Propeller Adds User Groups
I’ll admit… I’ve been slow to adopt Propeller as a regular daily stop of mine. Propeller, owned by AOL, has never really been that attractive to me for one reason or another.
The site, like Digg, Slashdot, R-igg, and Sphinn, uses an ALGO that creates an environment where users determine what news is hot and what is not.
It’s a good idea, but one that many others have already implemented and done a good job of. So Propeller hasn’t really brought anything new to the table. Until now that is.
Propeller just launched user groups. A feature that Digg hasn’t been able to put to good use, and a feature that may very well attract new users such as myself. There are already user groups for a plethora of interest… such as social media, search engines, satire, etc. I just started a group called Bloggers Lounge, and I’m looking forward to messing around with it and inviting some friends.
Overall I give the new groups feature two thumbs up, and I think it’s a good move on Propeller’s part.
Good stuff!
Eenie Meenie Miney Moe…Which Social Network’s best, I’d like to know.
I’m in Austin, at the Texas AFP conference, and on one of the panel discussions, David Almacy, former White House Internet Director and current V.P. of Digital Strategies at Waggener Edstrom Worldwide, spoke about social networking and why it’s important. In the process of explaining social networking at its impact on the web, he provided list of the top ten social networks as of May of 2008. The list was compiled by Nielson, and includes only purely “social” networks, not social bookmarking sites (like reddit, del.icio.us, or Stumbleupon) nor social news sites (like Digg, R-igg, GOPHub, or Propeller):
Social networking is a good way to promote your online presence, including your blog. Also, I’ve found that having a profile on a top social network has helped me shoot right to the top of the search engine results under my name, the name of my various blogs, and best of all, in some cases, the subject matter of my blogs.
Obviously, we don’t have time to be involved in all of these networks, especially if we want to do anything else. So, how do we decide which ones to choose? One thing to look at is which ones are growing? LinkedIN, Imeem, Facebook, and Reunion have the largest growth rates over the last year, according to Nielson. I would prefer to concentrate on one or more of these, rather than ones that have had single-digit or negative growth rates recently.
Also, the content matter of your blog and your online activity might dictate which social networks will work best for you. For example, Imeem focuses on music and online technology surrounding music, and Penguin is for children, so these may not be the best places to network if your blogging about politics, or sports.
Finally, I would suggest finding a network that is forward-thinking in terms of moving into Web 3.0.. I have said many times that if a person only has time to learn one social networking site, it should be Facebook, because of its ability to interact with the other social networking sites, and the ability to manage so much of your online activity from one place, including blog promotion, communication, and growing a network.
Whichever one you choose, know that in order for the network to work for you, you’ll have to spend some time there, and interact with other users for other reasons that simply promoting yourself and your blog online. So, be sure it’s one that you will enjoy, and one that will accomplish what you need it to.
Who Are You?
It may seem like a strange question at first, but it is an important one for you to ponder. When I look at company’s websites often times they seem scattered and convoluted. Their problem usually comes down to this simple question going unanswered. Here is what I mean.
If you are an IT company and you are putting together a website, what do you want it to say about you? What is your specialty? Desktops? Servers? Routers? Maybe you are a one stop IT shop and you handle them all. There is nothing wrong with that, but if you have never really sat down and defined it, your message will lack focus. It you are a single point of contact for everything IT, say that.
The same principles apply to blogging. What is your blog about? Politics? SEO? Gadgets? Maybe it is just about you and your happenings. There is nothing wrong with that at all. I have a self titled blog that does exactly that, but you need to define that from the get go. Here is why.
If you have a knitting blog, and your visitors come to read about knitting and find two posts about your pet rock and a post about your favorite Chia pet, you risk losing them to a competing knitting blog.
If you take the time to figure out who you are and what you are about as a company or a blog, you will it will be very easy to spot yourself getting off track of your message. A consistent and congruent message will give you credibility, encourage people to own your product or service, or keep them coming back to your blog.
Tuning In to iRadio
Welcome to BlogTalkRadio’s Politics Today for Monday, July 14. I’m your host, John Smith, coming to you live from Washington, D.C., as I do every Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time.
We’ve got a fantastic show for you this evening. Joining us later will be presidential frontrunner Barack Obama, who’ll be taking your calls and questions - so be sure to email us at PoliticsToday@BlogTalkRadio.com. We’ll be talking with Senator Obama about his newly chosen running mate, John Edwards.
But first we’ll chat with a former commander in chief - Bill Clinton - about how he sees the race playing out. Welcome, President Clinton . . .
That’s a sample intro that was suggested in BlogTalkRadio’s newsletter this week. But before we get into that, let me introduce myself. I’m Jenn Sierra, and most folks know me from the Ft. Hard Knox blog or Facebook group. I’m honored to be included here. I’m still learning about blogging, social networking, and SEO, and am looking forward to sharing my experiences as I go along. At the very least, perhaps they will amuse you.
Blogging here isn’t the only thing I tried for the first time this week - I also tried my hand at live iRadio. So far, I’ve produced four podcasts using this method; the best of those four is this one, Why you need a Facebook account, and what to do with it, and as you’ll be able to here, I still need A LOT of practice. I know I also have a lot to learn, but this is what I’ve learned so far: Continue Reading >>
Drawing in the Looky Lous
Since this is my first post here, let me take a minute to introduce myself. I work in sales and marketing for a telecom and IT company and I have known Eric for a few years now. I am not the SEO expert that Eric is, but I have substantial experience in the sales and marketing fields with a pinch of web design and a dash of blogging. I am here to share a bit of my melting pot of random knowledge. So here are 3 keys to drawing in looky lous.
1. The 3 second rule is in effect. And I’m not referring to that candy bar you just dropped. What I am telling you is that you have 3 seconds from the time someone stumbles across your site before they decide if you offer what they are looking for. Most times the easiest way to accomplish that goal is through the use of pictures.
Let’s face it, most people don’t read very fast and they don’t have a long attention span. If you can show your site visitors a picture of what you do, they will be motivated to investigate farther. Sometimes this can be more difficult than others.
If your site is about cars, it’s pretty easy to find a picture of a car. But if your site is about, oh I dunno, SEO, this task is exponentially more difficult. How do you describe SEO with a picture? With some creativity, a simple yet meaningful logo says it all. The bottom line is spend some time looking at your site in short blasts and ask yourself, if I stumbled across my site via a search engine or link, would I be able to tell in 3 seconds or less what this site is all about?
2. The 1 click rule is equally important. Your readers need to be able to get to the main topics of your site in one click from your home page. Here’s an example. If you have that same blog about cars from the last topic, and you find out that you have an article about Mustangs on the front page of digg, you better get a link, tab, or logo on your home page to take people to your Mustang section. You have to remember, most internet users are members of the microwave generation. We want the world and we want it in two minutes or less. If you want to draw us in, you gotta give us what we are looking for quickly or we will move on.
3. Make it shiny. Give your readers a little something that is pleasing to the eye. It doesn’t take much and you don’t have to be a graphic designer to pull it off. Do some research into what colors evoke what emotions. The colors chosen for this site are very relaxing and organic. The perfect choice for a site whose theme is “fresh”.
So take some time to really think about the first few seconds after a visitor finds your site.
