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Facebook, Google… Who Else is Competing in the Game of Monopoly?

July 10, 2010 by 8 Comments

During my studies, it was clear that companies that basically took over a whole market of products were considered a monopoly. In the United States, it has been a law against companies becoming monopolies since the early 1900s.

However, does that also include companies that conduct business online, and more so… how far can the old Sherman Anti-Trust Act extend?

Yahoo!, Google, and now Facebook are all big kahunas in acquiring smaller internet companies.

Yahoo! has been known to acquire companies and eventually burn them to the ground – like GeoCities. Google just likes to buy and play their name in front of the product, like Google Feedburner. Facebook… well… they just like to buy and shut out competition. Facebook bought FriendFeed and recently it acquired NextStop. Facebook is looking to have its own version of FourSquare.

Sorry, but even though I am not as active on FourSquare… why in the heck would I use Facebook to check in anywhere considering they do not have the best privacy for users?

Facebook is the #2 site online in Alexa and and is one of the most powerful tools for social media marketing. However… are all these acquisitions profitable ventures for Facebook? Or will they crash and burn like some of the programs both Yahoo! and Google have let die in the past 15 years?

What do you think?

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Your Site Needs A Focus

June 26, 2010 by 12 Comments

Have you ever been told that? Have you been told you need to put your site in a certain niche?

You will not fail as a site if you do not have a niche, which I at least agree with Nicholas Scalice’s article You Don’t Need A Niche!

What you do need is some type of focus. It does not have to be on one particular niche. You would be surprised the amount of people who claim that their blog is in a certain niche, but covers a lot. For example, Blondish.net is not just a blog about blogging. It covers all the aspects from the design, the content, engaging with the blog community, and promoting the site. Now, what is a niche site is WPAddict.net, which is all about WordPress.

However, this is the site focus. It is basic Web Design 101 where you have to brainstorm what you want your site to do. If you want it to be a niche blog, then go for it. You just need to be a lot more strict with the material you put out if you want to be in that niche.

If you are a person that has many interests, you can have a site that does that, but if you are confusing visitors, you might want to look at what is driving them away and focus on what is attracting them.

However, in the end, you are the one that controls how successful your site becomes because you were the one that put it together. You have to put the leg work in to promote it and engage with others.

Filed Under: Blogging Tagged With: ,

You Can Blog Without Thesis – Really, You Can!

June 25, 2010 by 20 Comments

Blogging is awesome and these days there are so many people I need to visit that I literally need to put it on a schedule. That is not including all the return comments I need to do.

I started using WordPress a long time ago because I saw a lot of potential. Before a lot of you were blogging or even had a website, I was in web competitions and already making my first freelance web design transactions.

However, today, after the wonderful social media and branding and all that goodness…why oh why are people jumping on board with Thesis?

I know the default Kubrick theme for WordPress was not that pretty and if I remember correctly, it was introduced in 2005. The TwentyTen default theme introduced in WordPress 3.0 is actually a real gem for newbie bloggers. However, there are hundreds of free and premium themes out there- why do I keep seeing Thesis?

I have designed and used it based on request by a few clients, I am not really much for it. I am not even keen on giving it out to new people to the blogging community. I do not care what marketing ploy there is to get someone to blog, there are better and cheaper options than Thesis.

“I use Thesis for SEO.”

Alright, go ahead, but you can do it with plugins and WordPress all the same. You are the one that controls your SEO because you are writing the articles. If you are needing your site to be optimized, there are a lot of great search engine optimization articles out there… that are FREE! Google it. ;)

If you want to brand yourself with Thesis, you need to get away from that cookie cutter look. There are people out there who have, but as few as I have seen, there are many more who have the same look.

I have said this before in my presentation at WordCamp Chicago 2010 on Rocking Out Your Site With WordPress and will again – Think outside the box!

In thinking outside the box, you will create a site that is worthy of your brand and something you can be proud to share with others.

When you are putting a site up and it is a business and a blog, will you be able to turn that site into a business site, or a blog that is a business.

While you could customize Thesis, you might want to answer a few questions:

  • 1. What do you want your site to do?
  • 2. What is your budget?
  • 3. Can you find a better method?

People already have enough going on with learning WordPress. I receive dozen of Thesis questions from the same crowd daily and frankly, it is kind of sad and frustrating to see that their site is barely different from the next.

If you have a Thesis theme and cannot customize it, have someone do it for you! I do it all the time and frankly it is better knowing someone wanted to be different from the next hundred in their niche sporting Thesis for their WordPress theme. I am not totally ruling out Thesis, I just want to see people use it better. It is hard to believe social media consultants who specialize in branding if they have nothing to back it up with their own branding.

If you use Thesis, how are you thinking outside the box in terms of branding your site?

Filed Under: Blogging Tagged With: , , ,

7 Ways To Building Trust With Your Readers

June 23, 2010 by 15 Comments

Building trust is really important in any aspect of a person’s life. Every person you encounter has been raised with slightly different morals and ethics. They also have varied manners. So, with you putting your content out there for people to read, how can you build their trust to entice them to keep coming back or at least take you seriously?

Here are 7 ways to build trust with your readers:

  1. Honesty. If you are lying through your teeth, a lot of people will be quick to point it out.
  2. Communicate with other people and do not make it all about yourself. It is not always a negative, but if you are always talking, how can you listen to the other person in the conversation? Let them have their say. Most people like to at least be heard a little bit. You might be surprised at the possibility of learning something new.
  3. Brand yourself and be consistent. If you are not sure how you want to present yourself online, you need to sit down and have a long talk with yourself. Before you put yourself out there, you need to know yourself. How can others understand you if you cannot understand yourself?
  4. Be accessible. Whether it is regularly blogging, socializing on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn, your readers will see that you are engaging with others and want to join into the conversation too.
  5. Be humble. No matter how good you think you are, there will always be someone who is better. Leave the ego at the door. A lot of people get turned off by such behavior. Same thing as the classic ‘know-it-all.’
  6. Be eager to give credit and kudos. People like a little love sometimes, especially if it is from a site they frequently visit.
  7. Be active. This kind of ties into being accessible. However, with being active, this is how frequent you are seen online. If you are active in a certain niche or two every day, you are more than likely connecting with others and building good relationships.

Even though I have listed only 7 ways to building trust with readers, I am eager to hear what you might like to add. How do you build trust with your own readers? With your customers?

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Finding The Right Site For Guest Blogging

June 16, 2010 by 8 Comments

I have had to turn away a lot of requests for guest blogging. I know others who have. Now, for those who are into guest writing on other sites, I am sure you are like – “Why would you do that when you can get some links back?”

As much as I would love to, I have found after a lot of experience that it is best to carefully choose where to write. The wrong place might be for a site that was made for all the wrong reasons or a place that I do not share many of the same opinions.

I am going to share a short guide to finding the right site to guest blog.

  • You really have to scope out a site and make sure the people know what they are talking about. If you go in and your ideas conflict, you will probably be uncomfortable about posting again in the future.
  • Read the rules and requirements for guest posting at another person’s website. While you might be excited to post, you might not be submitting what will fit or your writing might not be in the format that is required. For example, some blog owners ask you to organize your posts in a certain way with h2, h3, h4 tags. Some blog owners might even not allow you to to link to certain sites.
  • Site traffic is not always important. Newer sites might become popular or at least have decent traffic later on. Some larger sites might not be a good idea. There are some that I have felt were created for all the wrong reasons, like making money before creating a valuable site.
  • Do not take on regular guest posting right away. You might not be able to fill those requirements even if you offer to do an article every week or even every other week. Life happens.
  • Do not spread yourself thin. You have a life. People are aware of it… well except for the small percentage who forgot that part.
  • If a blog owner is breathing down your neck for another article, you might want to go elsewhere. While the site might be great, you are not obligated to contribute regularly. If the blog has ads, basically you are making them money. Your site comes first before contributing elsewhere. Why? – Well, you cannot develop a site if you are constantly elsewhere.
  • While being offered money to blog might be great, you are probably better off submitting your guest post to places that can back up their word and get the traffic that makes good money. A lot of people get strange when money is involved and because it is not your blog, and you might not have a contract, you should probably avoid people who wave the money around unless they promise to pay you per post.
  • You really should be in first for sharing your content, engaging with readers, and getting some link love back. You are trying to establish yourself in your niche as someone who is influential.
  • Try to keep in your niche. For example, if you are usually in tech, it might be weird getting non-relevant links back from a mommy blog. Also, visitors might be a bit confused when you write at a site outside your own blog’s niche. They are usually looking for material similar to the site they just left and hope to find it on your site. Side Note: For any mothers who might be into tech and social media, perhaps having a mommy on the side might be great. Use that site for getting links back.

What are your own guidelines for finding the right site to guest blog at?

Filed Under: Blogging Tagged With: , ,

10 Ways To Turn Away Followers With Auto DM on Twitter

June 14, 2010 by 8 Comments

For me, a lot of the automatic direct messages on Twitter (Auto DM) are annoying. Some of them do not make sense and I am more apt to unfollow unless it is something worthwhile. So in a way, I put a list of my own guidelines for Auto DM. The best way I can explain each is by scenario.

Perhaps some of you have experienced a situation or two (or more) from below.

  1. No coupon codes or discounts please. Do I go to your site, then comment right off the bat to advertise? No. Please try engaging first, then perhaps I might be interested on buying.
  2. Please stop sharing the Facebook fan page links. I do not want to join your fan page on Facebook. Why – I do not know you yet. You are kind of jumping into the game ahead of time. Engage in conversation with me and I might go and click “Like” on your fan page.
  3. I do not want to know how you got a million followers, especially when I look at your profile and the number of followers are only less than 10% of what you are trying to teach people how to get. When you get there, I MIGHT watch, but right now, I am comfy with building my followership organically – the right way!
  4. Fill your profile out. If I see the default Twitter bird, I am unfollowing immediately. I do not care if it is a favorite cartoon character picture, a real pic of yourself, or your company logo – at least put something up so I will give you a chance.
  5. No affiliate links please. Your first DM to me better be a short introduction that makes sense.
  6. I did not sign up for porn on Twitter, so please go back to MySpace.
  7. I know how many followers I have. I do not need you to point that out. What was the point in doing that?
  8. Are you really in my niche? Or are you just there to spam the hell out of everyone who is trying to make an honest connection? When you give me a link to your site off the bat, I hope it might not be a sales page.
  9. Spam me once, get reported and blocked. Spam twice… thrice… same thing. Multiple spam accounts do nothing but tick people off.
  10. Your DM tells me to follow you on another account. What? You can change your username, or wait until I know you on the one account to trust you enough to follow on another.

I do have my account set to auto follow on some services, but I do not use an Auto DM as of yet. For myself, I have never been too keen on the idea. I do like the direct message (private message) capability though.

Do you use Auto DM? What is your advice on how to effectively use it?

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Social Networking Communities For Bloggers

June 10, 2010 by 14 Comments

I get a lot of invites every day to join this and that concerning communities for bloggers. I appreciate it and often join, but have no time to always participate. However, because I do see a lot of rewards in these communities, I will share them.

BlogEngage – This is a community and social bookmarking site all in one. As far as I know, the community is by invite only, but if you join the forum and request an invite, you will probably get one. :D The community is quite active and everyone has been friendly.

BloggerLuv – This is a fairly active and newer community. The founder is dedicated to having a friendly site where bloggers can interact. Some of the largest social networking just are not as focused toward bloggers in general, especially those who truly want to not just share their content, but also talk with other bloggers.

Seems so few, right? Actually there are more, but these totally focus on bloggers. You can find great communities on social bookmarking sites like Digg. When Blogrity, the simple social bookmark site for bloggers comes out of beta, there will be more for bloggers to do. :)

The great things about these communities are that there is a wealth of information always being shared, as well as eager people who actually want to connect. This is not like Twitter and Facebook where you might get people who might not be into the whole blogging concept. Beginner bloggers can learn a lot from those who have been in the community for a long time as well as share some of their newer ideals – a total win-win situation!

So this is where I come out and ask since you all may have some excellent suggestions: what are other great communities out there on the Internet that focus on allowing bloggers to connect?

Filed Under: Blogging Tagged With: ,

Gravatar: Why You Should Use It

June 8, 2010 by 13 Comments

There are so many services out there that help you with your authenticity online. Some are complex profiles, and others are simple. What a lot of people forget are the simple things like Gravatar.

Gravatar is a globally recognized avatar image that when you type your email address, your avatar shows up. However, you have to sign up for the service.

No worries though – it is free.

Why should you use it?

Because there are so many spammers out there, a lot of them do not take the time to fill out profiles at OpenID type services and load up their own avatars. Sometimes site owners may delete comments by accident because they are not sure if the person is legitimate.

It is also a great way to extend your brand, just like your pic you share in your Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking accounts.

Gravatar makes this simple, so even if you are not a member of comment systems like Intense Debate or Disqus, you can at least make your comment unique instead of letting the avatar have the infamous “Mystery man” image.

Gravatar rolled out for June 2010 Public Profiles, so there is a lot of development to come with the system. Also, a lot of websites have Gravatar enabled. If your site is not, but you would like to put it in your comment system, you can. Regardless of what system you use, there is a great Developer’s Resource section at Gravatar, including directions for Using Gravatar in WordPress.

Do you use Gravatar? If not, why not?

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