Add GingerWench on Google+

Being a Libra is tough… I see both sides of every conflict, and go through a ‘weighing’ process that helps me to make informed and educated decisions. Having said that, I still don’t know how I feel about the integration of our personal data into our global search results. I’ll be researching this a bit more before I allow any settings changes. Check out the Google introduction video for “Google Search plus Your World” below.

In a way, I’m looking forward to advances in technology that this kind of integration will allow. On the other hand, I hesitate to allow so much of myself to be open for anyone passing by to have access to.

I understand that there may be settings available for us to control the degree of exposure our data gets… but I think I’d still feel just a little more ‘naked’ than I’m comfortable with, due to technological details beyond my control.

“The competition issues raised by Google+ go to the heart of the FTC’s investigation into whether the company is giving preference to its own services in search results and whether that practice violates antitrust laws, said the people, who declined to be identified because the probe isn’t public.” Furthermore “users who opt for Google+ see personal information about their friends included from the social networking service when they enter a query. The changes sparked a backlash from bloggers, privacy groups and competitors who said the inclusion of Google+ results unfairly promotes the company’s products over other information on the Web.”

Unfortunately, after digging through the “spat” between Google and Twitter, the bottom line is that it’s time to utilize Google+ in Social Networking strategies… if you aren’t already.

In the end, exactly how Google search results came to be dominated by Google+ pages — either as a result of having little access to other social networks or by intentionally ignoring them — isn’t that important. The important question is whether or not this domination is good for consumers. An issue which, if a complaint from privacy watchdog EPIC is effective, could be settled by the FTC.

Edited to add: The day after I published this post, I found a similar (and much more in depth) post by Brian Clark. In it, he articulates the thoughts that motivated my post, more eloquently than I was able to given the time I’ve had to dedicate to the Google+ developments. I suggest you check out his post, “Why Google+ is an Inevitable Part of Your Content Marketing Strategy“.

Feel free to ‘weigh in’ for yourself in the comments, I’m interested in hearing how others feel about all this

Here in upstate NY, Spring is taking it’s sweet time in getting here. I thought I’d encourage it’s arrival with a fresh new wallpaper! Enjoy~

Click the image to view and dowload full size

Photo Manipulation Contest Winner

As I continue to book new clients, and divide my time among ongoing projects and brand new ones there are sometimes topics that I want to discuss but don’t have the time to address in a full blown blog post/article. The topic of reliance on 3rd Party sites is a topic deserving of much more in depth discussion than I have time for here, but needs to be something you think about as a small business owner building a presence on the Internet.

The 3rd Party Dilema

Sites like Facebook, and sites offering functionality such as the Disqus commenting platform are the types of 3rd party sites that we use to increase our exposure. Although it’s hard to imagine Facebook disappearing overnight, that’s exactly what has happened to similar sites in the past.

Sometimes it only takes a small change in a site’s TOS (terms of service, or TOU terms of use) to make content disappear. Imagine all the pictures, discussions, and notes you’ve published on Facebook suddenly disappearing because the site is no longer there, or they suddenly violate a newly imposed Term of Use.

Legal issues happen. Technical issues happen. Would you lose that content forever if this were to happen to a 3rd party site that you perhaps rely on too heavily?

Take responsibility for the ownership of your content. You work hard to create it, so make sure you never put yourself in the position of losing track of it. I would have lost the photo manipulation shown at the top of this post due to a hard drive crash, if I hadn’t found it on the site that held the contest. Back up any content you don’t want to lose!

• If you have sales pages on a 3rd party site, make sure to keep a copy of your HTML codes used and sales presentations. (ie: Etsy, IMVU, etc.)
• Download photos sent directly from your phones to any 3rd party sites.
• Quote the high quality discussions in a blog post, or “Best of” page on your site to preserve them in your ownership forever.

Utilize 3rd party sites, but don’t rely on them

Using third party sites to increase your Brand’s exposure is simply smart business these days. It’s a delicate balancing act though. When posting, we have to remember that everything we post is out there forever as a reflection of our Brand. At the same time, we must be aware that any 3rd party site is outside of our control, and may change at any time. Knowing this, it’s our responsibility to preserve the best content created through a third party site on a domain that we can control. (Not to mention hard drives and storage facilities.)

Some thoughts from a Twitter discussion I instigated with a poll:

POLL: Facebook's newly updated comment box, OR IntenseDebate/ComLuv/Disqus? #socialmedia #poll

March 2, 2011 8:09 am via HootSuiteReplyRetweetFavorite

@wwginger

GingerWench

@wwginger None of them. I'd rather use WordPress to handle my comments, I want to own my data, not farm it out to 3rd party service.

March 2, 2011 8:55 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@kimparsell

Kim Parsell

@andrea_r lol @ "the facebook" ;) So, do you use/recommend just straight on WP commenting with no plugins? <article research>

March 2, 2011 10:12 am via HootSuiteReplyRetweetFavorite

@wwginger

GingerWench

@wwginger yep, on every site I own, it;s the built in wp comments.

March 2, 2011 10:16 am via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@andrea_r

andrea_r

And my thoughts from a reply I made to a blog comment this morning:

No third party site should own any of your original content exclusively, I agree. I always suggest social media participation to my clients as an enhancement to their web site to increase their Internet presence.

(Yes, even though the comment I’m replying to is off topic, and my gut tells me it was generated by a bot, I thought I’d publish it anyway, simply because I had asked my Twitter friends what they thought about the new Facebook comments box. The result was a discussion about third party reliance by web site owners, and how it’s a bad idea to ‘put all your eggs in one basket’. Comments especially, are not something you want owned and hosted by a third party.)

It is for this very reason that I’m reconsidering the use of IntenseDebate here on my own site. My trust in Automattic is the only reason it’s still here.

Food for thought. Please continue discussion of this topic in the comments, there’s so much to consider when trusting a 3rd party with your content, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

I’ve had a LinkedIn Account for well over a year now, and just haven’t made the time to ‘participate’ more than the occasional profile update. I went hunting for some “tips” articles, but found that most information about marketing your small business through LinkedIn is tied to a product for sale. Training ebooks and videos seem the most popular.

I’ve included a few of the articles I found useful below. I specifically tried to use articles by those I’m connected to on Facebook or Twitter, as trusted resources. I have not bought any products on this topic, but have repeatedly come to the same conclusion throughout the research process; People that utilize LinkedIn as a tool for marketing their services or products are simply too busy due in no small part to their participation as a professional, to write about their experiences.

LinkedIn is the Internet’s version of Traditional Business Networking

Yes, LinkedIn is primarily targeted toward ‘Professionals’, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be ‘social’. Any of these Social Media sites are as social as you make them, so that’s really all a matter of perspective as far as I’m concerned. When I was a bank manager, part of the corporate culture demanded a certain level of business ‘networking’. In my opinion, LinkedIn is the Internet’s answer to that type of traditional Networking.

The most useful part about any of these sites for me is the contacts within my own industry that I make. Sharing ideas, theories and information within a like minded group of my peers that are actually out there in the trenches doing the work that some only talk or write about. The sites work for me in that way because that’s how I choose to use them.

I’m left with the impression that LinkedIn can be as useful to you as you intend to make it. Again, like I tend to remind you in every discussion about Social Media… your participation will directly effect the success of any of these sites. Your personal attention to the contacts made through social media will build your online presence.

Should you add LinkedIn to your Social Media menu?

To my clients that are considering getting the most out of their social networking activities, I would suggest putting some thought into what you want to take away from your activities. Once you’ve identified your expectations for using a site like LinkedIn to gain exposure for your business or brand, then you can move on to forming a marketing plan towards that end.

Helping small business owners identify their goals, and compose a goal oriented plan of action for their social networking activities is only one of the things that I offer through my phone consultations. Tailoring a plan that specifically addresses your unique situation is something that I consider an investment in your business. Done correctly, the only thing it will cost you is time.

LinkedIn resources:

LinkedIn for Corporate Marketing – A Cheat Sheet for Busy People

5 Tips for Individuals to Help Companies Get More Out of LinkedIn

How LinkedIn Apps Can Promote Your Business

Are you willing to make the commitment of time required to make your social media activities successful? Let me know in the comments so we can ‘connect’!

Thanks to the ice and snow storm here yesterday, I was without Internet for almost 20 hours. (Cable TV and phone were out too!) What a strange day it was here. Needless to say, I got some reading done, and even though I had a wallpaper all planned for St. Patrick’s Day, I made some more. Call it a winter storm bonus, since I didn’t need Internet to play in Photoshop.

To view the desktop wallpapers from the St. Patrick’s day collection, simply click the thumbnails below. If you’d like to download them to use on your computer’s desktop, right click the images below and choose to open in a new tab. This will display the full size image that you can then right click to save to your desktop, or file on your computer. I hope you enjoy these St. Patrick’s Day themed desktop wallpapers!

[View with PicLens]

There are also a couple of St. Patrick’s Day wallpapers in my DeviantArt Gallery from last year, if you’d like to add to your collection.

This past Tuesday, I launched my new “Shareletter”, Adventure Through the Social Web With Me. Don’t worry, you’re not the first one to think it… “What the hell is a Shareletter?” Well, I tend to do things a little differently, mostly because I quickly grow tired (and sometimes irritated) by seeing the same old hyped up terminology while surfing the Social Web. All the so-called Guru’s telling us over and over again to ‘trap’ people into joining our mailing lists by offering a free report or ‘eBook’. Ugh. I just can’t take it anymore, seriously.

So, when I decided that an email list would be the ideal tool to offer my clients exclusive articles aimed at helping them bring fresh traffic to their sites and bring exposure to their ‘brand’, I decided to do things my way. Some may consider it flawed thinking, but I assume that there are others out there feeling the same way I do about email marketing.

I don’t want yet another ‘free’ ebook.

I don’t want yet another ‘free’ report sharing some miraculous over night method to gaining traffic.

Been there, done that. *So* over it!

I want the down and dirty details as to what’s going on TODAY on the Social Web, not last year’s regurgitated garbage that’s no longer relevant.

I want to know what’s trending NOW, not three months ago. Hell, things change so fast on the Internet these days that information that’s three WEEKS old is just not cutting it anymore.

My solution to the old school Newsletter dilema

Again, I realize that there are some out there that are going to read this and chuckle self-righteously to themselves thinking, “This GingerWench chick isn’t going to get anywhere going against the grain, is she nuts?”. Maybe I am. *shrug* All I know is that I have 10 years of experience building successful web sites that rank high in the search engines, and I’ve done pretty damned well building a social network for myself and clients.

I’m more than willing to let my experience speak for itself. Even when I was a bank manager, I valued experience over all that fancy book-learnin’. Heh.

After much careful thought, I decided to go with my strengths, and focus on my existing customer base. My position may be a little unique, so I’ll explain.

I’m pretty much booked as far as site management and design clients go. I’m lucky, I realize this. So, unlike most ‘newsletter’ publishers, I’m not focused on growing a list in order to sell my services. Word of mouth, and local event efforts have pretty much taken care of that.

What I needed was a way to communicate with my client base, a way to share the latest information I’ve gathered from my daily routine of maintaining commercial web sites. I needed a way to share what I’m learning on a day-to-day basis as a webmaster, web designer, and active social media advocate.

I needed a ‘Shareletter’, not a newsletter.

The term ‘Newsletter’, to me at least, now carries a somewhat negative connotation, bringing to mind an atmosphere of sales pitches and hyped up yesterday’s news. When I sign up for a newsletter, I feel like I’m giving someone permission to spam me in the hopes that there might occasionally be a bit of useful information shared.

It’s a very rare thing to have found a ‘newsletter’ that actually shares useful information on a regular basis. The only one that comes to mind is the newsletter I get from the guys over at ‘Digging Into WordPress“. I actually subscribed to their newsletter long before I bought their book because they send out actual code snippets that I can use in my day-to-day routine. Information that I could actually put to use immediately. It was that newsletter that convinced me that I needed to own their book. I’ve never regretted that subscription, and I still look forward to receiving their mails.

My hope is to share the same kind of useful information on a regular basis, to anyone that needs it.

Do-it-yourself webmasters, business owners trying to expand their market base, sole proprietors trying to make sense of today’s ‘Social Web’ and all that social media stuff that can seem so overwhelming.

I have nothing to lose by helping people grow their own business to success using the Internet. Rather than turn away business due to a full schedule, I’m offering my experience through a ‘Shareletter’.

Will my publication include affiliate links? Of course. Why wouldn’t it? Will my integrity and reputation allow me to spam my subscribers with link upon link to products only because the commission is high? Absolutely not! I only refer my clients and subscribers to products that I use myself. (This makes it a lot easier to offer support and training for these products, which is always included in my client contracts.)

Sharing information, techniques, and trend analysis. Sharing what I learn as I build sites that work for my clients. That’s not yesterday’s “Newsletter”… that’s today’s “Shareletter”.

Change is a good thing, if you allow it to be.

I’ve changed my thinking, and my approach to email marketing, and I’d love to know what you think about it. If you missed my first issue of Adventure Through the Social Web With Me, check it out in it’s web version.

I’m going to continue to send my clients and subscribers the kind of useful information they can use in their daily routines, and you’re more than welcome to join us.

I will tell you this… the articles I write for the Shareletter will not be published anywhere else. Period. My clients and subscribers deserve exclusive content, and that’s what I’m going to deliver on a somewhat regular basis. (I find it’s less stressful to say ‘occasional’ than weekly, and this gives me the freedom to concentrate on client projects when necessary!)

If you agree with my anti-newsletter thinking, and would like to receive original, relevant content… help me prove the Guru’s wrong, and subscribe to my Shareletter. I’d love for one of my future posts to be about how I conquered traditional email marketing with honesty and value!

10 WordPress Plugins I won’t run a site without. Seriously.

Newest Discoveries
Editorial Calendar – do the planning that it takes to get the most audience reach from your blog content (I would force myself to learn how to write a plugin, rather than do without this one! It’s easily the most valuable FREE plugin on my site.)
Twitter Blackbird Pie – Embed your tweet in your posts, really attractive way to quote a Tweet

Standard on Install:
Gravity Forms – state of the art WordPress Form Management by GravityForms (included in every GingerWench.com client site)
Theme Test Drive – allows me to show clients a new theme working on their site without changing the them that visitors see
TinyMCE Advanced – allows you to customize the buttons on your Visual Text Editor within WordPress for added functionality
WP-DB-Backup – Easily make backups, and have them sent to your email at the desired interval (daily, hourly, weekly, etc)
WordPress SEO by Yoast – User friendly, easy to understand, visually exciting SEO for your WordPress site
Maintenance Mode – adds a splash page to your blog that lets visitors know your blog is down for maintenance. Logged in administrators get full access to the blog including the front-end.
NextGEN Gallery – simply the best, most versatile photo gallery plugin for WordPress
StudioPress Plugins for the Genesis Framework (8 theme specific plugins)

Ok, so that’s really 18 plugins if you wanna get all technical on me. What plugins do you hold near and dear to your heart? Share them in the comments!

The long awaited update to WordPress v3.1 arrived last week, and as it rapidly approaches one million downloads (937,587 at the time of this writing) I’m finally getting around to showing you what the newest changes look like. Sure, you could simply log into your WordPress admin and look for yourself. I made the video below for those who aren’t sure they want to update because of the changes, and for my clients that sign into their WordPress admins very rarely.

The two changes that you’ll notice immediately are the Admin Bar, and the new link interface. I show you how they work in the video above, and here are some additional facts about each of the new features:

The Admin Bar

• The Admin Bar is not visible to your site’s visitors. Only logged in users will see the Admin Bar, and only when they’ve logged into the WordPress Dashboard. They can turn this option off within their Profile, or choose to show the Admin Bar on either the front end, or just in the Dashboard (or both).
• There is a plugin available that will completely remove the Admin Bar from your WordPress install. Before you go and do that though, please realize that each user profile contains Admin Bar options. Each user can set the Admin bar to either show or not, on both the front end and in the admin. Click the “Profile” link under “User” in the left hand navigation within your WordPress admin to find them.
• BONUS PLUGIN SCOOP: My Twitter-ific friend Kim Parsell developed the WP Hide Dashboard plugin, so if you’re someone that wanted to get rid of the Admin Bar, I thought you might find this plugin useful as well. Why hide the dashboard? Some blogs have more than one author, and/or members that need nothing other than access to their profile (Subscriber designation). To avoid any mishaps while these users access the WordPress Admin area, you can remove the link to the Dashboard, severely limiting that user-group’s access.

Internal Linking
Or, as it’s referred to in the WordPress blog, the redesigned linking workflow. I show you how this works in the video, so I’ll just make sure you understand the advantages to internal linking within your site. You may remember me mentioning the 31 Days to Building a Better Blog Workbook, well the author of that incredibly effective activity has also published a lot of information about Internal Linking to improve your blog’s success. Consider it ‘recommended reading‘.

Update Notes

Overall, the updates went smoothly. I did find one plugin that is no longer being supported, and causes major conflicts within WordPress v3.1. If you run the Grooveshark for WordPress plugin, disable it before updating. Do not activate it after updating. The only reason I’m not telling you to delete the plugin all together is because I’m holding out hope that Grooveshark will update the plugin to restore compatibility. (If it’s not been updated by the next security release, I will be scrapping it.)

All of the sites built on the Genesis Framework were unaffected by the update. PURE WIN!

How did your updates to the new WordPress  v3.1 go? Did you find any other plugin conflicts? If so, please list them in the comments! This was the first screencast I’ve done in years, so I’m still figuring out the software. If you have tips on how I could improve them, let’s hear that too!

I opened a forum for my clients, friends and social networking buddies this past week, and the resources being shared there are just incredible! Everything from WordPress Plugins to Social Networking News and Blogging Tips! I’ve highlighted the best of the shares from this week below, why not take a few seconds to visit the forum and register so you can join the fun? All active members are encouraged to submit their own resources!

A link roundup from the week’s forum posts.

WordPress Plugins [forum link]
Multi Twitter Stream – Multi Tweet Accounts in one stream
Twitter Blackbird Pie – Embed your tweet in your posts
Editorial Calendar – Plan and schedule your posts to auto publish
User Submitted Posts – collect content from users/visitors

Tweaking WordPress [forum link]
WordPress Post Formats Tutorial – New WordPress function, demystified
WordPress Questions? Try WordPress Answers! – This is a free, community driven Q&A for WordPress developers and            administrators.

Graphics Resources [forum link]
30 of the Best Font Foundries
Free WDF Blue Icon Set

Graphics Tutorials [forum link]
Typography, the Art of Text – Basix

Social Media – Twitter [forum link]
UberTwitter & Twidroyd Are Back Online
Friend or Follow?
Tweet Chat App
Tweet your blog, or blog your Tweets? DEBATE/FEEDBACK PLS

Social Media – Facebook [forum link]
Social Media Revolution 2 (Refresh)
10 Ways to Build a Successful Fan Page
Where in Social Media are Young Teens?
Connect to join the world’s largest Facebook wall!

Social Media – LinkedIn [forum link]
How LinkedIn Apps Can Promote Your Business

Blogging – Marketing [forum link]
Bloggers and Freelance Writers MUST get permission!
Test the power of social media. One blogger’s results
Article Writing

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) [forum link]
User-Friendly SEO – seven tips of on-page SEO that demonstrate how good SEO, good writing and good design work together to create an exceptional product.

General Chit Chat [forum link]
Daily threads to keep us all in contact and up to speed! For those working from home, it’s nice to have a place to go to relax and socialize in a drama free environment!

I even made the time to put together a tutorial for the private Client Area! I’m going to be loading up the screencast software so that I can do more of the “watch and learn” type of tutorials. It’s good to be a client of GingerWench.com!

I look forward to seeing YOU in the forums! Have a great weekend everyone!

One of the things that confuses people the most when they first start using Facebook to gain exposure for their business is the Profile/Page/Group dilemma. What’s the difference, and which one would serve your needs best? I’m going to do my best to answer this in the most simple terms, in regards to what you expect to gain from your Facebook activities.

I’ve Heard I’m Missing Out On Traffic If I don’t “Do Facebook”
This is probably the main concern my clients come to me with. They know they need to have a presence on Facebook, but they’re not sure how to go about it. When they go to the homepage of Facebook, they’re immediately faced with decisions that they’re not prepared to make.

You may not want to participate on Facebook on the “Personal Profile” level, so why do you need to open an account as a personal profile – can’t you just start a page for your business?

The simple answer is no, you can’t. You have to start out with a personal profile. You don’t have to use it, and you don’t have to fill out all your personal information. You might want to “Friend” me though!

Consider the personal profile as a gateway to being able to create a Page for your business.
With the recent changes to the Facebook Pages, you can do everything you’ll need to do, “AS” the page itself. This is a great way to magnify your branding efforts because as you travel around Facebook commenting on other Pages, you’re doing so as your business and your Page link is left behind each time (opposed to the old way where we had to interact from our personal profiles which weren’t easily linked to our pages).

Pages, Groups and Profiles, Oh My!
Once you’ve accessed your personal profile within Facebook, you have the option to either make a Group, or start a Page. You may even be tempted to do both. Don’t let the information overload get to you! Consider your goals for using Facebook for business, and let them decide which route to take. Realistically, it’s rare that a small business is going to need both a Page and a Group.

Use a Facebook Page for Branding and PR Purposes
You’ll get much better results from your Facebook efforts by using a page for these purposes. Schedule events and send invites to everyone that has “Liked” your Page. Interact with customers, provide customer service and add personality to your business – Facebook Pages are best suited for these goals. Cultivating a relationship with your target market is easiest through a public Page, even if they haven’t ‘connected’ with you yet.

Facebook Groups Allow You to Offer a More Private Interaction
The Group function on Facebook allows you to interact with your audience in a more private setting. You can set permissions so that Group activity is Private or Public. Probably the most important difference about Groups now that the Pages are so different, is the fact that when you participate in a Group, you’re doing so from your personal profile. This may be more suitable for smaller, targeted segments of your audience. Groups also have a chat function that you may find useful for committees and/or focus groups, and are built on the premise of real time interactions without much in the way of ‘archiving’ your group’s activity.

Functionality must be considered when choosing between a Page and a Group
On a Page, you have the ability to create photo albums to organize your photos any way you’d like. Groups don’t. Pages have your posted links, photos, and notes categorized and linked to in the left hand column for you and your visitors to easily access. Groups don’t. People and other Pages can “Like” your Page without having to also be your “Friend”. As a Group, you can only add people on your “Friends” list on your personal profile, any others would have to first ‘Request to Join’, and then be approved by Group Admin in order to gain access. The Pages are pretty much “set it and forget it” easy as far as gaining followers.

Build Relationships with your Facebook Page, Nurture them with Groups
In the most simplistic terms I can muster, it almost seems to me as though a Facebook page gives you an overall opportunity to grow your online presence (ease of joining by any of the 5M+ members without further action by you). Groups, on the other hand, are a tool to use once you’ve identified a need to pay special attention to a smaller segment of your audience (by offering tighter control over who gains access, and bringing your interactions down to a more personal level by connecting from your personal profile).

If you’re looking for more detailed information on the differences between Facebook Pages and Groups, check out Facebook Pages vs. Groups written yesterday by Jessica Young.

Do you need a Facebook Page, or a Facebook Group? If you’re still not sure, leave a comment and maybe we can come up with a solution for you together!

Photo Credit