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Social Desire

A Girl's Desire for Social Media and Everything Web 2.0


Interview with Erik Qualman on Social Media OptimizationNovember 20

Next month from December 8th thru December 12th is the Search Engine Strategies Conference in Chicago, IL. SES Chicago is the only major Search Marketing Conference and Expo in the Midwest and I’m fortunate enough to not only be attending but to be doing a couple Pre-Show interviews. Today I’m interviewing Erik Qualman.

Erik Qualman is a Search Engine Watch Expert and the Global VP of Online Marketing for EF Education. He’s also an acclaimed fiction author. Erik will be speaking on the Social Media Optimization panel along with Liana Evans and Jonathan Ashton. This is going to be an awesome session to attend if you are a search marketer. Join me….. I’m attending.

Q: Why Should a business worry about Social Media Optimization?

How to Set up a Professional Twitter ProfileNovember 6

Twitter is an awesome Social Media tool for businesses. For those who are beginners at Twitter you should know that it is a great way to connect with not only other business owners in your niche, but it is also a superb way to converse with your customers and potential customers.

But, in order to connect with these business owners and consumers they need to be following you on Twitter….. following your conversations. If a member of the Twitter community is not following you they can not hear you. So, in order for Twitter to work effectively you need to get members to follow you.

One sure fire way of NOT getting any followers is to use the Twitter default avatar. And, using the default Twitter profile page isn’t that much better. For many people when they see the default avatar they think its one of a few things….

  1. A computer bot - not a real person
  2. A member that doesn’t take the community seriously
  3. A brand new member that just hasn’t had a chance to add the avatar

To put the importance of an avatar in perspective think of it this way… an avatar is a visual symbol of you or your company.

Some people are very visual. In order for these visual thinking people to remember you or your business they will probably have an easier time remembering your avatar. So, having an avatar that is something other than the default avatar is extremely important.

As a continuation of my "Basic Tips of Adding Social Media to your Business" here is a tutorial for how-to set up a Professional Twitter Profile in Minutes….

How to set up a Professional Twitter Profile in Minutes

 

Values in Social Media - Guest Post on Search Engine PeopleOctober 30

My good friend Ruud Hein over at Search Engine People asked me earlier this month if I would like to write a guest post on the Search Engine People Blog. I was thrilled of course…. I am a huge fan of SEP. I have been a loyal reader of that blog since I met Jeff Quipp on Sphinn about 16 months ago.

The truth is I feel that the majority of the Search Engine People staff have got Social Media right. Social Media is all about conversations and collaborating with others online. But, these interactions need to be genuine… they need to be sincere. Jeff Quipp and the rest of the staff at Search Engine People understand that.

So, to me it made perfect sense for my Guest Post on Search Engine People to be about the

Adding Conversation back into your Business - My First Video PostOctober 22

I am very excited about this…… I have created my very first Video Post. Please keep in my that the video quality is not perfect. I recorded it using my Laptop’s Webcam. My new Flip arrives next week which will make my future video posts much more clear. At any rate, I am extremely excited to present to you a video post.

This will be a first in a continuing series of video posts on Basic Tips of Adding Social Media to your Business.

Adding Conversation Back into your Business with Social Media

I wrote a post on Blissfully Domestic just yesterday regarding The Power of the Consumer using Social Media. In it I discuss how the real power has moved from the companies to the consumers. Both the video and that post go hand-in-hand together.

Things that I learned from attending SMX East…. without really attending SMX East.October 12

Last October I attended the IM Charity Party the night before SMX East was to begin. I had to go home the very next morning without attending SMX. I was determined after meeting all of those wonderful people last year that I would attend the conference in 2008. However, when the time came I just didn’t have the extra money for the conference itself. With my 12 year old getting braces this year, The Westin costing $350 a night, and with me wanting to attend more conferences this year…. I just couldn’t pull the cost of the entire conference. I instead decided to just pay for the Networking Pass, but was worried that I would get as much from it as I was spending to go to NYC. I’m writing to say, It is totally worth every penny!!!

Things I Learned from getting the SMX Networking Pass

  • Amazing breed of people, almost super hero like, that have this never ending energy and stomachs for endless drinking…. yet they are some of the most professional people I have ever met.