by Scott Howard | Aug 7, 2014 | ScLoHo's Web World
There is a fine line between doing too much and not enough online,
Actually there is a zone that is just right for you. And it’s different for each person.
I was reviewing my online blog activity and noticed that cranked out a lot of content between 2008 and 2011. Between 2000 and 5000 posts per year!
That was just for fun and perhaps an obsession. I was not getting paid for any of this activity, at least not directly.
These days I’m doing 5 sometimes 6 updates per week. That’s around 250 in 2014.
In some peoples mind that number is a lot. But for me it’s a comfortable pace.
I am still just doing this for myself. No one is paying me to write, or even telling me to post. It’s just something I do.
A daily posting is a comfortable pace for me to balance with the rest of my life which involves family, friends, volunteering and my paid position in advertising and marketing consulting with WOWO Radio.
Because this is my own pet project, I don’t really care about the analytics and trying to determine the perfect number. However if I was getting paid for my online activity like I was last year when I managed the social media for international party supplier, Shindigz and their multiple brands, you bet I’d be looking for the perfect number of posts, updates and the like with all my web activity. If this is your job, then you need to dig in and continually tweak what you are doing.
There’s multiple ways to stay organized and even as I do this just for my own outlet, I simply have a mental editorial calender that I follow. Nearly everything that appears on this site is written and scheduled ahead of time which you can do to. This wasn’t possible with the old blogging platforms 10 years ago.
So, determine what your Zone is. Be able to answer the “why” questions when someone wants to know about what you are doing online. And experiment. The web is your playground.
by Scott Howard | Jul 17, 2014 | ScLoHo's Web World
There are tons of articles that claim to know the secret sauce that will make you immensely popular and wealthy with social media.
This isn’t one of them.
Popularity and wealth are shallow goals in my opinion.
However they may be a result of doing others things.
I must point out again my reason for doing the things I do is to help people connect with others.
It’s that simple and that direct. Nearly everything I do professionally and a lot of the personal stuff is about connections and relationships.
So, now that you know where I am coming from, let’s talk about these 3 significant Social Media Tips to Stimulate Connections.
- Pick two or more Social Media platforms that you are going to use. If you are going to stick to just two, my current recommendations are Facebook and LinkedIn. Some people like to keep their personal and professional lives separate and put only personal things on Facebook and only business related stuff on LinkedIn. I only agree with 1/2 of this method. While I keep the stuff I put on LinkedIn related to my professional life and activities, (by not posting cat videos, for example on my LinkedIn page), I invite people I know to become a connection and friend on both platforms.
- Fill out your profiles on the Social Media platforms you have selected. Nothing paints a negative image of you faster than a Social Media profile that is incomplete. It shows that you don’t care, that you can’t be relied on to finish what you start, and if there are typos, it shows you are too lazy to spell check. Take the time to completely fill out the basic information and include appropriate pictures. If you are a woman, don’t use that bikini shot from last weekend as your profile picture on LinkedIn, unless you are a model. Guys, your Facebook profile picture should not be from your last visit to the bar, unless you work there or own the place. Is the info on your social media profiles current, up to date and correct? Better double check and click on those links you included a few years ago.
- Use your Social Media Platforms. Go ahead and be social. Post a picture every once in awhile to Facebook. I will post about 5 to 10 times a week. Not all on the same day, but nearly everyday. Check to see who has a birthday and wish them a happy one. Thank someone for something. There are plenty of good things you can do with Facebook besides play games and spread hate. Have fun. Comment on something someone else has shared. You are stimulating your connections by doing this. One last tip and this pertains to LinkedIn. At least once a year, change your Title, the one under your name at the top of your profile. It doesn’t have to be anything drastic. I changed mine this week to more accurately reflect what I do. I had several people contact me asking about what I am now doing and want to connect with me to learn more.
And one more tip. Unless you have something to hide, make your social media profiles and posts public. It’s all about being social after all.
by Scott Howard | Jul 11, 2014 | ScLoHo's Web World
What would you do if you lost all of your digital data?
Over the past 11 years I have been buying my own laptop and desktop computers, I have never had a hard drive crash.
Maybe it was because I was buying a new machine every year or two and so I didn’t wear them out.
There was one place I worked that had hard drive crashes and it was after the fact that they discovered that their backups were not really being done.
(I recall 25 years ago when my Mom used to carry floppy disc backups home every night, just in case).
But any data losses I’ve personally experience was due to my own fault. Deleting stuff that I wanted later, or saving stuff on a flash drive that I later lost.
A couple of years ago I started using Dropbox as a system that replaced my flash drive habit.
I was using flash drives to move data from one computer to another. A work project that I wanted to complete at home, or perhaps a spreadsheet from home that I wanted to print at work.
A few years ago I had a clunky old Windows XP laptop that was owned by the company I worked for and it was nearly impossible to use, compared to my sleek Windows 7 Ultrabook laptop. Because there were certain programs that I had to use my work laptop for, I couldn’t ditch it entirely. But what I did was all my other work files went into a Dropbox account folder that I could access from either computer.
Later, when I was working with a brand new shiny desktop computer at work, I set up a new Dropbox account so I could have access to my work projects when I was out of the office, (which was 40 miles from home.)
But what about the backups?
I discovered the value of Dropbox as a backup service in 2013 when I left one job and they deleted all of my work Dropbox folders off my company laptop before I could move them somewhere else. I was mad for a couple of hours until I discovered something.
Dropbox saves your stuff in two (or more) places. It creates a Dropbox folder that resides on your computer and it also keeps an identical copy on their servers in the cloud. Even though my former employer thought they deleted all my work product, I was able to sign in to Dropbox.com and there was all my stuff. They don’t keep it online forever, usually 30 days or less, but I was able to recover everything I had created for work and save it again.
Want to try it? You’ll get 2GB of free storage right away and there are ways to get up to 16GB of free storage when you refer others and they sign up for Dropbox!
by Scott Howard | Jul 3, 2014 | ScLoHo's Web World
I’ve heard people say social media doesn’t work and my 1st question is, “Why do you say that?”
Often it because whatever their expectations were, they were not met. One of the expectations has to do with people reading what they post. It could be a blog post, a news release, or something on one of the social media platforms.
As we prepare for a long holiday weekend in the U.S.A., here are 3 ways to get people to read what you wrote:
- Invite them. Sounds simple enough, but this is often neglected. You have to promote with a link on the appropriate social media platform. Perhaps an email too. When I say appropriate I mean you need to understand the differences between Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, Google+, and any other social media platform you are tempted to use. Each is different so don’t autopost to all of them the same thing.
- Write and Update regularly. I don’t care if it’s your blog, or Facebook or Twitter, you need to be actively engaged. Step it up a notch or two. Go from 1 blog post a month to 1 each week. Tweet a few times a day and converse back and forth with others. Post something on Facebook a few times a week. These are my recommended minimums that a lot of people are not doing. The same people who say it doesn’t work. Let’s say you are planning on driving from New York to California this weekend. You fill up the gas tank before you leave and run out of fuel after driving all day. Would you say that driving from coast to coast doesn’t work because you didn’t refuel your tank? Same principle with your online activity. Keep it fueled regularly.
- Use odd numbered lists in your article and title of your article. I just read about this a few days ago. Studies show that a short list attracts more than a long list and that an odd number (3,5,7,etc) gets more reads than even numbered.
Lesson over. Go do it and enjoy your weekend. And yes, I will update this on the 4th of July because I’m on the 5 day a week plan.
by Scott Howard | Apr 23, 2014 | ScLoHo's Web World
It’s a LinkedIn sort of week for me.
Tuesday I was at a luncheon that was inspired by one of my LinkedIn connections and Thursday, we are going to be talking in a staff meeting about effective ways to use LinkedIn in the sales world.
It seems like there is a new wave of interest, so it’s time to share 3 Reasons to Use LinkedIn:
LinkedIn is your online contact manager. I used to have books filled with business cards from people I knew. Some of you might have used a Rolodex. Some may have a CRM (Customer Relationship Manager) system that your business uses. What if I told you there is one way to keep all your contacts current and be notified when those contacts have a change in their details? LinkedIn does that for you.
Of course the reliability of that information is dependent on each of your contacts keeping their LinkedIn profile current. So when you have a change or update in your life, be sure to update your profile.
When you create your LinkedIn profile, fill it out completely including an appropriate picture. Remember this is a professional social media network.
As you go through the steps of creating your profile, you will be invited to connect with people you already know by entering your email address. Go ahead and do this and you will start the process of creating your own LinkedIn online contact database.
LinkedIn is a way for others to find you and for you to find others. There are a number of search options. You can search through the contacts you already have. You can search for 2nd degree connections to see who you know that knows someone you want to know. You can also search for contacts in a certain industry or specific company. Explore the search features and you may find the name of an insider that can help you establish a worthwhile relationship connection.
If you have completed your profile and are keeping it up to date, you may find people will reach out to you, which usually is good. I have had people reach out to me when they wanted to spend money with me.
LinkedIn is a way to connect with others and stay up to date with things you care about, on a professional level. You will find 100’s of groups that you can join if you want. I just checked and I belong to 17 groups. You can subscribe to daily, weekly, or no email updates with each group. Mine vary. Because of my work in social media, several are social media related. But there are also a couple of local (Fort Wayne, Indiana) groups I belong to, along with a couple groups that are related to with what I do for a living, radio advertising.
Besides getting email updates from groups, I suggest you also subscribe to email updates from your contacts. This will notify you of changes, work anniversaries, and sometimes birthdays. These are great reasons to stay in touch with your contacts. LinkedIn also has its own internal message system. I use it every week.
One last thought, and this applies to not just LinkedIn but all of the social media networks I am on. I use my email as a notification alert tool. When someone contacts me on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter, I also get an email which alerts me. My email is my communication hub.
I have a smartphone with all of the social media apps, but most of my communication is done on my laptop. Each morning I check my email for updates and alerts via my phone and continue to do so during the day. However I like the full keyboard that my laptop offers when using the web.
Feel free to add your LinkedIn thoughts in the comments. And if you want to find me on LinkedIn, here I am.
by Scott Howard | Apr 8, 2014 | ScLoHo's Web World
From a conversation on Facebook:
I did a presentation a few years ago at Huntington University about branding etc…. I recall one point was social media gave everyone a voice. Years ago you had to call in to a radio show, or write a letter to the editor and perhaps they would let you on or publish your letter. Now everyone has a soap box and can proclaim to anyone who will listen how stupid or smart they are. Welcome to the world of Social Media.
Yes, it’s true.
You and I have a voice that we can amplify on various social media platforms. All it takes is an internet connection and a few minutes a day.
Some wish to post pictures of their cats or their lunch while others remain silent. There’s no right or wrong, but there are consequences of what you do or don’t do.
My advice is simple.
Be a grown up. Be respectful. Be genuine. Be yourself…the same self that you would be if we were face to face.
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