From the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop - Blogging, Branding, and Social Media, Part 2

As promised last Monday, here are more tips gathered at the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop.  Last week we focused on blogging, this week is on branding and using social media.

I'm going to admit up front that I'm not social media savvy.  I don't Tweet, I'm only slighted LinkedIn, and I started my Facebook page because that's where my kids kept putting the grandkid pictures. Right now, maintaining my blog and visiting/commenting on yours is as far as I go.  So what you're getting here is what I heard from people in the know, passed along to you without any testing or endorsement. 

Of course, if you can add to what's here from your own knowledge and experience, please do.  Including disagreements, if you have any.  We all benefit from a good exchange of ideas.

That said, here are:

14 tips on branding and using social media.

Branding:

Voice lives on the page, brand takes the voice beyond the page.

The most critical part of voice and brand is consistency. Make is easy for people to "get" you.

Keep the same voice from your blog to Facebook to Twitter to whatever.

 

Coin a word or phrase that becomes your verbal logo and use it everywhere you post (this was also mentioned in Part 1).

Using Social Media:

Define your brand, community, objectives, and goals

Build a list.
• Gather contact info (e-mails and such), get sign-ups for a newsletter and/or RSS
• Use this list (judiciously) to ask for help in promoting an event or new release

Survey your community on their social media preferences
• Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc. 

• Ask about schedule – when/how often would they like to hear from you

 

Plan your updates to fit their schedule and likes.

 • Keep these sort of updates conversational (small talk), not promotional.

 • Toss out ideas and see what attracts interest

Schedule your updates in advance and use auto-post features

Use tweets to drive people to your blog and Facebook page. Promote the same blog multiple times with different tweets.

Link everything together - Blog to LinkedIn to Facebook, etc.

When you're re-posting those graphics with your watermarked  link (see Part 1), add a text link as well.  Watermarked links aren't "clickable' and you want to make it as easy as possible for people to find you.  

Add the buttons – Facebook Like, Tweet It, etc. – to all your posts.

SHARE every blog post, guest post, whatever you do

Okay, what do you think?  Do you do any or all of these?  How do they work for you?

Groaner of the Day:  (a little something from Confucius)  Man who runs in front of car gets tired, man who runs behind car gets exhausted. 

I'm Back - And Guess Where I've Been.

Hi.  I'm back.  Anyone miss me?  (Please lie and say you did.  I need the ego boost.)

So, I'm gone for longer than I expected to be and the first thing I discover is Blogger has changed everything while I was gone and nothing is where it used to be.  Rats!  This is going to make getting back up to speed a little harder so if I'm not commenting on your blog right away, please forgive me.

This weekend I had the great pleasure of attending the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop. 

As a lifelong Erma fan, just being part of her legacy was a real treat for me, but I also learned a lot and I'll try to share some of it here over the next few weeks.

So much has happened in the last couple months.  On the personal front there were some health issues and some family issues and some family health issues.  Plus, the biggest news - we added a new member to our family.  This news will get a post of its own in the very near future (hint: she has four legs and sheds a lot).

I also had a visit from blogger Margo Kelly who stopped by while I was gone and left me this very nice award.

Accepting this award does require some action on my part so I will do that in an upcoming post, as well.  Margo is in the middle of the A to Z blog challange and I'm looking forward to getting caught up with her posts.  Stop by Margo's blog and check it out.

Getting back to the Erma Bombeck workshop - I attended a couple sessions on blogging and social media.  I want to try out some of their suggestions so I'll be doing some experimenting with this blog and would appreciate your feedback.  Don't worry, I'll point out the changes so you don't have to hunt for them. I'm going to stay with my Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule for now so please look for me then.

And since I know how much you've missed your regular "groaner" fix, here's your...

Groaner of the Day: The television game show was being recorded. The contestant was in the hot seat for the last big question.

The host turned to him, and read the question slowly and carefully. But the contestant didn't know the answer.

Fortunately, he had a backup plan (there was no way he was missing out on this million bucks!). He let out a peircing whistle, and from the back of the stage, four mounted knights-in-armour appeared, waving their lances threateningly at the show's host.

The host looked scared for a moment, and then a steely look came over him. He leapt into the air and karate kicked the first knight onto the floor. He picked up the lance from the stricken knight, and fought off the second, who also fell spawling on the floor. The second knight's horse shied, and bolted, colliding with the third knight in the process.

The game show host was just begining to enjoy himself now. He waved the spear he was still carrying at the fourth knight, looked back at the contestant, and said "Is that your final lancer?"