Buzz and Brilliance: Week ending Mar 23

Over the week we go through a lot of content - news and blog posts, how tos and conceptual posts on the state of the internet.  Every Sunday we share some of our favourites with you.

Check out the links and let us know in the comments if you have any questions or if you read any great posts this week!

Lara

I’m always trying to learn more, and always looking for the time to do it.  That’s why I love podcasts - they’re perfect for when you’re driving or cleaning.  Amy Porterfield has a relatively new podcast that I’m really enjoying, am learning from and being inspired to action by. Check it out. 

Why should you have a blog and be creating niche content?  It’s one of the best ways ways to increase visability for what you do.  Add search engine optimization and measuring and reacting to that information and you have the top three online marketing action points in this article by Lee Frederikson. 

Are you fairly certain you’d have nothing to say if you had a blog?  Here are some great ideas on generating ideas for content that people will find really interesting on Copyblogger. 

Karen

Twitter turned SEVEN this week!!! Hard to believe it’s been that long since the network got its start, but it’s true. I loved reading this Twitter story on Social North from Craig Silva. Be sure to share your twitter story in the comments!

There are some interesting insights in this article from Ilana Rabinowitz on Social Media Explorer. The clear message in traditional advertising seems to be (from her limited viewing) a move to more personal. So, now we need to apply that to social network interactions. My personal view is that we can indeed offer a personal touch. It’s simply a matter of altering how you communicate.

Hashtags might be on their way to Facebook and it’s got everyone talking about what this means, whether it will work and if it’s a valuable addition. In light of graph search, I’d say hashtags are going to make Facebook incredibly powerful. It will also mean (again) that people need to be careful of what they post.

Any time I see a post about social media and small businesses, I have to read it (Inkling Media). I think this one is particularly poignant for me because I’ve rarely met a small biz owner who wasn’t passionate about what they do. So, even if they aren’t passionate about social media, sharing about what they do online shouldn’t be a hard sell. Right?

The Media Mesh

Case Study: The facts about buying Twitter “followers”

Facebook Page Guidelines: The rules have changed for cover photos…again

How to set up or change your Facebook vanity URLs

App of the Week - Discussion

There’s a new app from Google called Keep - it’s essentially another version of Evernote (or One Note, Springpad or a number of others out there.) I’m inclined to agree with Om Malik that I won’t be using it. Even if I have to pay $50 a year to ensure Evernote sticks around, I trust them to do so more than I ever will a free Google service. This, my friends, is why I’m happy to pay for apps that are valuable to me. ~Karen

Leave us a comment and tell us what some of your favourite reads were this week!

Buzz and Brilliance: Week ending March 16

Over the week we go through a lot of content - news and blog posts, how tos and conceptual posts on the state of the internet.  Every Sunday we share some of our favourites with you.

Check out the links and let us know in the comments if you have any questions or if you read any great posts this week!

Lara

What’s the value of a like?  People work so hard to get Facebook likes, but we all need to remember that’s simply just the start.  The real value is in then building a relationship and not letting the last action that person ever takes with regards to your business having been to hit like.  This post by Martin Waxman on the value of a like is a good reminder of that.

Google reader is going away (see Karen’s reference to the news below) and Mitch Joel wrote an interesting post about blogging inspired by this news. I never thought blogs were in danger of going away but the way people find blogs has changed significantly just in the six years I’ve been blogging. I now only use RSS a handful of times a month to find content. While on Mitch’s blog, he’s got a post highlighting some amazing advertisements - they’re worth a watch.

This post by Daniel Sharkov gives some good tips on how to improve your side bar.

Ending on a fun note, if you have kids who watch Dora, check out the trailer for the new live-action web series by College Humor :)

Karen

Google made the announcement this week that they’re sunsetting Google Reader as of July 1, 2013 (The Next Web). Since I use this tool daily, I’m not super thrilled to have to look for a replacement (Lifehacker), but some of the alternatives are already experiencing the wave of success (The Next Web). 

While Google is killing off a beloved app, Pinterest is now even better with the addition of analytics (ReSoMe), which users have been requesting for a long time. Yay, Pinterest!

Your business has superfans, so here’s some advice for converting them to customer/client status (Spin Sucks). Also, aren’t superfans just the best thing to have? Nothing makes me feel better about what I do than getting a virtual high-five from one of them or sitting down to have a session with them. 

Are you looking for content ideas? Here’s a challenge for you from Christopher Penn. If you’re not a marketer, this still applies to you. Just substitute the word “marketer” for whatever terminology fits what you do. Find your own quotes and you’re ready to go! 

Here’s why it’s important to incorporate social media monitoring (Social Media Explorer). Proactive engagement has great value. So, hopefully you’re watching some keywords for your industry.

The Media Mesh

5 mistakes that will get your Facebook page deleted

Pump up the Volume: 2013 style

App of the Week

There isn’t an app in the world that can perfectly tell you how to use any social media platform, but I like using apps like Tweet Grader every once in a while to see what they tell me. I was pleasantly surprised to see that my grade had gone from 96-98 over the first several years I was on Twitter to 100 now. (Yay, Mom, I got an A+!) You can get a rough idea from a tool like this whether you might want to tweak your content. Nothing beats personal feedback, but this is a good solution if you want to know now. 

Leave us a comment and tell us what some of your favourite reads were this week!

Buzz and Brilliance: Week ending March 9

Over the week we go through a lot of content - news and blog posts, how tos and conceptual posts on the state of the internet.  Every Sunday we share some of our favourites with you.

Check out the links and let us know in the comments if you have any questions or if you read any great posts this week!

Lara

I’m back and had a great time on my first real family vacation! Karen did a great job making sure you all still got great content to check out while I was gone! :)

Sesame Street is the first non-profit to hit 1 billion views on YouTube. I can’t say I’m surprised - theirs is one of the few channels I subscribe to and watch not only with my kids but on my own on a regular basis.  So much fun content! I love how they celebrated the milestone! (Here’s another one of my favourites)

When I think about the future of technology I can’t believe what people expect to be on it’s way down the pipeline. (via Twist Image)

Facebook advertising can be a tricky thing, but also a really good thing. Amy Porterfield is an amazing resource for all things Facebook and I especially find her Facebook ad information very informative.  This week she shared 7 tips on Facebook ads.

Karen

There are some who believe so strongly in creating evergreen content that they have started to exclude the date from the posts on their website. I’m gonna go with Adam Singer on this and say it’s not a good idea. (Future Buzz)

I couldn’t help but laugh at the title of this one: Is the Harlem Shake Stupid? (Social Fresh) I don’t think the answer to that question is hard. I am so tired of this meme and I don’t want to see it anymore, but Jason Keath makes some really interesting points that businesses can use going forward.

It was a week of big changes. In the case of Google+, the changes are enormous (ReadWrite). But let’s be honest - there really isn’t a huge number of people who care about the changes Google+ made. It’s the changes to Facebook Newsfeed that are the really big news of this week. We’re going to write about the newsfeed announcement this week, but Jon Loomer’s overview will give you a good idea of what’s coming.

Speaking of Facebook - it’s a common practice that people ask for a like or a share. Sometimes, it’s easier to simply design your content to be appropriate for one or the other. This is what is meant by that vague instruction to “be engaging”. 

The most obvious number that shows up in Facebook Metrics is reach. Unfortunately, its value is definitely up for debate. Check out what Danny Brown has to say about reach. I think it’s worth considering.

The Media Mesh

What you might have missed this week on the Media Mesh:

Anna Belanger conquers Facebook

Back to basics: three steps to using LinkedIn more effectively

Being successful as a woman in business

App of the Week

This one is web-based, so it’s operating system agnostic. And I think it’s my latest favourite website. It’s called Content Idea Generator and I think it’s brilliant. Even if it doesn’t work precisely, I love that I can come up with ideas faster thanks to the push this nifty little tool gives me.

Leave us a comment and tell us what some of your favourite reads were this week!

Buzz and Brilliance: Week ending March 2

Over the week we go through a lot of content - news and blog posts, how tos and conceptual posts on the state of the internet.  Every Sunday we share some of our favourites with you.

Check out the links and let us know in the comments if you have any questions or if you read any great posts this week!

For this week and next, I’m on my own since Lara decided to take a much-deserved vacation.

Karen

Today, you’re going on a content adventure. We’re going to learn so much, from keeping content fresh (Spin Sucks), to finding content ideas when they seem to have dried up (SmartBlog on Social Media), to the art of repurposing content (Duct Tape Marketing) and beyond content marketing (Grow Blog) to the next steps.

Do you need a break now? That’s a lot, but I’m not done.

Related to content, it’s important to know when to stop using a social network (Hubspot). Joining or continuing with a social network for the sake of having a presence alone isn’t reason enough to keep going.

Your website is your business’ hub on the Internet. It’s your virtual front door and the place that will often give prospects their first impression of your business and you as a business owner. That’s why it’s important to make a really good first impression and avoid these web design mistakes (HubSpot).

Every now and then, I go to the TED website and just start browsing. I love watching TED talks. I’ve learned so much and been so inspired by the eloquent words of the speakers. Mitch Joel compiled a list of TED talks to help you re-imagine your business (Six Pixels of Separation) and I have seen a few, but I need to go through and watch them all again.

It came out this week that Facebook had a bug with insights and got our reach wrong for months and months. They fixed the bug and reach dramatically improved (Marketing Land). In other Facebook news, apparently all those text and photo updates may not benefit you the way you think they do (Jon Loomer Digital). Take the data with a grain of salt. Jon’s audience isn’t your audience. Also, I feel vindicated in my stance on the text updates.

We’ve all seen the Harlem Shake videos. It’s the meme of the moment. Personally, it’s run it’s course for me. One video was plenty. But this? This is brilliant. (Marketing Land). YouTube took something that was becoming very run-of-the-mill and made it interesting again.

The Media Mesh

If you missed reading the blog this week, you didn’t miss much. I’ve been very busy working on Social Capital Conference - oh, did you know our tickets went on sale this week? - but there is this one post about how I gained my Twitter following - I even included homework!

App of the Week

You’ll likely notice that our apps will have a business focus and not necessarily a social media focus. These apps help us stay organized so we have time to do social media. We’ve recently begun using a tool called Asana, which has become our task/project manager. It’s a lifesaver for us because all those tasks that used to go into emails and texts now get slotted into Asana. We can get reminders and set deadlines, which I happen to find valuable.

That’s it for this week. I hope you had a good one! Let us know what you’ve been reading in the comments.

Buzz and Brilliance: Week ending Feb 23

Over the week we go through a lot of content - news and blog posts, how tos and conceptual posts on the state of the internet.  Every Sunday we share some of our favourites with you.

Check out the links and let us know in the comments if you have any questions or if you read any great posts this week!

For this week and next, I’m on my own since Lara decided to take a much-deserved vacation.

Karen

I love when “boring” businesses call us for help. Because often, they aren’t nearly as boring as anyone thinks on the surface. Seeing businesses that show personality regardless of the product’s sex appeal is always great to see. (Hubspot)

We learned as kids not to judge a book by its cover, but your website/blog design really will get you judged. Here are a few rules to take into consideration when you’re considering your blog layout. (BloggingPro)

The nice thing about being a small business owner is that we don’t have to wade through the mire of corporate red tape before we decide to post to any social network. We just have to stay tuned in consistently enough to respond to the unexpected. (SmartBlog on Social Media)

I’ve had some interesting discussions this week around post-level insights on Facebook. There were extensive discrepancies in the numbers being reported. Then I found out that Facebook announced that there was a bug affecting insights. Here’s hoping this clears up the muddle.

Do you ever wonder how to make your content more interesting and memorable as a business? Learn to be a storyteller. (Web Ink Now)

The Media Mesh

Here’s what you might have missed from us this week:

Social Capital is looking for Speakers and Sponsors!

Writing bios that connect

Skip the gimmicks, share engaging content, and don’t annoy your fans

Chris Hadfield and the amazing world of technology

App of the Week

I used to highlight a different app each week that I enjoy using and this week I’m going to re-introduce the feature. The app I’m currently relying on heavily is Dropbox. I’ve finally got a place where all my data and files are backed up. Additionally, the syncing and sharing have been invaluable to Lara and me. We’ve dramatically reduced our use of Google Docs, which doesn’t have the more robust capabilities we need as a business that we can get from Microsoft Office.