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Digital Marketing Strategy, PR and Messaging

Soulati-'TUDE!

Archives for September 2010

Twitter: Think Before You RT

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I learned a valuable reminder

https://www.ordinary-gentleman.com

today. Last night while tweeting on my Blackberry while at a client welcome reception watching Monday night football (Bears win), I RT’ed a tweep’s tweet. She is a respected high-level marketer from a respected large company. In fact, I’ve done business with her, although indirectly.

Here’s the re-tweet I made, and what caught my eye was the hash tag “#quote.” I knew this did not encompass the entire definition of marketing yet I liked the “authentic voice.”

RT @margaretmolloy: A marketing agency’s greatest value is helping the client find and express its authentic voice. #quote #in

Today, two individuals in my stream called me on the content of the RT I sent:

@FocusCom said: @Soulati gotta disagree. The purpose of marketing is to attract interest in products & services that result in sales.

@BruceServen: @Soulati that’s as good as calling it dead and irrelevant.

I wasn’t clear without searching for the original tweet what I had said that prompted these tweets:

@FocusCom: @Soulati It was an RT. “Authentic voice” sounds lovely, but in reality the role of marketing is to sell stuff.

What I read as a quote from a respected colleague made for a different point of view by others. People RT on the fly, they don’t open the links others post before sharing with their streams, and what results are the varying perspectives that make Twitter so rich. My interpretation is not yours, neither am I attempting to make yours mine. We share opinions, perspectives and information; it’s all good.

Thanks to @FocusCom and @BruceServen for your unassuming blog-post prompt and questions pertaining to this tweet. It gave me a healthy pause and prompted this post that encourages everyone to think before they RT and expect healthy rebuttal when someone takes the time to respond.

Twitter Roundup — What Every New Blog Needs

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Credit: https://simonnemichelle.files.wordpress.com

I just registered as an official hash tag, and a new blog called SMB Collective is in the works. This post is inspired by the mission for SMB Collective to be educational, supportive and bring global perspective on a variety of topics for all small and medium business owners. Within that tier one audience is the newbie blogger, and this information is for them/us.

(Background on the formation of #SMBChat can be found and .)

I asked several tier-one tweeps and blogging communities, including #SBT10 and #BlogChat, what they recommend every new blog needs. 

(For your information #SBT10 is at 9 p.m. ET on Tuesdays hosted by primary ring leader of WordPress premium theme, Headway. I thank Grant for teeing up my question on Twitter yesterday to help garner this fodder.)

The Twitter Tweep Round-Up

Following is the roundup of everyones’ suggestions varying from previous posts and video to someone’s brand new post and other tips on plug-ins and strategy. What’s neat is the interpretation of the question and thus the varying insights and expertise:

  • I’ll begin with a few suggestions of my own (knowing my first blogging attempt is deficient in many of these aspects) — each blog needs a good back-up plan, whether Back-Up Buddy or something else. Analytics are necessary to identify posts most popular with highest traffic. A plug in that allows the emailing of comments is required (not here yet); and, I like New England Multimedia’s blog yesterday (see below) with the plug in Michelle uses, called Comment Luv (it enables a blogger’s previous post to present with a posted comment elsewhere). Lastly, RSS is important; people need ways to subscribe to your blog.
  • was the first to respond. He said every blog needs (for starters) an about page with a picture; a widget for categories; e-mail opt-in; social connections (I believe that means ways to follow, repeat on Twitter, Facebook, etc.); and, threaded comments.
  • Amy Howell with claimed she was a newbie and tossed this question off to who added a blog post written a year ago in answer to my question. In spite of her tee up to Mark, Amy added links, promotion of others, imagery, and use of humor as her recommendations for new blogs.
  • Mark W. Schaefer’s from July 2009 offers tongue-in-cheek serious counsel from his friend John Bottom, a gifted B2B marketer in London. They both agree “good, original content” is all that’s needed. Mark says be consistent with personal passions and interests; focus on one broad subject area so as to not confuse your readers; be interesting, useful and entertaining.
  • Jon Buscall, who resides in Sweden and owns , shared a link to a YouTube he developed featuring WordPress plug ins and a bit more.
  • of storytelling fame shared these tips for every new blog — A great title that relates to the business if possible; an about page that describes what’s in the blog for the reader as well as giving a little info about the business as it relates to that; a services page that describes what’s offered, whether via e-commerce or brick and mortar; a contact page that has every way imaginable to get in touch with the business and the people behind it; a contact form should be there, too; a story page (you knew that was coming right?). While they’re not prevalent yet, they soon will be. This is where the emotional connections between business/brands and customers are going to be cemented.
  • , a B2B marketer who runsa well-respected blog,  , pondered a bit and suggested a PLAN (for content and promotion) and key plugins like All In One SEO Pack and Subscribe2 are required.
  • asked if the question referred to WordPress and if so she recommends getting a good theme; one that is SEO friendly (she uses Thesis), and get Akismet for spam management. Calls to action should be positioned clearly and above the fold (because you’re blogging for a reason). Include the RT button as well as Like/Share on every post.
  •  Several people who surfaced as a result of my at-large question suggested I feature Doug Stewart’s blogging tips for small businesses and entrepreneurs, and they are . Doug tweets from Oklahoma. I just met Bruce Serven yesterday, and he recommends “perseverence” for any new blog or blogger.
  • My new PR friend from The Netherlands offers his number-one recommendation as great content –“that really crushes it!” and a good measurement tool as a close second. (I like that he’s always using “crushes.”)
  • , a regular contributor here, took the question directly to heart and ran off to write a brand new post with her recommendations and five best practices for beginning bloggers. She said it was too much to fit into multiple 140s on Twitter. Love that, Michelle! If you tap in to her piece, she suggests images, make the ask, KISS, title, and keywords.

Because these are so valuable, and the content I find is also valuable on , I’m providing the links they gave me on Twitter for . Because these suggestions by WordPress Beginner are important, I’m sharing nearly the entire bulleted list right here, so everyone can link quicker. If you’d like to see more from these guys, I encourage you to follow them on Twitter and peruse their blog. These guys rock. (Hey, can you help me design my next blog?)

Must Have WordPress Plugins for Every Blog (extracted from WordPress Beginner, and they say “We recommend these plugins for any new blog or existing blog. There are more plugins that would need to be added based on the niche and your needs. But for any generic blog, this should be a good list to start with.”)

  • – comes installed with your WordPress by default. All you have to do is get an API Key to activate it. It prevents your blog from comment spam. Read our .
  • – This is an ultimate necessity for your blog if you want to have any chance of ranking high in search engines. All-in-One-SEO Pack allows you to add unique meta description, keywords, and titles to each page of your blog and blog posts. ( for the Recommended Settings and tips.)
  • – When running a blog you need to allow your users to contact you. This is the best free contact form plugin to this date. It makes everything easy. (An alternative to this plugin is a paid plugin known as which is extremely feature rich.)
  • – This plugin lets you make backup for your blog’s database as often as you need. You can set this process to be automated and have it deliver to your email or a safe spot in your webhost. By having this plugin, you can always stay on the safe side because if anything goes wrong, you have the latest backup in your possession. If you want to get a full backup of your WordPress site, then a commercial plugin known as is the BEST option.
  • – A plugin that allows your users to subscribe to the comments, so they will be notified when the next comment is posted. It helps your user to stay updated with the discussion and keep the activity going on your blog.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU for everyone who contributed to this crazy “crush” of tips from peeps strictly on Twitter. I LOVE Twitter and all of you. What did we miss in this SMB Collective?

 

Launching SMB Collective

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It’s officially a domain, yet nothing is there. As a strategist, the ideas are flowing too quickly to capture. So, this stream of conscious requires a whoa-Bessy from y’all to add the Internet marketing expertise and more strategic input.

To recap, last week was an amazing rapid-fire barnburner to alter Soulati-TUDE! into SMB Chat Forum, registered now on wthashtag as #SMBChat, and morphing into SMB Chat Collective turned SMB Collective. (Thanks, @JennWhinnem and @GinaKayRe for hashtag and naming, respectively.)

Big discussion from a variety of amazing tweeps helped push the idea into fruition, prompted by Neicole Crepeau of Coherent Interactive. Contributors along the way are Michelle Quillin of New England MultiMedia and Gregg Morris of storytelling fame. Jon Buscall is a major help; you’ll see how below.

A designer I use, Glen Moyes, immediately suggested registering the domain (this I knew to do) and launching the blog elsewhere, away from Soulati Media and apart from Soulati-TUDE! After we discussed it further, I saw the light, and registered the domain (something Neicole suggested early on).

The brand, SMB Collective, implies so much:

  • A collection of SMB experts offering commentary about all things pertaining to business. I can see immediately the need for how-tos on blogging and Internet marketing musts (ala what Jon Buscall  of Sweden has been sharing with me).
  • Home to many guest posters each with a perspective from some corner of the world or vertical that provides fodder for our own blogs to comment and link in parallel with cross-pollination of ideas and content.
  • A collection of resources for SMBs from all walks of life to interact with some of the best and least-known social media practitioners in the industry who offer a wealth of skills and capabilities.
  • A location for SMBs to tap and hire a virtual team with all the expertise to promote, position and run a business anyone could imagine needing. To see common opinions and perspectives come alive on this blog (similar to Mark Schaefer’s extremely engaging and global-encompassing blog {grow}) would enable the interaction and community that make social media so rich.

I share all of this because this is a strategy in the making. Perhaps you’re in the position of “just launch it already, Jayme” (me, too), but the intricacies of all the moving parts and the ability to speak out loud and garner feedback are what’s making me use this social media forum to secure consensus and confidence in a concept. Consensus is very required, as this endeavor ideally is going to include guest posts from a variety of tweeps.

So, thanks, everyone, for the expertise and commentary this past week or so. Everyone is helping to shape an idea that is now more real than it was yesterday.

Follow-Up: SMB Chat Forum

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An intellectual team of tweeps I know have been helping formulate an idea rapid fire to launch a forum for SMBs that allows small and medium businesses to opine about topics relating to business operations, national issues affecting business owners, education about topics we specialize in, and so much more.

This week has been the jazziest for me. With incredible brainstorming done via Twitter and on this blog (you can see Wednesday’s post “Planning to SMB Facebook” with its amazing comments) and an even more solidifying conversation with Neicole Crepeau (with whom this nugget originated), this is a final follow-up to evolution of this idea.

The fast unfolding of this concept (resulting in a decision to make this blog home to #SMBChat) was stymied by discussion around the consequence of switching blog focus and key words that would inevitably harm search engine rankings. Befuddled in my PR mind, I could not understand what the big dang hooha is about rankings and search marketing for this blog.

Several expert comments by Neicole, Michelle Quillin and Gregg Morris suggested not to turn this blog into something that diminishes traffic and rankings for public relations and social media (themes I write about) or to write half about these themes and half about SMBs.

I remained baffled, and here’s why:

This blog ain’t got no traffic(!), and, if it does, it’s sure hidden from me. Soulati-TUDE! is 100 posts old; has perhaps four subscribers from maybe an all-time high of 12; targets SMB topics a goodly amount of time with an educational bent; is written by a PR agency practitioner of 26 years (that’s me) who pings on a plethora of topics to position and brand as a thought leader.

I understand why Gregg Morris who themes on storytelling could not diminish his rankings with something like this; he’s all over that key word and works hard to maintain his presence and position.

I understand why Neicole Crepeau at Coherent Interactive needs to keep her key words focused on Web sites, design, digital interaction, and social media. That’s where her niche is.

But, guys, I’m in PR!! Public relations is ubiquitous. My world spans every industry and business sector. I deliver strategy, critical thinking, problem solving and solutions. I ping across verticals like a ball on a rubber band attached to a paddle. I offer business counsel for SMBs, large corporations and non-profits. I develop content and allow the experts to optimize it. After 26 years in this field, I can take the risk of a few ranking points while creating a mash up of public relations, social media, SMBs, health care, education, immigration, financial reform and whatever the mood strikes.

Everyone I meet on Twitter is a SMB; we are not engaging and creating community with corporate biggies and Fortune companies, are we? Look at your stream; who among them are global corporate execs?

The goal for #SMBChat Forum is to create community of like-minded folks frustrated with issues that affect our businesses so we can share opinions, perspectives, solutions, and support.  Perhaps along the way we can tackle tough issues, stake a claim on our own plat of the Internet and foster harmony at the same time. With guest posts from a variety of folks with differing views and businesses from all corners of the globe, we can do just that.

Perhaps I can rename the blog with a tagline to be Soulati-TUDE! Home of #SMBChat Forum (or the Big Whopper).

If I find a consistent voice oriented to the issues that plague us, isn’t that the most critical component?

More SMB Chat Recap

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It’s been an exciting few days growing a community of SMBs (that’s small-t0-medium businesses) yesterday and the day before right here. To recap the heretofore in brief:

  • The news about health premiums rising to “pay for” health reform and targeting SMBs, individuals put me over the edge. In speaking with Neicole Crepeau   in a fabulous Twitter conversation detailed here, I asked how we bloggers could unite and create a larger voice. She suggested a Facebook page, and off we went.
  • By engaging my tier one tweeps (you can see their identities via links in this post), what resulted was the most rewarding exchange of social media brainstorming world-wide without speaking one word. (I am in awe and thank each of you for participating in this experience.)

The results are still unfolding:

  • Facebook was initially suggested as the forum for our SMB community to reach the small service businesses and others needing  information and peer group support we’d offer. Comments to the contrary said it was a “personal” place while LinkedIn was pushed as the first choice.
  • Comments about LinkedIn say it’s highly professional and peoples’ experience with its groups hold low regard. My sense is lack of familial exchange and inability to create a friendly forum in which to exchange commentary and free thought.
  • This blog, Soulati-TUDE!, is new. Its voice written by moi as a public relations practitioner is not theme oriented per se; it’s about social media, PR, teaching and observation about what impacts me. While some see this as not having direction, it is perfectly me — I thirst for knowledge and return it back strategically. The SMB audience is always a focus albeit not an emphasis.  
  • To grow the SMB community here, this blog’s backend needs work with new plug-ins, upgrades, and a general-take-it-to-the-next-level thrust; Facebook Like, LinkedIn button, e-mail comments plug in, and other things as advised by you. (I develop content; the tech stuff kills me until I learn, learn, learn.)
  • I’ve officially registered #SMBChat on What the HashTag. (Thanks, Jenn!) People asked for a Twitter forum to review issues easily and trend the topic, too. No official name as of yet for this; I like SMBChat, really. (How about you?)
  • Neicole suggested yesterday this blog would suffer SEO if some of it is devoted to SMB and the other posts to PR. Not sure I really care about that? As said earlier, my agency PR background pings me all over. Who has expertise to share on the importance of that, please?
  • On that note, differentiating a blog from others in the same vertical takes consistent effort. This emphasis would engage hundreds of tweeps in no time at all from across verticals and offer rich perspective for those with no voice at all.

And, so, away we go! Please suggest other thoughts to push us into the home stretch. Thank you!