Watch me rave about Mike Stelzner and his awesome roster of guests at this year’s Social Media Success Summit. 

You have to invest in yourself. Never mind the new phone, the new computer. None of these things will pay you back like developing your own business skills by taking some awesome training from genuine experts.

I can’t speak highly enough about Michael Stelzner’s online conferences. This year’s is called the Social Media Success Summit 2011. No travel required, all online.

Sign up by Thursday, April 14, 2011 (that’s today!) to save 50% on the registration fee.

Even if you miss the discount though, the training will still be great value for money.

And to prove that I believe in it, while that link up there is an affiliate link (meaning I get a kick-back if you sign up), here’s one that isn’t.

Because I really am a fan and think you’ll get a lot out of the Social Media Success Summit.

I just took 30 minutes and came up with 16 blog topics – some of which will become three or four posts as I begin to write – and they are all things that my target readership feels passionate about.

That’s 3-4 weeks’ worth of hot blog topics for half an hour of work – and it was fun, too.

Blog Topics For Your Niche – Free!

It’s a little sneaky, but I don’t mind admitting it: I eavesdropped.

Generating Ideas Through Social Media Snooping

I used my favorite social network of the moment -Twitter – to find out what my potential readers are craving. And here’s how (it’s so simple that if you’re not already doing this, you’re going to kick yourself).

• Go to Search.twitter.com and typed in a keyword (in this case “writing”).
• Read 3-4 pages of complain-y and celebratory Tweets that contained your keyword.
• Make lightning-fast notes about the teeny sub-topics each Tweet represented, and how you might address them.
• Pop them into a mind-map document and add sub-topics to them as the ideas occurred to you (I use IThoughtsHD on my iPad. You could also use XMind or a simple spreadsheet or bullet list. I recommend Google Docs because you can access them from anywhere you have an internet connection, and you never know when you’ll have a spare half hour to compose a blog post.)
• Whenever your typing slows, go back to the search results page and look for another topic. The point of this exercise is to capture only ideas that interest both your and your readers. If you’re bored so are they. Move on.

Why Snooping Is Better Than Surveying

Sure, I could have sent out a request asking my readers what they wanted to know.

The problem with asking people for their opinions is that they

1. think about it for too long
2. want to impress you because you were nice enough to ask for their opinion or
3. are too busy to answer and  you end up only getting responses from the people who aren’t your real customers.

By snooping on social media, you have access to the raw, knee-jerk, 140-character exclamations of your audience when they are delighted, outraged, pissed off, passionate. In other words, you are finding out what they really care about.

And doesn’t that sound like the perfect launch-point for your next blog post?

Beyond Twitter

If you are writing a business blog, you might be better off searching through Linked In status updates. If you are writing for an industry niche, check out the most active industry forum online (you know the one).

If you’re really stuck, really in a hurry, and don’t need topics targeted specifically to your customers, check out Chris Brogan’s Blog Topics Service: it’s not free but it’s not an outrageous amount to invest in your business, either.

If you exhaust this technique and are ready to be a little overwhelmed, take a look at Copyblogger’s 50 Can’t Fail Tecnhiques for Finding Great Blog Topics.

Keep Up The Good Work

Life moves quickly.

Don’t waste your time coming up with more than a month’s worth of post ideas at a time. For all we know, some kind of seismic shift might occur in two months that will change the way you and your readers look at the world. You’ll want to write about that instead of whatever matters to you today.

Commit to doing this idea-generating exercise once a month.

Store the information somewhere that is easy for you to access (Google Docs, or just email it to yourself)

Throw out old ideas that no longer excite you.

Oh, and write the damned articles and post them every day.

Everyone and his dog is writing an End Of Year Round Up.

If you feel like it’s time to start on yours: please, don’t!

Apart from the fact that everyone is doing it (so it’s boring), it is a waste of your blogging time. ¹

Why End Of Year Round-Ups Exist.

End of year round-ups exist to sell newspapers and magazines. Newspapers are (were) ephemeral. Today’s morning edition was tonight’s fish & chip wrapper.

But blogs are not ephemeral. Your blog posts might outlast us all.

Ask yourself: Is anyone searching for an end-of year round-up of my topic? More importantly, will they be searching for it in two weeks’ time?

Do you really want to spend your time writing a me-too seasonal survey no-one will ever search for?

Or would it be a better use of your time to write what Copyblogger calls Cornerstone Content — that is, content that will keep drawing people to your blog weeks, months, even years from now?

Write for the long-term

I have Cornerstone posts that I wrote years ago. They still pull in new readers because they are full of keywords people are searching for. The readers stay because the posts contain information that helps them solve their problems.

Sometimes, after reading one of my old articles, a reader browses the blog, subscribes, trusts me with their email address. We start to create a relationship.

Why Are You Blogging?

Do you want to be able to check a box that says “Wrote a blog post today” or do you want to write something that will help you build a relationship with potential customers?

If it’s the latter, trash the End of Year Round-Up and write some Cornerstone Content instead.

By rights, I really ought to hate mailing list service MailChimp.

Their corporate tone is jokey (their mascot is a talking chimp who has something silly to say every time you log in), they admit it when they make mistakes, they put a ‘loading’ page in front of the site after the latest upgrade which slows things down for a minute and stops me getting to my mailing list.

Today, when I logged in, Mailchimp paused the “loading” page and played a really, really silly animation WITH AUDIO.

Normally any one of these things would drive me, their customer, away from any site.

But Mailchimp makes me laugh.

I’ve signed up for their service not only because I like their service (free! Until you get big and start putting a drain on their server. Then they, quite reasonably, ask you to pick a payment plan). I also picked their service because I like their tone. So now I kind of expect a big silly something to leap out of their site at me from time to time. They are consistently silly.

Have Your Customers Bought In?

This is a crucial point.

I agreed to let Mailchimp be my mailing list provider AND continue to be silly. I agreed to put up with (even enjoy) their hijinks, because I liked their service and I liked them.

The first time a customer looks at your site, are you bombarding them with annoyances they didn’t sign up for?

Is your tone consistent?

Does your tone reflect you, even if it does break traditional business rules?

Will you attract the kind of people you want to work with, based on your marketing message?

I use WordPress to host and run my websites.

(It started as blog-hosting software but works as a Content Management System too. The Wall Street Journal’s site is built on its software, for example).

Lots of people more technically-skilled than I have written lots of little programs, called plug-ins, that help me make my website do cool things without having to write the code myself¹. Some of these things I could do myself, but plug-ins make it easier, quicker and automated. ²

Plug-ins let me do everything from put headlines in my sidebars, to helping me track how many people visit which article, to creating sign-up forms, and create those cute little ‘link to me’ buttons at the top of this article. Here are the ones that allow me to build websites that make my clients go “ooooh!”

Must-Haves

Google XML SiteMaps

This makes it easier for Google to index your pages (i.e include you in their search results)

Google Analytics For WordPress

This inserts the “Google Analytics” code wherever it needs to be in your site (usually in the header or footer of the code, which you don’t necessarily want to go digging around in unless you know what you’re doing. Trust me. A misplaced semi colon can bring grown men to tears!)

Google Analytics is an amazing (free) tool that tracks how people get to your website, where they go, how long they stay, where in the world they are, what keywords they searched for to get to you (and therefore what you should be including on more of your pages)…and so much more. It presents the information in all kinds of cool ways: graphs, overlays, tables. Go. Sign up.

Being able to tell clients exactly what’s going on with traffic is really valuable. You can both see what impact the site is having on business, you can see which marketing strategies are working and which are a big waste of money, you can improve the site. Good for you, good for your client.

Social, Sharing and Visibility Plug-ins

Simple Modal Contact Form (SMCP)

I, and my clients, use mailing list services like MailChimp and Constant Contact. While both of these offer form-building options at their sites, sometimes you just want a little more control, but again, with out having to play HTML or CSS.Very easy to use and effective, and no-one has to know you didn’t hand-code the whole thing.

The only problem I have with this plug-in is that its acronym reminds me of that song “SIMP, Squirrels In My Pants” from te cartoon Phineas and Ferb…)

WP-Polls

Thinking about offering a new product or service? Ask your customers/readers what they think. Super-easy single-question polls to pop in your sidebar. Minimalist style. Lovely.

Sexy Bookmarks

I tried gathering button graphics for all the social networking tools (Twitter, RSS, LinkedIn, Facebook) and building a sidebar “Link to me!” plea.

Then I discovered Sexy Bookmarks. You can see what this plug-in looks like at the bottom of this post (unless you’re reading the RSS feed. It didn’t show the graphics, just a huge text list, so I turned it off for you guys. Come visit the original post…)

Social Follow

Sign up at the Social Follow website, enter in your user name at all the social networking sites you use (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter etc) and they will generate a little button like the one in my sidebar, making it easy for people to follow you wherever you are (if you like that sort of thing). This plug-in builds a widget that you can drop into any widget area in your theme (again, no messing around with your theme’s code files).

WP125

You know how a lot of sites have those little square adverts off to the side? Well, some are powered by ad companies (or Google ads) but sometimes it makes sense to control your own ads.

This plug in lets you sell and manage advertising on your site. You control how big the ads are, where they go, how many show up, what images show up, and it also contains a management function, that allows you to set rates, and expiration dates. It’ll even email your advertisers when their contract is about to expire.

Nice, for getting things how want them to look

Query Post

This allows you to build sidebar widgets that contain just the posts you want them to contain. It has a zillion different ways to filter your posts and pages to allow you to control what appears. It is obviously very powerful and I’ve only figured out how to do rudimentary stuff so far, but it is simple enough for newbs and powerful enough for folks who know what they’re doing.

Category Page and Page2Cat

This is a lovely little plug in that lets you create a page that is automatically updated with all your posts from categoryX (which you define by typing a short code, i.e. a phrase in a square bracket). Simple and elegant. You may have to add some code to your site depending on your theme, but it’s only once and it is well-documented.

Make Things Easy For Your Readers

WPTouch iPhone Theme

Your three-column design might look great on a computer monitor, but it probably irritates people reading on a tiny mobile screen. Thisplug-in automatically converts your blog, when readers access it via a mobile device. It makes your site look like an iPhone app (which is cute if, like me, you love your iPhone). It also has a ‘turn this off’ button at the bottom for people who want to see the original layout, or who hate all things iPhoney. Very, very nice plug-in

Make Posting Easier For You

Flickr Manager

Every time I go to Flickr, I curse the fact that I have to click so often to get to the size and code I want for my picture. Flickr Manager Plug-in works just like the little “insert picture’ button on you WP Dashboard, except that instead of prompting you to upload a picture, it goes straight to your Flickr Photostream. It allows you to choose sizes, alignment etc and add a caption (dependent on your theme). HUGE timesaver.

(update: this doesn’t seem to be finding all my pictures since I upgraded to WordPress 2.9.1)

FDFootnote

This allows me to create footnotes ³ really simply, by using shortcodes (basically,putting something in a square bracket — in this case a number, a period and your note)

So, off you go and explore the wonderful world of plug-ins.

Update (2/22/10): Lucky 13 is:

WP-Table Reloaded

I’ve long been frustrated by having to hand-code tables in the wordpress window. No longer! This plug-in installs its control panel in the Tools section, from whence you can set up tables, add data and then embed the same table (or different ones) anywhere in your website simply by entering a short code. Love it!

Hardly anyone knew anything for sure about Apple’s new tablet, the iPad, before its vaunted launch last week.

Within 13 minutes of the word “iPad”‘s first public utterance it was the top trend on Twitter.

But are you sure you have Apple’s reach?

Not The Apple Approach

Last week, something else happened that got less press, but meant a lot more to me and a few hundred thousand like-minded people.

Author Gretchen Rubin‘s book “The Happiness Project” zoomed up to the top of the New York Times Bestsellers list, and she announced it on her blog.

Her readers (me included) got a real jolt of, well, happiness, seeing that post.

Why?

Because we had been there, reading the blog and talking to each other in Gretchen’s virtual kitchen, long before the book was really a book.

We had tweeted and blogged and emailed and reviewed this book for our ‘friend’ because she had been so open with us during the writing process. We felt like we had a stake in this book’s success.

This is not the Apple model.

It is, however, a large part of the reason Gretchen Rubin reached the top spot in her industry within one month of her book’s publication date.

Can You Afford To Be As Secretive As Apple?

What benefit do you gain from guarding your processes?
Do you need to develop new products and services in secret?
How much would you benefit from a more direct conversation with your audience?

In other words:
Do you need a social networking strategy?

If you think the answer is yes, but you’re not sure, email me, or comment below, and we’ll get the conversation rolling.

What’s more likely to tip you over from browser to buyer:

• a detailed list of features and benefits

or

• an enthusiastic recommendation by someone just like you?

Consumers are pretty savvy these days, having been bombarded with advertising since they were babies. They are skeptical of your claims about your product. They know your job is to sell it to them.

How Do You Make Your Decision To Buy?

Most people will ask around for recommendations (if you’ve ever hung out with a group of new mothers, you know what I’m talking about).

The best thing you can do for your product or service is to show your customer how it has helped other people just like them.

Get Your Customers on Camera

Have your happiest customers talk directly to prospects by interviewing them.

It doesn’t take much time or money yet is incredibly powerful.

Here’s how:

• Get a cheap and easy-to-use video camera like the Flip UltraHD Camcorder (mash the big red button to start recording, mash it again to stop, plug into the USB port of your computer, copy to your computer using the super-easy included software, click ‘upload’ to send it to YouTube)
• Identify your happiest customer, ones who will rave unashamedly about what you’ve done for them.
• Take them out for dinner, a drink, a walk in the park or invite them in to your office.
• Ask them some warm up questions to get them used to the camera (you don’t even have to turn it on for this).
• Then ask them to talk for about 2 minutes on what your product or service has done for them and why they’d recommend it.

Technicalities of Recording a Video

• Keep it short (people will watch 2 minutes but not 10)
• Keep the camera at eye level
• Focus on their face
• Try to have good lighting on their face (bring a lamp if you need to)
• Sit next to the camera so they’re looking at you while they’re talking.
• And keep it short (did I mention that?)

It’s amazing how powerful an amateur video of a happy customer can be, posted on your ‘reviews’ or ‘testimonials’ page. Try it and let me know how it works out.

This week I was listening to a gathering of (probably) excellent minds from “Great Universities” talking about one of my favourite subjects: the history of History. The program’s audience was the general public.

I tried — twice — to get through the whole podcast, but couldn’t do it.

I refuse to admit that the professors were cleverer than I am, but I had difficulty following their discussion, and more importantly, they didn’t make me care to.

(How many industry presentations have you been to, or websites have you read where you felt the same way?)

• Each speaker’s points were supported with obscure references from his very tight niche of historical study
• They spoke almost apologetically tone, that said, “My fellow historians are probably going ready to leap in and hack me to pieces for using this example in a way they disagree with, so I’d better be ready to go on the defensive.”

In other words, they used jargon, they droned, and they aimed their words at their colleagues, not at the audience.

I turned them off and have no idea what their names were.

In contrast, last week I listened to a talk by Simon Schama, a popular historian who fled the Oxford-Cambridge position he once held and has gone on to become a huge popularizer of the study of history. He talks simply, to everyday people; you can almost hear him bouncing with enthusiasm; and he clearly doesn’t care if someone criticizes him: he’s ready to engage them.

That talk left me energized, inspired and ready to sign up as a Simon Schama groupie.

Are You Engaging Your Audience

Today, take a fresh look at your documents and your company’s presentations.

• Are you using jargon (is it explained? Can you say what you mean in ‘real world’ words?)
• Are you talking to your customer, your colleagues or your competition? Make sure you are talking to your customer!
• Are you excited? Are you getting them excited? Are you showing them how your product or service can have an impact? Why they need it?

Tomorrow:  The Secrets To Becoming Your Customer’s New Best Friend

Too many small and local business still don’t have a website. Find out why you need to take control of your online presence (even if you didn’t know you had one!)

Should you follow the latest trend in your field? Not necessarily. But you must be able to tell your clients why you are avoiding it. And you must do your research.

In marketing, Twitter is trendy. Some marketers are finding ways to work with it. Others feel it’s not worth the effort. And still others make themselves look like fools, because they haven’t done their homework.

I just read a post on a blog I *used to* follow. The author takes 485 words (or 2921 characters) to demonstrate that he: doesn’t get Twitter, doesn’t like Twitter, couldn’t use Twitter to help your business if you hired him (that was 102 characters and used up a lot less of your life).

The author dismisses Twitter with such disdain that he doesn’t even bother to do any research. He says,

“I can only assume that a very young demographic embraces it and gets something from it.”

In fact:
43% of Twitter users are aged 18-35
29% are aged 36-49.
54% are women and
43% have children.
26% have incomes above $60,000,
25% have incomes above $100,000,29% have incomes in the $30-30,000 range, and all of them are consumers.

(Estimated figures for March 09-August 09, from http://www.quantcast.com/twitter.com )

That’s a marketer’s dream, right there!

I’m pretty unimpressed with this ‘professional’ and ‘expert’ by now.

He goes on to complain about the celebrities he follows,
“I received 63 tweets yesterday from the assorted personalities I’m following, none of which hold any impact beyond remote voyeurism.”

Maybe he’s following the wrong celebrities.

• Neil Gaiman, a writer, tweeted that a couple of schools in poor areas were asking for donations to buy copies of his books. Gaiman’s books are very popular with boys, a population notoriously hard to engage in reading. Within 24 hrs the project was fully funded and the class will have new books any day now. We may have just changed a life or two. Because we followed a tweet from a ‘celebrity’.
• Nathan Fillion, an actor, asked his followers to support friends who were running for charity. “If only a handful of you donate a dollar- imagine!”, he tweeted. In two days they’d raised almost $10,000.

What about businesses? Is tweeting a waste of time for them?

• Here’s a story about a Texas cafe whose operations manager credits Twitter with doubling their clientele
• Blair Hirtle, sales coordinator for Fairmont Hotels, noted that the Fairmont Empress offered a special discounted room rate on Twitter. The result was “increased occupancy. Much more successful than any traditional ad buy and it cost minimal time and labour.” Now seven Fairmont hotels have Twitter accounts.
  (Read this and lots of other interesting examples here )

Now I’m questioning this ‘expert’s judgment, not to mention wondering why he’s reading about Paris Hilton’s nights out instead of working on my project.

So yeah, it’s fine to distance yourself from a trend that you don’t love. Just don’t make yourself look like a fool in the process.

—
Is there a trend in your industry that you love or hate? Are you struggling with social media?