Me Media

The Media is Hiring...on Twitter

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 17:02:00 +0000

To anyone who has migrated over here from the ASBPE post that I recently wrote: Welcome! Be sure to click on the Get Started tab to take a look at my "best of" posts.

The day after the post went live, I discovered and started following (@themediaishirin), which posts a range of media jobs.

This is a great use of Twitter especially if you're in the media industry.

Make sure you follow them if only to see a great use of Twitter (and no, I'm not on the payroll)

What Social Media Tools Do You Want To Learn?

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 20:11:00 +0000

As I write this blog post, I'm up to my eyeballs in social media tools. I have a business partner with whom I'm launching a website that will take over where this blog leaves off.

As we finish our research and move into the development phase, we're wondering what social media tools we should focus on. Let us know by leaving a comment below.

What social media tools do you want to learn more about:

Blogs: Blogger, Movable Type, Vox, Wordpress, TypePad, etc
Media: Flickr, Photobucket, Live.Yahoo, Ustream, YouTube, Vimeo, Mogulus
MicroBlogging: Twitter, Tumblr
RSS Reader: Google Reader, NetNewsWire, Bloglines, FeedReader
Social Bookmarking: Del.icio.us, Ma.gnolia, Digg, Stumbleupon
Social Networks: Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Plaxo, CollectiveX, Ning
Social Network Aggregator: FriendFeed, YouMeo
Social News: Digg, Stumbleupon, Mixx, Reddit
Wikis: Wikipedia, PB Wiki, Wetpaint
Podcasts and Webcasts
Online role-playing games (Second Life, Webkinz, Club Penguin)
Building a website, buying a domain, etc.

Are there any other tools or how-to's we've left off?

A Review of "YouTube: An Insider's Guide to Climbing the Charts"

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 12:00:00 +0000

If I would have followed the instructions in YouTube: An Insider's Guide to Climbing the Charts (O'Reilly Media, 2008) I would have set up my video equipment and recorded a review for you instead of writing.

I don't feel quite talented enough yet to produce the next You-cumentry so a written review will have to do.

First off, and in the name of full disclosure, I had some interest in reading this book because one of my clients would like to start broadcasting on YouTube. From a personal and blog perspective, I was interested in learning how to post videos and build a community within the site.

When I started reading the book, I had two thoughts: (1) this is way more instructive than I thought it would be and (2) my aspiring film-maker daughter would love this book.

Written by YouTube experts, Alan Lastufka and Michael W. Dean, the book went beyond my expectations. Instead of a step-by-step manual for how to extract a video from your iPhone and upload it to the user-generated broadcasting site, YouTube: An Insider's Guide to Climbing the Charts starts you off believing you could possibly be YouTube's answer Steven Spielberg (okay, that's a bit of overkill).

What this book delivered, that I wasn't expecting, was a comprehensive manual for creating good video -- from content conception and creation to collaboration and community.

Aside from a few digs on social networking -- which I found odd given YouTube is considered a form of social networking -- this book was a great read, especially if you have any interest in learning how to create and post video content.

My grade? A

An Interview with Ryan Paugh, Community Manager

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 00:45:00 +0000

If you've set up your social networking site or LinkedIn Group and just can't get enough, you may want to consider a role as an online community manager.

Online Community Managers, or organizers, are considered one of the "hot jobs" of the era. A Google search of the term "online community manager" will return 45,000,000 results including this article from Seth Godin's blog, Jobs of the future, #1: Online Community Organizer and this article from ReadWriteWeb, Community Manager Jobs are Hot.

Recently, Ryan Paugh, Community Manager for BrazenCareerist.com and author of his own blog RyanPaugh.com/blog took some time to talk with me about his role as Community Manager for Gen-Y focused Networking Site.

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What does it mean to be a community manager for BrazeenCareerist.com?

Community Manager is a difficult role to describe. Basically, I am the go-to guy for members of our online community. I identify their goals and do my best to make sure our community supports them. I also encourage engagement on the site. The more people who are actively participating in our community, the better I am at doing my job.

And I make sure that the business side of our company is staying true to our members as we develop new models to generate revenue. I go back and forth a lot: working with development and working with strategy.

What sort of online experience did you have before you came into this role?

My day job included managing websites for a Fortune 500 company's internal communications. A lot of what I was doing involved content management and upkeep.

When I was off the clock, I was just starting to acquaint myself with the blogosphere. Ryan Healy and I launched Employee Evolution and through its development I kind of got a knack for content management systems like WordPress. I'm nowhere near an IT guru. I rely on our developers for everything we roll out to the community, but the knowledge I gained from just taking an interest int he process really helped a lot.

Why Community Manager? What drew you to that role?

That's a funny question because I wasn't really drew towards the role at all. The role sort of drew itself towards me. In a startup environment you're sort of dabbling in a bit of everything until you discover what your strengths and weaknesses are as a team. Mine turned out to be working with people.

What kind of technical experience do you need to have for your position?

It all depends on what kind of support you are getting. At a larger company you might be able to get away with little or no technical knowledge, because you have a stellar IT department to back you up. But when you are working on a smaller team (like me) you need to at least understand how systems work. Basic knowledge of HTML, CSS, information design, etc. are going to make you more valuable.

What is a typical day like for a community manager?

I get lots of e-mails actually. And that's a good thing! It means the community feels comfortable communicating with me. So a good portion of my day revolves around solving problems for individual community members. I also need to decide whether the problem they are having is isolated or something that might be affecting others in the community. If it is a larger problem, I make recommendations to our developers and help them create a better user experience.

I am also taking a proactive approach. Not everyone is going to ask for help. So I reach out to people in the community that aren't outgoing enough to make the first move. This goes a long way for some people. And I can't think of that many communities who take the time to engage people that personally.

What is the part of your community manager job you look forward to the most?

Just helping people. I thrive in environments where I can use my strengths to help others.

What is the part of your community manager job you like least?

Turnaround time. We have so many ideas to make things better, but it takes time. I'm really excited for the plans we have in store for this year. But waiting to bring them to life ... I lose sleep thinking about it.

Have a question for Ryan? Interested in joining a great Gen-Y online network? Don't delay, visit the BrazenCareerist site.

How to Create a Favicon

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 15:39:00 +0000

You may be wondering "What's a favicon?"

According our good friend Wikipedia, "A favicon (short for favorites icon), also known as a website icon, shortcut icon, url icon, or bookmark icon is an icon associated with a particular website or webpage." You often see them in the address bar next to a URL.

So how do you create one? It's actually pretty easy.

I use a site called the Favicon Generator (http://www.favicon.cc/).

It's extremely easy to use. Following the step-by-step instructions listed on the page, you can upload an image or file and shrink it waaaay down to size or you can create your own pixelated icon using the box provided.

The site will walk you through whatever questions you may have including acceptable image file types and sizes (Supported file types: jpg, jpeg, gif, png, bmp, icoMax. file size: 4 MB).

After you've created your code, you'll be directed toward a piece of code that you embed in your own site.

A quick note, though: Favicons won't show up on Internet Explorer 7 pages so if you're using that and wondering why your code isn't showing up you know why.

Let us know how your favicon experience went by leaving a comment and your URL.

Who should you be on which social networking site?

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 00:58:00 +0000

If you're anything like me, you've got a business side and a fun/quirky side to your personality.

If you're really like me, you'll be proud of your social media accomplishments, but don't necessarily want your bosses to see everything you do in your spare time.

With all of the social media available, you may start to wonder what -- or who -- you should be on which site?

There are probably hundreds of articles available that tell you what kind of person you should be on which site. Most of them will tell you to be authentic, or to be yourself. That's all well and good but what if yourself wants to have a social media mullet and be all business in the front and party in the back?

You pick and choose your medium.

Personally, I use Facebook for friendly interaction. It's where most of my real in-person friends are, or at least get me well enough to know when I'm joking or not. I do not accept friend requests from coworkers on Facebook. I like to keep my personal life somewhat personal.

For professional interaction, I rely on LinkedIn. While I know all of my contacts personally, there are a lot of personal things I don't share with them and therefore do not cross-promote. I do not post my personal blog(s) or projects on my LinkedIn profile.

I use Twitter as a personal/professional hybrid. Because I don't know most of my Twitter followers (or those I foll0w) personally, I will use Twitter to ask professional questions (or answer profession-related questions) while also interacting with people on a friendly level.

I have followed several social media experts' advice and cross posted my Twitter stream to Facebook; however, I then follow several other social media experts' advice and removed the stream because the conversation(s) got confusing at times.

How about you? Who are you in social media?

Are you the same person on all social media sites? ( polls)

How do you find the time to learn social media?

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 14:14:00 +0000

I often hear people say that they don't have the time to learn social media. Between kids, work, wanting to have a life, etc. they have difficulties making social media a priority.

I wanted to learn digital and social media to improve my potential for employment so I made learning it into a part-time job. So I didn't watch a t.v. show or have dinner with my husband every night. It's okay. My brain is still intact as is my marriage. Nothing suffered when I made time to sit down and learn.

But I realize I'm different. My personal life situation is different than most people and I do have nights where it's just me and a laptop and nothing to do but learn.

I'm curious about what factors prevents people from learning social media. Is it relevance? Time? Fear of the unknown?

How much should you reveal on your blog?

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 14:24:00 +0000

I sometimes refer to my personal blog on this site. The blog, which shall always remain nameless, is a bit of an online diary for me.

When I created my blog, I used a somewhat creative blog name and a fairly specific URL. I didn't realize when I was setting up the blog that I would use it to post personal narratives. I thought I'd drop in a few stories every now and again, like I'm doing here, but I never imagined that I'd use it as therapy.

It's my own fault for not creating a blog action plan or a blogging mission statement like Darren Rowse suggests here: 5 Steps for Planning the Direction of Your Blog in 2009. I should have decided from the very beginning what kind of blog it was going to be and stuck to it.

My personal blog, like me in real life, has been through numerous variations in 2 years. I've changed its look, it's focus, its 'story' format. You could say it's had a bit of an identity crisis.

By not sticking to a topic -- whether it was going to be knitting, motherhood, recipes, etc. -- I created a bit of a blogging maelstrom. I committed a huge blogging offense by zig-zagging the content.

I've since learned the error of my ways and made improvements with other blogs. This one, for instance, focuses on social media; others have had a more narrow scope.

I tell this story to help you not make the same mistake I did. Here's a list of things I wish I would have done with my personal blog:

Not use such a specific URL unless I was going to write about business-related topics.
Used a pen name or a nickname if I knew I was going to reveal personal things.
Should have had a blog action plan or at least something of a mission statement or guide.
Stick with one topic and post about things relating to that one topic. Don't go all over the place.
Consider privacy constraints. If I was going to lend a name and personal information to people, I should have done it in a more intimate way.

How much do you reveal on your blog? Do you have regrets? What tips would you add to how much you should reveal on your blog?

A New Business Venture for the Me Media Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:05:00 +0000

I alluded to this on Twitter yesterday as well as on Facebook: My 2009 Social Media Resolution was selected as one of 10 of SmartBlogs on SocialMedia's 2009 Social Media Resolutions.

My resolution? To bring social media to everyone, particularly to those who feel somewhat technically challenged. I've been trying to do this through the Me Media Blog, but I've come nowhere near tackling all of the tools out there and there's got to be more than just me who wants to do this.

Lucky for me, there was.

I met @WindyCityConnect on Twitter when I was looking for a web designer. He DM'd me, I gave him my e-mail and we struck up a conversation. I told him my idea to start a series of workshops, books or a website to teach people how to use social media.

He had a similar enthusiasm to my own and thus a partnership was born.

We're in the midst of developing our new website -- the one that I alluded to in my resolution -- right now.

In the mean time, I could use your help. We need ideas for what you want to learn. Is it how to create a webpage for free from scratch? How to do a podcast? What's a Tweetdeck?

Leave a comment or send me an e-mail with your ideas.

Compare a LinkedIn Group with a Social Networking Community

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 11:00:00 +0000

So far we've walked through how to create a social networking site and how to create a LinkedIn Group.

If you're contemplating creating either group (or both) for your own projects, you may be asking yourself: How do I know which is right for me?

That's a question I've actually dealt with myself. I've created both social networking communities and LinkedIn Groups and I still get tripped up when I'm creating a new networking group.

The following is what I've gleaned from my own experiences:

LinkedIn Groups are a good fit for education or career-related networks. Most educated and career-oriented people have a LinkedIn page that includes a resume or list of skills. If you're considering creating a network within those parameters a LinkedIn Group is probably a good match.

In a LinkedIn Group, members can pose discussion questions to other members in the group, post articles and find other industry members to add to their network.

A LinkedIn Group also requires less maintenance than a social networking group. Most of my interaction has been approving members and commenting on conversations in the beginning.

I've seen a lot of magazines create LinkedIn Groups, particularly in the business to business environment. A great example of a magazine that has a strong LinkedIn Group presence is FOLIO. FOLIO is not only present in LinkedIn, they also have a social networking community as well.

Social networking communities or sites are an excellent format for people who share similar hobbies, passions and causes. I've seen several awesome communities that are based on content other than what I've just listed (Brazen Careerist is one and is geared at the Generation Y age group; FohBoh is another and is geared toward restaurant and food service professionals).

What you'll see in on those community pages is an awful lot of customization which is what makes them different than than a LinkedIn Group.

Within a social networking community you can add or remove as much as you want. You can design it any way your heart (or CSS ability) imagines; you can embed blogs within the community, start a discussion forum (or 20), create groups within groups. The possibilities appear to be endless.

The customization is what makes a social networking community more high maintenance. Where as a LinkedIn Group follows a strict template, the social networking site does not.

In my own personal experience, the social networking sites I've created have been focused around a common thread that was not career-related.

If you've contemplated a LinkedIn Group versus a social networking community and would like to share your story, please leave a comment or contact me to appear in an upcoming Me Media post.

The Best of Me Media

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 01:26:00 +0000

My reason behind creating this blog was simple: to have a place where non-technical people could feel comfortable learning about social media.

I've had numerous people tell me that this blog has helped them learn how to write better, create a blog, Twitter account, etc. Based on comments I've received, I'm providing a list of the most helpful posts on the Me Media blog so far:

Create a LinkedIn Group

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 14:09:00 +0000

If you are part of an association or group that is considering creating an online networking community, consider a LinkedIn Group.

A LinkedIn Group is slightly different than a social networking site.

Where as a social networking site will let you customize your content, a LinkedIn Group follows LinkedIn's formula and templates.

A LinkedIn Group is a great option if you don't want to have to deal with back-end coding, widget/badge creation, or too much maintenance. Similar to a social networking site, you can provide multiple people with administrative rights (which allows them to decline or approve requests, additions, etc.).

A LinkedIn Group allows you to post articles, feeds, discussions and events. Similar to a social networking site, you can also set your parameters to allow e-mails to be sent if someone poses a question, joins, etc.

Creating a LinkedIn Group is fairly easy:

First and foremost, you must be a member of LinkedIn. If you're a professional anything in this day and age, you should be on LinkedIn. There are dozens of critics of LinkedIn and its relevance, but I wouldn't listen to them.

Consider the current groups available. If there are 17 different groups around kitchen and bath design, do you really want to add another one into the mix? Also consider what your group will provide its members that is different than the other groups.

Consider your group name. You may think the Mr. Robotos sounds unique, but LinkedIn has a lot of members. You'll want to search the Groups Directory to make sure no one else has used the name.

Create your Group. Once you've figured out your name, click the "Create a Group."

Fill in the Required Information. You'll be asked to include a Group Logo, Group Name, Group Type and Summary. When writing your summary, it is best to include a brief synopsis of the goals of the group (i.e., a place for members of the journalism community to connect, share best practices, etc.). You'll need to include your e-mail address or the one of the person who will be the group owner. I am the group owner of several LinkedIn Groups and all that has meant is that I get the requests to join when someone asks. You can also select items such as displaying the group in the groups directory, allowing members to display your group's logo on their own profile page and/or allowing people to join without asking first.

Depending on your group you may want to require everyone who requests to join be approved by you or other group administrators first. If you're concerned about competitors or non-desirables infiltrating your group this is a good option. However, if you want an open-door policy, then you'll want to click on the box to allow anyone to join the group.

Use Your Website Comments for Research and Input

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 01:02:00 +0000

Into everyone's life a little vacation must fall. I've staycationed at home for the past few days and am now back in the work mind-set.

As a result of my staycation, I have a few things up my sleeve including:

An assignment for every person who reads this blog or at least this blog post. I'm doing a little research and development and I could use your help. Tell me in the comment section of this blog post what social media and/or online tools you want to learn in 2009? I know for me, I plan to learn how to do a podcast and a webcast. I'd also like to learn how to build a website from scratch.

My plan is to turn your input into blog posts in 2009. So please comment often. If you don't feel comfortable commenting, you can e-mail me as well.

I haven't forgotten about my promise to provide resources on being a good social networking site manager...stay tuned this week.

Create an online social networking site for free

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 11:17:00 +0000

You've got a blog, wrapped your head around Twitter and even figured out Facebook. If you're looking for a fun, new challenge, why not create your own online social network?

I'm not talking about a new LinkedIn or new Facebook. (I myself am not even that ambitious.) What I'm talking about is Ning.com.

Ning is a website that offers a platform for building a free social network. What kind of social network you might ask? Ning's about/why build? page lists the following ideas:

Raise awareness
Interact with fans, members, or clients
Exchange ideas
Connect with with attendees for an event
Create a "wedsite"
A customer "community"
Meet or unite similar groups of people
Build a career
Discover new ideas, people or things
Inspire or educate
Find support

The first social networking site I created was Stepchicks, a community for stepmoms to connect about -- you guessed it -- Stepmotherhood.

Setting up the site was extremely easy. Even if I didn't know HTML, I wouldn't have had a problem with the set-up.

First I created a name, then the site walked me through the steps of setting up a discussion forum, picture box, notes section and badges.

To market my social networking site, I put a badge on my personal blog "advertising" that I was a member. I spread the word to a few stepmom bloggers I was friends with and they, too, added the badge to their own sites, thus creating a referral network.

Four months later, we're at 40 members and growing. Every day it seems like someone is joining the site. One of the most validating moments since creating the site happened on Facebook recently -- a stepmom on a stepmom group I just became part of recently advised people to join. I've never met this woman in my life so it was exciting to see people spreading the word.

Stepchicks wasn't the only social network I created. I've also created a site for a dance studio I frequent. The owner of the studio wanted to create a forum for the students -- a place where we could ask and answer questions about anything.

The site is nearing the 60+ mark and has been a great way for all of the students to stay connected out of the studio.

In the next few weeks, I'll be posting more articles on using Ning to help create an online community and how you can be an effective community manager.

Oh...Just Go Elf Yourself!

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 11:26:00 +0000

It sounds like it's a slightly dirty twist on words, but Elf Yourself (http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/) is a really fun collaboration between OfficeMax and JjbJab.

To Elf Yourself, you need to visit the site and upload an image of yourself and up to four more people.

After you've uploaded your image(s), you can select one of four dance styles: Disco, Charleston, Country, or Classic.

Once you've selected your dance, you'll be greeted with your very own dancing elves.

After a quick registration process, you'll be able to email or embed your video for all the world to see!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Guest Post: Everything I know about Twitter I learned from being a screw up

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 11:51:00 +0000

Today's Guest Post is from Alisa Bowman. Alisa blogs about the ups and downs of marriage at www.projecthappilyeverafter.com. She originally wrote this post for www.savorthesuccess.com, an online social network and PR co-op for women entrepreneurs. She just broke 200 followers on Twitter, but she says there's room in her line of followers for many more. Follower her http://twitter.com/Alisabow.

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When I first read that Twitter was the new Facebook, I thought, "Well, I better see what this is all about." I typed Twitter into Google. I created a profile, and I sent my first tweet. (That's Twitter language for "message.") It was: "Alisa is doing nothing anyone in their right mind would care about."

Yep. That was my first Tweet. And it was true, because I couldn't for the life of me figure out why my one follower (why this stranger had wanted to immediately follow me was also beyond my comprehension) should care about what I was doing at any given moment anyway.

For a while, I used Twitter for one thing and one thing only: to announce my new blog posts. I still do that, but my use of Twitter has evolved. I can't say I'm the world's best resource on Twitter, but I am the world's best resource on learning how to use Twitter by first screwing up. This is what I've learned so far:

If you have a new blog post and want others to actually click through when you announce it, tweet something more exciting than: “New Blog Post.” Say something exciting like: The best sex you will ever have --- in 30 seconds or less --- and it's free! Okay, well, you get the idea.
You only get 140 characters on Twitter. You know you've gone over your limit when the number on the upper right has a negative sign in front of it. And don't even think of ignoring that negative number. If you even try to post something longer than 140 characters, Twitter will just cut you off. Oh, it's vicious. Like right in the middle... Like that.
Again, you only get 140 characters. Don't waste them by posting a long URL. Tiny it first by going to http://www.tiny.cc/ This site will automatically copy the tiny link into your clipboard (that thing on your computer that stores copied stuff), so as soon as you press "paste" it will appear wherever you want it.
People can send you DMs from Twitter. It took me a while to figure out what the heck DM stood for, so I'll write it out in case someone else is just as clueless as I was. DM = Direct Message. These will come to your email inbox. Now, it might seemingly make sense to just hit "reply" and type a nice long message back to such a person. Um, so don't even think about it. I don't know precisely where such replies go, but they do not go back to the sender. No, if you want to DM someone back, you need to sign into Twitter, click on the button on the right that says, "Direct Messages" and then go to that particular message. If you run your cursor over the message, you'll see a little envelope in the upper right. Click that. Then type your message (140 characters or fewer) and press the send button. It's possible there's an easier way to do this, but I have not screwed up enough on Twitter to figure it out yet.
You can send a tweet to just one or a few people by putting the @ symbol in front of their Twitter handle, such as: " @alisabow You are the hottest thing since the invention of fire." Now, here's the thing. To see if someone responded to your discreet little tweet, go to the little button on the right that says, "@Replies." I just discovered this yesterday, and there were all sorts of replies people had sent to me over the past few, um, months that I didn't know where there. Ooops. Sorry! I'm really not a snob! I just had no idea!!
You can create a really cool looking custom Twitter page. Just check mine out: http://twitter.com/Alisabow Now, I'm going to be honest here. I didn't learn how to do this by screwing it up. I didn't even truly learn how to do it. I read about it from Darren Rowse's TwiTip and then I asked Rebecca Zwar, my virtual assistant, to make it happen.
Twitter is all about getting more followers. The more followers you have, the more secure your walk on water status. To get more people to follow you, put something interesting your profile that does not include a sales pitch. In other words, do not write, “Earn millions by working at home” and “Viagra dirt cheap.” Instead, tell us about yourself. For instance, mine says I love mojitos, and I’ve been getting many more followers (all mojito lovers) since I added that little tidbit to my profile.
If you want to get more followers, you need to do more than pray for a divine intervention. One way to do it is to follow other people. Again I learned about this quite by accident. I decided to follow a few of the Social Networking and Tech Gods that Darren Rowse (@problogger) and others swore were worth following. These are guys who have more than 8,000 followers. I mean, it's really crazy. Their walk on water status is so secure that they don’t even think about wearing flotation devices. Follow them I did. You know what? They all followed me back!
Here’s a caveat to the point I just made. You need to actually be interested in the folks you follow. If you just click on any random person just for a follow back, you probably won’t get many follow backs. In fact, you might earn an award for Top Virtual Creep of the Year.
Yet another caveat to following to get followed: follow people in small batches. If you start following 100 or more people at once, your stats will look like this: Following 100 Followers 1. It kind of makes you look like you are not worth being followed, you know?
Perform random acts of Twitter kindness. For instance tweet about someone else's blog. I did this recently---because I liked the blog. And the blogger immediately started following me. How cool is that? He also sent me a DM, which I did not immediately return because, well, you know.
Sign up for Twitthat! I also learned about this cool little toolbar feature from Darren's Twitip. And it's nearly screw up proof. You just drag this little doo dad into your toolbar. Once you see the words, "Twitthat!" in your toolbar (that thing that is at the very top of your browser when the Internet is open), you know you did it right. Then, whenever you're reading something really cool and tweetable (Twitter tawk for "really cool") on the web, you just click on your little Twitthat! doo dad and a little box opens asking you if you are reading, looking at, watching, waiting for, laughing at... the list is too long to type. You just click on one of those and voila! You've just tweeted the webpage to all your tweeples (I think that's Twitter tawk for "friends.")

What have you learned from Twitter-by either screwing up or by doing it right the first time? Share your expertise in the comments area.

Super Free Tip of the Day: Put a call to action with every blog post. People like to be told what to do.

For instance: Follow Alisa on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Alisabow

You will not be sorry. In fact, if you follow Alisa on Twitter, good fortune will come to you. You can also subscribe to her blog or e-newsletter at her website. If you do that, good fortune will come to your entire family. If you like her stuff, stumble it. If you really like it, tell two friends about it. If you do that, you will reach enlightenment.

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A version of this post originally appeared at www.savorthesuccess.com. Alisa Bowman writes about the ups and downs of marriage at www.projecthappilyeverafter.com. If you love what she has to say about Twitter, you will be completely orgasmic over what she has to say about the Sexiest Man Alive.

Get More Experience and Build a Network with What you've Learned

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 12:30:00 +0000

Once I started to figure out how to use Twitter, Blogger, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. I wanted to help other people use these tools as well to promote themselves, their associations or their businesses.

In the past year, I've used what I learned to create or contribute to the following websites:

Created by me:

Stepchicks. A Social Network for Stepmothers.
FlirteaseSisters. A Social Network/Forum for a dance studio I take classes at.
Flirtease Dance and Fitness Blog. A blog for the dance studio.
This blog, Me Media
American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE) LinkedIn Group

Sites I'm a contributor or consultant for:

Flirtease Dance and Fitness, Naperville, Illinois
American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE), Chicago Chapter blog
American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE), National blog
I am also the project manager for the ASBPE website redesign.

If you're interested in learning more about these projects or would like help with your own personal or professional networks, you can contact me at erinatmemedia[at]gmail.com.

Find a 3 Column Blogger Template

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:10:00 +0000

If you haven't visited the site in a while, click over and take a look. I recently "redesigned" thanks to a blogger template website I found this week.

I'm doing the dreadful quotes because I wasn't the one who designed the site. I found the template from BloggerTricks.com.

I've been wanting to convert both of my blogs into 3 columns so they could support ads that I plan to feature. My other blog also has a lifetime supply of badges on it that takes up the whole length of my blog page.

In addition to the columns, this design also allows me to include multiple pages on the site. One of the things I liked about Wordpress was the multiple page functionality. In case you're wondering why or how you'd use multiple pages, think of the "about me" page, "contact me" page, and so-on that you often find on non-Blogger websites. .

Installing the new design wasn't extremely difficult either.

BloggerTricks provides really good instructions and a demo for each template. I didn't have a lot of widgets or sidebar content which made it easy to remove and reinstall once I had the new design up and working.

I did not do snapshots of each step; however, the steps were as easy as this:

Copy widget/sidebar code into text document (to save for reinstall)
Download template from site to computer
Using Layout tab on Blogger, upload new template
Reinstall widgets and sidebar content.

Like I said, it was pretty easy.

The new design is not without flaws, though. Unless you've had pages written already for your "about me" page or the other tabs you want to include, you'll need to create them and then go back in the code and add them.

The other thing I'm not as fond of is that I can't adjust the fonts. As you can see, if you scroll down, my headlines have stumbled into the text. The same thing goes for my sidebars. I have to keep my titles short or else they spill into the other content.

If you're starting, or started, a blog and would like to go beyond the Blogger standard templates, this site is definitely a good way to go.

If you've used this site or others like it for your own site design, let me know. I'd love to hear about it.

Using Lijit to Cull Your Social Media Applications

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 12:14:00 +0000

Have you ever wondered how blogs get the list widgets for social networking sites where they can be found? (I have one over on the column to the right)

I personally use Lijit.com. I've found it's sort of a one-stop-shop for creating a list of the social networking sites I'm on.

Lijit is not like Minggl which manages all of the social networks you're on. Lijit will not log you in or send you pings when someone has posted an update to your site.

What Lijit will do is help you create a list of all of the social networking, social bookmarking or social media sites you use and turn them into a neat, tidy little widget to include on your website or blog.

There are a couple of things I like about Lijit.

It's really easy to use
It plays nicely with Blogger
It sends weekly updates on how your blog's stats even if you have analytics built in
It fills you in on to new social media sites you may not have heard of

I haven't used all of Lijit's tools so I can't report on the advertising services and I'm still trying to figure out how to use ShareThis which serves a similar function.

Do use Lijit or a similar service? Tell us about it by writing a guest post or by leaving a comment in our comments section.

5 Reasons Why Being on Twitter Will Help Keep you Employed

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 23:02:00 +0000

You may think that your boss finds social networking tools like Twitter to be productivity suckers.

On some level, they may be right. I know for me, I could Twitter the day away writing about things from my state's governor's arrest to the color of socks I chose to wear. Good thing for me I actually use it for work and not just play.

Twitter can help your job, or job prospects, if you consider these five Twitter Tips:

Follow news distributors. I'm from Chicago so I follow @suntimes and @chicagotribune. I also follow @cnn. While they may not break news on my industry, they at least help me sound educated when I have a meeting with a publisher but didn't have time to read all of the news online that day.
Follow news makers in your field. Whether a person or an association, plug major, and minor, industry names into the Twitter Search tool and see what's being posted about them. Being the first person with industry news always earns you point with the boss.
Follow news aggregators. I'm a huge fan of SmartBrief on Social Media @SBoSM and @BNet's Twitter updates. I've received more leads or ideas for articles in the 2 months I've followed than I have in my entire 10 year writing career. Even if you're not a writer, both SmartBrief and BNet provide a ton of industry resources for other careers.
Use Twitter Search to find topics or people to follow. For my day job, I collect online news about food. I often use the Twitter Search Tool to find out what people writing about a company or person. To use the tool, all you need to do is type in a keyword or phrase and you'll see lists of people that have Twittered about it. You can choose to follow them from the tool or just read what they're saying. I've found Twitter Search is the ultimate way to keep your ear on the pulse of of an industry.
Use Twitter to mention you're looking for work or projects. I've seen numerous people send a tweet along the lines of "In need of a good writer/chef/PR person?" Ask the respondent to DM (direct message) you to elaborate.

I've posted 5 tips but I'm sure there are more. If you have a suggestion, please... leave a comment for the rest of the class.

Encourage web audience interaction using polls from PollDaddy.com

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 14:04:00 +0000

PollDaddy has got to be one of my favorite online tools for getting users to interact with your blog or website.

As I mentioned in Free Online Tools to Improve Your Blog, PollDaddy allows you to create and embed polls on your website or blog.

Setting up a PollDaddy account is fairly simple:

Step 0. Head on over to PollDaddy.com
Step 1. Sign up for an account
Step 2. Log In

Step 3. Fill out typical web information (name, email address, etc.)

Step 4. Craft your poll. Include your question and answers. Be sure to indicate if you want multiple choice (which you can select under the question box). You can also set a closing date for your poll as well as list select whether you want numbers or percentages to be displayed.

Step 5. Choose poll "skin" or the look you want for your poll. There are 19 skins to choose from. If you're feeling daring, you can create a custom look for your poll.

Step 6. Copy and paste the HTML code into your site or blog.

Secret blogger trick: Date stamping your blog posts

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 12:21:00 +0000

I wish I were creative and witty every day of my life. I also wish I could write a blog post every single day of the week.

But I'm not and I can't.

Instead, I rely on Blogger's handy function that lets me write blog posts and time/date-stamp them for publication.

This is a great trick for those times when you're feeling really creative but don't want to post a bunch of things at once.

To use it, locate >Post Options found in the shaded box at the bottom of your writing area. Click on the arrow and key in the date and time you would like to post.

You do not need to be finished with the post to use this option; however, you will want to be sure to save your post.

Once you've finished writing and have your time and date set, click the "Publish Post" button and voila!

SEO and Linking Strategies

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 12:01:00 +0000

One of my favorite SEO websites, SEOChat.com, posted an article on SEO and Link Building: Good and Bad Plans

The article has a lot of great information in it, so much so I almost committed the ultimate geek offense and printed it out.

Included in the article are explanations and tips about inbound links, outbound links, internal links and general links. You can also pick up a few strategies on how to build a high number of inbound and outbound links and how to join the two together for hybrid approach.

A definite must-read article for anyone wanting to increase their linking strategy.

Knight Digital Media Center offers HTML 101 Guide

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 09:47:00 +0000

The Knight Digital Media Center, in partnership with UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism, is offering an HTML 101 tutorial.

I haven't been through the entire tutorial yet, but it does offer really easy-to-follow instructions for creating a website using HTML.

Included in the tutorial are instructions on:

how to set up a workspace for HTML
understanding HTML attributes, headings, links and tags
creating an HTML document
previewing your work

In addition to HTML 101, the site also offers tutorials on creating and editing video and audio, web design and multimedia story-telling

'Tis the season to decorate your desktop

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 17:49:00 +0000

Smashing Magazine's Graphics section has become my new favorite place for seasonal desktop wallpaper.

Their December 2008 wallpapers are classic and fun and, for the organized freaks like me, include calendars!

Right now, there are 55 free holiday designs you can download at the click of a mouse. And let me tell you, they aren't silly looking graphics either. I've downloaded 5 for December and that's on top of the 10 I downloaded for November.