BLOGGING WITH WES

Federal law and rules about sending e-mail newsletters

admin — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 19:37:38 +0000

Do you send out or are you planning to send out e-mail newsletters. There are federal rules and regulations for doing this and big penalties for violating them. Here are links I found on Google providing details about what to do and not to do

E-mail responsibly blog: Here are the basics of what to do and not do.
BBros.US blog: CAN-SPAM best practices.

Politicians: Learn this good lesson from Obama

admin — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 13:58:42 +0000

First, read this Time magazine essay about how the news cycle has changed for the White House with the web and it’s ability to get info out as it happens. Contributing to this is cable news channels with their wide-variety of choices.

This means that politicians need to be constantly monitoring what’s said about them in all these different places all the time and they need to be able to respond.

But read down a few paragraphs in the essay and you will see that Obama has created his “own media empire” with the 13 million he has on his e-mail list and who subscribe to his periodic e-newsletters.

The lesson: Politicians and political candidates need to be collecting e-mail addresses from people. They can be gold if they’re used properly.

How many of you already do this? Do you ask people for theirs?

Local business: Look at these stats about Facebook use

admin — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 23:19:34 +0000

Here in the heart of Michigan it’s eye-opening to see the number of local businesses, churches, politicians and other groups on Facebook. They have FB pages, groups and fan pages. Why? Check these stats from Steve Rubel on his blog, The Steve Rubel Stream:

All at once, businesses large and small are increasingly recognizing that they need to go where the people are.

And with 100 million Facebook users in the US who spend an average seven hours on the site each month (Nielsen), it’s surely a no-brainer.

When your local pizzeria is promoting their Facebook page at the register, as mine does, then you know that marketing has changed. The same applies to Twitter and YouTube.

Facebook is where large numbers of people hangout online in all geographic areas and by a wide-range of demographic groups.

Do you have any examples of locals trying to use Facebook to help build their business relationships? Share the links. Leave a comment.

Give suggestions to Lansing (MI) Mayor Virg Bernero on his Twitter use

Wes Thorp — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 13:54:06 +0000

Lansing (MI) Mayor Virg Bernero is mulling a run for Michigan governor on the Democratic ticket. He’s also head of the State’s Capital city which is facing a huge budget deficit that threatens basic city services.

He’s using Twitter during a time when communicating with constituents has never been more important. Politicians can use Twitter as a means to purvey fluff or they can use it to seriously communicate what they are doing and who they are.

How would you rate Bernero’s Twitter use and what suggestions would you give him. I welcome your comments and I’ll be sure to see they are passed on to the mayor.

USEFUL LINK: City of Grand Rapids Official Website/Blog

Wes Thorp — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 01:06:31 +0000

Communication between the government and the governed has never been more important. Check out this official website of the city of Grand Rapids, MI. It includes a blog and a focus on usability. What U.S. cities do the best with the web, including blogs and other social media?

USEFUL LINK: 10 Ways Facebook Pages Can Help Local Governments Better Serve Their Constituents

Wes Thorp — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:20:14 +0000

I’m putting this link here so I don’t forget to read it. It’s about how Facebook can be used to help local governments better serve their constituents. It has links to many examples where this is being done. I’m anxious to read it. Does anybody have other examples? The link is from the blog Inside Facebook.

USEFUL LINK: Five observations from a web designer after reading “What Would Google Do?”

Wes Thorp — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:51:00 +0000

I’ve only scanned this link to a blog post from “Jeff Wong Design” where he shares his notes from a web designer’s point of view after reading “What Would Google Do?” by Jeff Jarvis.

At first blush, this seems like good commonsense stuff that’s so easy to ignore and often is.

I will read it more carefully and share my observations from what I learned.

Has anybody read the book? What about Jeff’s observations? Agree? Disagree? Are they helpful?

USEFUL INFO: From Michael Hyatt, 10 Mistakes When You Blog

Wes Thorp — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:26:04 +0000

I’ve had many friends and acquaintances who have been disappointed with the results of their blogging. They generally stop posting after they see the number of readers who don’t come to their blog.

This post from Michael Hyatt, the CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, outlines 10 mistakes that are real easy to make when you have a blog and they are particularly easy to make when you are starting. And they are not hard to correct.

Just a sidenote, Hyatt uses social media effectively to network with others around the world. I read his blog. I’m part of his Twitter group. He’s a real person who’s not afraid to be transparent. He’s also very accessible. He’s worth getting to know and it’s pretty easy to do.

I will write more about the 10 mistakes that he lists.

In the meantime, his post is worth a click and his content about the 10 mistakes is worth a read. My experience affirms everything he lists.

READ THIS: Twitter changes customer service to real time, like right now

Wes Thorp — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 21:50:55 +0000

You may have heard one too many stories about Twitter and how it’s changing the world.

This is another and it’s about how Virgin America Airlines reacted to a mom anxious about her young traveling kids waiting on the tarmac, according to MSNBC. They were stranded for a lengthy period of time with no takeoff in sight. She was concerned.

So what does she do? She Twitters her concern to her Twitter group and asking them to resend or retweet her message. Within minutes, the airlines called her and reassured her that her kids were okay.

What’s the take-away for you?

Think about it. Maybe you’re a neighborhood leader and you need to get the local police department’s attention. What if you had your Twitter group make calls asking for action? You can do this real time, while the situation is front and center.

For politicians, the uses are endless. Think about it. Perhaps, you’re a state legislative candidate and you need your supporters to show up at a sudden event with your t-shirts on.

Within a a couple of minutes you can pass the word effectively.

Who else can use this? Pastors. Real estate agents. Wine shops. City council members. State legislators. The list is endless.

SMALL BUSINESS BLOG–Paramount Coffee, roaster and sales in Lansing (MI)

Wes Thorp — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:34:50 +0000

Mid-Michigan businesses have been slow to adopt blogging as part of their communication strategy.

The latest to make the move that I’ve seen is Paramount Coffee, a local roaster which sells their own brand and others around the country. We’ve bought Paramount ground coffee from the local Sam’s Club for several years.

By-the-way, my wife and I toured their operation this past Saturday when Lansing celebrated Be A Tourist in Your Home Town. I really enjoyed learning about their business and its footprint around the country.

I invite you to check out their blog and feel free to leave comments about how they can make it stronger and more interactive.