Every year around this time our friend, family member and favorite sphere painter Dick Termes opens up his gallery for a Holiday Open House. He overs great deals on Termespheres but also on his many smaller, very cool Termesy things to buy.
This year we went out a little farther into the marketing world and made fun posters and used Facebook and Twitter to try to help promote the event. So far he’s already had a reported 3 visitors to the Gallery BEFORE the event’s even started. I’m taking that as a sign that our extra effort has payed off.
Below are a couple sample graphics of what I created to help spread the word, enjoy:
It seems that people either love Twitter or they hate it, passionately. Frankly, it is hard to “get” Twitter right away. It may take two or three or ten attempts before you reach the “wow” moment. Suffice it to say there are experts from every walk of life who tweet on a regular basis. They share their wisdom, they collaborate and believe it or not most of them don’t disclose what they ate for breakfast.
The following is a quick overview of Twitter basics. If you have questions, fire away.
Social marketing, at its core, is like a wagon wheel. It has a hub and 5 spokes which can conveniently be arranged into a fine circular object that will handily take you down the social track.
The hub is your blog
Spoke #1 – a social networking account on Facebook.
Spoke #2 – a microblogging account on Twitter.
Spoke #3- a video sharing account on Youtube.
Spoke #4 – a photo sharing account on Flickr.
Spoke #5 – a network of like-minded blogs to follow and comment uponst.
The invisible spoke – patience, keen listening skills and time.
In this wonderful new world of business models there are lots of folks who have reached ‘wizard’ status…and there are lots and lots and lots more who are just trying to figure out where to start. As a way to help the later group we are putting together a series of videos created by members of the ‘wizard’ ilk. We will start with a Youtube video called Blogs in Plain English by Lee LeFever.
What would they be? For the sake of ignoring reality forego the basics like breathing, eating and sheltering. Let’s also rule out people and pets. This Top 10 list is concerning 10 things you could live without if you really, really had to but….
Here are mine:
NPR – I’m a loyal listener to the end (even through fund raiser week.)
Plants – the more the merrier.
Socks – for years, like my children, I was a barefooter. Then one day (I think it was the day of the birth of my aforementioned first born,) socks = security. They don’t have to be fancy or cute socks, just plain old white crews. Happy feet!
Cargo pants – the epicenter of geeky organization.
A car – I know a lot of folks who don’t have one and they seem quite content but to me automobile = independence.
Books – Confession, I haven’t read all the books I own. I’m looking for that magic device that will allow the contents of each unread book in my library to instantly drain into my brain upon contact with the top of my head.
The Black Hills – It matters not the time of year, the Black Hills have an undeniable magnetism not just for me but for many.
A mini arsenal of tech toys (not to be confused with the gargantuan collection of ‘glee’ in Dylan’s possession.)
Laughter – wit and humor is very close in value to the ability to breathe.
Football – I watched SuperBowl I with my dad, need I say more?
Have you ever wondered what a Blego or a Blawg are? How about a Barking Moonbat?
I have to admit that I am a true devotee and student of the English language. As a consequence, when I go off on an exploratory research adventure for no particular reason, it often has to do with the pursuit of some lexicographic whim or another. It was the chasing down of the blogging term, ‘Doppelblogger’s origin that set me plunk in the middle of the web page Giant Blogging Terms Glossary: Need a Blog Dictionary?
My favorites come from the Blogging Habits section:
Metablogging - writing articles about blogging
Blogstipation - writer’s block for bloggers. Cant think of what to blog about?
Blogathy - I do not want to post today and I do not care about it
Blogopotamus - A long long blog post
Blogorrhea - unusually high output of articles
Bleg - To use one’s blog to beg for assistance etc.
Hitnosis - Refreshing your browser repeatedly to see if your hit counter or comments have increased
GAD - Google Adsense Disorder. Repeatedly checking your adsense earnings. more
Blego - Blog+Ego. Measuring blogger worth
Blog hopping – jumping from one blog to another
Blogroach - A commenter who rudely disagrees with posted content
Blogoholic - addicted to blogging
Blogorific = blogtastic – something which a blogger says is terrific
Blogsit - maintaining a blog while the primary blogger is on leave
Blogvertising - Also called blogvert. Advertising on a blog.
Blurker - a blog reader not posting comments, just lurking around quietly.
Blogathon - update your website every 30 minutes for 24 hours straight. Maybe collect sponsorships. more
Blogiversary - your blog birthday
Blog Carnival – Links to other articles covering a specific topic.
Multiblog - running multiple blogs
Blog Tipping – Compliment 3 blogs on day 1 of every month. more
Blogger bash - a blogger party
Commenter - someone who leaves remarks / comments
Reciprocal Links - called link love. You link to my blog, I link to yours. To improve search engine rankings.
Linkbaiting - a habit of writing good content with the sole purpose of getting it linked from multiple sites.
Blogstorm – a large amount of blogosphere activity due to particular controversy. Also called Blog Swarm.
Blogsnob – refusing to respond to blog comments from “not-friends”.
Doppelblogger – plagiarize the content of another blogger. To Doppelblog.
Blogophobia – Fear of blogs and blogging.
Bloggerel – the same opinion posted repeatedly on a blog
If you want to sally down the Blog Talk path a bit further head over to WhatIs.com’s bloglossary. Words are such fun.
Day One
Let there B-lite. OMG! Or shld I say Oh Me! It’s so much easier 2-C now. WTF was I thinking B4? Spent the rest of the day dividing lite from drkness. It is good.
Day Two
Made a firmament (sort of a dome thing) to divide the waters under firmament from the waters above. Assigned firmament the file name <heaven>. +<:-)
Day Three Gathered waters and let dry land appear. Dry land tagged <earth>, waters tagged <seas>. Uploaded grass and herb-yielding seed into <earth> folder. GR8!
Day Four
More lighting wk. Installed 1 great lite to rule day [<sun>] & lesser lite to rule night [<moon>]. Beta tested them & everything seems to work. It is gd.
Day Five
Bushed from tweaking fish & fowl files. They wouldn’t be fruitful and multiply until I found it’s a simple <duplicate> command. >:-? Thank Me It’s Friday.
Day Six
Created 2 humans, file names <adam> and <eve>. At last – I now have 2 Twitter followers! Tweeting just to myself is sooo Day One. LOL!
Highly effective websites are like highly effective people. They don’t just happen. Their success is honed and developed. To explore this thought I found a summary of Stephen Covey’s book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
Habit 1: Be Proactive
Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind
Habit 3: Put First Things First
Habit 4: Think Win/Win
Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood
Today I’ve been attending the LA Twitter Conference via UStream.tv. So far I’ve watched the “Media Integration Strategies: Incorporating Twitter Into Your Existing Properties” session and a heartfelt “Thank-you Twitter” speech from San Fransisco’s Mayor Gavin Newsom. Although it isn’t like being there – no ducking out of a session to grab a sandwich at Langer’s or hobnobbing with cronies – it is a fantastic way to learn, right here, right now from the experts.
Live conference streaming isn’t anything new. Neither are the concerns that showing sessions online for free will ultimately lead to the end of conferences as we know them. Why would a company pay $1500/attendee plus travel costs to send its employees to a far away place to attend an event they could watch from the office, especially in such dark economic times? Simple answer – networking. Yes, the sessions are educational but oh those greasy elbows, that’s where the return on investment really happens.
So for now, I think it is safe to say the internet won’t kill the conference industry. Proof in point? The LA Twitter Conference was sold out.
Most of us will take some time today to reflect on the September 11th tragedies of eight years ago. Its sobering to remember the disbelief, apprehension and grief we all held as the day unfolded. As the days and months passed we learned of the 2,752 who had died, we witnessed the ceaseless acts of bravery from those who were assigned to ‘make it right’ again and we watched the ushering in of a new era. One of muffled hope and cultivated fear.
In many ways 2001 seems far, far in the past. We learn, communicate, heal, analyze, travel, even play differently now. We can thank (or curse) technology for many of the sweeping changes.
In order to get a finger on America’s heartbeat concerning 9/11 I did a Twitter search. I followed some links in the unending stream of thousands and thousands of tweets to read posts written by journalist, actors, conspiracy believers and politicians. I wondered what would have happened if Twitter or Facebook or the endless list of other social sites existed on that fateful day.
Those are the words of one of the Primal Quest’s participants when s/he was presumably asked ‘when will you finish the race?’
For those who don’t know, Primal Quest is “an expedition-level adventure race in which endurance athletes from around the world compete with one another and against a 600 mile (965+ KM) wilderness course.”
This year that race is now and the 600 miles are in the Black Hills and the Badlands.
I’ll admit that I am completely hooked on watching the progress of these remarkable young (and in some cases not so young) people. They are such a contrast to the huge Harley populace that touched each and every sense of each and every one of us less than two weeks ago.
What would they be? For the sake of ignoring reality forego the basics like breathing, eating and sheltering. Let’s also rule out people and pets. This Top 10 list is concerning 10 things you could live without if you really, really had to but….
