My Recap of #BlogChat 10.30.2011

What is #BlogChat? via @MackCollier

Every Sunday at 8 p.m. central time a vast and vibrant community of bloggers takes time to chat with each other on Twitter via the hashtag #BlogChat. I’ve lurked a few times, but tonight, I’m hoping to dive in and get my feet wet. We’ll see how I do.

Turns out tonight’s topic is: “Getting more conversations on your blog, not just comments.” I could use both! ;-)

If you’ve never lurked or participated before on #BlogChat, take a moment to click the link for this post and read what it is all about. The article offers a quick video tutorial on how to best watch the tweets flying by on your screen. Worth checking out.

My favorite line in the article is this, “Even if you are completely new to blogging, we can still learn from your experiences, just as you can learn from us… So if you are new to #blogchat PLEASE leave a tweet introducing yourself, at least.”

#BlogChat  — Thanks for the welcome, invitation and for breaking down the walls and letting us all in. I’m looking forward to this. Here goes nothin’. ;-)

Have a Tweet Team? Include them in background images and initial your tweets. One Social Media and Educational Marketing Group are just two examples of Tweet Teams making the most of their Twitter background images. Each team member also signs their tweets which I think is so great for transparency and making the brand personable and human.

What best practices do you have for your Tweet Team?

Content Matters: Are You Damaging Your Reputation With Unattended Social Media Profiles?

What are your tips for steady #content on #socialmedia profiles? Click title for ideas and to add your own.

whycontentmatters:

After recently reading an enlightening blog post on social media, I checked out the author’s bio and clicked on the link to follow him on Twitter. Much to my surprise, an unattended profile appeared. There was no profile picture, bio or company website. He had tweeted seven times in the nine…

Idea: Use @Storify to collect your favorite tweets of the week. Benefits: 1. It can help you build a following on Twitter. 2. It might encourage more engagement from your followers. 3. Storify makes it easy to collect and organize tweets you may want to come back to at a later time.  This idea and example above is from @Weatherbird — The St. Louis Post-Dispatch ambassador to the web.
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Idea: Use @Storify to collect your favorite tweets of the week.

Benefits:

1. It can help you build a following on Twitter.

2. It might encourage more engagement from your followers.

3. Storify makes it easy to collect and organize tweets you may want to come back to at a later time. 

This idea and example above is from @Weatherbird — The St. Louis Post-Dispatch ambassador to the web.

QR codes in the funeral industry | Scan a Remembrance Code with your smartphone and be taken to a permanent online memorial for your loved one. I can see this being useful for genealogy events or cemetery tours, but I’m not quite sold on the idea of placing these next to monuments on a long-term basis. What do you think? (via The Funeral Innovations Blog - The latest trends and tips from the funeral industry)
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QR codes in the funeral industry | Scan a Remembrance Code with your smartphone and be taken to a permanent online memorial for your loved one.

I can see this being useful for genealogy events or cemetery tours, but I’m not quite sold on the idea of placing these next to monuments on a long-term basis.

What do you think?

(via The Funeral Innovations Blog - The latest trends and tips from the funeral industry)

The Southern Illinoisan in Carbondale, IL is sporting a QR code in its profile picture. I like the idea as it makes the most out of the limited space Facebook allows for a picture. Two other newspapers using this technique include: AZCentral.com and The Honolulu Star Advertiser. Have you spotted any QR codes popping up in Facebook profile pictures?
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The Southern Illinoisan in Carbondale, IL is sporting a QR code in its profile picture. I like the idea as it makes the most out of the limited space Facebook allows for a picture.

Two other newspapers using this technique include: AZCentral.com and The Honolulu Star Advertiser.

Have you spotted any QR codes popping up in Facebook profile pictures?

People remember how you cope with problems, often not the problems themselves. So have a plan B, C and D, just in case.

3 secrets to PR event management

Something for everyone in this quick and humorous read by Clare Hamilton-Eddy of Peak Communicators.   (chamilton-eddy@peakco.com)

It’s time to remove any self-sabotage or self-limitation you have around “not having enough time,” or today not being “the right time” to start a business or manage your current business properly.

— 10 Time-Management Tips That Work by Joe Mathews, Don Debolt and Deb Percival (http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/219553)

H/T @RobQuigley

@ReallyVirtual FAQ

weatherbird:

@ReallyVirtual — or Sohaib Athar, the IT consultant who live-blogged the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound — has posted a FAQ that answers the most redundant questions he’s getting from the media. It’s an interesting read, and Athar has a good sense of humor about the ordeal.

We try to respond to as many questions, suggestions and criticisms as possible. As a result we get better engagement from our fans, they are more likely to share our content, more likely to respond to our requests for help and stick up for us when the ‘haters’ rip on us.

Quote from Bryce Moore, KMOV.com site manager, St. Louis, on how his TV station handles engagement with its audience via its Facebook page.

KMOV puts Facebook to work covering airport tornado —By Cory Bergman/Lost Remote.com

Heard through STLTomorrow

I often think as obvious as #3 (“Be Social”) sounds, it is one that gets GREATLY overlooked. Too many people or organizations are on social networks to feed a marketing message or shovel content to any willing friend, fan or follower. For some companies or individuals, being social might not be easy at first. Start small with a simple, “Hello” or “Good Morning.” Then try asking your network a question. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t get any feedback right away, it will take a little time to build your network and cultivate relationships. You’ll get the hang of it after a few tries and you’ll then be reaping the rewards of being truly social. Photo is reblogged from digiwoman 5 ways to cultivate an active social media network…
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I often think as obvious as #3 (“Be Social”) sounds, it is one that gets GREATLY overlooked. Too many people or organizations are on social networks to feed a marketing message or shovel content to any willing friend, fan or follower.

For some companies or individuals, being social might not be easy at first. Start small with a simple, “Hello” or “Good Morning.” Then try asking your network a question.

Don’t get discouraged if you don’t get any feedback right away, it will take a little time to build your network and cultivate relationships. You’ll get the hang of it after a few tries and you’ll then be reaping the rewards of being truly social.

Photo is reblogged from digiwoman

5 ways to cultivate an active social media network…