How to: Facebook Updates to Twitter, Twitter Updates to Facebook

May 26, 2009

Day #16 of ProBlogger’s 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge reminds us that solving a problem for our  blog readers can be very beneficial in developing loyal readers.  Check out the below scenario which I hope can help with a common social media problem. 

So, this blog post has now been published.  Should I post a link to it on Facebook?  Should I post a link to it on Twitter?  Or should I do both at the same time? 

As each social media giant continues to grow, so do the number of ways to manage both at the same time.  Some allow for options to post to just one or both with each update.  Others post to both by default. 

Check out Mashable’s Twitter to Facebook: 5 Ways to Post to Both.  Pick your favorite from the list.  I suggest using Tweedeck to manager both.  And happy facebooking and tweeting.

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Posted by derekmcclain

Find A Blogging Buddy

May 25, 2009

Blogging Buddies can be your greatest allies when maintaining a blog.  Day #15 of ProBlogger’s 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge was all about finding a blogging buddy to help strengthen your blog content.  It makes perfect sense.  Working together as a small team can help push new ideas and better content resulting in a high performance blog.  Here are some of the benefits in finding a blogging buddy(slightly revised from Darren’blogging-partner-teamworks list):

1.  Your posts can be reviewed prior to being published.  It always helps to have a 2nd set of eyes on your posts. 
2.  A Blogging Buddy is someone you can relate to.  This makes it easier to exchange ideas.
3.  Blogging can become a collaborative effort.  Sometimes it is nice to invite a guest blogger to post.
4.  You can link to one another’s blog.  Show the love!
5.  Your message is more likely to spread.  Use social media to allow both of your blogs to travel further.
6.  Blogging buddies help each other stay motivated.

I would suggest finding someone in your niche or an individual that you are connected to in some other way (business relationship, friendship, networking partner).  Remember a blogging buddy equals twice the blogging power!

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Posted by derekmcclain

Blog Page Updates – Blog Spring Cleaning

May 18, 2009

Blog pages can often get overlooked when thinking about maintaing the actual front page posts.  Day #14 of ProBlogger’s 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge was all about focusing some attention to the pages, side bar, headers/logo and other elements of your blog that also need some attention from time to time.  What page of your blog do you think is the most important?  Is it the About page?  Do you need to pay some attention to your side bar?  ProBlogger suggests some “spring cleaning” to freshen things up on your blog. 

My personal favorite pages of any blog are the About page and the Contact page.  The About page is where you are going to learn where the blog is coming from while finding out a little bit about the author’s personality.  The Contact page is a very important call to action.  If a reader is compelled for more information or follow-up, contacting you must always be a click away. 

Does you About page tell your story?  Is it easy for your readers to contact you if they wish to do so?  Take a look at these pages today and do a little Blog Spring Cleaning.

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Posted by derekmcclain

Blog About A Shopping Mall Visit

May 5, 2009

I am going to skip over Day #12 of the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge because it discussed setting a schedule for blogging which I have already included in one of my previous blog posts.  I am going to go right to Day #13 and the task on visiting a shopping mall.  At first I was not sure what to make of this blogging assignment, but after reading the description, it makes a lot of sense.  A shopping mall is a great place to see many types of people and many types of marketing all in one place.  Here are some things ProBlogger suggests for observation:

  • Who is there? Who are they with?
  • What are they doing?
  • What are they buying? What products are particularly in demand at the moment?
  • How do they make their buying decisions?
  • What are the retailers doing to get people’s attention and stand out?
  • What messages are they using in their marketing?
  • What colors/design techniques are in at the moment?
  • What other things are ‘hot’ or in fashion?
  • What sales techniques are sales staff using?
  • What are retail outlets doing well? What are they doing poorly?

    • One thing that I noticed was the large amount of families that went shopping together.  I also noticed marketing efforts targeted toward families.  It makes perfect sense, why just target one age group when you can pair your products up to target the entire family?  One of the best at implementing this family marketing approach is Old Navy.  Imagine making your product something that not just one person can’t live without, but something that an entire family can’t live without.  I took a photo with my phone to show the Old Navy marketing display so you can see what I mean.  Pretty clever.family-marketing-blog

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    Posted by derekmcclain