May 29, 2012

Why can’t I share to Google+ from my apps?

Now that I have my iPhone wired for sound, I do a majority of my tweeting and facebooking through the apps that I use. I use Instagram, which connects to my Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Tumblr, Posterous, and FourSquare account. I use Hipstamatic and it connects and posts to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and Flickr, I use Posterous and it will cross-post to Twitter and Facebook. I use FourSquare and it posts to Twitter and Facebook as well; and I have started using GetGlue recently and I can check in to FourSquare as well as post to Twitter and Facebook. Even my RunKeeper app posts to Twitter and Facebook.

Hey, Google! Your Google Plus app isn’t anywhere to be found in this ecosystem of social media apps. What’s up with that? Is there a grand conspiracy that is keeping you outside the fold? Or are you just not putting the resources into campaigning with full commitment toward getting included in these apps that I use every day? Continue reading →

May 8, 2012

Your followers care about you, but do you care?

Over the course of a couple days last month, my Klout score went from 65 to 67 because my mother died. Not because I had some sort of amazing Klout-gaming strategy but because I have been honestly and openly sharing my grief at the sudden loss of my mother on Google+, Twitter, but mostly on Facebook. And the reason why my Klout spiked is because so many of my 47,000 followers on Twitter and my 4,800 friends on Facebook came to my emotional aid at my time of need.

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April 10, 2012

Why Pinterest is changing how we communicate online

If you use images or photos on any of your sites, you’re already on Pinterest, whether you’ve registered on Pinterest or not. So, what are you going to do about it?

If you’re not on Pinterest, you’re already losing control of your visual brand as we speak by virtue of not participating. Pinterest is going to push you to better brand your content and IP in such a way that people know where that content is from without imposing grotesque watermarks, oversize copyright notices, or garish splashes of brand that takes away attention from the message in the image.
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April 3, 2012

You don’t need to outrun the bear in social media

Image via Wikipedia

The best thing about social media marketing is that you don’t have to be the most popular, have the most followers, or be the most sophisticated, you just have to do a better job than all your direct competitors.

You don’t have to be the fastest, the biggest, or the strongest in order to win at social media, you just have to be faster than Mark. Who is Mark? Well, I am sure you’ve all heard the joke about outrunning a bear… Continue reading →

March 9, 2012

How to get over social media writer’s block

We’ve all had it. Writer’s block. You need to write something and there’s nothing there. No idea. Nothing seems like the right approach.

Why does it happen? There are six reasons why you’ll have chronic writer’s block when it comes to producing content to feed your social media dragons: blog, Twitter and Facebook. Once you recognize some of these reasons within yourself, you can break out of writer’s block and let the world know what you have to say.

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February 22, 2012

How one author won over the gun buff message boards

In order to mine social media marketing gold, you really need to roll up your sleeves, put on a pair of sturdy work boots, get into that little elevator, and descend that deep shaft into the gold mine yourself, pick in hand, and get to work.

Message boards and forums are full of marketing gold, but if gold were that simple to collect, everyone would be loaded.

Instead of walking you through the boring pedantics required to be an effective message board marketer, I will instead share with you an exemplar using the author and journalist Paul M. Barrett, author of the new New York Times best-selling book about the cult and culture of the Glock handgun, Glock: The Rise of America’s Gun.

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