It’s no secret that I have a passion for rural Minnesota and helping small businesses. That is why I love traveling around Minnesota, teaching others how to grow businesses or non-profits using technology and the web.
For each hour I spend researching, writing curriculum, driving, and delivering speeches, I bet I get back tri-fold from the experience. Each person I meet has amazing ideas, insights into their industry, questions that challenge me to think, and humor to round off my day. [click to continue…]
It has happened to me several times; I’ve been talking to someone about Bit.ly or a URL shortener and realized they have not been introduced to this feature. Let’s take a minute, go over the basics of URL shortening, and help you get the most out of this social media tool. [click to continue…]
I was driving home with my 11 year old daughter a few days ago. She was sad that I was going to be going to a conference in Chicago over the weekend. I told her it was a great conference that will give me a new outlook on what and how I blog, use social media, and educate others on building online community.
She said, “Daddy, why do you need to go? You teach this stuff to others.” I never really thought about this from her perspective. [click to continue…]
“It seems so repetitive, doesn’t it?” It’s a common question I receive when working with people who are new to the social media scene. So common, in fact, I decided to write a blog post about it. Hopefully I can ease the fears of other people starting out with social marketing. [click to continue…]
One of the benefits of operating a small business in a rural community is the increased opportunity to personally connect with your customers. When you are seeing the same people week after week, or when you are the only business in town offering a certain service or product, it is easy to take customer loyalty for granted. Bear in mind, however, that the dissatisfied customer is extremely likely to jump ship as soon as a new option is available. For this reason, it is important not to take your current customers for granted, no matter how limited a rural location may make their options. A great way to increase customer loyalty is through social media marketing tips designed to increase customer satisfaction and appreciation. [click to continue…]
Belated holiday gifts, Birthday, or early Valentine’s Day ideas…
Need a great gift idea for that special someone in your life whose own life is encompassed by social media efforts? While an ergonomic computer chair is a great idea, I guarantee you that the best thing you can give them is the gift that keeps on giving.
I’m talking about writing an article on your blog or a guest article for someone else; no strings attached. Take your passion and writing skills, and donate a little time toward something that really matters. We’ve all had requests from others to write an article about this or that. Think of your friends, clients, and colleagues; then go back through your notes or emails and follow through with a few requests.
If you haven’t had any recent requests for guest articles, then choose a few topics that you LOVE and write from the heart. Give a shout out or a link to someone who you care about who also has a common interest or expertise in that area. There is no better way of expressing your gratitude and best wishes for 2010 than to create positive, helpful, and inspiring content for others.
Only a short time ago Twitter added the much talked about “RT” button. For days I read nothing but negative tweets with #fail hashtags. Nobody seemed to like it. I was hesitant to use it, but forced myself to give it a try. It was easy to ReTweet with a push of the button. However, it made following RT bread crumb trails more difficult. It also resulted in seeing people I didn’t normally follow appear on my home page. “Who is this?’ often ran through my head.
But, my biggest gripe with the RT button was the fact that using the button meant that I wasn’t allowed to add my personal comment before the RT, explaining why I thought it was worthy of my time and endorsement.
Well, today I need not ponder the issue any further. I logged on early this morning to find the button gone. My first and only tweet thus far today:
I guess it’s back to the old way of ReTweeting. I really won’t miss it. And you?
We’ve all done it. We’ve opened our Facebook emails, read an emailed comment from our Fan Page that ignited our creative juices, and hit reply only to realize that Facebook doesn’t allow you to reply this way. Not anymore!
Facebook recently launched the capabilities of replying to comments via email. In case you haven’t noticed, there’s a message from Facebook in each of the emails that reads, “New Feature: Reply to this email to comment on this post.” This is a fantastic feature for anyone who manages a fan page. Manage multiple fan pages as I do, and it is a gift. Today, I’m referring to it as my special holiday gift from Facebook.
I’ve always monitored comments via email. My email feeds into my Blackberry. Now, I can reply faster and easier to keep discussions going and without logging into Facebook. This saves me a ton of steps, not to mention a whole lot of time. Thanks Facebook!
*Hint: Don’t try to reply to emailed messages from last week. The feature wasn’t implemented and is likely not to work on older messages.
My daughter and I recently went on a trip to Barnes and Noble to find a couple books. She is a math genius and wanted to find a book to help her study math at a higher level. I had an obsession to find a book that was recommend by a friend.
Our drive was uneventful. She played on her laptop. I listened to NPR. Wasn’t quite the bonding time I had hoped.
Thirty minutes into our trip she looked up from her laptop and said, “Dad, look! A smiley face!” Sure enough, a farmer has taken the time to plow a smile right into the field. Not a big deal. But it has put a smile on my face and my daughters face every time we look at this photo. Enjoy!
1. You might get more than one opinion. If you love to live in a world that revolves around you, do more talking than listening, and shun open-mindedness, then Twitter is a bad idea for you. [click to continue…]
I love online tools. I experiment with several tools every week, but not many are very impressive. I always look for tools that can save me time and allow me to do several things at once. So with that thought: Wouldn’t it be great if there was a tool that allowed you to monitor and update your Facebook page, fan pages, LinkedIn and Twitter all at the same time from within a web browser? I have been playing with a new tool for the last week. Actually, I signed up for the account about a year ago and never used it. The tool is called HootSuite (www.hootsuite.com) and I am starting to like it… [click to continue…]
If you frequent blogs, you’ve maybe noticed a box like this (pictured left) in the sidebar titled “Google Friend Connect”, asking you to “Join this Site”. If you are like me, you skipped over it for months, hurrying on to articles and other business at hand.
Luckily, one day I took the time to explore Google Friend Connect and learned that it is much more than a friendly application. I’ve discovered a few great ways to use Google Friend Connect for business that I’d like to share with you.
Social marketing is all about meeting people where they like to be, adapting to the tools they prefer. Many people love this tool and choose to follow blogs by joining via Google Friend Connect. In fact, I’ve been asked hundreds of times to follow someone using this tool. As soon as I added it to my site, people started to join. While my preference is still via email/feedburner, I make the extra effort to join using Google Friend Connect. It is just one more option in building community, and hey, that’s what makes social media so great.
Google Friend Connect makes a great tracking mechanism. I frequent hundreds of blogs, some of which I bookmark. However, when I’m out visiting blogs and investing time in my blogging relationships, I like to stay focused. Each time I see a Google Friend Connect option, I click on the “Join this site” button. I am quickly added and my picture displays. It acts as a visual cue for me if I come across this site again. I know I’ve been there before, as I’ve left a bread crumb trail-of sorts.
When I’m looking for other blogs to follow or people in niche areas, I use “Google Friend Connect” to view profiles and blogs that others are following. This tool provides a nice one page of info on each blogger, and I can quickly see what blogs they follow.
It keeps emails organized so I don’t have to. I don’t want to keep track of people’s emails whom I may or may not want to contact in the future. However, on many occassions I have wanted to personally email a fellow blogger. Google Friend Connect has their email on file, which I can quickly access.
This tool also relies on gravatar pictures, which I love. I often see people I recognize who’ve joined a blog before I arrive. Seeing their picture and recognizing them plays into my trust factor and influences my decision to join too.
Take a minute or two to check out Google Friend Connect and see if it’s right for you. If you use it in other ways, please share with me. I’d love to hear your strategies.
Setting up a fan page on Facebook is a great way to reach people who are passionate about what your business or organization does. However, the choices you make when setting up your page dictate the success and effectiveness of your fan page later. [click to continue…]
I have been getting several questions on how to really get results from LinkedIn. As a tool, it can be an invaluable way to build and maintain professional relationships with clients, partners, and associates. I have a lot of work to do to really use LinkedIn to its fullest. But with all of the questions I have been getting, I though it was time to inspire a simple strategy that only takes 15 minutes a day. So here it is: [click to continue…]
Every town has one; a mysterious business that nobody seems to know what they do. No one seems to know another person who works there, and the mysterious business seems to elude social events and sponsorships that other area businesses use to thrive. I wonder if these businesses know they are so mysterious. I wonder if it’s intentional or a horrific series of decisions that have led them down a path that has accidentally ostracized them from the rest of the community. [click to continue…]
It’s no secret that I love and use Twitter everyday. It is also no secret that when I first heard of it, I thought it was the stupidest idea I had ever heard. That’s why I have no problem understanding why people don’t get Twitter. To be honest, I don’t know many people personally who actively use Twitter. I do, however, have many friends and family ask me dozens of questions about Twitter. Therefore, I thought it would be helpful to explain how I use Twitter. My hope is that anyone can adapt and use Twitter for a more enjoyable and successful experience.
I run across a lot of tools every day. Many of them look great on the surface, until you really dig into them. Others are so darn complicated that only the person that developed the tool understands it. So when I find something that is simple and easy to understand, I take notice. Many of my clients are confused with how to get their website optimized for search engines. Let’s face it, search engine optimization is complicated. Below are three tools I ran across today that can help you understand how to optimize you website for search engines. Enjoy! [click to continue…]
Below are the materials that we used to play the Social Media Game at the “Resilient Leaders – Resilient Organizations: A Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation Convening.”
I would like to offer a sincere thank you to those that attended “Resilient Leaders – Resilient Organizations: A Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation Convening” in Redwood Falls, MN.
It’s no secret that I have a passion for rural Minnesota and helping small businesses. That is why I love traveling around Minnesota, teaching others how to grow businesses or non-profits using technology and the web.
