The 9 Types of Blog Commenters – Have You Met Them?

June 15th, 2011 184 Comments

 

Blog Commenters The 9 Types of Blog Commenters Have You Met Them?

I’d like to think that all blogs are made up of friendly and respectful communities of like-minded individuals. I know mine is :D.

But I also know that isn’t always the case.

There’s many kinds of commenter personalities and I’ve taken a shot at describing  9 of them for you.

Why 9 not 10? Well…I’m counting on you for the 10th one. And if you’ve got more, go crazy!

Profiler: 9 Different Types of Commenters

1). First are the Legitimate Commenters – these are the peeps every blogger hopes for – the kind who have something thoughtful to share and add to the conversation – regardless of whether they agree or not. And when they disagree, they’ll do so in a smart and respectful manner all while adding value and making friends along the way. I’d like to think that this is where I fit in and if you know me, I’m quite certain you’ll agree.

2). Second are the Starstruck Commenters or the you’re the best and I will always agree with everything you have to say regardless of what I honestly think – to be fair, many of us have been this person at one point or another – usually early on in our journey.

There are times when we honestly agree with something someone wrote and have no valid reason no to. All we have to share in our comment is how much we agree, how it might pertain to us and how much we like the author. And that’s totally cool. I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve done this many times and continue to do so – but when I do, it’s because I mean it! I’m not much of a butt kisser and when I have something to say, you can be damn sure that I’ll say it.

Then there are those others who are afraid to voice their true opinion – maybe of fear that they might be judged, or that they may be wrong, or that they don’t have enough evidence or personal experience to support their counter-views, or maybe simply because the author is well known and respected and what he or she says must be true. Whatever the reason, the non-opinionated commenter will refrain from disagreeing with you. It could be intimidation or a lack of confidence or personality. Or it could just be laziness. But whatever the reason – it’s there.

Often times these folks are just looking to make some kind of connection with the blogger.

3). Next are the Sneaky Link Spammers – who hope to generate traffic to their sites through irrelevant comments. But believe it or not – they’re getting smarter and smarter and it’s often difficult to distinguish the genuine from the fake. I’ve seen quite a few of these folks here and I’m embarrassed to say that I’ve been duped once or twice before. Alright, maybe 3 times ;).

4). Then there’s the ever so popular Tactless Trolls – who will pretty much criticize anything and everything and often play devil’s advocate just for the sake of it – they’re not always rude although they can be.

Believe it or not, the trolls sometimes make valid points which are worth listening to – but their lack of tact in presenting their opinion leaves you with a negative impression. As for those who make no plausible arguments and are just there for the hell of it – their efforts are usually a sad attempt at gaining some kind of self validation.

The more you feed these people, the hungrier they become and the higher you boost their self-esteem. I have the perfect example in mind, but I’m too much of a lady to kiss and tell ;).

Comment Trolls The 9 Types of Blog Commenters Have You Met Them?

5). Not to be forgotten are the Lazy Skimmers – these guys will skim through your post and read parts of it or maybe just a few sentences and base their entire comment (or argument) on that. If it makes sense – then props. But very often, they’ll draw on false conclusions and embark on an embarrassing rant.

6). Every girl wants a Knight in Shining Armor but some blogs get them whether they ask for them or not – don’t get me wrong, these are kick-ass peeps to have on your side. They’re your personal defenders who come to your rescue and they’ll stick their neck out for you when you’re being hammered by a troll. These folks have your back and won’t hesitate to tell your enemies off – often doing a better job than you could have yourself.

Heck, I’d love to have my own army of these guys and I’d like to think that the day I need my friends, they’ll be there for me the same way I would for them.

Knight in Shining Armor Cartoon The 9 Types of Blog Commenters Have You Met Them?

7). Everyone’s come in contact with a Big Headed Boaster at some point or another – whether in your life offline or on. This is the person who drops by just to show off the skills or the material possessions they have. This is the guy who owns 2 Ferrari’s and “supposedly” makes a million dollars a month online.

He’s also the guy who’s dated supermodel’s and actresses like Gizele and who only eats caviar for breakfast and sushi off a naked woman’s body in his pied-a-terre penthouse suite IN JAPAN!

8). Always challenging – in every sense of the way – are The Illiterate who come from a global tribe known as “The Illiterati”. Although the term sounds fancy and powerful, kinda like the infamous Illuminati’s – I guarantee you, they’re not!

I fully realize that English is not everyone’s first language. Heck, it’s not mine either (shocking, I know). And I know how difficult it can be to express yourself in another language that you aren’t fluent and proficient in. But there are limits! There’s only so much my eyes can handle.

I’m not talking about silly typos and minor grammar mistakes. We all make them. If you were to go through this post, I’m sure you’d find quite a few although I’m hoping you don’t lol. But I also know that my writing – with its faults and all – can easily be understood. Basically – my readers know what the hell I’m yappin’ and musin’ about!

I’m talking about those comments that you need a dictionary, a thesaurus and a translator to decipher. I’m talking about the one’s that look like they’ve been typed using an iPhone (with sticky fingers) while in an inebriated state at 4 am. Actually, make it a Blackberry – those keys are even smaller and more prone to WTF?! kind of errors.

9). And finally, you’ve got the Inappropriate Sex-driven Peasants otherwise known as perverts or as I like to them – Dickwads (not so lady like of me, I know)! I’ve unfortunately faced a few of these pervs myself (God bless our profile pics eh lol), and though I’m not quite sure what they’re hoping to gain – except attention and the push of the delete button – you can imagine the kind of obscenities they leave for comments (and emails). They’re quite the creative bunch.

Some are ballsy enough to leave their name and others do the anonymous thing – either way, they get no replies from me.

It’s quite remarkable though cause these folks have such a way with words when describing their genitals that it’s almost a pity they waste their ‘growing’ talents on comment sections when they could do so well in the R-rated film industry. Script writing maybe? If there was ever an emoticon for sarcasm, this is where it would go!

Dickwad The 9 Types of Blog Commenters Have You Met Them?

Okay…you know as well as I that I could go on here with at least 4 or 5 more examples if not more. But as it is, I cleared 1000 words about 200 words ago (go ahead and count Gini lol) and I’d much rather read the profiles you’ve encountered or have in mind.

Have you met any of these commenters? On your blog or elsewhere?

What other types of commenters do you know of?

Which of these categories would you fall into? I’m hoping it’s not number 10 lol.

[image credit: (Many Faces) via Blogging for Dot Info]

Read More »

SuperPost Sunday – Weekly Roundup #34

June 13th, 2011 62 Comments

heat cartoon SuperPost Sunday Weekly Roundup #34Hello My Lovelies,

Before I begin my weekly musings, I’d like to apologize to everyone who is still waiting on a reply from me on my last two Bring IT! posts – 17 Things About You and What Attracts You to a Blog?

I’ve been a bit slower than usual lately but I am going through them one by one. I would have replied to many of you sooner but it seems my clones or mini Gridzilla’s (as Stuart likes to call them lol) have taken their summer vacation early this year.

Speaking of summer…is anyone else being peer pressured by the sizzling sun?

You know…the kind where you wake up in the morning on the weekend and the sun is there staring at you – telling you to ignore all the work you need to do, all the reading you’re behind on, all the tweeting and sharing you so enjoy. Instead, it’s telling you to lay on a mattress at the beach sipping Margarita’s and wine while you glaze out at the ocean and forget your worries if just for a moment.

Anyone?

Okay…so maybe it’s Corona’s instead of Margarita’s and the Mediterranean Sea instead of the Pacific – but still!

Oddly enough, I’ve been spending a lot less time doing what I love most these last couple of weeks. By that, I mean writing and blogging. I didn’t mean for it to happen, but the summer weather has a way of persuading you to spend more time outdoors, and it’s kinda what I’ve been doing on the weekends.

Come to think about it, I should really go back to hibernating behind the computer cause for one – I really miss the hours I usually put in and the many interesting conversations I have and two – I’m looking pretty black already lol.

You see, I’m one of those lucky people who doesn’t turn red like a tomato in the sun. I get dark rather quickly and it’s pretty cool because my teeth seem so much whiter :D. It’s like I’ve swallowed a hanger lately – I’m just flaunting those damn things as much as I can. But it’s a great feeling isn’t it?

Come on ladies – you know what I mean.

You look at yourself in the mirror and you smile. It doesn’t matter that you’ve got raccoon eyes because you forgot to take your sunglasses off (nothing a little makeup can’t fix lol) or that you’ve been eating like a whale for the last few months and gained 10 extra pounds. Everyone knows you look thinner tanned.

You might be annoyed because you’re sucking in your frickin’ tummy to button your jeans that all of a sudden look like they’ve been sewed on to your skin, but it’s all good – cause once they’re on (after the 20 crouches and stretching exercises) and you’re desperately gasping for air, you think to yourself…”Daaamn I look fine. Who’s gonna carry me anyways?”.

Of course – it’s an entirely different feeling when you’re back in that bathing suit on the weekend and you realize that swallowing your stomach won’t help you much when you’re walking over to the pool to take a refreshing dip ;).

I’m presuming that some of you can relate to all this. As to the skinny bitches (no offense) who can’t, I say to you…grab a couple burgers and a shake and make me a feel a little better about myself will ya lol?

Don’t mind me. I’m just envious of those size 4’s. I didn’t say 0 – I love food way too much to even bother aiming for that.

All jokes aside – what truly matters is how you feel and that you love yourself the way you are – small, medium or large!

Alright, I’ve treaded enough on Oprah’s favorite topic for the last 20 years!

It’s time for the Goodies

Without further ado and blah blah,” here are this Sunday’s fantabulous SuperPosts on all things Social Media, Blogging Tips, SEO, Internet Marketing, Traffic Building, Online Money Making Tools and more…

Social Media

When discussing the quality and quantity of blog comments, the system makes a difference. First: Major hat tip to Judy Gombita, we’ve had some wonderful exchanges on this subject. Second: The choice of a commenting…

Recently, I had the great honor of appearing on a list called 200 Fearless women online and in Social Media. As I scanned the names, I had two sensations. First, I could not believe my great fortune in appearing on such a list…

Many continue an unhealthy obsession with influence. Except the web isn’t really about influence. It never was. The mere fact so many use influence as jargon of choice to define their web startups which tout ability to show…

We are in the midst of a communications revolution.   Use of social media for communication purposes continues to grow, while “old school” messaging media like email is on the decline.  Facebook reportedly has reached…

We’ve been working on a major piece of research to answer a fundamental question now affecting our clients: “How do companies change as they adopt social technologies?” Today, we’ve published the report…

Blogging Tips

The new version of CommentLuv 2.9 was released yesterday, and it is has a lot of new features. This guide will cover what is new for both blog owners and blog commenters alike as well as how to install and configure…

First of all, thank you for the incredible response I’ve received in regards to this three part “blog comment” series. You’ve left some incredible comments, Tweets, links & encouragement. It was wonderful to…

As I’ve been paying more attention to blogging—not just the writing thereof, but the look and how the posts come across—one of the fields that I believe is little-used is the “excerpt” field in one’s WordPress blog…

Do you blog? Have you been working hard to build a loyal following for your business, but it’s just not happening for you? The good news is you’re not alone.  Most blogs don’t get the traffic or the attention they desire…

On average, our standard of living is higher now than it was for our parents. The basic needs for survival, shelter and safety have been met and the thing that we are all searching for now is more fun, engagement, more…

As bloggers all of us have good days and bad days. On good days we write really great posts that win rave reviews, attract comments and strike up discussions and debates. On bad days we churn out posts…

Some of you might be wondering, “WHY DOESN’T ELISE COMMENT ON MY BLOG ANYMORE?” Others have asked on Twitter if I’m even still alive. My lack of blog activity has diminished due to a number of things…

I used to think that you should not talk about yourself in your blog content. I actually read it somewhere and for a while I was careful not to do it. “Always think about your audience. Nobody cares if you’re having coffee…

“Dead Man Walking!” I guess things are not going as planned. Your blog is limping along with low traffic, low excitement, low support from your readers. You suspect that it’s time to take a hiatus or close down your blog…

here are millions of blogs posted all over the Internet and it is possible to run a successful blog, even making money through selling products and advertising on it. But many bloggers fail where other bloggers succeed…

SEO

There are times when you will think you reached the top of the traffic mountain your blog can achieve. You will be too tired to write more and more pages and think that unless you do, you can’t move forward with your blog…

MishMash

I recently questioned the value of life. I don’t say this because I’ve been thinking of taking my own life, or anything else in that extreme, far from it. I’m happy, I’m healthy, and I generally feel good about life…

Business, whether online [virtual] or offline [brick and mortar], small or big is governed by the same principles and calls for the same set of basic functions – production, marketing,finance, staffing.

It wasn’t long ago that devastation quickly and quietly ambushed my life, culminating one night in a deserted K-Mart parking lot in the slums of South Philadelphia. I sat in my car, underneath the unforgiving glow…

It’s part of human nature. We are always wanting MORE. MORE money, MORE friends, MORE followers, MORE customers. Sometimes, that’s okay. Numbers are an excellent measurement of how we’re doing…

Here is my breakdown as to why Johnny Depp (Mad Hatter) would rock as a sales rep. He is captured by a higher power and is held hostage with his hands shackled – he is powerless against it…

From Meet the Fockers to Casino to Limitless, Robert De Niro is one of the most successful actors in the world. The next time you are watching one of his movies, do me a favor and don’t just watch them for pure entertainment, but watch them as a source of education.

Success means different things to different people. For some, success is all about earning dollars. Many define success as peace of mind. Success sometimes means a healthy lifestyle. For some, success is about getting out…

Read More »

Bring IT! 17 Things About You!

June 8th, 2011 217 Comments
questions about yourself Bring IT! 17 Things About You!

I"m thinking blah...bana!

Hello My Lovelies,

Welcome to another round of Bring IT!

On my birthday last year, I wrote a rather entertaining (if I may say so myself lol) post called 17 Things About Me – if You’re Curious to Know. I thought it’d be nice for my readers to learn a little more about me as a person. After all, it’s a big part of building a healthy community – one that is based on trust, mutual respect, sharing and learning (amongst other things).

So I figured I’d mix things up a bit this week and instead of focusing on social media and blogging related topics, we’d have a little fun and answer a few questions about who we are.

Don’t worry, this won’t take more than a few minutes and I’m not asking you to share your darkest secrets or personal issues with your loved ones. I’m just asking you to play along and get to know a few things about each other.

The rules are pretty simple…

There are none!

You can answer any or all of these – although I’d love it if you’d take a crack at all of them.

You ready?

Great…let’s Bring IT!

I’ll Go First…

1. Share two things about you that I don’t already know and can’t find online.

When I was in high school, my friends and I bribed the guards and climbed the Great Pyramid of Giza (Egypt). Now if that isn’t memorable enough, I also kissed a boy while up there lol. Take that Hollywood!

I would love to be the host of a talk show – maybe something like Chelsea Lately. But I’d be less crude while unleashing my wits and sarcasm.

2. As a kid – what did you want to be when you grew up?

Crap…there’s so many things I dreamed of being; from President to lawyer, writer… But the one thing I wanted more than anything else was to become a tennis champ. I use to play almost everyday and was quite good too. To top it off, I was the spitting image of Gabriella Sabatini.

3. What would your porn star name be? (Take the name of your childhood pet along with the name of the street where you grew up)

Cleo Hassan Sabri – pretty lame I know – but it’s not my fault the streets in Cairo had crappy porn names.

4. If you could have one super power – which one would it be?

Had I answered a week ago, I would have said invisible or invincible. But I recently watched a movie called Limitless where the main actor takes a drug that allows him to use 100% of his brain instead of the usual 20. How cool is that?!

So that’s what I’d pick. Super Human Intelligence!

5. Top 2 favorite sitcoms?

Friends and Will and Grace.

6. What’s your strongest personality trait?

I’m charismatic.

7. Describe yourself using ONLY 3 words.

Witty, smart and honest.

8. What’s your life’s motto?

I have two...

Don’t do unto others what you don’t want them to do to you.

Never deprive yourself of anything you want that’s within your means – as long as you’re not hurting anyone or yourself.

9. Where were you born? And would you want to live there if you don’t already?

Paris, France and nope!

10. How old do you wish you were and why?

7 – not a care in the world.

18 – I still had 4 years of playing for the NCAA.

25 – I was a grad student. I thought I had it all.

11. If you had to choose between Twitter and Facebook to promote your blog – which would you pick?

Twitter.

12. PC or Mac?

PC! Bash me all you like. Even though I know Mac rules, I’m still hooked on PC’s.

13. What’s your biggest pet peeve? And phobia?

People who don’t say sorry. Seriously – WTF?!

It won’t kill you to admit you’re wrong when you know you are.

My biggest phobia would have to be snakes and cockroaches. Heck, make it all reptiles as well. I’m not a big fan of sharks either.

14. Would you break the law to save a loved one?

Absolutely!

Ummm…wait…to what extent?

Never mind…Yes, I would!

15. What bad habits do you want to break?

Smoking and laziness.

16. What are your favorite simple pleasures?

Laughing and eating.

17. How many hours a week do you spend online?

In the last 8 months – I’d say 35 or 40 – easily!

Now it’s YOUR TURN…

[image credit: The Millionaire Secrets]

Read More »

SuperPost Sunday – Weekly Roundup #33

June 6th, 2011 50 Comments

superpost sunday link to me SuperPost Sunday Weekly Roundup #33Hello My Lovelies,

So I had an incredibly productive weekend (insert big sarcastic emoticon here). I finished season 2 of Cougar Town as well as the final season of Friday Night Lights. And somehow, I managed to squeeze in this blog post – somewhere between scorching in the sun, lounging on the couch and…(include any or all non-work summery related things you can do).

It was really quite exhausting – I had to get up and switch DVD’s every few episodes, then lift the remote to press pause, play and all. And other times I’d have to get up, walk 20 feet and dive in the sea so as not to collapse from the sizzling sun.

I’m thinking you’re either smirking or calling me names right now – and either or is totally understandable lol.

Funny thing is that since I was offline a big part of the weekend, I had this post scheduled to go online yesterday evening (my time) as I do every Sunday. But for some reason it didn’t get published and I’m guessing it’s kinda my fault in that I may have screwed up the dates when scheduling it – but of course, that’s just an educated guess lol ;).

I may have winked at you just now but I wasn’t really doing so when I realized that my SUNDAY SuperPost still wasn’t online on MONDAY morning! It was more like a verbal sound or screech that rhymes with puck!

I also know that many of you are still waiting for a reply from my last Bring IT! post on what attracts you to a blog. My bad and thank you for your patience.

But fear not…I DID NOT forget you.

I DID read each and every comment and I WILL reply to you shortly as I always do.

Oh, and if anyone can tell me how to stop my Disqus email notifications from going to my junk folder – I’d really appreciate it. It’s been a month now and nothing’s worked! To say that I”m annoyed is somewhat of an understatement. Grrrr…

I Heart Google Reader

Oddly enough, I don’t have tons of musings or babble for you today. All I can say is that I’ve done a crap load of reading over the last week and am slowly lowering the count on my Reader – one post at a time, reading, skimming or scrolling. Only 357 more to go!

Speaking of Google Reader – it’s really starting to grow on me. I’m actually using it much more and it’s just so frickin’ practical. I know I”m preaching to the choir here and that I haven’t made any miraculous revelations that you don’t already know…but still!

There are certain blogs that I automatically go to every morning – it’s like checking email. They’re part of my daily routine and I generally don’t miss any of their posts. So in reality – I wouldn’t even need to subscribe (via RSS) to them (although I do) because I’m gonna’ head over there no matter what.

What I often subscribe to, are blogs I randomly come across and like. I might not religiously read them everyday but that’s simply because I forget. Let’s face it – there’s only so much our MY brain can remember or handle. So in that sense – Reader has come in very handy for me and serves as a little reminder to go see what folks are saying.

When it comes to reading a blog post, I generally prefer to read it on the blog itself. Call me silly, but I like to feel that I’m there – in their house with their unique environment. But lately, I’ve noticed that I’m becoming a little more like Aunt Gini – in that, I’m often reading posts in Reader and then clicking on them when I feel inspired to comment and share. But again – the operative word here is “often” and not “always”.

I did things differently this week. I didn’t simply blog hop or rely on Twitter for links. Instead, I went through my Reader to compile this fine roundup for ya. So most of the recommendations you’ll see here are from blogs I’m subscribed to.

Crap…I knew I shouldn’t have said anything about musing less today for I still managed to leave you with 500+ words lol ;).

Time for the Goods

“Without further ado and blah blah,” here are this Sunday’s kick-ass SuperPosts on all things Social Media, Blogging Tips, SEO, Internet Marketing, Traffic Building, Online Money Making Tools and more.

Social Media

It’s a fact: people like to win stuff. When you pair the word “prize” with an objective, you can generally expect a good outcome. Because of this, holding contests or sweepstakes is a great way to drive more sales, leads…

You may think that this BlogWorld wrap up is a tad late. But make no mistake, its arrival is intentional. I heavily debated between providing you with an immediate recap driven by the contents of the sessions and keynotes…

As organizations begin to show signs of “social business” behaviors, they will begin to experience different levels of cultural change relating to the people in the organization, as well as its processes and technology…

Blogging Tips

Did you know that your blog’s about page is consistently the second most-viewed page on your blog? Whenever a new visitor’s breath is taken away by a post of yours, it’s the first place they go to find out…

This is the story of a blogger. He started his blog, taught himself about copywriting, and figured out who the one person he was writing for really was. He worked his tail off creating content. But his blog was a ghost town…

Do you remember Apple Computers’ brilliant 1997 Think Different ad campaign? It was narrated perfectly by Richard Dreyfus, with actual footage of people in history who chose to break the rules every now and then…

Growing online is critical for any person living abroad, the knowledge and skills these mentors will bring you is impossible to value. Last week I was in New York, attending Blog World and meeting in real life the online…

Sending people to your blog is only half the battle; the other is keeping people on your blog until they become part of your community. What are the factors which make a blog addictive? This article will explore…

As you have probably heard by now, Google has just launched the +1 button, which is essentially their way of competing with the Facebook Like button. If you haven’t heard, you have probably seen it popping…

When telling a story how do you make it worthwhile to read? Remember… there are very few of us who have 10 to 15 minutes of free time to read cool new stories and articles. How do you captivate your audience…

A man walks into a pawn shop. He sees it hanging on a wall and give the man behind the counter $112 and drives home. Once safely at home, he opens his new case, pulls out the Fender Stratocaster he bought…

SEO

Ric Dragon knows his search engine optimization and how to tell a story. In a mythical land where the identical twin SEO beasts live, a wizard (Google) has challenged bloggers with inviting good SEO into their homes…

Online Money Making Tools

There are many ways to monetize a blog.  One of them is to create and sell an eBook. This is a strategy many bloggers successfully use to generate a full-time income.  Unfortunately some miss the boat…

Today I’m going to share with you an in-depth case study of two moms who are killing it online. Unlike case studies you’ll find elsewhere, this article contains not only their personal stories, but the exact strategies they use…

MishMash

Have you noticed the big smiles of personal development gurus? They’re all so happy. Now, we all need someone to inspire us and even kick us in the butt to get going. I agree with that. But there’s one thing most…

If I could identify one statement that you’re bound to roll your eyes at, it’s “Trust yourself.” Because here’s the thing: Most of us, including myself at times, don’t know how to trust ourselves. We see that advice, and automatically…

I have a confession to make – I never felt pretty growing up. I was the smallest kid with the longest hair, who wore glasses and was teased mercilessly. I hated my looks. I did not start to even think I could be pretty until…

People will agree or disagree with you. People will agree or disagree with how you do things. That’s how it should be – none of us have all the answers. The trick is in deciding who you give credence to, and who you…

I have a client – a gourmet dessert brand – that considers me its Director of Marketing. So I was asked to interview six PR pros who would work to expand the brand and product exposure, primarily from a publicity…

“He who has health has hope, and he who has hope has everything.” ~Proverb In the spring of 2006, I was training for the MS 150, a cycling event to raise funds for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. I was hopeful…

After reading the chatter about clown-gate and ensuing social media expert bashing posts last month, the first reaction was to ignore it and continue real work. It was the ultimate red herring. But upon further reflection…

If you’re reading this, you most likely click through to a wide variety of websites each day. From Facebook and Twitter, RSS feeds and things your friends send you via email (LMFAO – you have to watch this)…

Everything you’ve been force-fed about blogging ruffled a few feathers. That wasn’t the intention and, for the most part, I got a lot of positive e-mails/tweets/comments. It got me thinking about how I decide to do what I do…

A friend of mine once told me, “If who we are today is who we will be tomorrow, then our lives are already wasted.” Every day, as writers and as people, we can choose to grow and evolve or we can choose to remain…

Read More »

Bring IT! What Attracts You to a Blog?

June 2nd, 2011 151 Comments

Betty Boop Attractive Blog Bring IT! What Attracts You to a Blog?Forgive me friends, for I have sinned!

Last week, I subtly skipped Bring IT! but in my defense – I felt awful about it.

I was sorta hoping you’d all get a sudden case of “one time Wednesday amnesia” but I guess not. So I figured you’d all find it in your hearts to forgive me and come back this week instead :).

And yes…I know today is Thursday, but just pretend it’s Wednesday okay ;)?

Anyhow, after staring at the screen for an hour then hanging over at Gini’s house while she talks about nothing for another 20 minutes or so, I finally thought of a topic. A silent clap or cheer from you would be nice right now – thank you ;).

So are you ready to Bring IT!?

Good to know…Let’s do it then!

What Attracts You to a Blog?

What makes you stay when you visit someone’s site for the first time?

What does it take for a blog to make a good impression on you?

What makes you come back?

As for Me…

Now you know as well as I do that I could whip up 3,000 words on this topic – but I won’t. Sigh…

I’m gonna’ limit myself so that you can share all that I’m thinking and more over at my little coffee shop slash chat room – “Central Perk” ;).

When you think of what attracts you to someone’s blog, the reasons should be similar to what attracts you to someone’s home. Because YOUR BLOG IS YOUR HOME! Treat it as such!

Think of what your ideal house would look like and the people you’d want in it and do the same. Lucky for you, this house won’t cost you much, if anything at all! Just a bunch of TLC ;).

Needless to say that you can’t please everyone, so spare yourself the headache and don’t go on mission impossible. But if you have a niche and know your audience or the one you want, you should have the basics.

Call me shallow – I don’t give a baboon’s butt (sounds better and more creative than saying – rat’s ass lol)! But looks DO matter to me!

Seriously guys – no bullshit. When you spot a woman sitting at a bar, what’s the first thing you notice? Her face (or physical features) or her soul and character?

Don’t even try to weazle your way out of this one! Same goes for you ladies.

Before you actually talk to someone, the FIRST thing you notice is their physique – after that, it’s a different story…

Well, it’s the same thing for blogs. When I land on your blog, the first thing I’m gonna look at is your design or appearance. And trust me when I tell you that it takes no more than 3 seconds to know whether you plan on staying or getting the heck out. It’s the same as walking into someone’s house – you notice the layout and decor.

If all I see is clutter and a digital version of Times Square…ba bye!

If I need a microscope to read your font, or a dictionary to understand what you’re saying…see ya!

If I don’t see any structure in your paragraphs or I just see ONE loooong one…aurevoir!

If I don’t see images to go with your posts…ciao!

More often than not – people judge on appearances.

Sad? Yes…but ohhh, so very true!

After that, I look at content…or “character”. Because let’s face it, that girl can be pretty as all hell – but if you’re looking for something more than a “drive-by”, what comes out of her mouth when she talks WILL matter to you.

So yes…you can have the best looking site on the net, but if your content is crap, I’m not gonna’ hang around long.

You need to inspire me, entertain me, have an impact on me or teach me something. But while doing any of these things, you need to sound like yourself. If I don’t know you, that means you need to sound like a frickin’ human. I want to hear your take, your experiences, your tone and not regurgitated cow dong.

That’s the bottom line!

I’m also gonna’ look at your friends, or your community. That’s right folks…that means your comments!

Do you have any?

Are you replying to them?

Are conversations being initiated?

Does it look like people feel at home?

The thing is…it’s pretty obvious to tell when someone cares about their blog.

If I see words without personality and one way conversations, then to me – you don’t care enough so why should I bother?

I have at least another 20 reasons that I could include here, but like I said – I want to hear your side.

So tell me…

What About You?

When you visit a blog, what makes you stay, read and join the conversation?

What are the basic must have’s?

Central Perk is now open and coffee is on the way. Grab a couch, put your feet up and Bring IT!

[image credit: Glitter Graphics Now]

 

Read More »

SuperPost Sunday – Weekly Roundup #32

May 30th, 2011 90 Comments

take a break SuperPost Sunday Weekly Roundup #32Hello My Lovelies,

BlogWorld Blah Blah

Well, it looks like everyone’s back from BWENY and there’s been much talk about the big event. I’ve read a couple reviews so far, as I’m sure you have too. But as far as I can tell from the few folks I’ve heard from – the best part of it all, was meeting their online friends in person.

So if you were at Blogworld, I’d love to hear your take on the whole thing.

You can also check out Gini’s latest weekly roundup post, “Gin and Topics: The BlogWorld Edition“. There’s 5 great articles all related to the event.

In all honesty, I was pretty bummed that I couldn’t make it. Not so much for Blogworld itself – even though the learning and networking would have been great – but for not getting the chance to meet my friends, “the Gang”, in person.

I know how silly that might sound, but it’s true. All I really cared about was hanging out with peeps like Gini, Marcus, Danny, John and several others.

Oh well…I’ll just have to head out on a little tour soon and visit each of them ;). And speaking of tours, while my friends were out and about in New York on Thursday, I was a the Shakira concert here in Beirut :D.

IMG 0899 SuperPost Sunday Weekly Roundup #32

Not sure why I'm showing you my ticket - but what the hell!

Yes…it rocked!

On Taking a Break

As you might remember, I skipped last Sunday’s regular SuperPost roundup and instead recommended ONE eBook by my friend Danny Brown that I truly thought was all that and then some!

I also told you that I would publish the SuperPosts that I had for ya last week at a later time. THIS would be the later time – which works out pretty great since I didn’t read as many blog posts as I usually do this past week.

Some of you may have noticed that I was less active online the last few days. I took a little break and didn’t do much blogging, twittering, commenting, or other Social Media-ing. It wasn’t planned or anything like that. I actually had every intention to publish a couple posts but then life got in the way – one day after the next and here we are – Sunday again.

I even payed the consequences for my lack of activity. My guilty conscious didn’t help much and I even watched my Alexa rank go up almost 5K – from 67K to 71 something – and that’s fine too.

But we all need a break sometimes to recharge our batteries. It’s what makes us human – and keeps us sane lol.

Much like Marcus said in his article last week – it’s not so much about the number or ranking as it is about the community. He and I have talked about this a few times actually and although it’s always rewarding to watch your rankings drop (that’s a good thing in the world of blogging lol) it doesn’t mean much if you’re hearing crickets with every piece you publish.

Luckily for me, I’m blessed with a kick-ass community that still enjoys reading what I have to write and conversing with me and and other commenters.

Anyhow, I think I’ve rambled said enough…

It’s Time for the Goodies

“Without further ado and blah blah,” here are this Sunday’s SuperPosts on all things Social Media, Blogging Tips, SEO, Internet Marketing, Traffic Building, Online Money Making Tools and more.

Social Media

Social media is changing in front of our eyes. It’s still a very new discipline but companies and brands are embracing it across the board in a number of ways. It can be easy to become distracted by all the new technologies…

I have been hearing a lot of buzz the last few days about something Gary Vaynerchuk said on TechCrunch TV. Apparently, Gary said that 99.5% of social media experts are clowns. Not surprisingly, this created a rather large…

We all intuitively know what likeability means. We have friends who are easygoing, good listeners and there when we need them. But what does it mean for a brand to be likeable online? Now more than ever, when a “Like”…

A while back, Copyblogger wrote a post called the 7 Deadly Sins of Blogging. I have been thinking about that post lately. I can’t tell if it’s because all of this talk about the world ending is getting to me or if it’s because…

Without customers, your business will never survive, I was inspired by a blog post by Ian Lurie, where Ian wrote about nice things that businesses can do for their customers, so I decide to write about how you can do nice...

Retracing the steps of what happened after a social PR campaign “gone wild” is reminiscent of the movie “The Hangover.” Despite the right intentions, the plan just goes sideways when the mixing and mingling ends up…

How to get started: Numbers don’t mean anything. The first mistake people and businesses make when starting out on the social web is they become infatuated with big numbers; as in number of followers…

Stop me when any of this founds familiar. 1. I’m talking to a business owner about Internet marketing. Things are going pretty well until the topic of social media enters the conversation. As soon as things like Twitter…

We all remember the enormous amount of social anxiety we experienced in middle school and high school.  We were afraid of being excluded from everything and anything.  There is a party this weekend on the lake…

We are always excited when one of our team members does something awesome. Nichole Kelly, one of SME’s regular contributors and a social media measurement consultant,worked with HootSuite…

Blogging Tips

A blog by any other name is….well…just a blog. You’ve been blogging for some time now, most likely for your small business. You get an “OK” amount of traffic, hardly anyone ever subscribes or comments, and quite…

Like all great performers, successful bloggers make it look easy. Everything they touch turns to gold. Are they getting by on pure talent or are they just plain lucky? Luck and talent help, but successful bloggers…

With the digitalization of PR, online communication is paramount. On occasion, this will require a bit more skill than the typical use of a keyboard and mouse. That means basic coding skills can and do go a long way in equipping…

Internet Marketing

So far, almost 1,000 (incredibly smart + sassy) people have signed up to receive the free resource I’m developing, succintly called: The Definitive Guide to Getting Off Your Butt, Finding Some Focus, And Jump…

Ask sales people what they think is wrong with marketing and they will say the biggest mistake marketers make is too much of a focus on marketing activities instead of results. I have explained already that I think the biggest…

Online Money Making Tools

One of my Subscribers recently asked me a question about niche sites in relation to myBuild Rank Profit Course. He said; “I am going through the Course and I am just building my first site now, thank so much…

MishMash

Sometimes I feel like Wile E. Coyote, “Super Genius,” as I repeatedly try in vain to capture the Road Runner. I come up with a brilliant plan and invest days or weeks diligently working to put it all together. But once I spring…

Sooner or later you’re going to have employees. If you want to create a large company, you’ll have no choice but to hire people to help you out. Although hiring employees may sound simple, you’ll quickly learn…

What happens when we die? It’s one of the oldest, and most debated, questions in the book. Which is why it seems just a tad bit ironic that as prevalent as the Internet has been for the last 15-plus years, people are just now…

Have you been dreaming about starting your own business?  Are you dying to quit your job?  Well, don’t quit your job just yet.  You might be surprised at how important your miserable job is to the success…

Read More »

SuperPost Sunday – Danny Brown’s Touchdown, Slam Dunk and Goal!

May 22nd, 2011 115 Comments
The Parables of Business Cover SuperPost Sunday Danny Browns Touchdown, Slam Dunk and Goal!

A picture worth staring at!

Hello My Lovelies,

I have a question(s) for you…

Do you trust me?

Do you trust the SuperPost Sunday recommendations that I have for you here every week?

Do you trust my overall judgement to be a pretty good one in general?

Since the time you’ve been reading nittyGriddy, have I ever purposely mislead you or lied to you to gain monetary value (or something) in return?

I’m hoping you had 3 Yes’s and a No – in that order! If you did, I”m going to ask you to trust me again today.

Danny Brown & The Parables of Business

When Danny sent me an advanced copy of his latest eBook, The Parables of Business, I couldn’t help but smile and feel proud that I was included in his “circle of friends” and someone he trusts and respects enough to read his words of wisdom and timeless advice.

THANK YOU DB :D.

If you’re wondering whether I’m biased or not, allow me to answer that for ya…

Damn straight I’m biased!

And you would be too if you knew Danny Brown as a friend, blogger and Marketing professional. But me being biased, doesn’t change the fact that this eBook is one of the most captivating things I’ve read to date. And I read it in one go, as I’m sure you will too WHEN you get your hands on it.

What It’s About

As Danny himself mentioned, The Parables of Business is not your “typical” business eBook.

It doesn’t lecture you with monotonous clichés of tips and tricks on the best ways to run your business. It doesn’t revolve around the simple successes of others. And it doesn’t feed you regurgitated crap from known “guru’s” and other non-sense types that you’re bound to forget as soon as you’re done reading.

It’s much more than that. And what you’ll read, you won’t forget!

It’s Danny’s business advice and messages told through the timeless art of storytelling.

It’s a compilation of 11 beautiful and memorable parables narrated through Danny’s unique style and authentic voice – each one bringing you in and leaving you with an ‘aha’ moment; each one reminding you or teaching you how old-school mindsets, values and wisdom can help you pave the road to achieving your goals and succeeding in today’s business environment.

Inside you will find tales about collaboration, change, brand building and loyalty, entrepreneurship, overcoming adversity and inconceivable obstacles, gaining trust and more…

Regardless of your industry, your status, your knowledge or know-how…this eBook WILL teach you something. It WILL inspire you and make you re-think of how you’re doing things, whether online or off.

What I Loved

I think the question is, what didn’t I love?! And in all honesty – nothing!

From the cover to the acknowledgments – it was superb!

I know how that may sound, but it’s true. Each of the 11 stories will hook you, from start to finish.

My only disappointment is that the eBook itself wasn’t longer. I didn’t want the stories to end. I wanted more…a 12th, a 13th…

Actually, I have another disappointment and it’s the same as Dino’s. I too wish there was a hardcover edition of this book. I would definitely buy it as a gift for friends and I would of course want a signed (handwritten) copy for myself from Danny.

But then again…those don’t count much as disappointments.

All I know is that I would love for Danny to publish tome 2.

To tell you that I didn’t have a few favorite chapters, would be a lie. But I don’t want to ruin it for you, so I’ll give you a small bite of what to expect.

“The Boy with the Bread”

If you can read this story and not choke up a little or feel something, then you’re stronger than I am.

The story – so powerful and real – convinced me that it had to be true.

Kindness and compassion are innate and do in fact prevail. Appreciation and reciprocation will find you when you deserve it; when you’ve earned it.

That nameless boy does exist…he’s out there somewhere, and a part of him is in each one of us. Call me silly, but I wanted this story to be the script to an upcoming movie. THAT’s how vivid the imagery is! And THAT’s how wise the moral of it is.

If you’re human, I guarantee that you’ll be touched by this wonderful piece and that you’ll agree with the message that Danny so eloquently delivers.

Why You Should Get It, Read It & Read It Again

ARE YOU SERIOUS?!!!

Do you really need more reasons that the one’s I already mentioned?

I didn’t think so!

Frickin’ Disclaimer:

This is my opinion and mine alone – although you will find that many others share similar feelings about Danny and his eBook. I know you believe me but just in case you have a tiny bit of unreasonable doubt, you can read these other reviews by OUR friends John Falchetto, Frank Dickinson and Dino Dogan.

Danny Brown did NOT ask me (with that lady-killer accent of his), beg me (on his knees, standing or perched from a tree branch wearing nothing but a kilt and bow tie around his neck) or pay me (in Dollars, Rubles or Bonsai trees) to write this little review or promote his masterpiece in any way. He’s simply guilty of being the exceptional man, friend and mentor that he is – brilliant, kind and genuine.

You can purchase a copy of the 36 page eBook for $15 USD via PayPal or credit card at the E-junkie store (nope…not an affiliate link).

Note to Loyal Readers:

I know that when you normally visit on Sunday’s you’re greeted with snarky stories and witty words of Social Media wisdom followed by a mammoth list of links to kick-ass articles. And though I did have a roundup prepared for you this week, there’s only ONE recommendation that I really wanted to share with you – and that is…

The Parables of Business

How Old Wisdom Can Help You Create New Mindsets

By Danny Brown

A Bonsai Interactive Publication

Get it! Read it! Learn from it!

PS – this week’s SuperPost articles will be published at a later time.

 

Read More »

Bring IT! Can You “Free Associate” and Say Something About Nothing?

May 18th, 2011 225 Comments

I have nothing to say Bring IT! Can You Free Associate and Say Something About Nothing?Ever have one of those days where you know you WANT to write something good and your readers expect you to because it’s one of the days you generally publish – but as hard as you try – you got nothin’!

I was probably suppose to end that with a question mark but it’s pretty much rhetorical, since I’d be willing to bet that most of you have experienced a day like that.

You sit and try to focus – and you look at the clock and maybe panic a bit. But then you come to your senses and realize that it’s not the end of the world if you miss your usually scheduled Bring IT! post or if it’s not in tune with the one’s you usually write ;).

No one will hate you or forget you if you occasionally get side-tracked. Just know your limits and don’t exaggerate.

Try your best to remain as consistent and frequent as possible and your readers will still be here. Oh, and you might want to click on that link as I think you’ll enjoy the article that comes with it. I’m not making any promises but I’m somewhat confident.

So here I am writing about nothing but somehow it’s something nonetheless. Call it “free association” if you will – where your mind – uncensored – leads the way, and your fingers glued to the keyboard, play along.

Have you ever tried that – where you just start typing and see whatever comes out?

How am I doing so far?

Are you still here?

Or are you ready to leave, thinking “what the hell is Griddy on today lol?”

Free association is this little exercise we use to do back in college. If you were a Psychology major like me, then you know exactly what I’m talking about. If you weren’t, then this blog post is pretty much what it is – a little bit about nothing and something – much like the highly acclaimed show, “Seinfeld”.

And NO – I didn’t just compare myself to Jerry or Kramer or any of those guys but if you think about it – they did pretty much talk about nothing; or nothing in particular, that is. There was never a theme, or a set topic for each episode. It just felt like they opened their mouths and whatever came out…came out!

So this is me, just typing and hoping to God I’ll have enough ‘cojones’ to press the “publish” button once I’m done. Because let’s face it – I’ve pretty much opened myself to get bashed here and that’s fine. I can take it!

But the question is – can you?

So this is what I’d love for you to do today over in “Central Perk” – otherwise known as my comments section.

I want you to NOT THINK! I want you to just start typing and see what comes out. But you have to promise to click submit once you’re done. No one will judge you – not here anyways.

You can tell me if you’ve ever tried this before or you can respond to this post or you can talk about underwater basket weaving for all I care. Just start typing and see what comes out.

But remember – don’t think, don’t analyze! Just let yourself be free and say what you feel and what comes to mind.

If you’re thinking “shit” then say “shit”!

If you’re thinking of the chores you have to do later, then tell us about them.

If your thoughts are all over the place, then hey…show us where they’re leading you.

What do you know?! Out of nothing, I created a little something ;).

So what the hell!

Show me some “free association” and Bring IT!

PS – you can totally applaud me on managing to write a blog post well under a thousand words. I don’t mind lol ;). And Yes Gini – go ahead and poke fun of me as I know Mufasa will be right there with ya and Davina might even have an acronym for this miracle.

And another PS – if you’re more in the mood for a kick-ass case study on how British Airways is using Social Media, then definitely head over there and share your thoughts.

Read More »

British Airways “Gets” Social Media!

May 17th, 2011 41 Comments

British Airways Logo British Airways Gets Social Media!

Twitter and Airlines

I recently read a great post by Aaron Lee on the importance of replying to Tweets.

Aaron used the example of the airline industry where approximately 86% of tweets are directly related to customer service – therefore requiring a timely response.

In his article, he noted that US Airways customers were somewhat furious at the lack of engagement and no-replies. Instead, what US Airways does, is direct their customers (in their actual Twitter profile and not in @replies) towards an extensive feedback form on their company website.

Obviously, they’re missing the entire point of Social Media and the “real time” factor. You see – the word “social” is there for a reason. And if you’re on Twitter, you may as well use the damn bird the way it was intended, or save yourself the trouble and don’t use it at all!

Aaron’s post inspired me to do a little case study of my own, as it got me thinking of the airlines I travel with most and what they’re doing right or wrong when it comes to Social Media.

After looking at MEA (Middle East Airlines – Air Liban), Air France and British Airways (BA), I decided to start with BA and tell you what they’re doing and how they’re doing it.

I also fully intend to write another blog post about all the things MEA is doing wrong – or not doing at all for that matter! Which is unfortunate, seeing the excellent airline that it is.

British Airways Heart Social Media

The purpose of this article is NOT to simply praise British Airways for the highly-regarded airline that it is. We all know of their rather prestigious reputation. But even the best, make mistakes and have angry or unsatisfied customers at times.

My intention is to use BA as an example for how other airline companies should be using Social Media if they aren’t already.

Heck, as much as I enjoy travelling with them, they still managed to lose my suitcases 7 times. But in their defense, Heathrow is THE busiest airport in the world and they did find them each time and deliver them straight to my house. Of course – I was less calm at the time while waiting for them ;).

I was also quite upset when I found out that over 150,000 or so of my miles had expired. Yes…I know miles have an expiry date but for God’s sake harass me about it if you must. I sure as hell don’t want to waste free tickets!

Can you imagine the look on my face while talking to their customer rep as he informed me I had no miles left on my frequent flyer card? This was pre-Twitter or you can be sure you would have seen a tweet or two from my part!

But in all honesty – I suppose part of the blame falls on my lap as well. Either way – my mourning period has been over for quite some time now lol. [Note to self: Go through all frequent flyer card statements soon]

With all that said – I continue to fly with BA because they normally have top-notch service, their flight times are abundant and practical, their plane seats are comfortable, their on-board entertainment is awesome, their staff is friendly and attentive, their duty-free full out rocks and I pretty much know my way around their international terminals at Heathrow with my eyes closed.

A Deeper Look at BA’s Tweeting Habits

Here’s a snapshot of BA’s Global Twitter account and profile. I say “global” because they also have a separate account for North America.

British Airways Profile on Twitter1 British Airways Gets Social Media!

As you can see they’re following back a number of people and are actively tweeting. One important thing I noted was that their profile informs people when they’re online – which is both good and bad.

You see – an airlines company the size of BA (one of the biggest in the world) is operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! So when I see they’re only available to answer customer’s tweets from Monday to Friday 9 am to 5 pm GMT, it poses a problem.

What about customers flying in the evening or on weekends? Surely, there are millions of those.

What if I need assistance on a Saturday? Is there no one who will reply to me until Monday? What about the time difference with the rest of the world?

That kinda sucks and I was actually surprised to see this rather strict time frame.

Either way – I would strongly advise they have a support team or person on Twitter both past 5 pm and over the weekends to reply to folks in “real time”. I don’t see this tiny added budget ruining them any time soon.

Now take a look at part of their stream.

British Airways Twitter Stream1 British Airways Gets Social Media!

 

As you can see, BA replies to both negative and positive tweets. And that’s the way it should be!

Their stream isn’t solely composed of shameless self-promoting tweets. They might not be RTing people’s articles much, but they ARE talking!

MediaPost’s Research Brief noted that “The Retail Consumer Report” that was recently conducted showed that “by listening and proactively responding on the social web, retailers have a chance to turn disgruntled customers into social advocates.” It also goes on to say that of the 68% of consumers who posted a negative review and were replied to, 18% of them turned into loyal customers and went on to buy more.

There is NO perfect company out there! That’s a given. But when a company decides to get on board the Social Media train, they can at least listen to their customers who “feed them” and reply in kind. After all, if done correctly, it can only help them grow and generate loyal followers!

Not only does BA pay attention to each tweet, but they take on a friendly and personalized approach when responding.

They refer to you by name; they answer your query and point you in the right direction for more; they give you the direct number to call for a specific inquiry; they congratulate you on your complimentary upgrade; they wish you a safe flight; they apologize for any mishap; they thank you for your feedback; they pass on your comments to the appropriate department…

They pretty much are a prime example of what an airlines company should be doing on Twitter… And that is – to be ENGAGING and not simply engaged – for there is a very big difference as Danny Brown cleverly pointed out in one of his recent articles.

So I decided to test BA and send them a little tweet of my own.

Tweet to BA British Airways Gets Social Media!

Tweeted at 5:10 pm Beirut Time (3:10 pm GMT) - May 16th, 2011

And here is their reply about 1 1/2 hours later.

British Airways Reply on Twitter British Airways Gets Social Media!

Reply from BA at 6:54 pm Beirut Time

Test Results: Passed with flying colors!

My Thoughts: British Airways speaks the Social Media language fluently!

What About BA’s Facebook Page?

Surely you didn’t think I’d forget Facebook as being part of the Social Media world now did you? Good – didn’t think so ;).

British Airways’ FB page looks pretty recent as there’s nothing past April 26 – but that doesn’t change the fact that they’ve amassed almost 55,000 fans and are actively engaging – maybe not responding to each comment but they’re participating and asking questions nonetheless.

They actually have 5 tabs besides the regular pre-set categories like “Wall”, “Info” and so forth.

Here’s a snapshot of their main landing page for “Great Britons”.

British Airways FB Landing Page British Airways Gets Social Media!

It might not be the most glamorous and fun-filled page you’ve seen, but there’s a clear call to action – and if you ask me – it’s better than many I’ve seen!

Now take a look at their menu on the left – you’ll notice the categories and as I mentioned above – each has a creative design of it’s own. Now that’s pretty impressive!

“Flying Start” is their year-round fundraising initiative with Comic Relief.

British Airways flying start British Airways Gets Social Media!

As you can see, this page has several calls to action including a “donate” button and a video at the bottom which isn’t visible on this screenshot.

The same thing goes for their 3rd tab entitled “Height Cuisine”.

This one actually features some delectable images of food served on their flights as well the experience of it as the plane gets higher. It also features cooking challenges that you can take on. Pretty neat and very nicely done.

You’ll notice they even have a tab where you can subscribe to their blog via RSS and another for “House Rules” where they’ve spelt out a set of guidelines for you to follow while visiting their page. Now these are all fine and dandy as they go through points such as mutual respect, offensive language, copyright infringements, intellectual property rights and so forth.

One rule that did stand out however, was this:

“You may not post any advertising, spam, selling and links to external sites. This includes posts used to direct traffic to other sites, blogs or Facebook pages.”

 

Does this mean I can’t tag them when I link to this article on my Facebook page? Do they not want their fans to see all the cool things I said about them here?

Hmmm…Okay, but I sure hope they reconsider this soon.

Now like I said, their Facebook page is still relatively new, but it does look like it’s taking off on the right foot.

Here’s a nice snapshot of a recent posting and part of the conversation that came from it.

BA Facebook Wall Comments British Airways Gets Social Media!

It might not be as witty and “happening” as Gini Dietrich’s Facebook page for Arment Dietrich and Spin Sucks, but hey, one could only hope ;).

My Final Thoughts

If you ask me, British Airways is doing a pretty darn good job of keeping their ears open and their mouths talking when it comes to their Social Media presence.

As for their Facebook efforts – they’re definitely on their way. I think the different tabs are fantastic and their designs for each – even better!

Overall Advice:

  • Keep doing what you’re doing – listening, engaging and responding in a timely manner
  • Hire a team to handle your Twitter account on the weekends and past 5 pm GMT
  • Sign your tweets (initials) so we know who we’re talking to if it’s not always PL as mentioned in your profile
  • Loosen up on the Facebook guidelines and allow people the liberty to tag you in their blog posts or anywhere else – as long as it’s appropriate, respectful…and not SPAM
  • Be a little more engaging on your Facebook Wall – although you’re doing this already, just try to reply to more people (see other posts to see what I mean here)
  • Post more often on your Facebook Wall – between April 26 and today – May 16 – you have a total of 7 posts. You can do better ;). Although that doesn’t mean to bombard us with 10 a day either lol. I do love how you’re asking your fans questions though.
  • Edit your Facebook Page URL so that it reads Facebook.com/BritishAirways and not Facebook.com/britishairways?sk=wall

What do you guys think about all this?

Any other tips you can give British Airways about Social Media?

Have you had a good or bad experience with BA on Twitter?

What other airline companies are using Social Media the right way?

Don’t be coy now. You know I secretly smile and clap when you stop by and share your thoughts.


Read More »

SuperPost Sunday – Weekly Roundup #30

May 15th, 2011 71 Comments

slow internet connection SuperPost Sunday Weekly Roundup #30Hello My Lovelies,

Welcome to week 30 of SuperPost Sunday!

Wow – to think that I’ve been doing this roundup for 7 and a half months is pretty insane! And I have yet to miss a Sunday :D!

This whole “time flies” thing is but a massive understatement. Seriously!

Anyhow…I know I don’t need to tell you about all that as I’m sure you know exactly what I mean.

Where Time & Telecom Stand Still

A few of you have heard me make some snarky remarks in the past about the internet connection we have here in Lebanon. For a country that’s so hip and advanced in numerous things, the telecom industry is still stuck in the effin’ ice age!

I’m not kidding folks! You’d shoot yourself right after smashing your computer to the ground if you had to deal with the connection I have.

Okay…it’s not like it’s dial-up or anything like that, but it’s about a hundred times slower than the one YOU have at home. Oh, and wait till you hear the best part…

If it rains, the connection gets slower – and if there’s lightning or thunder, they’ll shut it down until it calms – and if you’re using it during peak hours, it slows down even more – as if that’s even possible!

For someone who pretty much lives online (in a roundabout sort of way), I seriously wonder how I’m not popping Prozac pills or repeating “Mmmm…Namaste” all day long!

But wait…I’m not done!

Would you like to know just how fast mine is?

512 KB for download and 256 KB for upload! Alright – you can close your mouth and stop laughing hysterically now cause there’s more.

Would you like to know how much I pay for this “thunder bolt” connection?

50 USD per month! Oh, come one – don’t gasp just yet – there’s MORE…

With those 50 bucks you get 2.4 Gigabytes of upload and download – then you pay extra for each Megabyte you go over!

You should try keeping Twitter open all day long and see how fast you go through that. I’m thinking 3 days tops! Or better yet – try loading a YouTube video during peak hours and see how long it takes – just for kicks!

But lucky for me, I’ve got some kind of sketchy deal with my sub-providers so that my upload and download are unlimited and my connection is much faster at night. But that’s just at home. Needless to say, my “internet guy” is on my speed dial for every time I sneeze and the internet stops working for some retarded reason!

Of course, a faster connection does in fact exist – though “faster” is a pretty big word here. If you’re willing to pay an extra hundred dollars or so per month, you can up your speed to like a whole Megabyte. WooHoo – sound the bells of joy and victory!!!

Don’t you just love the feeling of getting screwed (insert fat-ass sarcastic emoticon here)? Ha!

Actually, here’s nice snapshot of what my internet speed was while writing this post…

My Internet Speed SuperPost Sunday Weekly Roundup #30

You’re jealous aren’t ya? Admit it!

Now don’t get me started on our smartphone connections. Same bill, same speed, but you get a 100 MB limit per month and then it’s an extra dollar or so for each megabyte you go over. Yes…I’ve teared and developed sudden cases of Tourette Syndrome many a times upon receiving my phone bill!

But hey, all this is but the gist of it.

There’s obviously many ONE reason for why our Telecom industry is the way it is. MONEY! That’s right – money, money, money!

There’s just too many pockets that need to be filled and those sorry-ass (insert vulgar un-lady like word here) don’t give a crap about putting the economy of the country before their personal bank accounts!

But don’t take my word for it!

I’d love for you to read this fantastic article on the state of the Lebanese Telecom industry by my friend (IRL) Imad Tarabay, Chairman and CEO of Cedarcom. It’ll definitely shed some light on why all this is and what could be be done to change things around.

You might learn a few things as well – I sure as hell did! Like who has the fastest internet connection in the world? You’ll be just as surprised as I was.

I WANT to hear your thoughts on all this so don’t be shy. Put your comfy clothes on and meet me and my awesome community at “Central Perk” – otherwise known as the comments section. Gunther will be waiting to bring you cookies and coffee ;).

Alright – I think I’ve talked enough!

Time for 26 Goodies…

“Without further ado and blah blah,” here are this Sunday’s rockin’ SuperPosts on all things Social Media, Blogging Tips, SEO, Internet Marketing, Traffic Building, Online Money Making Tools and more.

Social Media

There are some blogs I feel bad to neglect, yet delighted when I make time for them. They are the blogs where I intend to be more active, and I want to share some of those with you. These are blogs by people…

Facebook recently published a PDF document giving businesses a guide to best practices for marketing on the massive social networking site. The 14-page document, titled “Best Practice Guide: Marketing on Facebook”…

I do not want you to use social media to sell stuff and make money. I do not want you to use social media to attract clients and fill a practice. Sure, it works for those things. And I talk about that often because that’s what people…

When there are more choices and conversations to spend time on, one can easily become distracted. Social media as an industry has created many distractions — some of which are enjoyable, some not — that can easily…

When I look at social media I don’t see a way to lower your cost of marketing, increase ROI, or grow your brand. What I see is access to a global networking of inspiring people. You see, the benefits of blogging, tweeting…

Companies love to share their successes with social media. How it’s allowing them to “engage with fans and customers”, and how they’re “being part of the conversation”. Like it’s something new and wild and golly gee…

Blogging Tips

Sometimes you’re just flat out of ideas. It’s not a matter of talent — you’ve written great stuff in the past. But lately, when you go back to the well for a fresh idea, it’s coming up dry. This happens to the best of us…

It’s possible I’m going to cause a riot here. In fact, in writing this post, I’m going against something I believe in strongly – blog post regularity. I think posting regularly keeps your blog viable. It’s like in-person relationships…

Everyone tells me blogging is a relationship.You interact with such a wide variety of talent; get to know them through their blogs, listen to their say, read their takes on issues, find out strategies and basically have…

How to get your name on the blog of your choice is a topic much discussed already. But instead of speaking in abstracts, my focus in this post will be speckled with my own personal examples and past guest-posting histories…

One hundred and fifty-four million, four hundred and forty thousand blogs go completely and utterly unread. Let me write that number out for you so you can really take it in: 154,440,000…

Is your blog the best in the world? Often when we want to blog, we can struggle with what we see in the blogging universe. These blogs are doing better than our blog. Why is that? This blog has more followers on Twitter…

Internet Marketing

The web has truly shaped what used to be a controlled and very one-way messaging system into a completely real-time dialogue with millions of people. Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube…

Want to know a secret? Your website or blog is your business. Whether you make a few dollars a month on that site or thousands, it is still your business. Even if you don’t have it monetized, it is your PR campaign…

When you were a child you didn’t think about building websites. You never thought about market research or product creation. Pay-per-click campaigns on Google and Facebook Ads didn’t exist. Even if they did, you wouldn’t…

Good morning! It’s an amazing day here in Chicago. It’s Sunday May 1st and I’m decompressing from a terrific SOBcon this past weekend. SOBCon stands for Successful Online Business Conference. It’s hosted by the incomparable…

SEO

About to Publish A Post? STOP! Read This – by Lisa Barone, outspokenmedia.com

It used to be that it was just us writer people that were responsible for publishing blog posts. But, my, how times have changed. As business owners, marketers, and social media mavens, we’re all responsible for…

Online Money Making Tools

Do you want to make money blogging? As of late, I’ve been enjoying an increasing level of income from Site Sketch 101. I’m thrilled and excited to announce that I’m truly beginning to make money blogging, and today…

Online business is all about action; let’s skip the fluffy intro and get right into it …Why do you want to start an online business? Before you begin kicking up ideas for your grand, online empire let’s think of this question…

MishMash

How do you feel about marketing yourself? Does it feel too self-focused, conceited or arrogant? Whenever I write about personal branding, self-promotion or anything along those lines – I feel like I’m coming off…

Creative disagreement is a meme that seems to be doing the rounds at the moment.  If you want some backstory then read my post here: Is It Time For Comment Love-Ins To Stop? And read Danny’s post over at his Firepole…

I hate censorship. We live in an age where we don’t need to be part of an elite to have a voice. Dino Dogan is right when he says the age of social media superstars is over. I recently bolted at the flagrant redacting…

Over the past few weeks I have seen several posts talk about listening; either how to be a better listener or how to totally ‘suck’ at it. I apologize my blogging friends, I would link you if I could……a basic site indeed…

It’s been a long time since you went out with this one friend of yours, so when she asked if you wanted to hit this concert she was going to, you went ahead and said ok. You didn’t really know a whole lot about the group…

Have you ever written a blog post and within a few minutes or hours of publishing you just knew it was something special? In the beginning days of TSL, back when it was me and the crickets, I used to write blog posts…

Many of you know by now that I’m a mom. I also consider myself to be an entrepreneur. I jumped into running my own business four years ago, with a brief interruption to have baby #2, then got back in the saddle…

[image credit: via  megsy_62’s album]

Read More »

Bring IT! What Are Your Favorite Technology Predictions that Were Wrong?

May 11th, 2011 101 Comments
Dr. Evil1 Bring IT! What Are Your Favorite Technology Predictions that Were Wrong?

Hmmm...The next Masters of the Blogosphere will be...

Hello My Lovelies,

Are you ready for round…never mind…I’m too lazy to go back and count what week this is, so you’ll just have to suck it up and play along all the same ;).

If you recall from a few weeks back, I had asked you whether you prefer full or partial feeds in your RSS. At the time, I was still serving you up with partial feeds for the sole reason that I didn’t know better when I had initially set up my FeedBurner.

It’s not to say that one kind is better than the other – for each one has it’s perks as was established, and everyone has their preference in what they want to get and their reasons for using each. But what matters to me, even more so than traffic, is what my readers want to receive FROM ME!

So I asked…and I listened.

96 comments later…including a few friendly back and forth debates, it was clear that my audience prefers to receive full feeds in their RSS. So, I did the obvious thing and switched.

So for all those of you who shared your thoughts on the topic – thank you :D! I heard you loud and clear and I hope you’ll be pleased that I did in fact take action.

For those of you who aren’t yet signed up, shame on you lol! What on earth are you waiting for?

Go on, I’ll wait for you to sign up…

Alright, now that that’s out of the way and I’ve shared my piece of fabulous news – let’s get down and Bring IT! on the Griddy-iron!

What Are Your Favorite Wrong Technology Predictions?

Basically, what quotes made you chuckle at how far off and dead wrong some of the wisest visionaries were?

What are some of the best or funniest predictions you’ve ever read?

Human beings, especially leading experts, have been making some outrageous predictions since the dawn of time – some were spot on whereas others, not so much.

I thought I’d so something different and maybe more fun this week for Bring IT! It might require you to do a little Googling, but what the heck – it’ll be worth it!

This post has actually been sitting in my Drafts since Feb. 4! So I figured I’d let the poor thing breathe and see the light of day.

You see? There’s an upside to having 70 unfinished drafts in your WordPress ;).

Me, My Quotes and I

Not to state what’s seemingly obvious, but I’m a huge fan of quotes. Look around and you’ll see what I mean. You’re served on a silver platter when it comes to those. Heck, I even wrote a guest post for Famous Bloggers a little while back called “66 Awesome Social Media Quotes”.

Believe it or not, I also wrote a little big book of my favorite quotes which has been sitting on my Desktop for over 5 years now. Yes…I thought it was a smart marketing tactic as well (insert sarcastic emoticon beating himself over the head). Create something cool, then hide it and don’t tell anyone about it lol!

Ha! Spoken like the true bullshit Marketing “gurunja”!

Hmmm…I should really coin that term someday. You can start sending the royalty fees my way and we’ll be good ;).

I’m sure I don’t need to tell you what two words I put together there right?

Okay, phewww…

As for Me…

Alright…now that we’ve established my little addiction – I mean infatuation, err…I mean, fondness of quotes, I can move on to share with you these fantastically ironic words of wisdom by futurists who kinda screwed up got it wrong.

But in their defense, how could they have known, right?

Here are 10 of my favs.

“Everything that can be invented has been invented.”

Charles H. Duell, Office of Patents; 1899

“There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.”

 

Ken Olson, President, Chairman and Founder of Digital Equipment Corp. (DEC) – arguing against the PC; 1977

“With over fifteen types of foreign cars already on sale here, the Japanese auto industry isn’t likely to carve out a big share of the market for itself.”

 

Business Week; 1968

“The world potential market for copying machines is 5000 at most.”

 

IBM, to the eventual founders of Xerox, saying the photocopier had no market large enough to justify production; 1959

“We will never make a 32 bit operating system.”

Bill Gates

“To place a man in a multi-stage rocket and project him into the controlling gravitational field of the moon where the passengers can make scientific observations, perhaps land alive, and then return to earth – all that constitutes a wild dream worthy of Jules Verne. I am bold enough to say that such a man-made voyage will never occur regardless of all future advances.”

Lee DeForest, American radio pioneer and inventor of the vacuum tube; 1926

“The Americans have need of the telephone, but we do not. We have plenty of messenger boys.”

Sir William Preece, Chief Engineer, British Post Office; 1878

“Television won’t be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night.”

Darryl Zanuck, movie producer, 20th Century Fox; 1946

“Next Christmas the iPod will be dead, finished, gone, kaput.”

Sir Alan Sugar, British entrepreneur; 2005

I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.

Thomas Watson, Chairman of IBM; 1943

What About You?

What other one’s have you come across?

Do you have any predictions of your own you’d like to share? Don’t be shy, it’s not like your words will be on the net forever ;).

Bring IT!

Read More »

SuperPost Sunday – Weekly Roundup #29

May 8th, 2011 86 Comments
kids reading newspaper SuperPost Sunday Weekly Roundup #29

Hmmm...Is she thinking or is her hair gonna' get wet?

Hello My Lovelies,

I hope you all had a terrific weekend.

Mine was pretty much the same…relaxing but tiring, hectic yet lazy, fun although nothing special. I guess it depends on the hour, right? 😉

Well, I’ve got quite the SuperPosts for you this week. 26 of them actually!

Don’t gasp, you don’t HAVE to read all of them – although if you’ve got some time to kill, I’d recommend that you do.

Plus, it’s not my fault really. I’m not looking to give myself more work or anything. It’s just that I came across some valuable reads and I couldn’t possibly keep them from you.

But before you go ahead and skip to the links, I’ve got a couple things to tell ya…

Disqus Adds New Conversation Booster

I know many of you are fans of the ComLuv and Livefyre commenting systems – as am I. But for some reason, I’m still using Disqus. And to my surprise, they’ve just added a fabulous new option which was one of Livefyre’s trademark’s to being with; the @mention.

That’s right – in case you haven’t noticed from blogs such as mine, Aaron Lee’s, Mark Schaefer’s, Social Media Examiner’s…you can now inform those folks you’ve mentioned in a comment that you have. It works the same way as Livefyre and in all honesty, I think it’s great. It should further encourage the discussion and entice people to stop by the blog in which they’ve been mentioned.

Disqus @mention option SuperPost Sunday Weekly Roundup #29

Now all I need them to do is add the real time feature (for free) and the link to last post option (like ComLuv), and I’ll be the happiest blog commenter ever!

It’s something I’ve been thinking of a lot of lately and I was actually having fun working on a little comment system project of my own which would incorporate all the popular commenting systems into one – a three in one if you like. But of course – the name I came up with is way cooler ;)!

Anyhow, make sure to give it a go here so that you can call your friends to come over and hang at the Grid house ;). And speaking of the Grid house, last week Mufasa and Dino brought up similar points in which they said this blog’s comment section was like a “chat room” or Monica’s apartment in “Friends” where everyone comes to hang out and talk.

It’s funny cause that’s sort of how I see it too. A kind of “Central Perk” for smart and like-minded folks who like to mingle about meaningful things all while having a fun time learning from and about each other.

I know it may sound silly but if you think about it for a minute – you’ll see that it makes a ton of sense. Now all I need is a “Gunther” to bring you guys coffee and cupcakes while you’re here ;).

On Being a Lifestyle Entrepreneur…

Speaking of coffee, I’d love it if you grabbed a cup and headed over to my friend Troy Claus’s blog where I published my latest guest post. Some of you may have already read it, but if you haven’t, I promise that you won’t be bored.

Ingrid Image on Troy Home page SuperPost Sunday Weekly Roundup #29

It’s my personal story about being a Trep and the things I’ve done to get to where I am today. It might not be very far, but it’s somewhere to start with nonetheless.

Before you start thinking that I’ve left you with a 3,000 word novel…I haven’t! I made all 1,600 words nice and spicy for ya and even talked a little about Trekkie’s ;).

So if you’re like me and believe in profit from passion, you might agree with some of the choices I made and the things I said. And if you’re not – I still want you to join the conversation and share your thoughts and story – because I know you have one.

Alright…I’ve done enough yapping talking. I think you’re much more interested in the article selections I have for you.

Time for the Goods…

“Without further ado and blah blah,” here are this Sunday’s WOW SuperPosts on all things Social Media, Blogging Tips, SEO, Internet Marketing, Traffic Building, Online Money Making Tools and more.

Social Media

Kathryn sat at her desk watching her Twitter stream on TweetDeck.  There were a couple of people talking about a movie; she hesitated to jump in, because she had been watching for while. It always stressed her out, to feel like a lurker…

AOL and Nielsen recently released a report with some interesting numbers regarding gender and communications styles in social media. The report is concerned about how gender should be best addressed in social media marketing…

My blog is often inspired by things that happen in my real life. It is easier to tell something from experience than to make things up. Sometimes those things which happen in real life make me want to scream…

You have a great product, a great start-up that can do wonders, a real prospect, now how do you promote that? Social media experts will tell you to post it on Twitter, and then millions of people will flood…

A movement exists to quantify everyone’s social media strength across diverse social networks and blogs. This widespread strength is a sign of true influence, argue social media gurus. Perhaps from a mass consumer…

A little over a week ago I finally caved and joined the Empire Avenue bandwagon.  The site is similar to a stock market, in that the idea is that you ‘invest’ in others by buying and selling shares in them.  As is always the case…

Blogging Tips

This is my 500th blog post. It snuck up on me. I’m sorry that I don’t have anything particularly profound to say to commemorate this milestone, but I thought I would address a question I hear constantly…

Blogging in a crowded niche is tough, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea to start a blog in a crowded niche. What it does mean is that there are lots of people interested in the subject and that you can potentially make money…

Site Sketch 101 has slowly been evolving into the beast that you see here today. During its nearly two years of existence, it’s acquired about 4,000 subscribers. That hasn’t happened by accident, but rather, from an intentional…

I ran across an amazing fact the other day. Most people quit blogging in the first 2-3 months. That crazy statistic smacked me right between the eyeballs. At last count, there were 31 million blogs in the U.S…

You can read all the blogging advice in the world, but none of it matters unless you take action. To set your blog up to be a massive success, you have to ruthlessly focus your efforts on things that work…

It was only a few years ago that I had it all TWISTED. Not with blogging, but with life. I identified success by the amount of money I made. Call me crazy, but I’m keeping it real with you. I was a fool! I’m not materialistic…

“Success doesn’t happen overnight – especially when it comes to Blogging, but simply going out there and ‘being consistent’ isn’t going to get you anywhere. Not if you don’t have the right focus, the right drive…

Growing a successful blog takes hard work. But is hard work enough? As a blogger today one of the best things you can do to help your blog succeed is being able to adapt, adapting to new tools, new ideas, new behaviors…

I can remember well in Nov of 2009 just how I felt when I published my first blog article here on TSL. It was without question such an exciting and invigorating experience. With boundless enthusiasm, I could see massive…

How often are you commenting on blogs? I took a little break last few weeks, because I was too busy, but I am back to blog hopping as much as I can. So I noticed stuff that I don’t really like. And I want to make…

SEO

I recently found the most incredible service to help me automate the mundanely exciting task of pinging backlinks, and like many of the tools and services I use in my Link Building campaigns, it is completely free…

MishMash

Some of you reading this aren’t going to agree with me.  What normally happens on blog posts is that people who don’t agree with the post generally hop to another blog without leaving a comment. Please don’t do that…

It’s been said, that the hardest words in the English language are I love you and I’m sorry. Last week a colleague no-showed for a scheduled conference call. It wasn’t really that big of a deal, because I was at my desk…

When you start blogging, you usually do it for one of two reasons – you have something to say and want to share it, or you read other blogs and enjoy how they can be used for growing a brand; a business…

I was pissed. It was 1998.  I was 14.  I had just put the finishing touches on my 90?s style bangs, sculpting and spraying them into the perfect 360 degree fan – you remember the kind where the top half curls backward…

Do you consider yourself a perfectionist? How much information do you gather before making a decision? How much more information do you need before taking action on that decision? Are you afraid of being as successful…

I just had my first piece of press written about the Roller Coaster Tour thanks to the Muskegon Chronicle! Muskegon is where I’m beginning the tour so I naturally contacted them first. I got some interesting…

The most wonderful relationships can run their course; the greatest love affairs can go sour; the sweetest friendships can meet a bitter end and even the most invincible people may leave each other through death…

Opportunity is swimming all around us. It brushes your nose as you walk down the road, it floats around your head like a ring of Saturn. It never leaves you alone, always poking away, reminding you of those dreams…

[image credit: Flash-Screen]

Read More »
Page 2 of 2112345...Last »