My last Auto-DM… Should any #social #media be #automated?

Posted on September 6, 2013 by Gary R Schirr

Auto-DMs are NOT cool. I un-follow or block one or more tweeps for spamming my DM box nearly every day. I am not interested in buying 10,000 followers and do not believe that I am really featured in a shocking or funny video that they have recently viewed! In fact, as I noted in an earlier post the spam in the DM box has made Twitter direct messages useless for me and many others.

But until yesterday, I used SocialOomph to send an auto-welcome to new followers, thanking them for following me and suggesting that they take a look at this blog and consider subscribing to it. About once every two months I would get an indignant or even vitriolic message about my message, but the tone of the message made it easy for me to ignore the note and consider the sender someone I probably didn’t want to communicate with anyway. It seemed I got more followers than hate notes.

Yesterday I received a couple polite notes from @marcymassura informing me that she was unfollowing me because of the horrible first impression from an auto-DM. Horrible first impression…I teach professional selling as well as social media marketing; in selling I stress the importance of the initial impression! Marcy got me focused on the issue of first impression and I decided to shut down the auto-DM.

What should be automated in social media?

Continue reading →

Posted in Social Media, twitter | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

What is in YOUR carry-on? Portable #PC, #iPad, #Kindle or #smartphone

Posted on August 20, 2013 by Gary R Schirr

We are at the beach today. But realistically how much time can one spend walking uncrowded beaches, swimming, chillin’ and such? So… what mobile computing devices did I bring with me to stay connected:

  • Portable PC,
  • iPad,
  • Kindle, or
  • Smartphone?

All of the above, of course! Any serious work – even a blog post like this one which I am typing on my Lenova – is maddeningly slow on the iPad. The iPad is great for quick viewing of social media or videos, but serious reading is way better on the Kindle. The white screen is easy to read, even in bright sun and white sand – and it doesn’t hurt if it falls on my face! And of course the smartphone is always with me and nearly always connected…but the screen is not big enough for my eyes.

My wife brought three of the four as well, but substituted 6 paperbacks for a Kindle. When we arrived in the cottage the two of us needed to sign seven devices into the WiFi provided!

To some extent it seems illogical to carry so many devices to read and connect to the internet. But what are the alternatives?

One change I would make if I had some influence over the evil wireless phone oligopoly would be to free cell phones to act as hot spots to connect other devices for those occasions when we are away from wifi range (connections are weak at the pool…).

Smartphones, especially the new larger models, may be infringing on the tablet market already. An interesting article in Ad Age argues that “Apple’s Tablet, the iPad, Is Becoming the High-End Niche Within a Niche That Big-Screen Smartphones Are Cannibalizing.” (I believe cannibalizing is the wrong word to use but it was Ad Age’s choice.) The article notes that tablet sales, even iPad sales which include the new minis, are down from a year ago.

Will the mobile world of the future comprise portable PCs and smartphones, occasionally augmented with specialized niche products?

What do you think??

Posted in Blogging, Mobile computing, Social Media | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Twelve New #Blogs!

Posted on August 6, 2013 by Gary R Schirr

The summer II session just ended… I fought against teaching social media marketing in a 6-week summer format… But my professional MBA students proved me wrong!

My fear was that the experiential nature of the course would be negatively impacted by the compressed time frame. But motivated students seemed to use the time frame as an excuse to immerse themselves in social media.

One major takeaway from this class: Twelve new blogs! They are listed below by category. Check them all out!

Food and Wine

How about learning authentic Turkish cooking… with the promise of relatively simple recipes! The author also is a skilled photographer: I think this site qualifies as “food-porn” – a technical term my friend Lin Humphrey loves to use. Recipes, Pictures and Culture! Already honored as a @foodista blog of the day…

Turkish Cooking

Cooking Healthier for Life talks about balancing health, taste and time… and getting it right! Check it out…

Interested in the vibrant wine industry of Southwest Virginia? Check out Sipping and Swirling! This blog shares experiences and pics…And gives helpful advice on when to visit and what to do!

Health and Healthy living

Dieters to think bigger. It is not just weight loss, it is about lifestyle!

You know you should exercise… but who has time to drive to a gym and spend hours and $$? This blog has video instruction on how to get good exercise at home in 10-20 minutes a day!

The Diamond Sport talks women’s fast pitch softball. Are you interested in the sport? In seeing it return to the Olympics? Or in Jennie Finch? It is all here!

Women’s Snowboarding. The look at the sport, the pros, and the struggle of an up and coming boarder… And snowboarding in the summer or summer shreds.

Have you heard about therapeutic horseback riding? This blog takes a look at this unique service and how volunteers help make it work. One of my twitter followers was inspired to sign up to help at a facility in NY state.

Home improvement and building one!

How can a busy professional also manage home improvement projects? This blog – 50 shades of paint – shows improvements carried out by an employed MBA candidate…

Have you considered building a house? This blog has advice for people taking the plunge or stories for people interested in the process… And lots of pictures!

Thrift

Cheapskate Cathy wants to help Americans stop their overspending. Great tips on living a simpler better life…within your means! Yes it may seem somewhat un-American…. but it really is a traditional American value!

Strong Opinions

This author shares his 2 cents worth about issues of pop culture and sports: Why do athletes making six figure incomes commit so many crimes? Why are we so obsessed with celebrity? What is fair in balancing mens and womens college sports?

………………………………………………

What do you think of this collection of a dozen new blogs?? I have the strong opinion that their are some great reads here!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted in Blogging, Content, Higher education, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Teaching SMM | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Do you check your Twitter DM’s regularly?

Posted on July 25, 2013 by Gary R Schirr

A couple weeks ago two twitter friends sent me emails to follow-up on direct messages (DMs) that they had earlier sent. I realized that I have not be checking my direct messages on Twitter.

I am a Hoot-suite user, so I really have no excuse: I have a preset Twitter DM column, I just need to display and check occasionally. I tweeted and FB posted an inquiry of whether followers had also stopped checking Twitter DMs.

Two of my online friends whose judgement saw DMs the same way: Mark Schaefer said “[DMs are] worst way to communicate to me. I hardly look at them any more. 90% spam”; Dawn Westerberg said “Never check – I completely ignore them”; and Kerry Gorgone added “I’ve only ever checked them rarely. Mostly spam.” I also collected some of the Twitter responses in a Spotify post here.

What is your thought about Twitter DMs?

Posted in Social Media, twitter | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Getting your blog noticed: 8 suggestions

Posted on July 10, 2013 by Gary R Schirr

Last evening (until 10 pm!) I discussed how to create a blog about your passion with 12 evening MBA students. I stressed finding a passion, checking out similar blogs, finding a niche, writing on topics the  target audience would be interested in, and writing and rewriting so it is good stuff…

They heard the REALLY good stuff about creating content from the author of Tao of Twitter and Born to Blog, Mark Schaefer! (I enjoyed hearing his 5 tips to great blogging and physics of social media…)

A keen interest from the new bloggers was naturally how to get their blog noticed. My suggestions were:

  1. Polish your title – spend some time! (50% of total??)
  2. Post in our class FB group –12 quick views
  3. Write a good blog post: the class group will pass it on.
  4. Advertise your blog post through enticing posts with links on Twitter and FB and other SM sites! (and build up your SM communities…)
  5. Read + comment on similar blogs –reciprocate?
  6. Have friends recommend your post on Digg and Reddit.
  7. If it fits – do not abuse this – link in a comment to another article on a different blog. (Reputation risk if abused…)
  8. Join a support group on www.triberr.com. (Similar to class group but new bloggers)

What did I miss? What should I add???? Can you get me to TEN??

Posted in Blogging, Content, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Teaching SMM, twitter | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Is Content Marketing the NEW New Thing?

Posted on July 9, 2013 by Gary R Schirr

Today (Monday July 8) Marjorie Clayman asked a tough question on Facebook: “Is ‘content marketing’ a business movement or a clique of like-minded thinkers?”

Consultants, gurus (I still chuckle when people describe themselves as SM gurus!), and mere social media enthusiasts have a stake in new ideas and buzzwords – we want social media to stay fresh and exciting. There have been an array of new types of marketing:

  1. eMarketing,
  2. Digital Marketing,
  3. Social Media Marketing or Facebook Marketing, and now:
  4. Real-time Marketing,
  5. Contextual Marketing, and
  6. Content Marketing

How are the new flavors of marketing working? It will be a while until we have definitive measures of the success of different strategies, but as noted in a book I am currently reading – The Big Book of Content Marketing by Andreas Ramos – Google Trends gives us some insight as to how much interest the terms generate from the world at large.

If you are interested look at these two graphs generated from Google Trends.

Continue reading →

Posted in Blogging, Content, Digital Marketing, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, twitter | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Buzzkill: Social Media Buzz is Worthless – or is it?

Posted on June 25, 2013 by Gary R Schirr

Ad Age had two important articles about social media buzz at Coke back in March.

Coke which created headlines when its CEO indicated that it had moved 20% of its marketing budget to social and digital media in 2010, has more Facebook fans than any other company. In a recent study quoted in Ad Age, Coke found that online buzz has no measurable impact on short-term sales. 

The company did find that online display ads work about as well as TV, but the finding on online buzz is deeply troubling as the focus of much “organic” social media efforts is to create buzz.

Continue reading →

Posted in Content, Digital Marketing, Internet, Social Media, Social Media Marketing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Change in Blog Hosting

Posted on June 18, 2013 by Gary R Schirr

I am changing my blog hosting which may result in a temporary interruption. Don’t worry I should be back!!! (Motivated in part by my look back on 5 years of blogging – See NEXT)

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

5 years of blogging and 4 years of tweets!

Posted on June 18, 2013 by Gary R Schirr

I missed two big anniversaries back in March: I have been blogging for 5 years and Tweeting for 4 !

My 21,272 tweets, assuming 23 words per tweets, would total 489,256 words: the equivalent of 5 books of decent length. My 199 blog posts (combining smm4biz.com and servicecocreation.com) comprise nearly 88,000 words – call it another book.

This comparison to books raises the relevant question: is it worth it? I am struggling to complete my first book on social media, while in the past four years I have tweeted and blogged nearly 6 books of posts and tweets. To be fair most of my tweets are simply RTs of good info, but the tweets and posts do reflect time and energy used.

Worth it?

On one level, I am disappointed in my blogs. I started blogging early enough that I feel that I should have been able to make a mark and have more impact. Each blog post gets a 150-200 views and average 2 comments and 15 tweets. I am happy with the feedback I get and pleased with my loyal readers, but believe that I should be having more impact. Reading through Mark Schaefers guide to blogging, I suspect that the #1 thing limited my blogs success is:

  • Irregular posts – sometimes twice a week, sometimes once, sometimes skip a few

For example I thought of this post back in March!

On the other hand I consider my twitter “experiment” to be a total success, which is truly ironic since I started tweeting with the sole purpose of driving people to my blog!

On twitter I had the good fortune to make early friends with Kent Huffman and Mark Schaefer and to work with Cheryl Burgess (who was also starting up) and with their help I figured out Twitter. I have 70K twitter followers and a Klout score of 70, but the real value of twitter is the community. I have written previously about how my twitter community led to my SMM courses and the importance of a PLN for every “knowledge worker.” Those   benefits cannot be overstated.

BOTH BIG Wins

Overall I consider my experiences on BOTH my blogs and Twitter to be big wins for me. Even if I had no audience at all, the act of writing my blog posts focuses my thinking on topics that are important to me. I know more about a topic after I finish writing a post about it.

My twitter activity motivates me to continue to scan all of the materials in my Twitter lists and RSS feeds to find content worth sharing with my community – what better way to stay current on areas of research or personal interest?

And as already noted my incredible online PLN augments me! As I have previously argued we are all cyborgs now!!

I would encourage everyone to have a blog and active twitter account.

Posted in Blogging, Klout, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Teaching SMM, twitter | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments