not engage
Don’t just collect followers and likes, make them relevant
Don’t link your Twitter account to your Linkedin profile fully
Don’t only follow celebs
Don’t post inane tweets / posts
Don’t pretend you know about social media when you don’t
Don’t protect tweets
Don’t schedule tweets
Don’t sell, sell, sell!
Don’t spam Linkedin groups, only post relevant content
Don’t swear
Don’t think that Facebook is just B2C
Don’t post a big bunch of Tweets in a row
Don’t update Facebook personal and business accounts concurrently with the same info
Don’t use push over pull
Don’t write rules, suggest guidelines
Don’t post too often or talk too much

The Top 10:

Don’t sell, sell, sell!
Don’t link your Twitter account to your Linkedin profile fully
Don’t have personal conversations on Twitter (do it privately)
Don’t post too often or talk too much
Don’t post inane tweets / posts
Do post useful resources
Don’t write rules, suggest guidelines
Don’t invite people who will get no benefit from it to fan your Facebook page
Don’t be repetitive
Don’t apply ‘Old Media’ strategies to social media

Tags: rules — Tags: Facebook, Guidelines, Linkedin, rules, Social Media, Twitter —

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September 22, 2010

KLCK Bloggers Network Does Portlaoise!

Last week saw the third meeting of the KLCK Bloggers network and our first outing to Laois. Once again it was well attended and although there were technical difficulties with the live stream to start with we got them fixed and 8 people joined us online.

I’m always bowled over by the atmosphere at our meetings, everyone has knowledge to share and questions to ask. Everyone, newbie or experienced blogger can learn something. I’d never heard of some of the plugins that our first speaker Eoin from Istech told us about but all were useful. ’Old Post Spinner’ in particular provoked some debate. Spinning blog posts means recycling old blog posts – changing them slightly and re-posting them ‘Old Post Spinner’ automates this process.

Our second speaker Niall Devitt talked about Bloggertone, many of us were inspired to think about submitting content, he was also a wealth of information on blogging in general, and our questions kept him busy for quite a while.

If you want to view the stream recorded on the night click here (quality not great). You can also download Eoin’s notes by clicking here.

Our next meeting is at The Pembroke Hotel, Kilkenny on 11th October 2010 at 7pm. You can RSVP on Facebook or Linkedin or by leaving a comment on this post.

To keep up to date with our events join the KLCK Bloggers Network page on Facebook or Linkedin.

Tags: Blogging — Tags: bloggers, Bloggertone, Blogging, Facebook, istech, Kilkenny, KLCK, KLCK bloggers network, Laois, Linkedin, Niall Devitt, old post spinner, Pembroke Hotel, Plugins, spinning —

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August 25, 2010

July 14, 2010

The Inaugural Meeting – KLCK Bloggers Network

Monday saw the Inaugural meeting of the KLCK Bloggers Network, a group of like minded people living in the Kildare, Laois, Carlow, Kilkenny area who share an enthusiasm for Blogging and Internet marketing.

Amongst those who attended were those who write professionally, those with popular blogs, those who were just taking the first step in blogging and those who were on the cusp of getting started.

The aim of the group is to share knowledge, put our heads together and see what we can achieve both individually and as a group.

Meetings will continue every second Monday of the month and all are welcome to attend whether you are living in the four counties or not and whether you are already a blogger or not.

Our next meet up will be on August 9th at the Talbot Hotel Carlow. Paula Sheridan from Candle Designs will be talking about using Flickr for business and we will have a second presentation on the basics of setting up a WordPress blog and useful plugins (speaker tbc). If you’d like to come along or if you have expertise to share with the group you can RSVP on Facebook or on Linkedin or by leaving a comment on this blog post.

Tags: Blogging,Events — Tags: bloggers, business, Carlow, event, Events, Facebook, Flickr, Internet marketing, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Linkedin, network, share knowledge, wordpress —

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July 7, 2010

June 23, 2010

4 Social Media Tools for Running Events

You can use social media to both organise, promote and enhance an event. Over the next 2 weeks our podcast will be showing you how to create events using Facebook and Linkedin.

This week we will show you 4 applications that help you take bookings and help you display tweets at your events and sharing your events presentations.

1. Eventbrite

Eventbrite allows you to set up an event and take payment from attendees. Once you have created your event it is easy to embed a sign up form into your website or even just a booking button.

2. EventElephant

Similar to Eventbrite but with what seem to be far more customisable pages. EventElephant it’s an Irish company which means customer service will be easier to reach.

3.Twitterfall

The easy way to set up a tweet wall at your event we’ve talked about Twitterfall before but we can’t find an alternative that we like more so here it is again. Add your event #tag to the wall and watch the tweets scroll onto your screen. All you need to do is hook your computer up to a screen or a projector to share the tweets with conference goers. This encourages more interaction amongst your audience and more online buzz about your event.

4. Slideshare

Using Slideshare you can set up a group or an event where all the presentations from the day can easily be shared. Simply click ‘events’ at the top of the home screen once logged in. Again this not only makes it easier for attendees to catch up with the presentations it also creates a buzz around your event.

Tags: Events,Twitter — Tags: applications, Events, Facebook, Linkedin, podcast, promote, slideshare, Social Media, Twitter —

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June 2, 2010

Social Media Success Stories – Garrendenny Lane Interiors

We talked to Lorna Sixsmith from Garrendenny Lane Interiors about how Social Media and Blogging has benefited her business:

Tell me a little bit about your business:

I started my interior design business in Nov 2007 and I started my blog in January 2008. Blogging was my sole use of social media during 2008. I found blogging helped my SEO greatly and amongst other subjects, I blogged about new arrivals to the shop, new fabric and wallpaper collections and the opening of my online shop. Approximately 40% of my fabric and wallpaper sales came directly from my blog and improved SEO that year and I gained clients as far away as Westmeath and Sligo.

I am concentrating more now on the online shop and will be developing a new and improved site over the summer. I am using the blog and Facebook to specifically bring attention to new products by hosting a ‘Freebie Friday’ each week as each comment provides the person with a free ‘ticket’ to win the new product.

During 2009, I increased my use of social media. I started using Twitter in March 2009 and developed a business FB page in September – both have helped to increase the number of unique visitors to my site. For example, in Feb 2009, I had 2,500 unique visitors – these increased by approx 1000 a month to 10,500 in Dec 2009. Having said that, they seem to have reached that level and it is hard to reach above 11,000 visits.

I have also made some online sales as a result of Twitter and Facebook.

Do you use any traditional marketing ?

Not as much. I place an occasional advertisement but although they often result in enquiries, the number of sales through them are low.

I started an offline and online PR campaign in January. RE the offline, I have been included in features or had articles written about my business in an Irish Times supplement, the Sunday Business Post, the Irish Independent Mothers and Babies supplement, the Country Living magazine of the Farmers Journal, House and Home magazine, Image Interiors and Munster Interiors. I have written features for Munster Interiors and House and Home magazine. I also write an article each month for the local free magazines My Waterford and Carlow Life and Entertainment. As I will be concentrating now on the online side of my business, the nature of my offline campaign will be changing.

What social media do you have in place?

My blog which also has a Freebie Friday offer each week now.

My twitter account is @GarrendennyLane. While I do tweet about new products, PR I have achieved, photographs of interior design and rooms etc, I also tweet about everything else I do from coming in from feeding calves to filling the boot with fabric books on the way to meet a client.

I also use Linked In to a limited extent. Limited because my business is mostly business to customer rather than business to business and I feel I spend enough time on social media as it is! I update my status once a fortnight or so (usually with news of a feature in a magazine or newspaper) and that is really about it. I see that many people now have their twitter updates going to their Linked in status update and this I would not recommend. Tweets tend to be too personal and glib for this. Much better to do it the other way around – ie have your Linked In updates going to Twitter (I have never done this but presume it is possible)

My Linked in profile.

My Facebook business page.

I update my business page about once a day – either with a new blog post or with something I think my ‘fans’ will enjoy. I also use it to bring attention to my ‘Product of the Month’ by asking fans which one out of 3 they would prefer to see as the Product of the Month. I haven’t paid for any advertising to bring people to the page and have approx 350 fans at the moment.

What I like about social media is that it gives businesses a personality and a personal voice behind the business.

Did you have a strategy before you embarked on your social media campaign?

I didn’t have any strategy to start with beyond that I had heard that blogging helped SEO and hence would help to increase visits to my website. I enjoy writing and I love writing and reading blog posts so blogging is definitely a most enjoyable part of my business.

Do you have a strategy now? How has it changed since you started?

My only strategy really at the start was to bring attention to my products and to improve my SEO in using those keywords. I used to do a ‘Friday Fix-it’ post in which I offered free interior design advice and solutions to anyone who emailed me a query. I would still do that if people wished to email me but as I am now concentrating on the online shop, I have changed this Friday post to a ‘Freebie Friday’!

I don’t have a strategy at the moment apart from what is in my head!! However, I am doing a course with the Carlow Enterprise board at the moment which is FETAC affiliated which means I have to write down my strategies in a marketing plan!! So that will be interesting!

What concrete results have you seen from your efforts in social media?

40% of fabric and wallpaper sales from my blog in 2008, the first year in business (I was interviewed for a white paper for an IIA article and hence I put some time into working this out – how did I know – I asked clients where they had heard of me and generally they had put in a search term which brought them to a blog post).

I have had about 30 online sales from Twitter/Facebook although there may be more from Twitter where I haven’t made the connection.

A little story from a couple of weeks ago, I was uploading new products and did a link from Facebook to a little silver bell that I had just uploaded. Within 20 minutes, one was sold along with another product to a Facebook fan. I went onto Twitter and tweeted that the bell had sold so quickly along with a link. Within ten minutes, another 2 were sold to 2 people who had read the tweet.

How do you measure your results?

I offer discount codes to my Facebook fans so I am able to tell how many times it has been used.

I have just put a reader’s offer into the House and Home magazine which provides H and H readers with a discount code so I will be able to measure the result of offline advertising on my online sales.

I use google analytics to determine how many visits to my site are from Twitter and facebook and how many pages each visitor visits as well as the average time they spend on the site.

How do the results compare to your other marketing efforts?

I enjoy using social media so I don’t consider it to be ‘work’. I would probably write blog posts even if I didn’t get any results from them but while offline PR and the occasional paid advertisement certainly keeps my profile alive and well and help brand awareness, I feel that the improved SEO, increased number of links, and general awareness online is much more effective than offline marketing. I would suggest that businesses should not concentrate on just offline or online but use both.

What one piece of advice would you give to our blog readers?

Ensure you enjoy social media or else get a member of the company who will because unless you can write well, have the time to read and enjoy other blogs and enjoy engaging with others on Twitter, Linked In and Facebook, your tweets, updates and posts will come across as sterile and unengaging.

What plans do you have for your social media campaign in the future?

Ask me in a month when I have written up my Media campaign!!

I will continue to blog, tweet and update facebook to the same extent. I have just been introduced to Weedle so intend to set up a profile there. I guess one plan I have is to spend more time measuring the success of each aspect of social media, so I know which is the most successful and which to spend time on. Having said that, I enjoy them all so I would probably continue!!