Tag Archive for 'basics'

Common Mistakes In Starting A Blog

Published
by
Matt
on Nov 24, 2008
in Blogging and basics
. Comments

So you’ve decided to start a blog? Awesome. You deserve a hug, pat on the back, or at least one of those 80’s freeze-frame jumping high fives.

But wait. It might not be all sunshine and roses right away. There’s a few simple mistakes that a lot of us make in the very beginning that tend to decrease the effectiveness of our new-born blog. But the good news is that they’re almost always easily corrected. Let’s take a look.

Not letting us know who is writing it.

Letting us know who is behind your blog is extremely important, but for some reason it gets overlooked in a lot of new blogs. If your blog is a personal one, then this part is easy. Just let your readers know, often and early, who is responsible for the content (something like that dashing picture of me in the upper-right helps).

The same thing goes if your blog is for your organization or company. Make sure you highlight the fact that the blog has multiple authors (you can include small pics or bylines) and let each of their personalities show. Companies don’t blog - people do.

Not having a clear purpose.

The big question. The cosmic “Why?” of your blog. Make sure you spend some time thinking about this one before you sit down to write anything, because if you don’t you’ll soon find yourself wandering off track. A clear purpose helps keep you focused on the mission you had when starting.

Not having any content.

It seems simple, but you’d be surprised how many blogs I see with only one or two posts. Before you announce the launch of your new blog, make sure there’s some content there for people to go through. Nothing is more disheartening than hearing about a great blog launch and only finding one post to read.

In these cases, a soft-launch is usually a good idea. Start building your content and slowly invite people to check out your site. Start with a small group of people your trust, and go from there.

Not having “pillar” content.

Every blog should have a few home-run posts. These posts, often called “pillar” posts, are your best stuff, the stuff your blog stands on. It’s okay if you haven’t worked out your best writing yet, but presumably you had some good ideas when you decided to start a blog. Write out your best ideas into clear, well thought out posts and feature them prominently on your site.

You can check out my best stuff in my Must Reads section.

Monetizing right away.

I can’t speak for the interwebs at large, but I find it extremely silly when I visit a new blog and it’s covered in ads. You just started, you have no traffic or following yet, is that $0.09/month from AdSense really enough to justify cheapening the look and feel of your site?

I’m not an expert on when the “right time” is to monetize your blog, but a quick Google search will give you all the answers you need.

Not linking out.

Just like with Twitter, the beauty of a blog is the interaction. Unless you’re going for the really, really long tail, my guess is that there’s already some other blogs on the topic you’re going to be writing on. So when those bloggers come up with a great post, don’t be hesitate to mention it on your blog.

Also, you can’t worry about people navigating away from your site. If you have good content and a clear purpose, they’ll be back. When you link out and point to other relevant content you don’t lose readers, you gain trust. No blog is an island.

—
So there’s a few ideas from me. What do you think?

Also, if you’re still having trouble with your new blog or want to talk about getting started, feel free to email me at MattJMcD [at] gmail dot com.

Twitter Principles: Secrets, Secrets Are No Fun

Published
by
Matt
on Nov 21, 2008
in basics and twitter
. Comments

Note: This is a continuation of my “Twitter Principles” series.

So, last week we talked about the importance of being patient when building a Twitter profile. This week we’re going to work on letting people know who you are.

This week’s Twitter Principle is: Secrets, Secrets Are No Fun.

Besides the follower/following numbers, the first thing that I look for when going through profiles is the “information” section. That little section in the upper right hand corner that gives you a snapshot of the person that owns the profile.

Here’s what mine looks like.

So first off, you must must must have a picture. It doesn’t have to be you. It could be your car, your dog, your lamp, I don’t care. Just anything but that default weird little picture.

The next two bits of information, Location and Web, are not as essential. Sure it’s cool to know that there are other Twitter users in your area, and it’s great for tweetups, but I wouldn’t consider this mandatory. As for the “Web” part, if you’ve got a blog or other website, by all means fill it in, but funny as it may seem, not everyone on twitter has another website. If you don’t, it’s no big deal (but check out Blogger and Wordpress).

Lastly, is the “Bio” section. This is crucial. You have to write something in here, because if you don’t, I have absolutely no idea who you are. Also, if you can’t think enough to say who you are in 140 characters or less, what does that say about your ability to put together good tweets?

So to recap:
1)ADD A PICTURE!
2)Tell me a little about yourself

And you can always follow me on Twitter here: @MattJMcD

Twitter Principles: Patience Grasshopper

Published
by
Matt
on Nov 12, 2008
in basics and twitter
. Comments

Alan Wolk recently wrote about how we (the current user base) need to “let go” of Twitter and embrace all the new users that will invariably come flooding in.

I agree with Alan that just because we’re doing something a certain way now doesn’t mean it’s the “right way”, but I do think there are a few principles of using Twitter that can be passed on to maximize your early experiences.

So, I’m going to be running a weekly series on Twitter Principles.

This week’s Twitter Principle is: Patience Grasshopper

It happens all the time that people get on Twitter and “OMG look at all the awesome people on here! I need to follow all 1,374 people I might be interested in immediately!”. First off, I love the enthusiasm, you’ve clearly got heart. But jumping in and following a massive amount of people right away isn’t a great plan.

The thing is, when people get the “Captain Followsalot is now following you on Twitter” they go and check out your profile. And then they see numbers that look like this “Following: 1,374 - Followers: 119″. I don’t know about you, but the first thing that jumps into my head is SPAM.

You have to take it slow with a new account. How about starting by following the 100 most interesting people you find/have heard of? That way you build your account and following slowly, instead of not at all.

Also, and I can’t stress this enough, you have to tweet stuff. You can’t follow even 100 people and expect for them to follow you back when you only have 2 tweets.

So to recap:
1)Add followers slowly
2)Actually use Twitter

And if you’d like me to be part of your well-paced expansion, you can follow me on Twitter.

A Definitive Explanation of Social Media

Published
by
Matt
on Aug 3, 2008
in Web 2.0 and social media
. Comments

If you want Wikipedia’s definition of Social Media, you can find it here.

I like the definition and I think it’s accurate, if slightly long winded. But if someone asked me what social media is, personally I’d reply with “Social Media is any new web tool or technology that connects people.”

I’ve been thinking about it a little more and essentially, all social media can be broken down into 3 simple categories.

Social Media

Socially Created Content
A lot of what comes to mind when people think “social media” is really just the Socially Created Content piece. This includes things like blogs, podcasts, Flickr or Picasa, YouTube, and Wikipedia. Essentially anything where the main focus is content creation. This is one of the fastest growing parts of social media, primarily because of the shrinking the barriers to entry. You can start a blog that showcases your vacation pics on Flickr and links to your channel on YouTube in less than half an hour. Don’t believe me? Try it.

Socially Highlighted Content
The second major part of social media is Socially Highlighted Content. SHC works because when people find something truly great out there on the internet, they think “Wow I really like this! I think everyone should check this out.” Sites like Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit, Del.icio.us, Yahoo! Buzz, Mixx, and many others, serve as a showcase/portal for content that people believe the community will find value in. If you’re looking for the consensus best of the web, check here first.

Social Networks
Along with Socially Created Content, Social Networks are the other half of what people think of regarding social media. By now, everyone has heard of Facebook, LinkedIn, and (unfortunately) MySpace. These networks, among many others, allow you to create profiles and connect with peers, friends, coworkers, and complete strangers to form a network of “linked” individuals. Social Networks have become the Rolodex or little black book of today’s generation, and represent an unparalleled way to stay connected.

The In-Between
Obviously not everything falls neatly into those three categories, hence my beautiful illustration (watch out Armano). There’s a lot of overlap, and a lot of sites that represent the intersection of two or even all three pieces. For example, a microblogging site like Twitter sits at the intersection of Socially Created Content and Social Networking, it’s the perfect blend of both. The same goes for Squidoo for Socially Created Content and Socially Highlighted Content and Google Reader’s share function for Social Networking and Socially Highlighted content.

But that’s Just my take on it.
Think I’m wrong? Don’t like the categories or found something that doesn’t fit? Let me know. I’d love to hear your feedback on this. It just wouldn’t be social without you.