So for those that don’t know we have several interns here at the Chamber. One of them Zoe, is working with me on marketing and some event related stuff. It occurred to me that I might have her write a blog entry as I too often do not have or take the time I should. She did and there are people out there that read and post for her.

Conclusion: Guest bloggers are a great idea to gain a new audience. They take some of the “what am I going to write’ load off of you.

So look for more commentary from me, Zoe and who knows who else.

I tell folks all the time that they, and that is both the collective and individual, should write a blog. The reasons for this have to do with online search engines and ranking and Often folks give me a long list of reasons that they don’t/won’t do it and I guess that the old Henry Ford saying is correct… Some folks say they can and others say they can’t, and their both right.

If you are interested in blogging but don’t know where to start I did find this great resource that can help. First, there is a great article on how to write a blog in 20 minutes. Most often the reason most people do not blog or partake in other things of that nature is the time. Often they think it will take hours and days to write something when in fact once you are going it can be a quick thing to post. I find that the most important thing for me is to TAKE the time to blog. Of course sometimes I take an hour but most times I can whip out a few on Monday and schedule them for later in the week. And I might spend an hour doing at least a couple. Then if I get inspired I can write one mid week and then I have even more content for my blog.

If you don’t know where to start you can try John Kitts at City Scope or Dan Stone at 360Village. For less than you think they can get you up and running.

So take some time and start blogging. It really can be fun and exciting.

I loved this when I read!

I think one of the problems that new bloggers need to over come is the quest for the perfect blog. Often times we become too wraped up in the the grammer, am I giving the right message, I have nothing to say, how often should I post, that we forget that there is a bigger reason to blog… because we have something to say and some one needs to listen!

So take the time to read and learn the Zen of blogging, grasshopper! And when you can snatch the pebble from my hand you will be ready to blog!

So why should I be into Social Media and can I get a disease from it?

That is the question I hear all the time. I’ll try to answer the first and just tell you that you need a good anti-virus on your computer for the second… or a good doctor… they might have a pill for that!

To start with I think it would be best to answer the question first: What is Social Media? I think to answer that we need to first define what Web 2.0 means and then we can have that chat.

The concept of Web 2.0 requires us to visit some older concepts like traditional media, i.e. newspapers, radio, television. We the public have little or no real input except what we choose to watch or buy. Pretty limited. This is also referred to as industrial media. Pretty boring these days!

Then comes Web 1.0.

This is the first run into the internet that most companies made going back about 10 to 15+ years. This is pre tech-bubble burst, think 2000. During this time it was important to have a website. You would hire some kid or tech person that spoke “techanese” and ended each sentence with the exclamation, “DUDE!” I have had that person in a meeting and had to have David Jordan along to translate! Again, no real access to your content and no interaction with who you are trying to reach.

Now, enter Web 2.0! Think interactive! think quick access to content. Think everyone has a voice! It can get noisy but that is the beauty of it! Here is a video that kind of explains it.

The Machine is Us.

So web 2.0 is blogs and Facebook and Twitter and wiki’s, and, and, and… You get the point. It’s interactive. A conversation can occur.

So what does all this have to do for a local person? Well, there are some unique opportunities for those that choose to leverage them.

Blog: Blogging can give you an opportunity to work on your brand. Let’s say you are a skin care person. You would want to write on subjects like skin care in the summer, new research into getting rid of lines, moisturizes that work and ones that are bad for your skin. Get the picture? Then get your customers to sign up to read your blog. Do a Constant Contact to let them know that you have posted something. If you are on Twitter use one of the many feed products to let your Twitter followers know that you have posted.

Retailers would do well to use Facebook and Twitter to let their regular customers know what is going on. Gail Beltran Nott of The Malaya Center has used Facebook quite effectively to promote her business and to let people know when something new is going on or if there is a giveaway to be had. I was having lunch today with a friend that told me about what she got from Gail.

I also ran across an interesting article by Ian Orekondy about how retailers can use Twitter the same way. It’s just a matter of being innovative enough to get people interested in following you.

So as you can see I think the real question is not should you use social media but when will you start. Now would be the best answer!

I ran across this rather interesting story/illustration about getting others to listen and spread the word about your online content…

Take a look at it and I think it really illustrates the reason that relationship marketing works and and the standing at the door with 1000 cards to hand out does not… think about that at the next chamber mixer!

One of the problems with social media is folks often set them up and do nothing with them, i.e. you set up a Facebook/LinkedIn/Plaxo/whatever account and then never look at it.. Or, you do only the social things i.e. “I am on vacation/I am bored/ I am eating ice cream/I am enjoying cheese.” Both of these are valid approaches for social media… but not if you are looking to generate business!

The first approach above will not get you any business BUT you will not have made the time investment. So, I guess you win!!! At least you have your time. The second approach while fun won’t get you any business except by accident. Yes, you will know what color of some ones cat and will have a great time in your mafia war or what-movie-best-describes-you, but if you get a piece of business off of social media it won’t be on purpose though even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while.

There is another alternative: Have an actual strategy… yes a plan! Just like any part of your business you need to have a plan. You should have a business plan, a financial plan and a marketing plan. As part of that you need to have a strategy for social media marketing. Just like any plan you will need to do some research. That’s not as hard as you may think. There are great sources and I even came across this article on optimizing your Facebook strategy.

If that’s not enough to think about I recommend that just about anyone with an online presence should have a blog. getting started is not too tough and is free from a number of sources. I like WordPress, but some folks prefer Blogger or Typepad. If you need help I might be able to get you started. Once you do start blogging it is important to say something that fits in with your personal branding and there are some great resources out there. From Social Media Today there is good stuff as well as Walter Feigenson.

“I’m too old,” you say. Or, “I’m older than stinky cheese and only the young teens and tweens are using it so I won’t reach my customers.” WRONG! That is wronger than stinky cheese! Fact is that the fastest growing demographic on Facebook in January was the 35 – 54 crowd! And while the largest demographic currently are the less than 21 crowd, that seems to be changing! So don’t think that you won’t reach your next customer.

So, make a plan! A lengthy exchange about the virtues of stinky cheese verses non-stinky cheese may be entertaining but hardly productive… unless you sell cheese and cheese related products!

Well, it’s Friday and it has been a week of overload. Getting ready for the Chambers event next Saturday is time consuming and then add in… oh I don’t know… maybe maybe my job, I am feel a little … Fridayish, if that’s a word.

So to that point: I have something somewhat contemplative and interesting and something completely useless.

First the important stuff: I have been hounding folks to join the blogger universe and can even help set it up. We are also working on an inexpensive service to Chamber members to get them up and running. Well, if you really DON’T want to get going I came across an article that will  give you all the rational. Either way read the article and consider what you are about to do.

Now if you want to just goof off here is a sight for you. It’s called Cuteoverload.com and has nothing but cute pictures of peoples pets. Way too cute for me but thought someone out there would enjoy. This comes from another article about the best ways to procrastinate on the computer. Do check it out at Eduify.com

Happy Friday!

I have spoken a number of times to folks about social media or blogging or just what they do to stay ahead of the curve and am amazed at how many people do nothing at all. I’m too busy, I don’t know what to look at, I’m too busy, my spouse wants me to spend more time with the animals… well, you get the picture.

Think about this: nothing in the world stays the same. Your business is different this year than it was last year. The market changes, economy changes for better or worse, heck, I know that even my pants fit … well… different today compared to last year. So with all that not the same in business and the world going on how can you expect your same knowledge to do a job to even stay the same!

I say you have to MAKE time to understand what your business is doing and what you can do to make it better. This could mean taking a course or starting that graduate program to get that PhD in Monkey Sociology but I am more inclined to read and use the internet. I find that for me one of the best tools at my disposal is Google Reader. It puts all the online content I want to check out right at my finger tips and I can quickly scroll through and read what catches my interest. No, I don’t read EVERYTHING as I would never have time for anything else! I just scan much like some people read the newspaper.

Want to know how to set it up? I found this great article on just that subject!

Then you can follow my witty musings or who ever you want. Try John Kamp as he is new to the blog world but has good things to say.

I believe that blogging can be one of the best ways to express your self and get an online presence for little or no money but sometimes even I get stuck with what to write. Yeah, I know you find that hard to believe but yes, I can be at a loss for words. I have also had people tell me that they are… concerned that they will not be able think of something to write about every week…. week?! That’s right, every week!

Well the first thing is you have to schedule some time to write. It should only take 10 or 15 minutes to write a short post and once you get into the habit you can write more. For me I had to just start blogging and eventually I developed a style. For the more organized I recommend  a little research on Social Media Today, Mashable, or give a listen to Dan Stone on our podcast page. Either way it is pretty easy to get started.

So let’s say you have been blogging for a while and hit a dry spell or get busy. What now. I came across this interesting article by Lee Odden that had some great suggestions on where to get content, including updating old posts and breaking up articles that you may have written. In a way it could be considered true recycling… but you do want to update what you have. Otherwise the discussion of the tainted Jalapeno’s means nothing!

And because we all need to smile more:

A police officer sees a man driving around with a pickup truck full of penguins. He pulls the guy over and says, “You can’t drive around with penguins in this town! Take them to the zoo immediately.”
The guy says okay, and drives away. The next day, the officer sees the guy still driving around with the truck full of penguins — and they’re all wearing sunglasses. He pulls the guy over and demands, “I thought I told you to take these penguins to the zoo yesterday?”
The guy replies, “I did. Today I’m taking them to the beach!”

As I talk with members about getting going on their web 2.0 stuff I am often told they can’t, it’s not their style, their too old to make it happen, it takes too much time, etc.

Well, it turns out anyone can get into the act! Over in the UK there is a centenarian, that’s some one over 100 years of age not a soldier in the Roman army, that is the oldest person on Twitter. Ivy Bean is 104 and digging being on Twitter!

So what does mean to the slow-adopters and Luddites? It means that you too can get with it and start using the web to drive business! I am amazed in this age how many folks don’t have a basic website for their business. When ever I do business with some one I first check their web site. It’s easy to get and easy to put together what with wix.com and other easy services. If that’s not for you you can have a blog. It’s a great way to establish yourself as an expert at what you do. Go to Blogger.com to start.

There are also social networking tools like LinkedIn and Facebook. All these things have a place. And can increase your business. You just have to use them as part of your marketing. Jason Wheeler and Jason Lohe both get business from them.

Once you are up and running and want to know what you next step might be or how to really leverage these cool things you just learned about try Social Media Today or Mashable. They both have great tips on everything from Twitter and blogging to what the impact of some of these tools are on the work place, your business or if Twitter presages the down fall of the Western World. Fun stuff.

All these things are SO accessible that their is NO reason to not do it! Just keep in mind that if Ivy Bean can do it so can you!