Archive for November, 2008
Louis Gray handed me the keys to his blog last week, so I have been having a little fun over there lately.
This is the weekly recap of posts I have written . Please visit the hyperlinks to read the posts in their full entirety.
- SEO is still relevant, I touch on 15 tips for improving search engine visibility.
- We all love Twitter, here are 15 tools to add to your Twitter toolbox.
- My observations on FriendFeed list organization, 60 days in.
Why stop there? Here are a few more solid posts that I really enjoyed.
- Daniel Pritchett, reveals the 15 secrets of FriendFeed’s power users.
- Louis asks, if anybody cares about non-blog commenting anymore?
- Corvida Raven is wondering if social media is keeping you out of touch with reality?
- Rob Diana explains that Web apps need to keep it simple for success.
- Louis informs us that SocialToo launches social surveys for polling via Twitter.
I wanted to let all of my friends and readers of this blog to know what’s been happening lately. I apologize about the lack of updates. I have been spending a majority of my time offline taking care of some family related issues.
I have been blogging on other sites. Most recently Louis Gray handed me the keys to his blog. If you have not been to Louisgray.com to read them, follow the two links below.
I also wrote a post for Mashable.com in mid October, titled “What Happens to Our Social Profiles After We Die?.”
I hope you enjoy these posts. I hope to resume with updates on this blog next week.
Thanks,
Mike
This post highlights 10 members that you should follow on FriendFeed. For those of you that are new to my blog, this will be the third post of this type. The previous ones are located here and here. There are several more hundred people that belong on this list. I will publish a new list with more frequency, preferably monthly. I will also be exploring some themed type recommendation lists. I hope you get the same value from these members as I do. If you do subscribe to any of these members, please give them some time to subscribe back, if they choose to do so. They have no idea that their inbox is about to be flooded with notifications. It could be a little overwhelming 
–
1) Atul Arora
Short Bio: Atul’s primary background is in software engineering. He currently is the Director of Product Management at Vimo. Atul is an active FriendFeeder. I rely on several human filters to look for new content, and Atul is one of them. Atul’s feed is strictly business which is what I appreciate about it, and I think you will as well.
Topics of focus: Current events, Technology, Social Media, Applications, Web 2.0
FriendFeed:Subscribe
-
2) Chris Brogan
Short Bio: Chris comes from a background in applications engineering, project management, and telecommunications. His passions is for teaching businesses how to use social media technologies for external outreach and beyond. He is one of the leading and most sought after Social Media Strategists on the market. His blog should be the starting point for any individual or business looking to seriously get involved with social media. Chris is currently Vice President, Strategy & Technology at CrossTechMedia.
Topics of focus: Social Media, Applications, Marketing Strategies, Enterprise Collaboration, Web 2.0
FriendFeed:Subscribe | Blog:chrisbrogan.com
-
3) Corvida
Short Bio: Corvida is an active and passionate blogger. She blogs about the latest news on social networks, social media, and social applications. Corvida is currently a writer for RRW and occasionally guest posts on sites such as, chrisbrogan.com and louisgray.com.
Topics of focus:Social Media, Social Applications, Technology, Web 2.0
FriendFeed:Subscribe | Blog:shegeeks.net
-
Short Bio: Daniel is a lifelong technology professional and hobbyist. At his day job he builds and analyzes business intelligence systems. He writes about technology, collaboration, and enterprise technologies. He is very active on FriendFeed, and I consider him to be a thoughtful and valued voice to the community.
Topics of focus: Technology, Enterprise, Collaboration, Social Media,
FriendFeed:Subscribe | Blog:sharingatwork.com
-
Short Bio: The story of Daniel Kemp. One man and his mission to become an Earth Emperor.
Topics of focus: Goofy videos, squashing bugs and the an occasional book review. Really, I don’t know what else to say except that it’s pure comedy.
FriendFeed: Subscribe | Blog:earthemperor.com
-
6) Jesse Stay
Short Bio: Jesse is a successful Facebook application developer and marketer. He blogs about technology, social media, microblogging, and Facebook related issues. He is very active, vocal and an intricate part of the FriendFeed community.
Topics of focus: Technology, Social Media, Applications, Facebook, MicroBlogging
FriendFeed: Subscribe | Blog:staynalive.com
-
7) Mark Krynsky
Short Bio: Mark, at his day job is a Web Producer at the X PRIZE Foundation. Mark also blogs about social media and technology. Mark also guest posts on a variety of sites including mashable and louisgray.com. Mark has become a definitive voice on lifestreaming, and is an invaluable resource to the community.
Topics of focus: Social Media, Applications, Lifestreaming, Technology, Web 2.0
FriendFeed: Subscribe | Blog:lifestreamblog.com
-
Short Bio: Tina, despite the nick, is a very passionate and smart thinking FriendFeed member. She is one of the most active users on FriendFeed. There is never a dull moment on her feed, and you can expect plenty of variety and conversation.
Topics of focus: Current Events, Humor, Technology, Web 2.0
FriendFeed: Subscribe | Blog: isthisstupid.com
-
9) Tad Chef
Short Bio: Tad is a search engine optimizer by trade. He is very active in the German SEO community. He writes informative posts about SEO. You could seriously learn a few things from this guy.
Topics of focus:SEO, Social Media
FriendFeed: Subscribe | Blog: seo2.0.onreact.com
-
Short Bio:Neal is a writer, copywriter, and consultant in new media. A lifelong geek interested in just about everything. He maintains several blogs and is the founder of the Social Media Philosophy Project, an attempt to address the philosophical implications of social media and web 2.0 technologies.
Topics of focus: Social Media, Technology, Web 2.0
FriendFeed: Subscribe | Blog:thepuckwrites.com
This post outlines some of the best and worst practices in social media marketing. Most of these are common sense, but they are key components for an effective social media marketing strategy.
Best Practices:
- Consistency: This should be applied to every area of your involvement in social media. All of your online profiles should share the same information. Make sure to use the same user names. If possible, use the same profile pictures (if applicable), logos and contact info. Maintain a recognizable streamlined presence across all social networks, professional and personal. Be consistent with your blogging updates, marketing campaigns, product updates, improving website usability and responding to customer feedback, good or bad.
- Listening: You need to listen on a consistent basis for customer chatter. If people are talking, it’s usually a negative. Satisfied customers remain quiet for the most part, as there is nothing to gripe about. Satisfied customers, on occasion, will leave testimonials and reviews. Happy customers are loyal endorsers of your brand, and it’s very important to keep these people happy.
- Transparency: People relate to people, plain and simple. Show the human side of your brand. Create an experience and tell a story. Put real faces and stories behind the message you are trying to get across. Most of all be authentic. If faults are made, acknowledge them.
- Handing over the keys: Give someone else the spotlight. Louis Gray and Chris Brogan are two examples of this. Both of these guys constantly turn their blogs over to smaller lesser known voices for guest posts. Let others shine when the chance presents itself. With millions of voices in the blogosphere, unless you have an edge, you probably wont be heard. I firmly live by, and believe the old saying “do onto others as others do on to you.”
- Promote others first: There is a multitude of ways to do this. If you have the platform and audience, hand over the keys to your blog. Share good content via Google Reader, Digg or Stumble it. These are the easiest ways. If you are blogging about a particular subject, make sure to reference and link to the source. Bloggers love the “link love”, I know I do. It’s a sense of accomplishment and acknowledgment. Linking to others is also very positive for search engine relevancy and rankings.
Worst Practices:
- Don’t Ignore: Negative criticism or customer complaints should receive some kind of response. Saying nothing can seal your fate on the web. Word of mouth, especially negative, on the web spreads quickly.
- No drive bys: Drive by spamming is a major no no. People will see it for what it is, spam. Do you want your brand recognized as spammers who are just trying to make a quick buck?
- Lie, cheat and deceive: Don’t create fake profiles and or personas. Creating a fake image with the goal of marketing will eventually backfire. Fakes are always found out, it will just take a matter of time.
- Don’t player hate, but participate: Sometimes saying nothing is better then something. What I mean by this is, dont trash talk your competition. Listen and learn instead.
These are just a few examples off the top of my head. What are your best practices? What’s the worst you have observed?
