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Triberr Meets Influence

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ALT="Influence on Triberr, a tribe image, Soulati Media"We’re in the post social media adoption phase. Guess what? We’re also in the post Triberr adoption phase, too. If you’re a blogger and you’re not engaged on Triberr, well, you kinda missed the train; it left. (Kidding, there’s still time to jump on!)

Influence is a hot button. Many of us on the ‘sphere who have been blogging for more than two years were around with the launch of Triberr, and, boy, did the sparks fly with anti-sentiment. Perhaps DannyBrown will come back and join the tribes again? He was one who withdrew. Erica Allison said, no, then she said yes; hmm, I think that’s a flip-flop, right John Kerry?

Seriously, though, the inspiration for this post came directly from the horse himself. I spoke awhile with Triberr founder Dino Dogan yesterday. Dino and Dan Cristo and the gang are hosting TribeUp NYC in September, and the passion for that project is us. Yes, we bloggers who belong to tribes on Triberr. While I don’t know  Triberr’s mission statement, it’s pretty simple to say it’s all about being a resource for bloggers globally; to deliver tools and resources to take blogging to new heights and bring those of us who toil daily to keep our blogs alive along for the ride.

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Life Stress Interferes With Blogging

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Eat Chocolate! By Jayme Soulati

For nearly a week blog fodder mojo has stymied me. I have been paralyzed due to my disgust for the state of affairs in this world that profoundly affects my psyche and healthy outlook for my future. I wasn’t planning on writing about it until just now when the August 28, 2012 Wall Street Journal Health & Wellness section caught my eye. It seems fortuitous that I can validate my thinking and my blog posts with a national story that only enhances the fact that I am a worrywart.

The story, “Tricks from the Elderly to Stop Worrying; People Learn to Put Aside Negative Emotions and Focus on the Present, Which Leads to Healthy Aging,” makes a bold statement I hope to emulate when I’m older but it won’t help me today:

“The elderly learn to disentangle themselves from feelings of negativity and seem to focus more on present situations that bring pleasure, rather than on the future, researchers say.  They also tend to process negative information less deeply than positive information.”

And, there’s a great chart that says people in midlife tend to worry the most from about age 40 to early 50s, after which feelings of worry decrease. Talk about validation! There you have it; my paralysis of fear and worry corroborated by the Wall Street Journal!

So, I’ll get all these things off my chest and on to yours, and I’m hoping I’ll feel so much the better when I’m double nickels:

  • Mr. Akin running for U.S. Senate is disturbing. As a woman, as a mother, as voter, as a citizen of a free and progressive country where the fight for equality, the right to vote and the right to make choices I expect more from U.S. “leaders” who want to run this country and who insist on making ignorant statements. Does he have a daughter, a wife, a granddaughter?
  • The daily news of killings and shootings of innocent people attending religious institutions, movie theaters, schools, and retail establishments is out of control. I am seriously contemplating learning how to manage and carry a weapon of self-defense.
  • The cost of consumer goods and services continues to skyrocket yet no consumer or family is earning more income to support the ability to pay more at the cash register and fuel pump (today’s gas per gallon in my region is $3.95). American families are being gouged; something has to give.
  •  The medical and health care system in this country is in utter disarray. Hospitals are buying physician practices and charging triple the amount for the same MRI a person had three months ago. Insurance premiums go up annually (I have a $4500 deductible and so does my daughter; yet, I now pay $400/month for health insurance we can’t use, and I pay cash for dental.)
  • States are fighting down party lines against and for Affordable Health Care; what about the residents in those states who align with the new health care act who want those benefits but can’t due to governors who are blocking programs? What about those in the states who don’t want to buy health insurance but have to?
  • How can I afford to help pay for my child’s college when tuition and text books are skyrocketing annually with no end in sight?
  • Can I retire ever knowing I never had a corporate job to begin socking money into retirement early and knowing I will never have enough to be comfortable when I’m old?
  • If I out live the Medicare program and Social Security runs dry (as I expect it to), how will my golden years be supplemented with the money I’ve paid in since I was a13-year-old corn detassler?
  • People in this country hate each other so much, and I hear frequently how some wouldn’t mind seeing a few politicians lose more than an election. The anger is palpable and it’s harmful to positive attitude, and caring for human kind.
  • There’s been a swarm of earthquakes 130 miles east of San Diego over several days. Is the big one coming? There is drought in the U.S. racking up prices for grain, beef and other commodities. Rain and tropical storms are pummeling coastlines and the European continent. How can any of us prepare for eventual catastrophe?

Our children’s future is bleak. My future is pressurized by the need to provide for my child and ensure that I, as an aging parent with aging parents and a 10-year-old, am NOT a burden to my family.

There’s a lot on my plate and on yours (feel free to add your stressors below; it feels better).

On occasion I have to dump it all upside down and see where the balls land. I have to do a better job managing the stress, and I have to do it with exercise, proper nutrition and love.

May I have a hug, please?

 

 

Bloggers, Please Add Comment Luv Plug In

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By Jayme Soulati

I’m a serious blogger. I like to visit others’ blogs with some basic plug-ins and comment systems that allow me to share my latest blog post. I love the blogs I visit with LiveFyre and Comment Luv or another similar plug in that links back to my latest post.

The primary reasons are twofold:

  • I am visiting your house to give you some love; might you give me some love back?
  • I want to know the latest blog post of others who comment so I can zip over to a new blog and see what’s happening.

I’ve gotten pretty pressed for time these days and find it nearly impossible to visit blogs as much as I used to. I feel badly about this and understand that many a blogger has a tit-for-tat mentality — I won’t come to your house unless you come to mine. I wish there was a check box somewhere with a plug-in called Kilroy Was Here so I can cross off my name in case I don’t want to leave a comment. Maybe you have Clicky and you can see my IP address showing up on your visitor analytics and you know I’ve stopped in. But, that’s asking a lot.

And, so, on this Saturday if or when you might read this, would you perhaps consider adding a plug in that features latest blog posts so we can give one another a bit of love?

Just askin’…thanks!

(Photo Note: This photo has absolutely nothing to do with this blog post, but I have to show off my poppy from my garden; that’s big love!)

 

 

Blogging For Community Or Clients?

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By Jayme Soulati, Chicago River, Wendella Boat

It’s summer, and I prefer a laissez-faire approach to blogging that matches my inability to be super productive because, as all of you know, I’m a #MomInSummer with no help.

What that means is the writing of pretty easy blog posts suitable for my community which get everyone thinking (none too hard) and generate a bunch of comments. In addition, I’m not doing too much hard work to add proof points and evidence that my opinion matters as evidenced by big data or research.

Is this a problem?

When I look at the really established bloggers with hundreds of tweets for each post (and often very few comments), it gives me pause. Should I be writing heavier content to impress would-be clients to show I know my stuff in business-to-business social media marketing with public relations? (Had to stuff that key word phrase in somewhere, didn’t I?)

Or, can I go ahead and offer up thinkable topics that align in and around the community while being accessible and sharing ‘raderie that I so love to do? There are times when I am hit in the face with hard business topics, and these require a different approach to writing; that’s when the smarts really show up, and it gets peeps thinking or running away. Comments become fewer, but traffic is there. People don’t often find the need to say anything because, well, I don’t know the because…this has often baffled me…the posts that say a lot about nothing; the bare-your-soul posts; the I-have-a-problem-and-maybe-you-can-help-me posts; the simple-non-thinking-fill-space-posts; seem to ALWAYS get the most comments.

Why?

What does that say about communities? Would people rather alight on a topic that’s airy and fluffy or get fodder that contributes to business topics?

In my thinking about this post, four heavy-hitting bloggers come to mind:

Heidi Cohen

Shelly Kramer

Adrienne Smith

Wonder of Tech

I love these four women who write the same all the time; hard-hitting news, tips, reviews, educational material, and more. I can count on them for good insight, and I can learn from them, too. Laura Click came over the other day and said she knew she was writing for clients and not her peers, and that’s why her comments from peers were fewer than when she launched her blog and engaged her peers more.

What that says to bloggers is a good lesson to heed.

If your blog is lackadaisical in approach, topic, content, goals, then take a look at these five women bloggers and look at their consistency of style. Are you writing for your community or your clients? Do you care?

Blogger, Twitter, Triberr

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You can tweet without a blog; you shouldn’t blog without Twitter, and every blogger needs Triberr.

Oooh, that statement is going to get me in hot water, eh? So many people can’t see the light about Triberr, but have you seen the innovative things happening over there? Triberr is trying to single handedly alter the way we blog, get subscribers, earn traffic and analytics, and so much more.

Most of us were in on the early ground floor when Dino Dogan  and Dan Cristo were accessible with lots of marketing time on their hands to do some fancy  sheep videos with Danny Brown about Klout. Today, Dino and Dan are so famous, they nary have time for us small fry. Kidding. Dino and Dan are still the most accessible chiefs, cooks and bottle washers the blogosphere has ever seen.

I digress.

For those of you bloggers who aren’t on Triberr, think about how hard you work to push out your content. When it’s good content, and you know it, here’s what you have to do:

  • Post to Facebook
  • Post to your Facebook company page unless you’re part of Networked Blogs
  • Post to Google +
  • Post to LinkedIn
  • Post to LinkedIn groups
  • Tweet all day
  • Post to Buffer and Crowdsource
  • Tweet your friends and ask them to stop by to comment

When you have Triberr and belong to a slew of tribes, then your reach is exponential with all the social sharing possible and feasible right from the Triberr platform. And, the cool thing is, when you’re in a tribe with mighty bloggers you get access to their content right away as soon as it publishes.

I was never so glad to be invited to a tribe recently to hob knob with a few big-daddy bloggers I hadn’t been able to bump shoulders with. Once in their tribe, now I can easily comment on their blog after I re-tweet their post from Triberr, and I can come right on back to the Triberr platform and repeat the process as often as I wish with other bloggers.

What Triberr allows is streamlined productivity and each time you head there, new buttons and features and functions are added with that in mind.

Dino and Dan are working on new beta products always – there is a micro-sharing thing that’s interesting and exciting, and there is also atomic Triberr in early beta for testing.

I encourage all bloggers with consistent content to join a tribe. Heck, join mine! I am always seeking some new inspiration in my Globe Spotting tribe where bloggers around the world share posts with others.  I have other tribes I belong to, as well. Need an invite? I have a few bones to spare because Dino asked me to take a survey and the payment was bones – Triberr currency. That was an excellent bribe; took me all of 2 seconds to take the survey.

Confused? Don’t be…it takes a few heartbeats to sign up, and then you reap the benefit of being introduced to new bloggers. You don’t need to automatically share their blog posts — you can select which blog posts you want to push. The thing I love the most is that my favorite bloggers’ posts appear in my Triberr home page, and that’s how I don’t miss anyone.

What’s your thinking? Wanna duke it out? 🙂