For example, I called one of my clients the other day and gave her my theme idea. She loved it and is running with it. (Check out Get Out Mom’s blog on Fit February so you understand more in depth.) By doing this, she is able to cater her Facebook posts, Twitter posts, make hashtags, and create a buzz around that particular theme for the month. In March, switch it up and so forth.  (On a side note, I do not write Get Out Mom’s blog posts…I occasionally do a guest post, but I help on her creative team.)

When you do this theme stuff, your readers can rely on your posts and learn in depth about a particular subject rather than being jostled from post to post about random things.  I also find that if you do a little planning ahead, topically (and typically), you won’t have as much apprehension or dread about actually blogging.

But this doesn’t have to only apply to blogging. You can use it in your business (maybe). Example: I’m one of the co-founders of Girls Rock! Indianapolis and sit on the Board of Directors. GRI is a nonprofit rock n’ roll summer camp for girls’ ages 8-16. The whole camp is based on building positive self-esteem and body image at a time when girls really need it. We use music empowerment, (ie: learning an instrument, making a band, learning about past female musicians) music and creativity as the platform for building a strong self.

We are about to go into our 3^rd year of camp. So I thought, why not apply this theme stuff to Girls Rock!?  By doing a theme every year, the campers can learn the same song of that particular era of music during instrument instruction (to learn chords, chord progression and song structure…after all, why not learn from the master songwriters?) Then, each day can be one of focus and intention.

Applying a theme can help overcome redundancy.  In the GRI case, the campers will learn a different focus each year and have appreciation for all genres. They learn more than one band or group that was associated with that musical era. Then, the music workshops can be tailored to the era, etc… This allows for musical progression each year. It also keeps them wanting to learn more, which they know they will the following year. Keep your clients coming back for more. I know I want our campers excited every year.

Make sense? My challenge to you: Think about your blog or your business. What type of theme or monthly theme can you apply to keep it interesting and more importantly, educational?

As a social media controller, manager, person…whatever you want to call me, I have passwords and logins for all of my clients’ accounts, and this includes their Twitter accounts. Once a month, I take the time to go through and unfollow inactive accounts, people who are not following, people who aren’t a good fit for my clients, etc. In essence…I “clean house.”

What blows my mind as I am doing this are the number of accounts that just….drift off. There are tweets, tweets, than suddenly… no tweets.  3 months, 9 months, 11 months go by and businesses have given up.  It’s all just silly, in my opinion.

Every single person I’ve interacted with in real life that is on Twitter and using it to create relationships along with getting business stuff out there, has indeed GOTTEN business.  Even MUSICIANS.

Case and point: Cathy Hurt (@cathhurt) just joins twitter. She really doesn’t know why… she just does it.  Ashley Plummer (@ashleyplummer), guitarist for Neon Love Life and Butler University video and web producer extraordinaire, is tweeting that we’re looking for a female sax player. You see…we recently had the opportunity to play Indy’s Tonic Ball and one of the artists that was covered, was David Bowie. Since we have an all-female band, we wanted a female saxophone player for our version of Modern Love.

Ash tweets of our need. Someone responds with Cathy’s name and twitter handle. Cathy then gets to experience the Neon Love Life madness in 6 rehearsals and a killer performance that was tons of fun. ALL BECAUSE OF TWITTER. Let me also mention that Cathy has always wanted to play Tonic Ball and finally got to. ALL BECAUSE OF TWITTER. (Her experience was of course, the biggest factor. I mean, she was prepared and came into the first rehearsal nailing it. She was a joy to work with and was utmost professional.)

This may be a small example to you, but not to us, and not to Cathy because it was a perfect fit.

Sometimes it may take some time to find your individual perfect “fits.” But I urge you, DO NOT GIVE UP ON TWEETING because Twitter IS as Tweeters DO. Take the time to ‘do.’

Questions? Please ask.

Experience? Please share.

So to my readers, I apologize for my sporaticism…(yet another made up word). Here’s what’s on my mind today. I’ve been running across a million posts lately about how social media marketing is pretty much recession-proof. At least, that’s my all-in-one sentence summary.

This is good but at the same time, kinda scary. Because that means my mom, who recently joined Facebook (we’re talking less than two weeks ago), could hop on the social bandwagon and think she can be business development in the next 6 months. Wrong. She can’t. (Not that she would even consider that…she just gets to be my lucky example.) It’s a scary thought, and now, more than ever, it’s high time companies, large and small, understand who they’re dealing with when it comes to the voice of their company, if they’re hiring outside help.

Stretching Too Thin

Prime example: I began my company, Linzstar Inc nearly three years ago. I am extremely fortunate and blessed to still be here and growing…to the point that I get to pick and choose who I get to work with. I have a client I dedicate most of my time too, because for many SM marketers, it’s easy to let their plate get too full with different industries. In other words, people like us are already of the social sort, so when we’re out there, it’s easy to chase rabbits down holes. So easy in fact, that sometimes, clients can get buried in the dust freelancers are kicking behind as they try to grow. Been there, done that. For greedy people, this may not be a problem. For me, I hate the thought of others not thinking I’ve done my part for the money they’ve spent. My job is ultimately to create such a positive social and user experience, that a company grows…period. It’s been an interesting learning curve over the past three years, but one I wouldn’t change.

I’ve also learned that to be successful in this environment, it’s quality clients, over quantity. It’s like one of the five top rules of the social media mantra, right?

So, while this industry is on the rise, which means I perhaps have some job stability in my field, it’s still insanely important to learn what you can about whom you may consider for your company. Find a marketer that places you as a priority and work out budgets around that. I know one great thing for me and my clients, because I’m such a small company, I get to work with people that may not want to spend 40-50K a year in their online marketing.

So, as we round the curve in social media marketing, you know, that one that had people arguing over whether or not the job of an online marketer was sustainable a few years back, it’s still very important to pick the right fit for your industry.

This company happens to be an IT company trying to do social media marketing. This kills me. It pains my heart. I was ranting on Twitter the other day…yes, it happens when a) it’s close to shark week, b) I’ve been in front of my computer too long, or c) I see more idiot people who can’t run their own businesses successfully, decide they’re going to “get into” the “social media marketing” business because someone told them it’s a way they can make money.

BULLOCKS.

Back to the meeting: This individual shares that he’s having a hard time “selling” social media. (Honestly…at this point, I wanted to slap him.) ps…if you’re reading this, I’m sorry. I’m being honest.

Why did I want to slap him? Because IT companies SHOULD NOT BE doing the job of MARKETING COMPANIES!!! EVER!!! YO, do you know why you have a hard time “selling?” Are you on Twitter or Facebook? Are you making movements and gaining ground? Are you so passionate about something that people get you? I wouldn’t believe that this guy could do anything for my company. Of course there is a hard time selling.

As a matter of fact, half the new “social media” shits out there really can’t do what it takes, and I’m pretty fed up with the people who fail doing their own thing, suddenly decide to become marketers. It gives marketing a bad name. Say it with me: SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING IS ONLY ONE ASPECT OF MARKETING. An IMPERATIVE one, but NOT the ‘be all, end all.’

This isn’t an easy job. It’s taken years to gain the experience and knowledge I have. My response to his question, “Do I have a hard time “selling” social media?” No, I don’t sell it. When people call me, they’re ready to do business…write a check and get it done, because they know they have to incorporate change in today’s business world, and they know I love it and I’m passionate about it. Period.

What are your thoughts about the emerging social media businesses?

Even the greatest of writers and bloggers sometimes struggle with new ideas or concepts to share. What often inspires me when I’m going through the lull of idea birthing, is reading what other people are sharing. Another thing that helps inspire me is to get the heck out and DO something. Go to a networking event, go to a social media meeting or tweet up. Meet people and share. Sometimes the most trivial of conversations can strike up ideas.

As a ghost blogger and content creator, many of my clients want to know what the perfect solution is. And really, over and over I let them know that there is no perfect solution. It’s about creating content that people need. It’s about being real with your audience. It’s about talking about what your kids did that day and how it clicked with something you experienced. It’s about the jerk in the traffic that cut you off that made you think of a time you did that and what was going on at the time that caused you to do what you are now cussing about.

We all experience the same emotions, some more often than others. I don’t care who you are, what your station is in this life, or how much you’ve been praised as a child or adult. Sometimes the most personal experiences then sharing of those experiences have the most profound affect on your readers. Never be afraid to share. (note: use discretion here…not EVERYTHING is good for a business blog.)

The main point of this is that sure, we all get the contential blues sometimes. Don’t be afraid to go in a different direction in order to pick the momentum back up.

Happy writing.

I’m an emotional being…sometimes too emotional. But as an artist/writer/creative type, I feed off emotion. It paves a way for me. That’s the first point.

Point number two: I’m an entrepreneur…a businesswoman. I help businesses blog and build relationships online. I help teach them how to be real with their audience and help build their audience. That being said, a question that often arises is, “What should my blog be about?”

My response? Everything.

Now, you may be thinking, “what about target audience?” or “what about business?”
Yes, all that too. The thing is, there really is no right or wrong way to write a blog. And there’s really no ‘this thing’ or ‘that thing’ that it should be about. Sure, if you’re a business, you definitely need a blog about that business, but it doesn’t have to be ONLY about business stuff. Sometimes I write about business, sometimes I write about passion. Sometimes I write about other people’s businesses, and sometimes I write about music…or my daughter.

The thing is, pretty much anything we write about can circle back around to what we’re passionate about. It’s more a matter of just doing it. Chris Brogan is brilliant at this. He can take some random thought or experience that happened in his life that exact day, and mold it into a couple paragraphs of relatable brilliance that typically circles back to business and the humanization of it.

My advice…don’t think too hard. Just do. And if you’re still not sure, have someone go over your blog post before you post. Write about your experiences and how they’ve made you learn about X lesson. Write about something your child did that made you think back to how you could relate to others in the workplace. Make business personal. That’s when people really relate to you.

Everyone is talking about changes. Yeah, so it’s a new year. I purposefully didn’t make any resolutions this year.  I have some things I’d like to be more disciplined with, but the biggest thing for me is getting comfortable in my own skin. That may sound crazy but sometimes I’m sitting and working and wondering if I really make a difference. What does it all mean? But then it kinda hit me…the thing I’m super passionate about in a business sense, is seeing other people grow from what I do.

I’m a huge Seth Godin fan. One point he’s made over and over is that marketers are marketers whether they’re being paid for it or not.  Which equates to me that marketers are marketers because they’re pretty much born passionate.  So, then a sense of relief comes.  I’m who I am because I get all excited about the biggest and smallest things. Transfer that over to my business, I can never fail.  I’ve never set out to be a huge influencer. I’m better suited as a lover of things, people…experiences. And when we get all excited and talk about those things, people…experiences, there’s a natural cause and effect.

I just started working with Cami Back. She is the founder/owner of this amazing idea/website called Get Out Mom. When she called me…we sat down over lunch so I could hear about what she has going on, and the passion in her eyes over helping moms get out more, and work on their own terms got me just as excited as she was.

The premise: Moms post what they love to do. Women and other moms post what they don’t love to do. They can hire back and forth. So working moms and stay-at-home moms and even women who aren’t moms, can support one another.  Her website launches next month, and I’ve seen it. It’s brilliant.  Seriously. Brilliant.

It’s not only about doing what you love to do, it has huge relationship building potential!

So, yeah, she’s a client, and I want to see her blow up. I want to see this reach as many moms as possible. Because in the spring, I want a garden…I want a garden with tomatoes and flowers. I can barely keep a plant alive. No green thumb at all. Guess where I’ll be going to hire the person who will be planting this thing for me? You got it. She picks the hours…even if it’s two hours a week or six hours a week. It gets her out of the house, doing what she loves to do. Get it?? Check it out!

The whole point of me letting you know about Get Out Mom, was because I was hired by Cami (I’m pretty sure) because I got just as passionate and excited about her idea as she was.  And that’s where I fit in. I fit in with people who want to lift up other people, and that’s what she does.  In the midst of me making changes this year, hopefully, I can help change lives…and so can you. Love. Life.

So let’s talk about “klout.” I’ve had a lot of friends ask me about this recently and been asked to write about it…what exactly IS it?…how do you get your klout score up?…is it important?…should we be competing for klout? Stuff like that. I’m not exactly a “klout” expert, but here are some great tips from Erik along with killer resources to help you get your klout in check, which btw, Erik’s klout score is way higher than mine. If any of you wanna team up with me to kick his butt, let me know!

Take it away, Erik!

Five Secrets I Used to Trick Klout. Sort Of.

It’s really been grinding Douglas Karr’s gears that my Klout score is higher than his, even if it’s only by a couple points or so.

He mentioned his anguish during a recent talk at a Northwest Indiana tweetup, and then again on his Marketing Tech radio show, so I know it’s getting to him. Still, Doug has set the bar plenty high, so to even come close to him on something is a pretty big deal, let alone beat him. (And since it’s the only thing I’m going to beat him in — ever — I want to hold on to this for as long as I can.)

It’s possible to game the Klout system, but it takes a long-term strategy. Sure, you can try to work it in short bursts, but the system will weed out people who don’t stay dedicated, mostly because they use cheap techniques that take too much energy and effort for an extended period of time. So I came up with my own system that will work, by tricking Klout into thinking I’m actually a model Twitter citizen. Here’s how I did it.

1) Be choosy about who I follow.

One of the things Klout pays attention to is the follower/following ratio, how influential my audience is, and whether they take action on my tweets. Having a big network doesn’t do me any good if I’m following junk accounts, abandoned accounts, or spammers.

I use Manage Flitter to unfollow people who don’t follow me and haven’t tweeted in the last three months. This way, I clean out all the deadwood on my network. Why run up my following count on people who won’t use the system more than once every 90 days? They don’t provide value, so they’re out.

I also carefully consider whether to follow someone. I’ll follow people if they provide good value, if they are real people and not brands, and if they don’t tweet crap, constant news headlines, or motivational quotes. I avoid the spam accounts, bot accounts, and the accounts that follow 2,000 people but have never written a single tweet. By following people who know how to use Twitter properly, my network is made up of people I’m happy to read and retweet.

2) Be choosy about who follows me.

I am actually a little choosy about people who follow me. I will “block & report for spam” any porn accounts, anyone who uses Twitter to promote their MLM or money-making system, or is going to do nothing but sell crap. By eliminating these people, my network is more engaged and more likely to read my tweets and react to them. I don’t need to artificially boost my follower account by letting in these spammers and fakers, and I would certainly never join one of those “find followers fast” networks that promise to boost my numbers.

3) Tweet good stuff.

If you want people to pay attention to your stuff and retweet it, make sure you say something useful. I will never tweet out motivational quotes, daily “good morning tweeps” messages, or news headlines after news headline. Instead, I send out things that will be useful, interesting or funny to my Twitter network. Since my network is made up primarily of social media folks, writers, and people with a sense of humor, I make sure at least half of my tweets will be appealing to one or more of those groups. The other half are real conversations and responses to other Twitterers.

Read the last two tips here: Five Secrets I Used to Trick Klout. Sort Of. | Professional Blog Service

Now, is your klout score going to make or break you? Nope…I don’t think so. When you’re real on twitter, it doesn’t really matter that much. Make it count. Or don’t. I think this klout stuff is fun for us competitive social media types…and to be honest, I don’t pay that much attention to it. But for those of you who are interested, I hope Erik’s post is helpful.

The comment section is open for your thoughts! Cheers!

The Horse: I’ll call this blogging. I don’t know about you, but your blog is the meat, or the horse of your business…at least when it comes to online content. You can have the best website in the world, but when it comes down to putting up content and getting Google to recognize you’ve got new stuff, you’ve got to be doing SOMETHING.

Blogging is such an integral part of web stuff. I started writing this blog the other day, and it just so happens that last night, Chantelle Flannery, one of the authors of Corporate Blogging for Dummies, and my buddy, Jason Falls, were talking a bit on the topic at the newly formed Social Media Club Indy. Blogging equates to search results. Period. Your blogs are a little slice of YOU, YOUR BUSINESS, YOUR EVERYTHING. Blogging is important. And if you can’t blog, or don’t have time to, or suck at it, you hire me. (Shameless plug, I know…) But do you get the point?

So let’s talk about the cart. The cart typically comes after…when you actually have something to carry. Social media is your cart. It’s the platform in which you place your blogs and stuff on. The cart is Twitter, Facebook, Stumble Upon, Reddit, LinkedIN, and all those other places you can link to…and what does linking do? It causes search results.

And carts sometimes break down. Something Chantelle pointed out last night…Twitter and all these other social media platforms that we have become semi-dependent on, may not be around in a few years. Yes, it’s a scary thought but it’s truth…yeah, remember Myspace? Exactly. If the cart breaks down, at least you still have a horse you can ride.

It’s so easy for businesses to get caught up in social media, but what exactly are you carrying if you don’t have good content and information for the people who need it? And trust me, if you don’t do it, someone else will. (Also, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT THE BE ALL END ALL. It’s only ONE part of the marketing spectrum…)

However, when it comes to this part of that spectrum, the cart and the horse go hand in hand. If you’re a new business, or just getting started with the whole web stuff, I’d be more concerned with a healthy horse. Then, when the time is right and you’ve got that content…you can carry it out to the world.

Giddy up.

I don’t consider myself a workaholic because I absolutely love what I do. But I’m on social networks constantly. With the new study out which was completed by Virtue and reported by Mashable, social networking for businesses (if you’re really wanting interaction) will most likely happen in the evening when more people can access it…after school and after work. Facebook peaks at 3pm, btw. Probably one of the prime times to be on…then nail it early evening.

Another thing to consider is the constant evolution therefore, constant education on the subject. Like, read. Read tons. Read tons of blogs, keep up with Mashable and Techcrunch, keep up with Brogan, Godin, Baer, and Brass Tack. There are millions more, but these are my favorites. I constantly learn from them.

The whole point of this little post is for you to understand that while social media marketing is a great thing, it’s also a lot of monitoring and work. It’s not some “I love social media so I should do this for a living, kind of thing.” Granted, that’s why I got into it, but once the novelty wears off…will it just be another job? Just something to think about…