Mom Central Blogger University

Do you use Facebook for your blog?

Jill Notkin — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 10:10:39 PDT

Do you use Facebook for your blog?

I’m an avid Facebook user. Some might even say that I’m a bit of a junkie. I have just over 400 friends on my personal account, but my blog's Facebook page has just 61 “likes.”

I get it. I don’t love liking pages just because someone suggested that I do it. I don’t want to clutter up my timeline with stuff I don’t really care about so I don’t like every page I’m sent. Sure, I can hide the posts from showing up in my timeline, but then, what value does that provide for the blogger?

And I add everyone I love to my Facebook feed anyway.

Brands are different. If utilized correctly, a brand can engage me on Facebook. When Bertucci’s Facebook page offers a $5 off coupon, it’s likely I’ll take advantage of it since I’m a fan already. When the local daily deals sites post their latest and greatest, I love it. It’s a no-brainer – all my favorite sites peddling their wares in a space I’m already spending time at.

But blog posts? Notsomuch. Am I alone in this?

I wish I had more Facebook likes. Then again, I wish I had far more readers! But how can I ask people to like me if I’m not jumping at the chance to like them?

What about you? Do you have a Facebook page for your blog? Do you have many likers? How do you engage them?

Stop callin’, stop callin, I don’t wanna talk anymore…

Jill Notkin — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 15:44:10 PDT

Lady Gaga hit the nail on the head: no one wants to talk anymore. Instead, we are so caught up in our multiple ways of communication that involve, let’s face it – VERY LITTLE actual interaction, that we have become lazy communicators.

I do it. Chances are you do it too. I text. I instant message. I Blackberry Messenger. I Skype, Facebook, and Tweet. When I’m forced to, I email, but even that’s a bit annoying.

But rarely, if ever, do I call. Unless we’re family or really good friends, chances are you won’t hear the sound of my voice unless we get-together, which I’m happy to plan via one of the methods described above.

I’m not alone in this, which is what provoked this post. I’ve had many conversations about this lately: no one calls anymore. Calling is an intrusion. It’s just not socially acceptable. If for some reason you do want to call, you need to text to make sure a call at 8 m will suit my schedule. If it’s not convenient, we’ll text back and forth to set-up another time that might work better. Then you’ll call and something unexpected will have come up and I won’t answer and back to square one we go.

What is it with us? We are so advanced technologically, we praise ourselves on being able to communicate in pretty much every way short of ESP (I’m sure there is an app in development for that) but we don’t use our voices, our unique intonation, our distinctive inflection, to connect.

OK – remember that line from He’s Just Not That Into You? Please don’t hold this against me but it really sums up everything I’m thinking in a concise and amusing way:

“I had this guy leave me a voicemail at work, so I called him at home, and then he emailed me to my BlackBerry, and so I texted to his cell, and now you just have to go around checking all these different portals just to get rejected by seven different technologies. It's exhausting.”

What’s your take on the topic? Does the telephone feature on your smartphone gather dust or is your speed-dial filled with numbers? Feel free to share your thoughts below, but please, no calls.

Why can’t we just be bloggers?

Jill Notkin — Wed, 18 May 2011 10:16:22 PDT

The conversation continues to swirl in the blogosphere – are bloggers considered journalists? Writers? Columnists? Essayists? Critics? What are we? I mean, we have a public platform and we write on it. And sometimes we’re treated like something we’re not, but we’re also really smart people. So, why the constant debate?

When you write on a blogging platform, it’s my estimation that you are a blogger. And since we are in fact writing, that could make us writers as well. Sounds fair, right? I went to j-school and even graduated with a degree in journalism, but this doesn’t make me a journalist because my medium at the moment is a blog. If that should ever shift to traditional media such as television, magazines, or newspapers, I will probably use the training I received in school, adhere to the guidelines typically used by journalists, and consider myself as such. But until I actually follow the rules outlined in the AP Stylebook, I’m not a journalist.

The thing is, PR firms often mistake us for journalists so it’s understandable that we might be confused as well. Or rather, PR sometimes asks us to behave like traditional press – to disseminate information about their clients in a non-opinionated, objective manner. This behavior is just atypical of bloggers who have opinions about pretty much everything and aren’t shy to share them. Also, for most of us, unless we’re super moved by the content in a press release, we’re more likely to delete it, unread, than actually consider posting it.

Or, at least I am.

I like being contacted by PR people who know how to work with bloggers. I enjoy working with agencies that understand what separates bloggers from journalists. Because as a person who has held a job on both sides of the fence, throw in the fact that I’m a blogger as well, it can be said that I know the difference.

So that’s that. Bloggers, let’s be proud of the fact that we belong to a fast emerging community that’s not only well-respected, but slightly more interesting than “regular people.”

Are you using location-based services?

Jill Notkin — Mon, 09 May 2011 22:02:27 PDT

I have Foursquare downloaded to my BlackBerry. I also have a mobile version of Facebook, which offers a “Places” feature, allowing users to check-in wherever they are. It’s really rare that I ever use either of them.

I’m tech-savvy. I love apps that are useful and can admit to being slightly obsessed with my mobile device. But I just can’t seem to get into the whole idea of yelling my location from the virtual rooftop.

I can’t be alone in this. I know - we’re all bloggers and are prone to talking about everything from what we ate for dinner to how many times a week we’re doing it. (OK, maybe not all of us but you get the drift). But where I’m at every moment of the day? Notsomuch.

Clearly someone is lovin’ up LBSes, because according to this piece on Mobile Marketer, many brands “are using different types of location-based services such as foursquare, Where, Facebook Places, Placecast and Gowalla to get the word out about new products or to reward loyal consumers.” And they’re doing this because they feel they’re reaching somebody.

In March, coffee behemoth, Starbucks, celebrated its 40th anniversary by randomly awarding $40 gift cards to customers who checked in using Foursquare. I actually only heard about this promotion when I went looking for it. And I’m online CONSTANTLY.

I’m curious to hear if others are on the LBS bandwagon. Do you have an app downloaded? If so, what is your motivation for checking in? Or are you waiting for some real benefit to checking in before bothering?

Jill Notkin blogs at The Daily Grind of a Work at Home Mom when she’s not tweeting@AlexCaseyBaby. She is also the Managing Director of MotherTalk division at Mom Central Consulting.

Editing published blog posts – yay or nay?

Jill Notkin — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 11:45:19 PDT

I’ve been blogging in a public forum for four years. On my personal blog, I have over 600 posts. In all that time, I’ve been asked to edit or remove a blog post a total of two times.

That equals two extra times in my life that I’ve been irritated by my blog. Unnecessarily.

The first incident came in the form of a post I’d written about an old acquaintance who had made an enormous life decision that was very much out of the ordinary. I was inspired to write about it, and I did so without naming names, or outing the subject in any way. I did send a link to the person, who proceeded to comment on the post, using her name.

Later, the person decided that being so “out” was generating criticism and since her story had become somewhat viral, she became uncomfortable.

At first, she simply requested that I remove her name from the comment she’d left, but as we know, Google doesn’t forget. It wasn’t long before I was asked to remove the post. I did it after some thought, but only because the benefit to taking it down for her far outweighed the benefit I reaped by keeping it up.

The second incident was recent. Famously mum about my private life, especially on my blog, I’d come clean in one quick sentence about some current changes in my own life. Really, it was three words embedded within a post, a very secondary detail within the scope of the topic I was covering. But the person on the other side of my three words was not comfortable with them.

They were my words. About ME. About my life. My readers, many of whom have been with me since the beginning, are typically given very little about my personal life because I’m just not one to tell-all on my blog. While I wish I were, it’s just not me. But it was time for me to put myself out there a bit, even if it was just a little detail that no one probably cared about.

Within about 10 minutes, I got a call from the only other person this might matter to, letting me know that this was causing a bit of discomfort. I became annoyed, even a bit angry, because it was about ME, I’d struggled for a while, deciding whether or not I wanted to get a little personal on my blog.

Story short – I took the three words out. Again, my intention is never to hurt anyone else. Nor did the benefits of keeping the words in there outweigh the potential damage they might cause, whether I agreed with it or not. Bottom line – I changed my posts but I didn’t do it enthusiastically.

There are times we, at Mom Central, ask bloggers to change a factual piece or info or to use a more recent image. We don’t ask bloggers to remove or significantly amend posts, because that would reduce the integrity and the honesty of their words. But facts are different from personal stories.

Have you ever felt compelled to edit or remove a publish post?

Jill Notkin blogs at The Daily Grind of a Work at Home Mom when she’s not tweeting@AlexCaseyBaby. She is also the Managing Director of MotherTalk division at Mom Central Consulting.

Constantly connected bloggers

Jill Notkin — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 10:12:00 PDT

We all know someone who is constantly connected. Checking emails during the kids’ holiday extravaganza. Tweeting her way through a pediatrician’s appointment. Updating Facebook statuses during soccer.

I definitely know someone who is constantly connected – me.

Yup, I’m as guilty as the next blogger. I’m not simply tech-savvy, I’m tech-ADDICTED. But since they say that 12-step programs really do work, I’m actually going to take a peek and see which of these steps make sense for me to implement in order to reduce my online hours. Because I’m certain that I wouldn’t start shaking if I took a 24-hour break from Facebook.

Are you guilty too? I mean, as bloggers, part of the job requires us to stay connected and keep on top of trends. How else would we find fodder for content if we weren’t standing by when the latest Mama drama broke out? We need to be present when that crazy pitch comes through so we can be part of the inevitable convo with our virtual BFFs.

Except we don’t.

From today on, I’m changing my habits. I vow NOT to check my BlackBerry when I rouse at 3 am to take a bathroom break.

I promise to actually watch an entire episode of Max and Ruby without Tweeting how dumb Max and Ruby is.

I hereby swear that I will try my very best not to update my Facebook status every time I have a new emotion.

I’m actually going to try to be more present to enjoy events “in real life”, rather than document them. Because I’m afraid that I might be missing some things occurring right before my eyes as opposed to what’s happening on my screen.

Join me?

Jill Notkin blogs at The Daily Grind of a Work at Home Mom when she’s not tweeting @AlexCaseyBaby. She is also the Managing Director of MotherTalk division at Mom Central Consulting.

Addendum: Text links, SEO and stupid human tricks

Jill Notkin — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 16:08:35 PDT

I’m glad to see that people are reading Blogger U and the conversation it generates is inspiring and energizing for me. However, I realize I may have gotten lost in the heat of the moment while writing this post, and that the words I chose were too strong.

My intention was not to call out any particular brand, but to bring attention to a lesser-known tactic for increasing a brand’s SEO. I’m sure that many bloggers have worked successfully with this brand, and that’s great, but it was my experience that prompted the post. However in order for it to truly teach, I should have presented it differently.

The intention of Blogger University is to be thought provoking and informative, but not inflammatory. And going forward, it shall be just that.

Jill Notkin blogs at The Daily Grind of a Work at Home Mom when she’s not tweeting@AlexCaseyBaby. She is also the Managing Director of MotherTalk division at Mom Central Consulting.

Text links, SEO and stupid human tricks

Jill Notkin — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 13:20:44 PDT

Last month, retail behemoth J.C. Penney got nailed by Google for using black hat SEO tactics and was subsequently penalized for the under-handed methods in search. In other words, they were seriously busted.

But J.C. Penney is hardly alone in their foray into attempting to cheat the web.

The latest comes in the form of CSN Stores, an online conglomerate of 250 different shopping sites with individual names, and they are up to the same type of practice, only they are involving bloggers.

Last May, a member of the promotions team at CSN Stores contacted me to determine my interest in working with them to generate awareness for their stores. At the time, they were offering a $50 gift card to use on any of their hundreds of webstores in exchange for a blog review. I was swamped, and couldn’t find time to work the opportunity into my calendar.

Things eased up for me, oh, about a month ago and I returned to the CSN Stores team to find out what they were working on and how I could help. I was also curious to find out about their blogger outreach program since I kept seeing reviews and giveaways sprouting up on blogs everywhere (though no one I know well had worked with them).

The response I received was prompt and disheartening. First, they were asking for a pre-post (what’s a pre-post??) announcing my impending post. Ridiculous.

Then, this:

“When you are ready to do the initial post, please link the term 'office furniture' to www. csnofficefurniture. com as the FIRST and ONLY link in your post. I would just ask that you have it flow as naturally as possible within the context of the post. I am currently responsible for improving traffic to that site, so it would be greatly appreciated if you could do that…”

I was provided examples of what this would look like and left with my thoughts.

I responded by letting the team member know that not only was I not interested in weird text link baiting within my post, but that I couldn’t imagine any self-respecting blogger actually engaging in this type of ~~scheme~~ campaign. I would buy my toaster elsewhere, thankyouverymuch.

So what does this mean for us bloggers? Well, it doesn’t mean that ALL text links are bad. Text links, in the form of an ad on a sidebar, carefully placed so as not to detract from your fantastic content, is fair game. Be sure to ask good money for a text link though, since their value to the brand is sky high.

Secondly, I would urge you not to engage in campaigns like this. While they’re not illegal, they could be considered cheating by Google. Do you really want to be an accessory to this bad behavior? For $50, I’ll keep my integrity and save myself available for real, solid opportunities. And who knows what gem the next email will hold?

Jill Notkin blogs at The Daily Grind of a Work at Home Mom when she’s not tweeting@AlexCaseyBaby. She is also the Managing Director of MotherTalk division at Mom Central Consulting.

When bloggers speak, brands listen

Jill Notkin — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 10:25:31 PST

About 18 or so months ago, I had an incident at a large retail store. In short, my credit info was stolen by a cashier and used to make the employee’s family members happy on Christmas morning. After receiving a bill for over $2,000 in my mailbox in January, I spent A LOT of time on the phone with the credit card company trying to get to the bottom of it, as well as to dispute the charges.

It was a lot of time spent on something I had no part in creating. And I was mad. Mad enough to take to my blog. Several times.

And then I started seeing more and more bloggers using their blogs as stomping grounds, and I have to admit it made me kind of uncomfortable. It sort of felt like when a friend starts bad-mouthing a mutual acquaintance, going off and becoming all crazy aggressive and sounding a tad insane.

Using social media responsibly

So I wrote this post, encouraging bloggers not to call out any and every person/brand/store who has ever wronged them, because it comes off as a little nutty. And it usually doesn’t serve much purpose unless you’ve exhausted all other avenues and simply are unable to bring attention to an issue pending resolution.

So, my point: last week I took my car in because it was sounding sick. Two days later, I was told that my transmission is done and it’ll be $5,000 to replace. The dealer was appealing to the car company for assistance, who came back with an agreement to pay 50% of the repair.

A high-end car with just 50,000 miles should not need a new transmission unless it’s faulty. So being left with a $2,500 bill I felt was not responsibility, I got on the phone with the company’s headquarters. I spoke to a woman who let us know that not only were we responsible for the payment, but that the decision was final and there was no one we could talk to.

So I tweeted:

The company responded quickly, and asked for my contact info. A few minutes later, I noticed someone arriving on my blog from Torrance, California where Lexus is headquartered. They were doing their homework. Not long after that, I got a call from the woman who had previously told us that the case was closed, letting me know that Lexus had indeed decided to cover my repair 100% and that the decision was based solely on the low mileage of the vehicle.

Later that evening, Lexus’s social media manager took time to call and thank me for my professionalism in the matter. I took this to mean, thank you for NOT taking to your blog and Twitter and publicly bashing our brand to smithereens.

Use your power for good

The point is this: bloggers do wield some power. However, it’s not always necessary to make aggressive demands on a public forum. I’d like to think that any Joe Shmoe would have received the same result had he just thought to be resourceful and query the Twitter contact. I was impressed with how this brand handled what could have been a big stress-factor for me. Just something for us bloggers to keep in mind next time our instinct tells us to use our platforms as a war zone.

Jill Notkin blogs at The Daily Grind of a Work at Home Mom when she’s not tweeting@AlexCaseyBaby. She is also the Managing Director of MotherTalk division at Mom Central Consulting.

Bloggers are people, too

Jill Notkin — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 12:56:35 PST

We all know the type – a blogger who sits perched behind her desk all day blogging, tweeting, Facebook’ing like crazy. Telling all and leaving nothing out. Chances are, if you met her, she would be a laugh a minute, the life of the party, and your new BFF.

Or, maybe not.

Bloggers, securely fastened behind their computer screens, are very courageous people. But get them in public, and you may find that they’re not as outgoing as they seem.

Or maybe they are. But until you meet, how will you know?

The scene is familiar - at every blogger event, someone feels let down by the characters in the room. It’s happened to me. And I’m sure it’s happened to you.

But the truth is, with all the finger-pointing and “this group is so cliquey” and “who does she think she is” going on, are we really doing our part to control our experience? Or are we making our good time someone else’s problem?

Attending a blogger event is just like attending any other social or networking event - you get out of it what you put in. I’ve been to conferences where I’ve been the wallflower and come out of it having had a meh experience. But anytime I come out of my shell, put myself out there and actually behave in a way that is more magnetic, I have a ball.

A blogger attended a local event last week and felt snubbed by the other attendees. What’s more, she was told her seats were taken and had to find someplace to sit for herself and her child. As a person who curates events, this is unacceptable.

However, is it possible that feeling blown-off by other bloggers was largely a result of her already stressful experience? After all, everyone there was wrangling at least a kid or two. It was an evening event (whiny, tired kids). And the venue was very stimulating for the kids. Could it be that folks were having their own challenges that day?

Blogger or not, we’re all in charge of ourselves. Social etiquette remains largely consistent under most circumstances. We control our fun. No matter where we are, it is no one else’s responsibility to ensure we meet people or enjoy ourselves. I’ll remind myself of this next time I set out in this big, bad world.

Jill Notkin blogs at The Daily Grind of a Work at Home Mom when she’s not tweeting @AlexCaseyBaby.