I haven’t heard social media called a fad in quite some time. Most businesses acknowledge the importance of social media as a key component to their marketing strategy. Most individuals use at least one social network to keep up with friends or family. Social media and the networks that make them up are fully integrated in our every day lives. We can use them as a tool or as a timesuck (both are equally important in my opinion). (And yet, my mother refuses to use her computer unless she’s watching Netflix or sending an e-mail, but that’s another story.)

The following infographic shares fascinating statistics about the growth of social networks worldwide. Some of the more interesting information for me included the following:

• If Facebook were a country, it would be twice the size of the United States and it would be the third largest country in the world.
• Social media may have an impact on whether you’re hired or not.
• Facebook users share seven billion pieces of content every month.
• Although most people refer to the main social networks as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, they aren’t ranked as high as you’d think. Facebook rules them all, yes, but Twitter is fifth and LinkedIn is ninth. Are you signed up with Orkut? Apparently it’s big in Brazil and India.

Source: The Growth of Social Media: An Infographic

Related posts:

1. Social Media Classes Are you interested in learning about social media and blogging?...
2. Create a Custom Welcome Tab for Your Facebook Fan Page I’ve been getting lots of requests for custom Facebook Welcome...
3. Facebook Business Page Consulting Services Why should I use a Facebook Business Page? Think your...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Why consider using a custom Welcome page?

Let’s face it: Online, looks are everything. A great design can make or break your success. The more professional you appear, the more authority you’re perceived to wield. Your Facebook business page is no exception. Creating a custom Welcome landing page in Facebook tells your visitors you take social media seriously. And they appreciate that. According to Mari Smith, visitors who visit your page and land on a custom Welcome page are 47% more likely to Like your page than if they just land on your Wall (which is only a 23% conversion to a Like). I’d say that’s worth a look. So how do you create a custom Welcome page on Facebook? There are two ways:

1. Hire it out
2. Do it yourself

Hiring Someone to Create a Custom Welcome for Facebook

I work with Karen Lewis of Simply Amusing Designs to create custom Facebook Welcome pages. Karen is a master at taking your goals, preferences, and personality and creating a design that fits your brand across several platforms. She can create a cohesive look for your Facebook Welcome page, Facebook profile picture, Twitter background, blog and/or website, business cards, etc. She creates the Welcome page design and I code the finished product. You can see examples of her work in the Simply Amusing Designs Facebook custom Welcome page gallery.

Creating Your Own Custom Welcome for Facebook

If you think you’d like to try creating a custom Welcome page yourself, I have a few links you’ll be interested in. I haven’t tried all of these options, but you can check them out yourself and see what you think. Some are free, some are paid.

• Pagemodo. This free application gives you several templates to choose from and is easy to use. I’ve created temporary Welcome pages with this application, but I find that the end result is not crisp. It looks like the application takes a grainy picture of the finished product and displays that. Try it out and see what you think. I’ve had some people tell me they are completely happy with the end product. It’s free. What do you have to lose?
• iwiPage. This looks like a pretty easy-to-use application. You install the free application on your Facebook business page, then click the Welcome link in your page’s left nav bar (under the profile picture). This app offers several very short tutorials to help you get up and running.
• Fanpage Engine by Hubze. Prices for this app range from $37 (access to two templates) to $67 (access to all templates) or you can have them develop a page for you ($697-797). I haven’t tried this application, but I’ve had colleagues who have been happy with the results.
• Wildfire Interactive. This app is free for the next three months. After that, it’s possible Wildfire will start charging a fee for the service. With the Wildfire Interactive application, you can create a fan-gated Welcome page. That means a fan must Like your page in order to see specific information on the Welcome page (e.g., a special coupon). Not interested in that? No problem. You can also create a page without fan-only content.
• HyperArts Blog. These are tutorials for true do-it-yourselfers. HyperArts writes tutorials for those who want to learn to code a Welcome page by themselves with no outside software help or WYSIWYG editors. If you’re comfortable with code, I encourage you to give it a try!
• How to Build Your Facebook Landing Page (If You’re Not a Programmer). One more for the DIY-ers in the house. This is a pretty straight-forward tutorial, but if you choose this route, you’ll need to do it quick. This tutorial implements FBML (Facebook’s version of HTML) and Facebook is discontinuing support for FBML on March 11, 2011. Any FBML installed prior to March 11 will be grandfathered in, but you won’t be able to install new FBML after March 11. I’m hoping they’ll update this tutorial with directions for installing with the iFrames parameters.

What Should I Include on My Custom Facebook Welcome Page?

Your custom Facebook Welcome page is the perfect place to set expectations. What people want to know is why they should Like your page and be part of your community. Your Welcome page is where you can

• share a fan-only coupon code
• showcase specific products (don’t forget to include a specific call to action and a link so they can complete the action)
• share your Twitter feed in real time
• bring in your blog’s RSS feed
• share your company philosophy
• explain what kind of information you share on your Wall and what fans can contribute

The possibilities are endless. What are you doing with your Facebook fan page? Did you use a service to create it? I’d appreciate your feedback on the services you used.

Related posts:

1. Facebook Business Page Consulting Services Why should I use a Facebook Business Page? Think your...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

My friend Deb of Deb Works invited me and a few blogging friends to attend the #140Conf Smalltown in Hutchinson, KS earlier this month. Unfortunately, my work schedule didn’t permit a road trip that week and I asked my buddy Kelly Kinkaid of Kellyology to wrangle some bloggers and make the trip for me. She agreed because she’s awesome like that. Thank you to @DebWorks, @Kellyology, @andsosheblogs, and @VickiMaeisOK.

In 2009 the 140 Characters Conferences, #140Conf, began.  These conferences “explore the effects of Twitter on a wide range of topics including:  Celebrity, ‘The Media,’ Advertising, Politics, Fashion, Real Estate, Music, Education, Public Safety, Public Diplomacy and quite a few other topics.”  They have been hosted  in New York, Los Angeles, Tel Aviv, London, San Francisco, Barcelona, Austin, Washington D.C., and on Monday, November 1st, Hutchinson, Kansas.  Now if, to you, Hutchinson, Kansas seems like a weird place to have a media conference that focuses on the global impact of social media, you’re not alone.  The idea for the conference was the brainstorm of Becky McCray, a self-proclaimed entrepreneur and rancher from Hopeton, Oklahoma, population 262. She approached Jeff Pulver, the creator of #140Conf, and suggested that it would be interesting if one of the #140Conf would explore the impact of social media on Small Town, U.S.A.  It would be called (wait for it) #140Conf Smalltown.  And so it began.

#140Conf Smalltown was held at the historic Fox Theater and was attended by 250 visitors from over 12 states. In addition, thanks to live-streaming, many more people were able to attend remotely, including a host of international viewers. What was the draw? Everyone was interested in hearing about how Twitter could impact, has impacted, or will impact the members and the businesses of small town communities.”  And although the list of speakers was long and diverse including college professors, journalists, community activists, ranchers and farmers, members of the Hutchinson police force, educators, marketing experts, and some guy who tweets while riding his self propelled tractor, the message seemed to be the same from all and included three main ideas:

1. For members of small town communities, Twitter is the great equalizer.  On Twitter large companies with huge marketing budgets cannot outspend community activists, small business owners, or the guy on the tractor who wants to talk about his opinion concerning the latest elections.  All you need is the ability to create tweets with purpose, have a defined mission about what you wish to accomplish, and have the ability to create tweets with personality that make people want to join your conversation.
2. For members of small town communities, Twitter eliminates the problems that could exist by living in a more isolated area. You can live in Hopeton, Oklahoma and have a thriving national business.  You can build an international company working out of the basement of your home.  And you can have conversations and share knowledge with people that you otherwise might not have access to — all because you have opened yourself up to the rest of world by creating a Twitter account.
3. The most important aspect to consider when opening your Twitter accounts are the the relationships you build with others. You never know what you might learn about your area of expertise from a relationship you build with someone in another part of the country or even another country.  You never know when a conversation about a great recipe from a twitter friend might lead to a mutually beneficial professional relationship.  You never know how important a Twitter friendship can become to you personally even though you’re communicating with someone who you have never met in person.

In the United States today, 281 million people live in communities with a size less than 50,000 people (per the ers.usda.gov).  With an overall population of of over 310 million people in the USA, that statistic suggests that, in fact, the vast majority of Americans live in small town communities.  With the creation of Twitter and other forms of social media such as Facebook, Four Square, LinkedIn, etc., the people of the United States are growing more connected by the day.  And with each connection it seems to matter less and less about where you live.  Instead, according to the speakers at #140Conf Smalltown, all that matters are the connections and relationships you create on line.

#140Conf NYC 2011 will be taking place June 15th and 16th at the 92nd Street Y and another #140Conf Smalltown will be held in Hutchinson, KS on September 20, 2011.

This is a guest post by Kelly Kinkaid of Kellyology.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I don’t usually post press releases here at Blogging Basics 101 because I don’t feel the majority of them are relevant. I’m posting one today, though, because I specifically asked for a copy. There’s a conference going on November 1 that I think you need to be aware of and should attend if you can. It’s the Small Business #140conf and it’s being held in Hutchinson, KS on November 1 (in case you missed the title of this article </tongueincheek>). Here’s the scoop:

Heavy Hitters Head to Hutch

Monday November 1, the Fox Theatre in Hutchinson Kansas will be the host to some of the most cutting edge personalities in the online universe. Hosted by Jeff Pulver and Becky McCray, the 140 Character Conference is coming to small town America.  These conferences have been hosted in cities like New York, London and Tel Aviv.  #140conf Small Town will be a ground breaking opportunity to look at the effects of the real-time web on the people and the businesses inside of and around Small Towns.

The #140conf events provide a platform for the worldwide twitter community to: listen, connect, share and engage with each other, while collectively exploring the effects of the emerging real-time internet on business. It creates serendipity in talking to each other, sharing ideas across industries, and exchanging thoughts with people like you and not like you. To put it in rural terms, we’re going to cross-pollinate some ideas. Or think of it as hybrid vigor: your new ideas are much stronger than the ideas that brought them about.

Who’s speaking?  At the release of this article there are 31 contributors lined up. This conference will be flexible and there may be more speakers as well.  These are just some of the topics that will be covered – and the bios of those presenting.

Anita Cochran  – from TV to Twitter. A self-proclaimed “News Goddess,” Anita Cochran became a household name as a News Anchor in her home state of Kansas. A graduate of Wichita State University, her Radio/TV/Film degree morphed into a career that took her from Hays to Garden City and back to Wichita and allowed her to cover stories from all corners of the state and even across the country. In spring 2009, Anita celebrated her 20th year on camera, and walked away from the Industry she loves. Today, a mother of two daughters, and wife of almost 24 years, Anita has gone through a downsizing of her material life, to upsize her spiritual one.   She’s blogging and writing a book about that experience…..and living on one-fourth the income, her family became accustomed to.

Dennis Deery   – Small Towns & Online – Melding Two Visions of Community. Dennis Deery is the founder of Irish Rose Consulting, a technology consulting firm located in western Wisconsin. He has worked in the field for over 20 years, specializing in technology planning, software development and web site development. Irish Rose Consulting works with small- to mid-sized companies, non-profit organizations and government agencies throughout the United States and Europe. Dennis also does extensive work in the field of community development, focusing mainly on small towns and rural areas.

Warren Parker and Michelle Tucker – Bridging the Gap between the Farm and Urban Areas. Warren Parker has a degree from Fort Hays State University in Communications and Radio/Television.  He worked for 10 years at WIBW-TV/radio in Topeka Kansas as reporter, anchor, and chief photographer.  He covered the Kansas legislature and courts, covered three national political conventions, and created an award-winning television feature series ‘Parker’s People’ seen nationally and internationally.

After leaving the media, Warren moved to the Kansas Farm Bureau as lobbyist and governmental relations assistant director for membership-approved policy in Topeka, Kansas and Washington D.C. He is now the web development director for Kansas Farm Bureau managing the organization’s website.

Warren says “I appreciate all kinds of agriculture, and embrace them. However, in my travels to different parts of the world, and seeing complex political and geographical diversities, I have learned there is a need to feed that world, and a safe, modern agriculture that allows our food security, as well as trade with other nations, is required.  I believe in true, science-based solutions, and have little patience for agenda-driven hype and emotion.  I look forward to sharing views.”

Michelle Tucker. I am a mother, wife, Farm Insurance nerd and all around people lover.  I am currently raising the 5th generation in the same home that was placed there over 100 years ago.  While we do not farm for a living, we are still active in raising some cattle and help my father who still farms the land.  I love sharing my story of Ag and life on Twitter and having the amazing opportunity to connect to others I would otherwise not have met.  Oh and I love my Kansas State Wildcats!!

Debbie Lyons-Blythe – Life on a Kansas Cattle Ranch. Debbie Lyons-Blythe is a cattle rancher in central Kansas, in the heart of the grasslands of the Flint Hills. She has been married to Duane for more than 20 years, and they have five kids. They have about 250 mama cows raising calves, and 300 heifers (cows that haven’t had a calf yet). Debbie sells bulls and heifers and sometimes feeds out steers to enter the food chain.

Debbie’s job is to raise the cattle and kids. She and her husband believe that connecting to the people who do not live on a ranch is very important to their children’s future on the ranch. Debbie blogs weekly about her life, shares beef recipes and stories about the ranch at KansasCattleRanch.blogspot.com.  She uses Twitter and Facebook to connect to people across the world.  She says, “I am a typical rancher, albeit a woman. But we do things like everyone else around here does—with a basic respect for the cattle and the land. Our future depends on the sustainability of our ranch. The only difference is that we realize that we must make the time to open our lives up to ‘city folk’ so they can see what we do and why we do it.”

Cort Anderson – Support Your Local Newspaper. Cort Anderson is the CEO (Chief Everything Officer) of Cort D Anderson Limited Company and a Senior Partner in Identis, LLC.  He provides a variety of services for his clients from software training to graphic design to web consulting. In addition he shoots occasional news assignments for local newspapers and fine art photography.

At Kansas State University he studied journalism and went on to work for newspapers and a wire service.  For the past 20 years he has combined his knowledge of photography, printing and computers to help companies move into desktop publishing and digital imaging.

From 1999 until 2009 Cort was the Technology Consultant for the Kansas Press Association. He traveled the state working with small newspapers on training and technology issues. He has presented programs on digital photography, PDF creation, websites and other newspaper technology hurdles for various state and national press associations.

Jonathon George Micro-messaging: Creating Signal in the Noise. Jonathan George is the founder and CEO of AppRemix, a real-time mobile micro-messaging company known for its popular iPhone application Boxcar.  Prior to AppRemix, Jonathan led and developed several web startups.  With 10 years of web and software entrepreneurship, he is particularly familiar with the many important aspects of usability, interaction design and their relationship to technology.
Jonathan is from Coffeyville, KS and currently resides in Wichita, KS.  He is known for his candor and insights into the internet and application industries, and blogs on a non-regular basis.

Gus Wagner – Using Social Media to Drive Reaction to Agribusiness in Government. Gus is originally a farm kid from Franklin County, Missouri. He spent 12 years as a manufacturing consultant before launching The Rocket Group in 2001 where they focus on Relationship, Graphic and Communication Strategies for Business, Politics, and Government. After being an early adopter of Facebook and Twitter for client marketing, he became certified in Social Media Strategy in 2010.

Gus says “My official capacity in government was as a Chief of Staff to two Missouri State Senators over an 8-year period. My responsibilities included managing all the legislative issues involved within the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food Production, and Outdoor Resources and a Senate district in Southwest Missouri with one of the fastest growing population areas in America. . My company and I have managed, assisted, or contracted on more than 135 campaigns from small city halls to the halls of Congress since 1998 and have been victorious more than 70% of the time.”

Gigi Belmonico – Living Life Connected. Image Consultant, Glamour Girl, and Bombshell Coach! Many entrepreneurial women lose their femininity and friendships as they build amazing businesses and Gigi shows them how to turn up “The Bombshell Factor™”!  An Image Consultant for over 25 years, she’s shown thousands of women how to feel powerful in their femininity through tools such as body typing, makeup and fashion personality, core wardrobing, and much more so that EVERYday is Bombshell day!

Many women have qualities that make them “look” beautiful, but Gigi takes it even further and teaches the “missing link” …the more esoteric qualities that truly connect women with each other without the typical drama, trauma, and jealousy so prevalent today.

She was featured in “Mom Spa: 75 Relaxing Ways to Pamper a Mother’s Mind, Body, and Soul,” by Gin Sander, and was a contributing author in Gin’s book “Raging Gracefully: Smart Women on Life, Love, And Coming into Your Own”.

Mark Linder – Mobilized to Feed the World. Entrepreneur, Investor, New Media and Podcasting Pioneer and former Fortune 500 executive. Managing Partner of ND Partners, LLC (Owner & Operator of Sola Salons in Texas) and President/Principle of Forefront Media Labs (producer of New Media and Social Media projects.) Early Podcaster featured on PodShow/Mevio since their beta days. Speaker at 2008 SXSW, 2007 Portable Media Expo, 2008 New Media Expo and 2008 Thin Air Summit. Finalist for 2009 Podcast Award from PodcastAwards.com. Forefront Media Labs has worked on many New Media projects one of which included heading the team which brought Barack Obama to Second Life. Based in Dallas, Texas, his company currently produces three podcasts for Mevio, operates Internet Radio Stations, creates social media programs and websites for a variety of organizations and has a soon to be released in print audio book.

Heather Lytle and Cyndy Hoenig – Trust me: How to Use PR & Social Media to Create Brands People Know, Like and Trust. Heather Lytle is a New Media Strategist and Technology Specialist. As senior partner with H&L Media Partners, Heather uses her extensive corporate background as well as her intimate understanding of the needs of small business owners to offer clients a unique marketing perspective with a focus on new technologies. She also owns HVM Solutions, which offers a full range of technology solutions for business from web design and development to iPhone applications, and ShopGadgetGirl.com, which started as a blog but after generating a huge buzz went retail in March 2009.

Heather holds a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from University of Central Oklahoma and a MBA in Leadership and Organizational Development from Oklahoma Christian University. She serves on the Board of Directors for Keep Oklahoma Beautiful and served as the Corporate Sponsorship Co-Chair for Go Red for Women. She was just named a 20 under 40 by the Business Times and awarded a 40 under 40 by OKC Biz. A very busy and successful year for one who won’t turn 40 for seven years.  Lytle lives in Edmond, Oklahoma in the house she grew up in with her husband Kevin and cow dog, Shawnee. She loves Edmond, Lake Tenkiller, writing and her family.

Cyndy Hoenig’s career has taken her from her home in Oklahoma to a 20-year entertainment career in Los Angeles, where she served as Director of the Television Division of Bender, Goldman & Helper, and a top public relations agency. Her area of expertise centers on planning and executing media relations programs that achieve high levels of coverage. Cyndy has managed media relations for the Emmy’s, Screen Actors Guild and VH-1 Music Awards shows, as well as top television shows for NBC, CBS, FOX, Carsey-Werner, Aaron Spelling, Disney Channel and 20th Television.

She organized the media for the Oklahoma City National Memorial’s 10th Anniversary, handling over 700 media outlets. A program she planned and managed for Oklahoma City’s Race for the Cure enhanced awareness to a level that resulted in a 35% increase in participation.

Currently, Hoenig owns Pure PR, a PR company in Oklahoma City, and is partnered with Heather Lytle in H&L Media Partners, a company that offers consultant services and trainings in PR and Social Media.

Hoenig is a sustaining member of the Jr. League of OKC and PR chair for the Edmond Women’s Club. She studied communications at University of Central Oklahoma and St. Edwards University in Austin, Texas.   Residing in Edmond with her beloved dog, Digger, Cyndy has four grown daughters and eight grandchildren.

Andrea Springer – Tell Me Why I Should Care – Nonprofits, Social Media, and Storytelling. Andrea says “I’m looking forward to my first #140conf and am tickled that it’s going to be in the Fox Theatre.  In a previous life, I was executive director of the theatre’s restoration.  It’s a 1931 art deco movie palace, restored to its original glory and a great space.  We hope everyone enjoys their time there.

In addition to what you read, I was raised on a farm in Illinois but consider myself a Kansan by choice, having been here for over 25 years.  Fourteen of those years were spent working in public broadcasting – both radio and television.  I’m passionate about community in all its forms – online and off.  In addition to my consulting work with nonprofits I volunteer with four local organizations with missions ranging from the arts to social services to economic development.  I’m also a knitter and teach classes at a local yarn shop on a regular basis.”

Andrea’s background includes 25 years of experience working for and with nonprofit organizations. She served as Capital Campaign Manager and Director of Development for KPTS Public Television in Wichita, Executive Director of the Fox Theatre restoration project in Hutchinson and Senior Consultant for HartsookCompanies, a national fundraising firm. She is also a founding member of the Kansas Historic Theatre Association. In 2004, Andrea started Springer Coaching and Consulting, a firm that focuses on the specialized needs of small nonprofits.

Marci Penner – How 8 Wonders Drive Online Success. Marci Penner is the director of the Kansas Sampler Foundation, a non-profit founded by her and her father in 1993.  The office is based on the family farm near Inman.

Major stops have been at the University of Kansas, the University of Wisconsin, and the Philadelphia area.  In 1990 Marci moved back to Kansas and has been working with rural communities ever since. The mission of the Foundation is to preserve and sustain rural culture by educating Kansans about Kansas and by networking and supporting rural communities.

Some of the better known projects are the 8 Wonders of Kansas, the Kansas Sampler Festival, and Rural Kansas: Come & Get It, the Kansas Explorers Club, and the Kansas Guidebook for Explorers.  Marci went to every one of the 627 incorporated cities in Kansas in the early 2000s to research for the guidebook.

Marci served as a co-chair for the Governor’s Rural Life Task Force, was named Distinguished Kansas of the Year in 2005 and has received other state and national awards for her work with rural communities.

Jay Ehret – Your Tweet is Your Brand: Small Town Business Branding. Jay Ehret is Chief Officer of Awesomeness for The Marketing Spot, a marketing coaching and consulting firm he founded in 2001 in Waco, Texas. He is a marketing coach, consultant, speaker, and blog author. He helps entrepreneurs and brands build marketing plans based on the four essential spots of marketing: Branding, Experience, Conversation, and Promotion. He empowers his clients with knowledge, giving them a course in marketing, turning entrepreneurs into marketers while transforming businesses into extra-ordinary brands. Jay has developed a full-day workshop that teaches participants how to build and implement their own marketing plan.

He is a frequent speaker at conferences and industry association events. He was a featured speaker at the 2010 National Golf Course Owners Association annual conference. Jay has presented at numerous marketing and trade association conferences and been a featured speaker at South by Southwest Interactive, the Optimization Summits, and the Global Golf Marketing Conference in Seoul, Korea.  Jay authors the award winning Marketing Spot Blog and hosts the Power to the Small Business podcast.

He is married to Carol and has four grandchildren and two dogs. He is active in his church, is a wine lover, and dreams of someday playing in the World Series of Poker. (Jay is on the left)

Cody M. Heitschmidt – What is Your OPA …Online Presence Assessment? Cody attended Hutchinson Community College Classes while at Hutchinson High School, graduating in 1993.  United States Marine Corps followed from 1994 – 1998.  After leaving the military and returning to Hutchinson, Kansas, Cody did a short but enjoyable time with Koch Industries, leaving to develop and build H&R Outfitters, a hunting guide business. Although he enjoyed it tremendously, it did not prove to be financially prudent so he teamed up with his wife, Tamara, in her business LogicMaze, Inc. Web Designs and Small Business Marketing to do her sales and marketing in 2004.  Together they grew the business and sold it to Harris Enterprises/Hutchinson News in December, 2009.  They continue to manage, design and market the business for the Hutchinson News.

Cody was one of the original committee members in the development of the Young Professionals Organization in Reno County that now has grown to over 250 members; he was also instrumental in the marketing and publicity of organizing the first Third Thursdays that are now a popular event in the downtown area of Hutchinson.

Deb Brown – Volunteering Pays. Deb was born and raised in Franklin County Iowa.  Luther College educated her and she lived in Chicago for many years. She’s worked as an insurance underwriter, a retail management professional, salesperson, a teacher and a writer. Deb returned home to Iowa to care for her elderly parents. Much to her surprise, the Iowa Deb remembered was so much more than just a place to raise pigs. Franklin County has a rich prairie heritage, is loaded with historical sites and treasures, welcoming neighbors and good old fashioned entrepreneurial spirit. It was the perfect place to begin Debworks – combining many years of experience in various fields into her own business.  Social media merging with volunteer activities has created another line of income in her income stream.  Deb believes everyone can make a difference if we just live into our greatness and teach others to do the same.

Lynn Woolf – From the Farm: Advocating for Agriculture Using Social Media & Other Tools. Today’s consumers are looking for more than a great product, service or cause. They want — and deserve — ways to become engaged and to interact as part of a community. Credible, interesting and “fresh” online content and social media initiatives can help you do just that. And, traditional forms of communication — print media and newsletters, for example — are still important ways to build relationships.

“I am a copywriter with journalism and PR experience — that’s a double dose of expertise in creating informative, engaging and persuasive content for web sites, publications, company collateral and more. “

Simran Sethi – Social Media for Social Change in the Classroom (and Beyond). Simran blogs about sustainability for online outlets including The Huffington Post, Mother Earth News and Oprah.com. She has been a featured guest on NPR and is host of the Emmy-award winning PBS documentary, “A School in the Woods.” Simran has lectured at institutions ranging from the Commonwealth Club to Cornell University; keynoted conferences including Bioneers by the Bay, the green Business Conference and the North American Association for Environmental Education; and moderated panels for the Clinton Global Initiative University, Demos and The Climate Group.

Simran is a 2010 fellow in the Poynter Institute’s Sense-Making project, a Ford Foundation-funded program that is studying the integration of new media and democratic values. She has also served as an associate fellow at the Asia Society since 2008. Simran is a member of the Sustainability Advisory Board, a mayoral appointment in the city of Lawrence, Kansas. She holds an M.B.A. in sustainable business from the Presidio Graduate School where she now lectures in their sustainability certification program and graduated cum laude with a B.A. in Sociology and Women’s Studies from Smith College. She is the 2009 recipient of the Smith College Medal, awarded to alumnae demonstrating extraordinary professional achievements and outstanding service to their communities, and the 2010 recipient of the American College Personnel Association Champion of Sustainability award for leadership on sustainability within academe.

Elizabeth Norton – Living in a Victorian Town in a Real Time World. Even at the age of 28, Elizabeth has had many opportunities to play her share of different roles. While her journeys have taken her to stage, writing, children party entertainment and beyond, her finest casting role is one of being a mother. Elizabeth Norton is never at a loss for words. What is more important is that she is a wife and mother to over 25 children while 23 of those have come and gone through Elizabeth’s house through the foster system of New Jersey 2 birth children remain who are delightful(sometimes) boys.

Elizabeth pokes fun at her own imperfections as she discusses matters of motherhood, party planning, and hot topics that affect the families of today. She is a voice for various motherhood panels and owner of the Party Planning Professor.

Patsy Terrell – Twitter is Today’s Civic Club. Patsy Terrell is a writer and artist. She does public relations for the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center. She is a columnist for the statewide magazine, Kansas Country Living, and writes freelance for a number of publications. Her background includes being a journalist, a graphic designer, and executive director of a non-profit. She consults with businesses and organizations about how to incorporate social media into their marketing; she speaks to groups about social media, food and food traditions, and creating a meaningful life.

Details:

The lineup is a great one – and this is one event you won’t want to miss in Hutchinson Kansas.
November 1, 8 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. at the Fox Theatre, 18 East 1st Avenue.  Stay overnight at  Ramada Hotel and Conference Center Hutchinson (formerly known as the Grand Prairie Hotel and Convention Center) 620-669-9311 or 800-362-5018.  A block of rooms has been assigned for conference attendees.

The schedule is posted at http://smalltown.140conf.com

You can purchase your ticket at http://smalltown.140conf.com/register

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The problem with Facebook memes in general is that they are boring and redundant. The problem with the breast cancer awareness memes specifically is that they don’t have a call to action. They do nothing to support breast cancer awareness. We’re already aware of the problem. If you want to support breast cancer research, survivors, and cures, then you need a call to action. You need to do something. This is why I’m challenging everyone who participated in the breast cancer awareness memes (and those who didn’t) to put your money where your mouth is. Actually, I’m asking you to share a story on the Facebook page of a company who will donate fifty cents to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure for every story shared. So you’re putting their money where your mouth is. You get the drift.

Pepperidge Farm wants to help you support Susan G. Komen for the Cure. All you have to do is go to http://www.facebook.com/pepperidgefarmmilano and write a short wall post about why your life is sweet. For every story shared, Pepperidge Farm will donate 50 cents to Susan G. Koman for the Cure. After you’ve shared your story, post this to your Facebook status and challenge your friends to do the same:

Let’s really support breast cancer research! No more crazy memes with no calls to action. Go to http://bit.ly/MilanoFacebook and share your Milano moment (why life is sweet). They’ll donate .50 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure for every story shared (up to $50k).

Or come up with your own status update. The point is to raise money for cancer research, not create another meme.

The fine print: This is a One2One Network campaign I opted to participate in. I’m not receiving anything in return. No money, no product. It’s just a cause I felt I needed to be part of because it’s important to recognize when a meme is fun and silly and when you can really do some good. This is an opportunity to do some good.

photo credit: pvera

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

It’s reported that SAY Media will continue to support Movable Type and TypePad (the Vox platform will be dead September 30). However, VideoEgg is an advertising network and over the past few years Six Apart has also been pushing their ad network and encouraging affiliate sales.

According to AdWeek,Troy Young (President of SAY Media) said the main focus of the new company will be those bloggers who want to “build media businesses, rather than regular people who write a blog for fun. They quote him as saying, “The kinds of people we want to work with are emerging media personalities.” So where does that leave you?

If you’re using Movable Type and want to stay with a similar platform but have sworn off WordPress, then you’ll be happy to know that Byrne Reese, who used to be the Movable Type evangelist until he left Six Apart last year, has been working on a new open source blogging platform called Melody. It looks to be incredibly similar to Movable Type and it’s named after some song that seems to have special meaning to the Six Apart Movable Type crew. (Frankly, I don’t know the whole story. When I met them at Blog World one year, Anil Dash thought my name was Melody Nelson instead of Melanie Nelson and he went off on some weird diatribe about my name and the importance to the team. I gave him serious eyes and nodded to be polite. I just thought it was interesting that the guy in charge of Movable Type left to make a new version of it and called it something that had meaning to the group at Six Apart. It seems a little incestuous to me.)

If you’re using TypePad? I don’t know what this means for you. The Everything TypePad blog promises, “Nothing in TypePad changes today, and SAY Media will continue to provide support to TypePad subscribers, and evolve the TypePad platform. You can choose to take advantage of our strong relationships with marketers to monetize your blogs, or you can keep your blog ad-free.” I’m not concerned that anything will change today, as they point out. I’m concerned about the changes coming down the road. The information I’m seeing from TechCrunch, Mashable, CrunchBase, and AdWeek tells me these two companies are focused more on developing an ad network than supporting bloggers (unless, of course, you’re an up-and-coming or established media personality, apparently). I’m fairly certain they won’t be shutting down anything immediately, but if it were me, I’d be watching this closely. It doesn’t help that TypePad is one of the harder platforms to migrate. If you do plan to migrate, it will take some planning, patience, and probably some money to pay someone to help you if you’re not savvy about the back-end of your blog. (As an aside, yes I can help you migrate, but I hope it doesn’t come to that.)

I’m interested in your thoughts. Are you a TypePad or Movable Type user? If so, how do you plan to proceed? Will you stick with them no matter what or will you start preparing to migrate your blog to another platform just in case?

This article is cross-posted at BlogHer.com with permission.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Luckily, a few months ago I attended a local blogger meet up in my city and I won a door prize! The prize was an online presence photography session with a local photographer, Kenny Ruggiano (pronounced rue-JAN-oh), owner of KMR Photography. I wasn’t sure what an “online presence photography session” would entail, so I asked. Kenny suggested it would basically be a headshot — which is awesome if you don’t already have a headshot (but I do). So I suggested the Flavors.me angle and explained that I thought it would be a better option for me if he was game. He was and we brainstormed some ideas.

We met over coffee and discussed my personality (introverted and off-beat), my likes (retro), and my dislikes (fake extroversion). And what I mean by fake extroversion is that I love seeing all those pictures of families at the dinner table who are laughing and babies are crawling on the table and everyone looks loud and at ease. To stage a picture like that of my family would put me over the edge. If you came to dinner at our house, you’d see that it’s a pretty quiet affair and I would not be laughing or at ease with a baby on the table. It’s not me. However, I would be completely OK overdressing for the grocery store and giving you the stink eye while I cram pork rinds in my basket and peruse the organic food aisle. And Kenny got all of that. He talked with me and understood exactly what I was going for. Don’t you love when people get it? Kenny and I came up with this (click to enlarge):

We also took some pictures of me relaxing in my husband’s ’67 Camaro (which really is more my style, but who can resist the hilariousness of the overdressed housewife in the grocery store?):

I’m incredibly happy with how the photos turned out and, in turn, how my Flavors page looks. Kenny was great to work with.

I know I was lucky enough to win my session with KMR Photography, but I want to encourage you to invest some time and money in yourself and your blog as well. Having a good headshot gives you a more professional look than a simple snapshot your friend took. And you can always use a headshot: avatars/Gravatars, your About Me page, your bio for speaking gigs, etc. If nothing else, you’ll look uber-professional on Twitter and Facebook.

I know many of you are thinking you have a digital camera, maybe even a fancy dSLR that takes great shots. Awesome. But you know what? The shots you and I take just aren’t going to be as good as someone who has a degree in photography (did I mention Kenny has a degree in photography? Because he does.). A camera in my hands or my husband’s hands is not going to wield the same power as that camera in a professional’s hands. And a professional is going to be able to massage those photos to hide blemishes and enhance color. If you’re serious about your online image, I encourage you to invest the money in some good photos. A good photographer will sit down with you and talk to you about what you’re looking for and how best to achieve those goals.

If you’re ready to think outside the box, set up an appointment with a local photographer and ask him or her to help you develop an idea for a Flavors page or even your blog’s header. If you’re in Tulsa, you’re in luck! KMR Photography is local and Kenny is fun and easy to work with. I recommend him highly. Give him a call and ask him about his online presence photography and see what you two can come up with.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Flavors.me is fairly new — it launched in February, 2010 — and is a way for anyone, regardless of how comfortable you are with code, to set up a beautiful website. Even if you don’t have the slightest idea what HTML or CSS are, you can make a page that reflects your personality and links to your social networks, blogs, and whatever else you’re working on.

To start, you upload a picture and plug in the links to your social media networks. Although the free option is enough to get you started, if you want more than four links, the full library of fonts and layouts, and real-time stats, you’ll need to pony up the $20 annual fee (so cheap!). Keep in mind that if you want a custom domain (I did), you’ll need the paid version of Flavors. One of the nice things about Flavors is that, even with a free account, you have several simple design options that don’t overwhelm the page with content. Each link is expandable so content is hidden until it’s needed.

Once you have your photo, just upload it; Flavors.me automatically re-sizes it to fit the page. Then you can link your page to your blog(s) (and pull in your RSS feed) or any of your other social networks. It’s so easy you’ll be up and running in less than 20 minutes (and I bet most of that time will spent just playing around with which photo to use). Not only can you link to the social networks I mentioned earlier, but you can connect to etsy, soundcloud, TypePad, WordPress, Blogger, Netflix, and GoodReads as well.

If you check out the Flavors.me directory, you can see the very cool things people are doing with their pages:

I bought my vanity domain (http://MelanieNelson.com) and worked with a local photography shop (KMR Photography in Tulsa; I’ll have more on this in a later post) to get the image for my Flavors page. I’m extremely happy with how it turned out. Now my business card just lists MelanieNelson.com on one side and BloggingBasics101.com on the other; anyone who meets me just has to remember my name to connect. From my Flavors.me page I link to Blogging Basics 101, both my personal and BB101 Facebook accounts, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, and even my posts at BlogHer.com. My Flavors.me page is my hub.

I have two pieces of advice for you related to your Flavors presence:

1. Use a great photo. Flavors is first and foremost visual. Give your readers something beautiful or interesting to ogle — that image can be brand-related or you-related, whichever fits your goal. It’s worthwhile to work closely with a professional photographer to achieve the look you want. Check out the Flavors.me/directory for inspiration.
2. Keep it simple. You don’t need a long bio here. Your Flavors page isn’t meant to take the place of your other blogs, social networks, or online store. It’s meant to be a jumping-off place that houses links to all your other places online. Instead of listing your vitae, just provide an overview of you (one or two sentences will be enough) and link out to the places that are most important to you (or your brand).

Are you using Flavors yet? If so, leave your link in the comments so we can check it out!

Which page from the directory is your favorite? (Confession: I could spend way too long looking at the cool stuff showcased in the directory. It’s a total time-suck for me.)

Sidenote: Last week I read a TechCrunch article about a new site called About.me. It looks to be very similar to Flavors.me. About.me is still in beta, but once it’s rolled out, I’ll take a look and do a comparison of the two services.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Why Should I Shorten My URLs?

URL shorteners have been around for years and most do the same thing: they take a long URL (http://www.bloggingbasics101.com/2010/04/helpful-blogging-links-get-shared-on-facebook/) and making it into a short URL (http://bit.ly/ckNJhr). There are several advantages to shortening your URL:

• If you’re sharing a link on Twitter, you’re limited to 140 characters. Any URL you share can quickly eat up those characters and limit your actual message. (Tip: You don’t want to just post a link; you wan to tell people what they can expect when they click over.)
• Any time your link is visible, the longer it is, the harder it is to remember (and it’s not very pretty, either). Shortening it (especially if you use a service that allows you choose a keyword for the link; see below for some options) can solve this problem in some cases.
• Some URL shortening tools allow you to track how your audience uses and shares your URL.

URL Shorteners with Keywords

These services not only allow you to shorten your URL:

• Doiop
• TinyURL.com
• Snipurl.com

Not only do they shorten your URL, they give you the option of choosing a specific keyword to include in the URL. The result is something like http://doiop.com/blogging. These services don’t allow you to track your stats, but you can use Google Analytics to track specific user behavior or referral information for the page you’re linking to. For basic shortening with no bells and whistles, you can use one of these services:

URL Shorteners with Analytics

For those of you who want to know who’s clicking on or sharing your links, you’ll want to consider using a more powerful tool like the ones listed below.

Bit.ly allows you track the short URLs you create with an analytics page for each URL. You can determine your top referrers, reader location, actual clicks. Bit.ly is free. Some people have been confused when their Bit.ly statistics and their Google Analytics statistics don’t match up. It appears that there a few reasons for this.

1. No two analytics programs are going to ever show the same data; they all have different interpretations of data.
2. When you use Bit.ly (and possibly any URL shortening tool) to shorten a URL on, say, Twitter, Twitter will then look up the link via bots/spiders. Your Bit.ly stats include those false hits in their stats. I say “false hits” because those aren’t really pairs of eyes seeing your content, it’s just Twitter’s bots finding the link. Google Analytics won’t count those bots in its statistics.

Clicky.me requires you to run their analytics program on your web site (similar to Google Analytics) and will then track many of the same metrics Google Analytics tracks: “top referring domains, top countries, average time on site, bounce rate, etc)” as well as individual visitors. Because the clicky.me shortened URLs are linked to the clicky.me analytics you run on your site, the stats they provide are specifically for your web site; if you choose to share a link to another site that’s not running the clicky.me analytics (for instance, if you’re part of a campaign that’s tweeting links for a client), you’ll only be able to track how many times the link is clicked, not what people do once they arrive at your site. Clicky.me offers both a free and premium accounts, but the free account only allows you to shorten five URLs each day.

HootSuite.com is a very popular tool because, in addition to shortening URLs, it provides a suite of tools to help you manage your social media presence. You can

• track stats (including the most influential re-tweeters of your link)
• set up a Twitter dashboard similar to what you may be used to with Tweetdeck (you can have columns dedicated to specific keywords, hashtags, or users)
• schedule tweets
• manage multiple Twitter accounts
• collaborate with your team

There are actually many more features offered by HootSuite, but I suggest you check out the HootSuite blog for more info. HootSuite is free.

photo credit: LunaDiRimmel

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

• 7 Scientifically Proven Ways to Get “Shared” on Facebook via Fast Company. Dan Zarella of HubSpot tracked 12,000 articles to see when they were posted, how they were shared, and what information they offered. He’s compiled the data to show you how you can get your articles shared on Facebook.

• Do You Feel Like You Don’t Belong as a Blogger via ProBlogger. Darren wrote a great article about what it means to “belong” online. The fact is, we’re all people, we all have insecurities, and we’re all a little surprised to find where we are right now. There’s room for everyone.

• Understanding the Like Button and How It Affects You and a Website via BrandCraft Inc. More than a few people are unsure about the new Facebook Like button. Tommy Guns of BrandCraft Inc. provides a written explanation and a video about what the Like button is, how it can help you, and why you may want to drink the Kool-Aid.

• HOW TO: Disable Facebook’s “Instant Personalization” [Privacy] via Mashable. Not everyone is thrilled about Facebook changing how long apps can keep your info. Mashable shows you how to easily turn off this automatic feature. Now would be a good time to check your child’s Facebook account settings as well. I’m sure they’re keeping track of these changes and what they mean the way you are.

• Common Misconceptions About Web Designers via SixRevisions. I love this article because I have many friends who are web designers and I see them disrespected on a daily basis. Readers, I adore you, but please listen to me when I tell you design is not something just anyone can do. It takes time and talent and it’s expensive. More than that, though, it’s worth the cost and the wait. So on behalf of my designer friends, please read this article and try not to complain when they can’t get to your request yesterday. kthxbai

photo credit: lumaxart

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.