Ramblings and Such

Too often, as I am browsing through LinkedIn to find new connections, I see people I know but I hesitate when it comes to adding them as contacts. Why? Because their LinkedIn profile is so lacking that I feel like adding them would be a waste of time.

If you have a LinkedIn profile, you should at least complete the following info:

• A profile picture. I mean, does this picture actually make you want to connect with someone?
• Your full first and last name. I understand the desire for privacy but chances are there is already lots of information about you out there on the internet (related: have you done a Google search of your full name lately?). LinkedIn is a professional social media site, and if you are going to be on it, you should use your full name so that people know who they are connecting with.
• A list of your work experience. Seeing a profile that just lists one current occupation looks empty and incomplete. Take some time to list other positions you have held over the years.
• Check in occasionally to accept invitations to connect, and to browse and add other people who you may know. If you only have 10 connections, it doesn’t look like you’ve made much of an effort.

For bonus points, consider adding these extras to your LinkedIn profile:

• Your city and province / state. There are some instances where you may want your profile to say only the province or state (such as a real estate agent who wants to serve a broad area) but the majority of the time, it will help you connect with others if you are specific with your geographic area.
• Descriptions of past jobs. Add some information about positions you’ve held and, if applicable, add a link to the companies’ LinkedIn profiles.
• A summary. This section is the first major portion of your LinkedIn profile that people see, and it gives you a chance to express yourself however you like. You can talk about your accomplishments, skills, clarify your business offerings – it’s up to you. And if you’re stuck, look up other people’s profiles on LinkedIn for some inspiration.

Are you on LinkedIn? I invite you to connect with me at http://www.linkedin.com/in/jenhames

Photo by JadeGordon

I love Twitter. I started using it back 2008 and in my opinion, Twitter is a great source of information about topics that interest me. It also keeps me entertained and up-to-date with what’s going on in my community, country and the world.

However, there are some Twitter pet peeves out there that annoy me and they come mostly from other users rather than Twitter itself.

The egg-head profile pic – when you first sign up for Twitter, you have the option to upload a profile picture from your computer. If you’re shy or have internet privacy issues, use a picture of your dog. Or a sunset. Or a tree. Just pick something; because when I see that I have a new follower who looks like an egg-head, I almost always choose to not follow them back. And if you don’t know how to upload an image, just Google it. There are oodles of how-to websites out there that will give you step-by-step instructions.

No bio information – similar to the egg-head profile pic, not filling out these sections is just plain annoying. Why am I going to follow you if I have no idea what you Tweet about? Sure, I can click and view your most recent Tweets. But that doesn’t always fill me in. So just take a minute out of your day to write something.

Polluting the Twitter feed – it drives me crazy when people or businesses post nothing all day long and then all of a sudden post twenty Tweets in a row. If you only have an hour a day to Tweet, then use a scheduling tool such as HootSuite or TweetDeck to spread your Tweets out over an extended period of time so that your Tweets can be enjoyed by others in moderation.

Continuing to use image tools like Instagram – I know Instagram has awesome image filters that make your photos look funky. I like it too – but I limit my sharing to Facebook. Why? Because when your Instagram Tweets show up in my Twitter feed, I can’t view the images anymore by clicking on the easy little “View photo” button. Instead, I have to click a link that takes me to another website and that’s just plain annoying because, let’s face it, I’m lazy. Yes, your photos still show up in my TweetDeck feed, so I’m not as angry about this one. But when I’m standing in line at the post office browsing through my Twitter feed, I would really like to be able to easily view your wonderful pictures.

Auto-posting your Facebook status updates – when you auto-post your Facebook updates, they are usually way over the 140 Twitter character limit. So they ended up being displayed as a truncated post with a link to the status update on your Facebook page. Firstly, similar to my beef with Instagram, using auto Facebook posts requires me to click a link and go to another website. I’m lazy, remember? Secondly, I’m using Twitter for a reason. So don’t send me to a different social media network – I’ll head over to Facebook when I’m good and ready, thank-you-very-much. And thirdly, why should I bother to follow you on both Twitter and Facebook if you’re just saying the exact same thing on both networks?

Saying the exact same thing over and over – if you post the same message in duplicate, especially if it has a link, you just look spammy. And who actually likes spam? So switch it up: think of different ways to describe your link and sandwich it in between other non-link posts.

So there you have it, my top Twitter pet-peeves.
Do you agree? Have any of your own to share? Let me know in the comments.

Webinars – photo courtesy of http://www.sxc.hu/profile/arinas74

I don’t know about you, but lately my email inbox has been filling up with lots of messages telling me about upcoming webinars. I used to just click delete because I would much rather scroll quickly through a written post than listen to someone drone on. But then I actually watched one. And the funny thing was, I actually liked it. I could sit and learn while being entertained, browse through emails when I got bored, and take notes – something I almost never do when speed-reading through blog posts and news articles.

While I try to watch webinars live, sometimes life just gets in the way. So I appreciate the individuals and companies who send emails after the webinar is finished with a link to watch the replay.

Three favourite email lists that I belong to that put on good webinars are:

• MariSmith.com
• Amy Porterfield
• Webfriendly.ca

What about you? Any favourite sites for webinars?
Or do you host webinars yourself? I’d love to follow some more great content.

When I first started on Twitter back in 2008, I viewed all Tweets within the Twitter interface. Then, I got hooked on HootSuite, especially when I started managing multiple Twitter accounts. I’m still a paying subscriber to HootSuite and love using the cute little Hootlet add-on to easily share interesting URL’s on Twitter. But something just seemed to be missing.

Enter TweetDeck. This slick desktop application (I prefer the downloaded version, although you can access it online as well) is always running in the background and has become my favourite way to interact with users on Twitter.

Here’s 5 reasons why I like TweetDeck so much:

1. Visually attractive – let’s face it, looks matter. And TweetDeck just plain looks good. I love the black background, the well-sized Twitter profile pics, and the fact that you can always view thumbnail images of pics that people post on Twitter.

2. It still displays Instagram images – as you may have heard, Twitter and Instagram went through a big breakup at the end of 2012. Basically, the end result was that Instagram pictures no longer display within the Twitter interface; instead, you need to click on a link and be taken to another page to view the image. Not so with TweetDeck! You can still view thumbnail images of kids, half-eaten restaurant dishes and scenery shots and also view the full-sized images within TweetDeck.

3. Easily view different streams – using TweetDeck’s columns feature, you can add a new column for whichever Twitter account, list, or search result you want. And then you can quickly flip back and forth between them, making it quick and simple to keep up-to-date on what’s going on in your version of the Twittersphere.

4. It makes noise – you can turn on or off sound alerts for each of your columns, so that you hear a ding every time someone messages you, mentions you, writes a Tweet that matches your search criteria, etc. (If you want to make my computer ding, just mention @jenhames on Twitter!)

5. It’s free – I already pay for lots of social media tools and services, so it’s great to find such a great tool that is free.

Do you use TweetDeck? Love it or hate it?
Then leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Happy New Year everyone! Isn’t it exciting to realize that there is an entire calendar full of days waiting for you to put your own unique stamp on them! Even though it’s only been one day since 2012, there’s just something refreshing about starting a new year.

It’s a time to reflect back on what went well in the previous year, and what you could improve on going forward. One of the best things that I did at the end of 2012 was to attend a session called, “Setting Your Intentions“, put on by Cathy Goddard of Lighthouse Visionary Solutions. A lot of my focus was on setting personal intentions, but I also came up with some business intentions for Jenuine Marketing:

• Post daily updates on my Twitter & Facebook page accounts, and utilize HootSuite and TweetDeck to help in scheduling those posts
• Spend 15 minutes on LinkedIn every other day
• Publish a blog post once a week
• By the end of January, perform my own social media audit and determine whether I should continue spending time on Google+ and Pinterest for business purposes
• Schedule time into each work day to promote Jenuine Marketing and to connect with other like-minded business owners
• Spend at least 30 minutes every work day viewing business-related articles, blog posts and video seminars
• Put aside time to finish the business analysis work that I started in 2012 with Melanie of BrandHer.com
• Remember to take at least one day off a week from work

Those are my business intentions. Hopefully I can keep them! And the words of Oprah Winfrey, “Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.”

What do you hope to get right this year?

Photo credit: http://www.sxc.hu/profile/hussey

I always tell my clients that the hardest part of posting content on the web is getting over your personal hurdles, no matter what they may be. Things like, “I want my first Tweet to be perfect” or “I want to write the most interesting blog post anyone has ever read”. The problem is, these desires to be great and wonderful and perfect can actually become roadblocks that prevent you from getting anything at all done. For me, lately, the hurdle has been, “I want to wait until I have time to sit down, clear my desk, and get into a writing mode”.

Well, that never happens. Right now, I’m writing this surrounded by unfiled papers, with three different browser windows open with who-knows-how-many-tabs open in each browser, and I realised there is never the perfect time. There is never the perfect post. There is never the most interesting content ever written waiting to spring forth from your brain.

The point is, sometimes you need to seize on the moments you have and make them work for you. Dash off a blog post between meetings. Post an interesting thought on your Facebook page while you’re waiting in line for your morning coffee. Just start writing content. Some of will be good, some of it will be bad, and some of it will even be great.

So what are you waiting for? Go do it!

You may have noticed your Facebook and Twitter feeds got a little more cluttered the past few months with people sharing their most recent “Pins” – pictures of recipes they want to make, clothes they want to buy, and places they want to stay.

But Pinterest isn’t just for annoying your friends and followers – I’ve talked to several marketers whose clients are getting great traffic referral by sharing their website’s content on Pinterest. So here’s a collection of 7 great articles I’ve been reading the past few weeks that all address the newest kid on the social media block.

7 Pinterest Articles to Check Out

1. The Ultimate Guide to Mastering Pinterest for Marketing - Some great info here from Hubspot.com about what Pinterest is, some suggested ettiquette, how to set up an account, and 13 creative ways to use Pinterest for marketing. I think the best tip is #10, “Use Hashtags”. You can integrate Pinterest into your existing social media strategy and use the same hashtags that you are currently using on Twitter and Google+.
2. 13 ‘Pinteresting’ Facts About Pinterest Users – An infographic from Mashable.com that shows some interesting stats about the social network’s users. Namely that the majority are women (68%), the biggest age demographic is 25-34, and half have children.
3. Why Pinterest Matters to Us Social Media Marketers – Chris Abraham admits that he didn’t get Pinterest at first. But he sure does now – check out his very good ideas of how to create influential visualizations that will capture the interest of your audience.
4. Pin Your Way to Popularity: How to Generate Traffic with Pinterest – As much fun as it is to pin pretty pictures from all over the internet, as a small business owner, it needs to have a practical application as well. Carla Young writes about seven suggestions to use Pinterest to drive business and traffic.
5. How Can Non-Visual Brands Harness Pinterest? – Because sometimes it’s just fun to watch video. So check out the first 2 1/2 minutes of this clip from PRDaily with the staff from ePrize at the NASDAQ studios in New York.
6. 6 Ways to Drive More Pinterest Engagement – Once you’ve established a presence on Pinterest, you need to interact your new followers. Social Media Examiner brings you 6 ways to engage your fans. I especially like #2, which suggests adding one of your followers as a board contributor.
7. The 10 Commandments of Using Pinterest for Business – A fun, super cute infographic about best practices. Number 10 is so important – ‘Research & Measure’! Remember to check your analytics for new traffic from your efforts.

So there you have it; my favourite Pinterest articles from the past few weeks. Have you been busy pinning all of your interests? Have you used Pinterest for business yet? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section.

A few months ago, Facebook introduced ‘Interest’ lists. If you know me, you’ll know that I love lists; I have them for everything from steps to achieve clients’ goals, to what to pack for a camping trip, to just plain keeping my entire life in order.

Facebook Interest lists are great for two reasons. First, they allow you to organize the pages that you already like into lists, so that you can quickly and easily browse through those pages’ updates. And second, you can follow lists that other people have created, which probably include pages that you’ve never heard of before.

You may have an Interests section on the lefthand menu of your Facebook homepage; if so, click on “Add Interests”.

If not, the easiest way to add the Interests section is to click in the white box at the top of the page that says “Search for people, places and things” and enter the name of a page that you would like to add to an interest list. Once you are on that Facebook page, click on the drop-down arrow beside “”Message” and select “Add to Interest Lists” (see below). Then click “+ New List…”

Later, once you’ve created Interest lists, this is one way that you can add additional pages to the list.

A box will pop up; click on “Pages” on the lefthand side. Then start scrolling through the list of pages that you like and click on each page that you want to add to the list – a check mark will appear on each page that you have selected. Click “Next”, then add a name for the list and select who can see the list (public, friends or just you). Click “Done” and you are finished!

Now go to your Facebook homepage (click the Facebook icon on the upper lefthand corner) and on the lefthand menu you will see “Interests” with your newly created list. Click on the list to view updates from only the pages within the list, instead of your entire newsfeed.

To add a new Interest list, click on “Add Interests” on the lefthand menu and then follow one of the suggested lists, search for a list by keyword, or create a new list of your own.

And there you have it – how to organize the Facebook pages you follow using the Interest list.

Click here to add my “Marketing Pages to Follow” Interest list. And if you have your own Interest list, feel free to post it in the comments section.

In case you didn’t know, a tome is a very large book, often part of a larger series of books. Exactly what a blog post should not be. And yet every day I see these huge long posts that make my brain want to crawl under a rock and take cover in the fetal position.

The problem is that writing for web is often much more challenging than people think. Because if you actually want people to read what you write (and isn’t that the point?), you need to optimize your content for online viewing. Here are some suggestions to bear in mind:

1. Use paragraphs. This helps to separate your content into different sections for each unique point or thought, and it also creates lovely white space on the page that is visually appealing to our eyes and brains, increasing the odds that your readers will read the entire post.
2. Be aware of ‘the fold’. When a person looks at their computer screen, whatever content is visible without needing to scroll down the page is referred to as “above the fold’. It makes sense to put your most engaging points at the top of your post, in order to draw your reader in and give them a reason to scroll down the page to read more.
3. Use the ‘thesis’ approach. In my university English class, we had to practice writing essays in the following format:
   • Opening paragraph with a sentence about the topic, followed by the three to five points you want to explore.
   • Three to five paragraphs about your topic, with one paragraph per point.
   • Closing paragraph that reiterates the points explored and that summarizes your thoughts on the topic.
4. Use a list. See, I’m following my own advice already. It doesn’t matter if the list uses bullets or numbers; the point is that a list organizes your points in an efficient way and encourages you to write more succinctly.
5. Write succinctly. People read online content much differently than books or magazines. Generally speaking, your audience is probably looking to find information quickly. So help them out by writing short sentences, omit unnecessary adjectives, and strive to write good content with less words.
6. Consider splitting your post into a series. If your post is longer than one and a half pages in a Word document, I would recommend dividing your content into sections, and then posting each section as part of a larger series.

What suggestions do you have for writing online content?

Have you tried out the new Facebook Pages app? For anyone who manages at least one Facebook page, this is a great addition, and even better for those of us who manage multiple pages. But it does have its limitations…

So what can you actually do with this app? Well, you can:

• View page posts and filter them to show either only the page’s posts, or everyone’s posts
• Like and comment on the page’s posts
• Write a new post or share a photo
• View a list of the people and pages who like the page
• See new notifications
• View a list of admins associated with the page
• And the most important thing is the ability to view a simplified insights overview for the page

And the limitations?

•  Much of what you can do with this app, you can also do on the regular Facebook mobile app (provided you have set up your page correctly), such as writing new posts, sharing photos and liking and commenting on posts
• While you are able to view a list of page admins, you can’t change their authorizations or add or delete admins. Clicking on an individual admin simply takes you to their Facebook profile on the main Facebook app
• The insights provided are very simple compared to the advanced insights available on the web version

So what do you think of the new Facebook pages app?