How can I help? As I turned on my laptop this morning and picked up what was happening via Twitter and other social media outlets, I couldn’t stop wondering what I could do to help.  Then an amazing thing started to happen; in the span of just a few hours, friends started sharing links to charitable organizations that were directly involved with supporting the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

When I’m not blogging, I’m helping people execute direct mail campaigns.  Some of my most loyal clients are nonprofits.  Many of my peers working in the nonprofit community are very tuned in to disaster relief and mobile giving so it’s no surprise that these friends were some of the first to share information on how to help.  Not only did I appreciate their recommendations, but since I had already developed relationships with them, I trusted them.

Would you like to help? I’m writing this post in hopes that you’ll share it with your friends, or consider following one of the links and making a donation.  If you’re looking for a super-convenient way to make a text donation, then you’ll want to take a look at a post from my friend, Karen Zapp, who lists 4 quick ways to accomplish this.

My friends at The Network for Good list over a dozen organizations on their page dedicated to helping the survivors in Japan.  They make it exceptionally easy to donate to any of the listed organizations by including a unique “donate” button for each, and if you don’t want to pick just one, you can click a single button to donate to all of them.

Another Twitter friend shared a link to a Huffington Post article which identifies charities that are launching campaigns specifically designed to help the earthquake victims in Japan.

As a blogger, one of the easiest ways that you can help the quake victims is to identify your favorite charity and add a Hello Bar to the top of your blog.   It’s completely free and it took me less than 10 minutes to set up and paste the code into my blog.  It keeps the rest of your blog completely intact, and just adds a customizable call to action and link across the top.

Finally, by following conversations at the SWSX conference, I discovered a simple way to set up my own donation page to support the victims of the tsunami and earthquake in Japan.  You can click here to make a secure online donation to the American Red Cross team, or to quickly create your own donation page.

What’s your social network worth? As business bloggers, we all know that real currency equates to getting paid, but today I was reminded of the many intangible benefits of building a strong social media network.  Today, my social network and blogging community quickly helped me answer the question “How can I help?”

When I step back and try to assess the value of my social network, I can list dozens of other examples of value that I received from my social network.  I’ve found solutions to business problems that I could have never solved on my own, I’ve learned about new technology that I didn’t know existed and I’ve been fortunate enough to receive referrals from friends in my social network.  Although no dollars and cents were exchanged in these examples, without a doubt value was provided.

In the comments section below, I hope you’ll share some of the intangible benefits of blogging and social networking, and by the way please take a moment to help our brothers and sisters in Japan by adding a Hello Bar to your blog, sharing this post or making a contribution to one of the organizations poised to help the earthquake and tsunami victims.  Thank you!

While anyone can start using social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter for promoting a business, it would seem reasonable to understand that there are things to learn about using these platforms effectively.

I sometimes see a person whose LinkedIn personal profile (you know, the one listed under PEOPLE) is in the name of the company, which is in violation of LinkedIn’s terms. On the other hand, you can have a LinkedIn company listing under COMPANIES after you’ve set up a personal profile (if you have a professional email address).

More frequently I see someone whose Facebook personal profile is in the name of the company, which is in violation of Facebook’s terms. (See http://budurl.com/readFBterms ) Instead, you should have a Facebook Page (formerly a fan page – now a Page that people “like”) to use for your business.

Thanks to the concept that social media is about sharing and not selling, there are tons of free information sources as well as tons of fairly priced information sources. You should take advantage of the available information to optimize your use of social media to promote your business.

Blogging, of course, is a very effective way to establish your reputation. And yet I frequently see websites/blogs that do not have even basic SEO (search engine optimization) in place. These bloggers are writing good post after good post but the search engines aren’t finding the content.

It’s great that the barriers to entry for blogging and using social media are so low. But sometimes, when entry is so easy, this is misleading for people who would like to use these tools effectively to get in front of their target markets.

How to start learning more?

Click through on the links of people you follow on Twitter or who you are connected to on Facebook and LinkedIn to check out the content they are sharing. If it is something that could help you, take the time to read the material and then implement the technique if it makes sense for you.

Of course there’s not enough time to read and implement everything. But do try to learn a couple of new things each week so that, over time, your knowledge of social media and blogging best practices increases.

© 2011 Miller Mosaic, LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) is the co-founder of Miller Mosaic Social Media Marketing. Download the company’s free report “5 Tips for Staying Top of Mind With Your Prospective Target Markets” at www.millermosaicllc.com/los-angeles-social-media-consultant and read the company blog at www.MillerMosaicSocialMediaMarketing.com

As I transition into the new year, I plan to shift my blogging goals from a focus on increasing the quantity of traffic to a focus on the quality of visitor interactions.  My primary goal in 2011 is to deepen the relationships that I have with existing contacts instead of just broadening my influence across the social media spectrum.

I’m keeping this post short in hopes that other readers, like you, will be kind enough to add their blogging resolutions and feedback in the comments section below.

1) Make My Blog Even More Interactive: One of my biggest successes in 2010 was connecting with peers via guest posts.  Nothing helped to generate more traffic to my blog last year than exchanging guest posts.  This includes posts that I did on other blogs as well as posts from others on my own blog.  The external guest posts helped to link traffic back to my own blog while other bloggers increased my blog traffic by promoting the guest posts that they published on my blog.

As a bonus, in several cases, the guest posts led to joint webinars and even an in-person joint presentation with fellow Blogger’s Bulletin author, Michelle Salater, among others.  The great news is that these joint events led to new clients and more business for me, and they would not have been possible without guest post exchanges.

Not only did I pick up new clients from these events, but I also picked up new subscribers to my e-newsletter and rss feed which from a marketing point-of-view has the potential to lead to new clients down the road or referral business.

Because of the huge success I’ve seen from exchanging guest posts, I plan to solicit even more guest posts from fellow bloggers whose content will benefit the audience of professionals who subscribe to my e-newsletter and visit my blog.

2) Get More Feedback from Peers and Clients: Although, I was successful in increasing traffic to my blog and increasing comments, I failed to achieve the number of desired inquiries from visitors.  I plan to reach out to both clients and peers to see how I can improve this.

In my business, I execute direct mail campaigns for nonprofits, small businesses and PR & Marketing professionals from cradle to grave.  As the beginning of this process involves compiling a highly targeted database, I’ve focused most of my energies on getting blog visitors to submit a free database inquiry.  These inquires help to determine what is/is not available with a target database, and they also pinpoint the size of the targeted list within a specified geography.

To stimulate more inquiries, I added a new “contact” button prominently displayed at the top of my blog as well as designing a simple contact form on the back end.  To facilitate more database inquiries, I added a “Find Prospects Now” button at the top of my blog.  Despite making it easier to respond and increasing visibility, inquires remained flat when compared to the previous year.  This is all on the heels of substantially increased traffic to my blog.  This is clearly an opportunity for me in the new year.  Comments below from readers regarding generating more inquiries would certainly be welcomed.

After all, as an author for the Blogger’s Bulletin, I am blogging for business.  As excited as I am to increase traffic to my blog, at the end of the day, if it doesn’t lead to more inquires and ultimately more business then I’m just blogging as a hobby which doesn’t help to keep the lights on or to put food on the table.

3) Segment My Content: Since some of my posts do not apply to my entire target audience, I am working on launching a series of simple steps to better segment my marketing lists.  The goal here is to make sure that the content that my subscribers receive is always relevant.  A certain percentage of my posts are geared specifically toward helping nonprofits, so I plan to create an e-newsletter list for just the nonprofit community. 

I’m also planning to add in a simple automated e-mail marketing campaign that will invite my subscribers to share some more information about themselves after they’ve been a subscriber for a few weeks and have had a better chance to assess the quality of the content on my blog.  The goal here is to be able to market to clients and prospects through multiple channels, and to be able to market to them using the methods that they prefer.

In summary, I want to deepen the relationships that I have in 2011 by exchanging more guest posts, generating more inquiries from visitors to my blog, and by creating more relevant interactions across a broader array of channels.

Don’t forget to please share your blogging goals for the upcoming year below in the comments section.

Are you ready to put social media to work and successfully integrate it into your organization? Join over 900 forward-thinking professionals and business owners who are rolling up their sleeves to get social media working for them. Over 34 hands-on, in-depth workshops will be taught by Top National Social Media Experts like Brian Solis, Mack Collier, Jason Falls, Joy Kennelly, and many more. Walk away with all the critical, new Internet marketing and communication skills and strategies necessary to apply the power of social media to your business immediately!

Bring your laptop to each session and experience hands-on demonstrations and interaction with all our instructors as they share step-by-step exercises and real-world case studies. You will learn key concepts on integrating social media, online public relations, website design and function, search engine optimization, email, mobile and video marketing, and more. Everything you need to know to survive and thrive in today’s business environment!

Social Media Optimization Summits registration fee is only $400 per person because you are a VIP of Joy A. Kennelly!

Visit www.OptimizationSummits.com to find out more about the event. (Scroll down.)

Sign up via Joy’s VIP Registration Page to receive your discount!

Beyond Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn: Introducing, Combining, and Leveraging New Opportunities to Boost Your Brand: Presented by Joy A. Kennelly

You’re aware of (and probably use) many of the new media opportunities out there to promote your message and brand; but did you know that there are literally hundreds more platforms out there that could be highly effective for your particular business and promotional efforts?  Imagine how much more effective your marketing could be just by using a few more of the opportunities out there; then envision the entirely new dimensions of success you could achieve by leveraging them together toward an exponentially supercharged result!  Attend this session and dramatically expand your awareness and knowledge of the online promotional opportunities available today and what they can do for you!

You’ll learn: how to search engine optimize your press releases to make them appear higher in Google rankings; how to promote your efforts using over 100 online calendars and other great online marketing channels; how to coordinate and leverage your efforts across multiple platforms (including LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Meetup, etc.) and gain the biggest possible promotional push and more!

Who Attends · Communications Professionals · Advertising Professionals · Marketing Professionals · Public Relations Professionals · Employee Communication Directors · Human Resource Professionals · Community Managers · Knowledge Managers · Customer Service & CRM Professionals · Business Managers

See you in Dallas! We can be reached by calling 727-784-9469 or by sending an email to info@optimizationsummits.com Help us provide you with pre-event information: Please be certain to use the business address where you receive mail. Please be certain to use the business telephone number where you can receive calls. Most if not all of our correspondence prior to the event will be done via email. This includes your confirmation, receipt, changes and updates for the Optimization Summits and tips that help you get the most out of the Summit. If you are completing this form for someone else please make certain you provide us with the email address of the person who will be attending so that they receive our communications. We respect your privacy and will not rent or sell your email address.

Optimization Summits With Joy Kennelly Thursday, September 16, 2010 8:00 AM - Friday, September 17, 2010 6:15 PM (Central Time) Sheraton (214) 922-8000 400 North Olive Street Dallas, Texas 75201 United States Map and Directions FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CALL OR EMAIL: Phone: 727 784 9469, Email: info@optimizationsummits.com, THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE WITH A COMPLETE LIST OF WORKSHOPS: Optimization Summits PAYMENT INSTRUCTIONS: Note: To pay by credit card please register online, select the “Will Call With Payment Information” option and either call or fax your credit card information to: Telephone: 727.784.9469 • Fax: 727.784.7978 -or- Make your check payable and remit to: Multifamilypro 3013 Regal Oaks Blvd. Palm Harbor, FL 34684

Recommendation: blog site cleaning

Many of us are very careful what we write in our blog posts and add to our blog sites. Yet sometimes we forget that things change – and we need to revisit our blog site to ensure that what’s there is consistent with our current status.

When I write a blog post I try to keep in mind making the post as evergreen as possible. For example, I won’t write “last night I read …” because three months from now that won’t be accurate. Instead I’ll write “I read …”

But sometimes the “little” things that can impact our credibility slip away from us. I realized this when looking at a client’s site that had an early bird special announced – and the deadline for the early bird special had passed.

Because of these “little” things it’s a very good idea to schedule a periodic maintenance check-up for your blog site just as you do for your car.

Such a maintenance check-up might include looking for broken links or for dated announcements that are no longer relevant or even re-reading your home page copy to see whether you think it still resonates with your target market.

If you’ve linked to other blogs that were running a contest or offering a special deal, is the anchor text for those links still relevant? Or does the anchor text need to be revised for what those blogs are currently offering?

And while you’re reviewing your blog site, has new material you’ve added recently given you new opportunities for internal linking? Are there some older blog posts that could be linked to newer blog posts?

Most bloggers are keenly aware of increasing blog traffic by getting good external links coming into their blog site and by adding effective metatags.

But since search engines like fresh content on a blog site, why not provide fresh content besides your new blog posts by scheduling a frequent “blog site cleaning”?

© 2010 Miller Mosaic, LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is co-founder of the social media marketing company Miller Mosaic Power Marketing, which has a collaboration with Magnetic Webworks. Miller Mosaic provides social media marketing coaching while Magnetic Webworks builds WordPress websites/blogs for clients – see http://budurl.com/ultrapro