What’s the best way to outsource a blog? Is there any good way? It’s a topic of debate among PR pros, marketers, and companies thinking of outsourcing their social media. Copyblogger recently raised the ghostblogging issue and Todd Defren explored it in his excellent series on social media ethical dilemmas. Disclaimer: My company advises clients …
Communication-Education Lifestylist Erika Pryor of Columbus, Ohio recently posed this question on LinkedIn: What type of advice would you give a micro-business or freelancer considering using social media for their business development needs? Erika’s no newbie to social networking. Her query was more of an experiment with LinkedIn’s Q&A feature than anything. Still, the answers …
This week, the social networking platform Ning announced important news: The company has decided to discontinue its free service and will require users who create communities on the site to migrate to the paid service. We will phase out our free service. Existing free networks will have the opportunity to either convert to paying for …
Before you become long-term business partners, try working on a project or two together. Collaborate before you co-habitate. You’ll save yourself from a world of hurt if you biz-date before you biz-marry.
I’m normally a fan of the soft sell — the lure-them-with-content, lay-off-the-self-promotion, kumbaya “it’s about community” stuff. This morning, though, I took a tip from my two-year-old: Cut the games, be direct. If you’ve ever tried to get a toddler to take his medicine, you know the game. You coax. You cajole. You bribe. You …
Social media generates reams of data that could be used by business decision-makers. Alas, businesses often miss opportunities to interpret and act on these torrents of information. Jason Falls sums it up perfectly (and spurs a good discussion): Social media monitoring is only as good as the decision-maker who does something with the intelligence. Maybe …
Case studies, case studies, case studies. Everywhere I go, that’s all people want. Whether I’m attending a conference or presenting a workshop, everybody wants case studies. Why? Do we want someone to do the hard work for us? Give us the blueprint? Are we afraid to try something that’s never been “proven” for fear of …
The goal of creating buyer personas isn’t to be exhaustive – it’s to attempt to understand your customer as a human, not a demographic. But does it work?
Joining online communities is a great way to meet new people with common interests. It’s also a good way to get to know your customers on a more personal, human level. Before start flapping at the gums about your fantastic offer, though, you have to pay your dues. Remember: You’re the outsider. Online communities tend …
Full disclosure: I’m not much of an SEO expert. In Charlotte, folks like Fred Sexton, Keith Schilling, and Roy Morejon know far more than me on that topic. Blogs are powerful search engine marketing tools. Frequent updates keep search engines “spidering” your site on a regular basis, the steady stream of content is ripe for …