Social Media

Your Blog – Not Just a Place to Write!

We're fairly certain that most people think of blogging as just writing, writing and writing some more. Well think again! There are so many different content formats that can be added to a blog.

Let's take a look at a few of them…

1. Video:

There are more than one way to use video on a blog, and more than one type or style of video. There is the standard Talking Head variety… just film yourself talking about a subject of choice and post it in your blog. Pretty simple.

Then there's the next step up… a "YouTube" type of video. One with a little more in it than just you. This may get the visitors to your blog to stay a while longer than they normally would have.

There is also another format that looks like video, really engages your visitor and allows them to abs0rb the information from your post in a user-controlled, searchable presentation.

2. Pictures:

OK… we've talked about video… the "moving pictures", the presentations that have "action". But still pictures are also an awesome addition to a blog post. A picture is worth a thousand words, they stay in your readers' minds longer and have more impact than just words.

3. Audio:

There are programs that allow you to record audio and then place it in your blog. This is another good way to get the visitors to your blog to hang out a bit longer. Instead of having to take the time to read text, they can listen to it. Again, involving them in a different way.

So… we're wondering…

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As well… let us know what other types of media you have used, which one is your favorite, and which one you still have challenges with in the comments section below.

Basically, the main point here is this… mix it up! Have fun! Use other formats of information and content delivery in your blog. There's a great chance your visitors will spend more time there and make return visits more often.

About the Authors

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Pat and Lorna Shanks deliver the "COOL" Goods and connections to "COOL" People. They provide tips, tools, education and informative sessions with knowledgeable people that enable entrepreneurs, independent professionals and small business owners to attract more clients and make more money. For more "COOL" tips, tools, knowledge and people, go to www.TheCoolestCouple.com or follow us on Twitter.

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Filed Under: Blogs, Cool Knowledge, Pat and Lorna Shanks Tagged With: Audio, Blog, Pictures, Video

Twitter… Yes, It is a Bonus for Your Business Too

By Pat & Lorna 135 Comments

Yes, Twitter is a Social Networking site, and is a place where people go to connect and build relationships. And… it is also a place that can boost the traffic to your site and reach more prospective clients and customers.

So… just to give you a perspective on how this can work, we've come up with 7 reasons how Twitter can help you in your business:

Reason 1 – It's Social – One of the rules in a Social Network (SN) is to be 80% social and 20% informative. Twitter is one SN where your current customers and potential customers can learn to “know, like and trust” you. When you are being helpful with your posts and articles you are also being social, and as you are being social you are also marketing and informing.

Reason 2 – Extends Your Reach – Extending your reach means to get your marketing message and influence in front of as many eyes and warm bodies as possible. When you tweet your posts and articles on Twitter, you are not only reaching those who are following you, you are also reaching everyone that follows each person who follows you. We call that Compounding Social Networking and that can happen when someone Re-Tweets (RT) your information to their SN group.

Reason 3 – It’s Present Marketing – In many ways Twitter is like Instant Marketing Messaging – you get an instant response from many people who are using Twitter at that point in time. Many internet marketers are beginning to notice that their Twitter list is many times more responsive than their email list.

Reason 4 – Gives You Expert Status – Mentioning your posts and articles and using them to answer questions increases your expert status in the eyes of the tweeting public. And with some of the latest tracking services you can find out what people are responding to. Because this is a new frontier, there is still time for the majority of you to get in and establish your expert status in your niche.

Reason 5 – Spread The Word – If you send out more than one email message a day to your list, people will unsubscribe in droves. With Twitter you can send out multiple 140-character tweets (which contain marketing and informational tips) in one day. In fact, we encourage you to, because your followers are on at different times throughout the day. And don’t forget they are also on different time zones as well. People can choose not to follow you, but we have found those numbers to be quite low. Of course, there is a happy medium… and there is such a thing as too much… just remember the social side.

Reason 6 – Be Helpful – "People don't care how much you know–until they know how much you care." ~ John Maxwell. So when you are having conversations in Twitter and you see a question where one of your posts or articles could help, you are being very helpful to someone when you refer them to your information. How's that for increasing your "know, like and trust" factor?

Reason 7 – It's Automatic – You can set up your blog to automatically tweet your blog post titles to Twitter. If you have an EzineArticles.com account, you can also automatically repurpose your brand new articles onto Twitter as well. So when your blog post and/or article is published, it will automatically show up on Twitter without you having to lift a finger. That is magic!

So get to know people on Twitter, have them get to know you… the social side is a blast. And remember, help them out with your expertise and point them to your valuable information or services. After all… that's what business is about… helping others to succeed.

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Filed Under: Cool Tips, Pat and Lorna Shanks, Twitter Tagged With: Business, Social Networking, Twitter

Busy…? Create Systems and Drop that Nasty Word from Your Vocabulary

By Pat & Lorna 34 Comments

Have you ever apologized for not following through on something because you were "so busy"? Be it a family member, friend, business associate or customer… it conveys to them that perhaps they aren't that important to you… and you have other things that come first.

Yet we're pretty sure that we've all been in this scenario… family time, important time-sensitive projects, and day-to-day business activities… all at once! So we're not lying to others when we say we've been busy, and the stress of it can be totally overwhelming.

The cure for this situation? Systems!

While you are working to get your project completed, the other activities in your business start falling behind. But they don't have to. If you set up systems to handle your regular business activities they can happen almost automatically.

Write down the activities you do in one day, then do it again the next day, and the next, and so on. After a few days you should be able to discover which activities you do over and over again… on a regular basis. These are the activities that you can and should systematize.

If these activities can be completed automatically for you, or if the time to do them can be cut to a fraction of the normal time, wouldn't that be beneficial? We believe it is.

Some activities that we've developed systems for:
<ul>
<li> Blog Posts – We write a few when we have time and then have them scheduled to come up in our blog on specific dates.</li>
<li> Twitter – We schedule certain Tweets in advance to be posted at a later time or date.</li>
<li> Article Writing – Our system for writing articles at times also involves outsourcing, which is another way to get things done faster, better, and with the least amount of effort on your part.</li>
</ul>
These are some of our examples. Think about it… what can you systematize?

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