On my five year blog anniversary (on this domain and a few of weeks after launching my very first course), I can’t help but think about how far I have come and how excited I am for some of the goals I am setting my sights on. I’m even hungrier to blog than on day 1 because I have seen firsthand the huge impact it’s had on my life. I say often that Twitter changed my life...
Is Ello Just Another Bright, New, Shiny Social Media Object? (A Community Manager’s Perspective)
Community managers, marketers, PR pros and yes even journalists all have a collective obsession with new and shiny things. Over the last couple of weeks, a new social network started to create some buzz. The social media site is called Ello, and it’s claiming to be the “anti-Facebook.” Ello says it is “free-to-use,” “ad-free” and they even have their manifesto right on...
Why We Should Embrace Honesty and Vulnerability On Social Media
It’s rare when you come across a post that echoes the sentiments that you been thinking for awhile, but haven’t been able to articulate into words. That’s exactly what I felt after reading this post from C.C. Chapman. Only he articulated it 3 billion times better than I ever could. C.C. talks about the power of portraying vulnerability and “being real” online. I think this...
Reddit for Bloggers: A Step By Step Guide For How To Use Reddit To Supercharge Your Blog
When most people think about growing or getting traffic to your blog, podcast or even just a basic website, you probably think of the usual suspects: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and/or if you are lucky enough to have a large one- your email list. The reality is the traditional social media channels – especially Facebook and Twitter- tend to perform badly for driving loads and loads of...
Why I Deleted My Snapchat Account and Started Writing More
I was on Snapchat for a good half-second. The reason I joined in the first place was to do my due-diligence, research and test out a new, up-and-coming platform. I tried to keep an open mind and “like it,” but the only thought going through my mind is this is a waste of time. It’s all about creating micro content – or “snaps” that disappear in a matter of...
The Best Social Customer Service Tip I Learned From A Rapper
“If you had one shot, one opportunity . . . one moment, would you capture it or just let it slip?” This line came from the great philosopher (errr rapper), Eminem. But, it may be some of the best advice for anyone working in the social customer service space. Traditional customer service – by itself- in person, on the phone, by email or you know with two tin cans can be...
Why We Need To Stop Obsessing Over Case Studies
I have a love-hate relationship with case studies. I have read hundreds of them. Written dozens of them myself. They can be a great way to learn about new and innovative ideas. However, I also think they can be a poison for creative thinking. Case studies are the fastest way to kill out of the box thinking and lead to mediocre work. Here’s why. A good chunk of case studies are formatted the...
Five Lessons Learned From Five Years On Twitter
As of this month, I’ve officially been on Twitter for five WHOLE years. As of writing this post, I have written more than 23,000 tweets. (Whoa, I know what you are probably thinking, that’s a lot of tweets.) To say, the last five years have been filled with ups and downs would be a major understatement. Little did I know when I signed up for Twitter, that this site would have such a...
6 Creative Ways To Use Snapchat
Did you know? Every minute 104,000 pictures are shared on Snapchat. To be honest, I didn’t realize just how big Snapchat had gotten, until I saw this stat and investigated this new social phenomenon further myself. Admittedly, I was conditioned to blow off Snapchat as just another way for those young kids to share selfies and sexts. While there is certainly some of that, the whole premise...
Three Must-Read Books For All Community Managers
With just about every “social media guru” getting a book deal these days, it can be hard to filter out the business awesome from the marketing duds. In the past few months, I’ve been on a quest to read and devour the best of the best business books. From community management tips to social media best practices and digital analytics, here are three of my absolute must-reads...