Sheila's Guide To The Good Stuff

How do you keep up (or even better, stay ahead) in a fast-moving environment?

You pay attention to the important things, while everyone else gets sucked into a noise vortex and wastes time on the unimportant.

BusinessWeek had a cover story in April 2005 – yes, 2005 – called “Blogs Will Change Your Business.”

Then they did a follow-up social media report in May 2008, titled “Beyond Blogs.”

Yet, even today in 2011 (almost 2012) there are still plenty of professional communicators who seem rather gobsmacked by what’s happened to their world.

They would not pay attention, roll up their sleeves and do their homework even a year ago, and now they wonder how they got so far behind.

You fall behind by not keeping up.

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At the national conference for the AWC (Association for Women in Communications) I was excited to speak at a session with Maria Henneberry about creating and conducting online training through webinars.

AWC organizes and runs a webinar series about a variety of communications topics (I’m on the Tech Committee that finds topics and speakers) plus we run webinars at Tourism Currents related to social media, technology and tourism/hospitality.

So, I have webinars on the brain these days. What are the main things to remember?

Do NOT make boring slide decks, take advantage of the web and multimedia tools, remember that your voice must show the enthusiasm you feel (since in many cases attendees can’t see you) and keep an eye on online presentation tools like Zipcast that easily and cheaply bring video into the mix.

Here’s the direct link to the webinar how-to presentation on my SlideShare channel, and let me know in the comments below if you have questions or feedback.

Create once, use many times.

That’s the key to creating more content in less time, but here is what you must also do….think like a multi-platform, multimedia online publisher.

Here’s an example:

This morning, I was trying to get some itinerary ideas for an upcoming road trip in a state where I don’t have a lot of recent travel experience.

I go to the state tourism website, and there’s gobs of great stuff on there, including a section called Trails that should have given me what I wanted – highlighted places thematically grouped together, and then laid out on a map so I can visualize driving around to them.

Instead, when I drilled down, all I got was what I get way too often from tourism websites:  an alphabetical list of places.

Do you know how discouraging it is to see a list starting with “A” places – Aardvark Restaurant, Al’s Chicken Wings, etc. – and look at the bottom of the website and see that you’re on Page 1 of 10 of these listings?

Forget it.

So, without naming the site in question, I griped a bit from my personal account on Twitter. Theresa Overby from the Baton Rouge, Louisiana CVB (Convention and Visitors Bureau) saw my tweet and began asking me usability questions, in light of an upcoming re-do of their website.

How Did a Twitter Discussion Become Content?

We went back and forth, exchanging good ideas, and then I began to think like a publisher….”Where else online would this info be useful to people?”

In 30-40 minutes, I had posted:

1) On the Tourism Currents Twitter account, of course, where we talk about social media and tourism. I went to Twitter’s search engine, gathered the relevant tweets together in a search string, and captured the conversation. Then I took that link and tweeted it on Tourism Currents‘ stream.

2)  On Facebook. Since Facebook and Twitter people are their own communities and you can’t assume people are in both places, I then took the same link and published it as a status update on the Tourism Currents Facebook Page, making sure that I tagged the Visit Baton Rouge Facebook Page in the update, of course.

3)  In the blog post you’re reading right now, with the addition of a screenshot graphic edited in a super-basic way using the Print Screen function, pasting that into Paint and then cropping it the way I wanted it and saving as a JPEG. Boom. Done.

That’s how you get more use out of the content you create, including random Twitter conversations. It’s almost like getting more hours in the day.

That thought process of thinking like an online publisher also happens to be the latest Two Pages of Terrific download available in the Tourism Currents Store, if you want more where that came from (like 9 different ways to use one photo.)

How do you use your content in multiple ways? Let us know in the Comments!

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Thought for the day….

As many of you know, I’ve been dealing with the nasty WordPress Pharma hack here on Sheila’s Guide (don’t worry, it’s safe for your computer or mobile device to be here; the hack only messes with this blog’s search engine results.)

After running after it for weeks and weeks, I’ve called in some more help, but this is not keeping me up at night. At all. I mean, I DO care and it IS embarrassing to have pharmaceutical results come up as the title of my Speaker page, but I’m not frantic.

Why?

Because my analytics data shows me the multiple ways that people find my content other than search engines.

There are lots from people coming to the homepage URL directly, through referral links, Twitter traffic is big for me, occasionally StumbleUpon (especially Stumbles on the recent press trip “exclusive” guest post,) there’s Facebook of course, LinkedIn spikes sometimes, the blog URL is in my email signature/on my business cards/in every online profile I fill out, and then there are my loyal RSS and email subscribers.

This blog doesn’t have a huge subscriber list, but the important thing is that they care enough to have my posts come to their email IN box, which for most people is a busy, crowded place with a lot of things demanding attention. It is nice to be welcomed there, so yesterday I went over and took a look at my email and RSS subscriber data in Feedburner, just to gaze delightedly at the names of the people who support me like that.

I even sent a quick follow-up personal note to several who were listed as “Unverified” – they’d signed up to get my posts, but never completed the final confirmation of their email subscription. Sure, it was only a few people, but every single one of them means something to me and I want to retain them as readers.

Their interest has staying power in a way that random drop-ins from search engines does not.

Until the hacking mess, I’d never truly appreciated in my gut how important it is to vary the means by which people find your content. Search engine optimization (SEO) is important, of course, but the Google basket is not the only place for your eggs.

How many different ways do people find your content?

Have you thought about how you can best nurture and grow those channels?

Please leave a reply in the comments below – and thank you!

*** Credit for post title goes to the old Timex watch ad – “Takes a licking but keeps on ticking.”

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Some of you may have noticed lately that while search engines can find my posts, the titles for some of them are for those famous pharmaceuticals like Viagra and company.

Yes, although I keep everything updated security-wise, I was hit by the WordPress Pharma Hack.

It won’t hurt your computer if you come here, but it sure messes up my SEO (Search Engine Optimization.)  I don’t live and die for SEO, but it would be great if people could find my content when they’re searching for information on things that I’ve written about.

There are a number of things that must be done to fix the Pharma Hack, but it is really difficult to completely kill AND prevent re-infection.

Meantime, it’s safe to be here, but if you see weird search results for this blog, you’ll know why.

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How do you make time to get things done?

Get up earlier.

Really, I’m afraid that’s the answer.

On mornings when I get up by 5:30 or 6 a.m., work out, shower, dress, eat breakfast, scan the news, straighten up the house, give the diabetic cat her shot and hit work hard at 8:30 or 9 a.m., I am a productivity monster for the rest of the day.

There’s even time to clear clutter and work on my book.

On mornings when I drag ass out of bed a little after 7, barely get dressed enough to be presentable as I kiss my husband and school-age son goodbye on the driveway, then wander into the house in a fog and piddle around until the first cup of coffee hits, the day is often shot before it even starts.

Here’s the deal with getting up earlier – you have to go to bed earlier. Duh.

You have to stop drinking coffee after about 2 pm in the afternoon, unplug from electronics, maybe go for a short evening walk after dinner, take a minute to review your schedule and To Do list for the next day and get lights out by around 9:30 p.m.

Yes, 9:30. I wouldn’t even know what Letterman or Conan look like if I hadn’t seen pictures – no late night staring at the boob tube for me.

The Navy tried to make me a morning person for almost 23 years, but reveille never came easily to me. Now, as a freelancer and entrepreneur, I am “getting religion” about early to bed, early to rise….

How about you?

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I’m working on a book, and it’s NOT about travel or social media!

Seems as though every time I turn around these days, someone I know is cranking out a book. For speakers like me, it’s almost a rite of passage.

I spent a lot of time wrestling with the idea, and trying to figure out why my portfolio of print articles and blog posts since early 2006 wasn’t enough to give me the credibility that can apparently – even today – only come from a book.

Honestly, it seems a bit silly that all of my tech and blogging buddies consider a book, made of paper, to be a pinnacle of geek achievement. Does anyone else find that a bit, well, ODD?

So I did what I do….I stewed and pouted and tried to find reasons to say No, and ultimately it ended up the way it always does for me….I decided that it was worth my time and effort to write a book, but not the one that people might expect.

A travel guidebook is a pain in the rear to compile and write, there’s no real money in it and it’s often outdated very quickly.

A social media book would be a rather naked bid to catch this year’s hot marketing topic. An offline entity doesn’t seem like the best medium to convey thoughts about online topics – especially when this blog works just fine for that, thanks.

I wanted something evergreen; something that could be picked up at a bookstore or ordered online five years from now, and would still be relevant, engaging and helpful.  When in doubt, I turn to my own experiences because I know them best, and thus was born The Elastic Waist Entrepreneur (or here is the book’s Facebook Page, if that’s your thing.) It’s about launching an online business for older women, especially when you really don’t know what the hell you’re doing, like me.

Since I have this project on the brain, I submitted a speaking proposal with serial entrepreneur Wendy Piersall to the South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) tech conference, held every March in Austin, Texas.  It’s right down the road from me, and I’d be an idiot not to attend one of the world’s biggest tech events when it’s a 30 minute drive away.

As part of the unique Panel Picker process at SXSW, you can vote for and comment on proposals, so here is my shameless plug for you to add your vote and voice to the comments about the proposal, if you’d like.

Our proposal page: Elastic Waist Entrepreneurship for Women 40+

Why elastic waists? Because as a comfort-seeking old lady of 50, that’s what I was wearing when I came up with the book idea.

No matter how it ends up, thanks for your support, and see you in Austin in March 2012!

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How, exactly, does a town or city or region get “buzz” – people talking about how interesting it is, and maybe about paying a visit to check things out?

London may have a few answers that you can replicate in your destination.

When I attended the SXSWi (South by Southwest Interactive) tech conference in March, I picked up a trade show brochure from the office of the Mayor of London; the British have a big presence at “South by.”  The brochure is called Innovation Future: The East London Connection and it talks about the growth of London’s Shoreditch area as a UK tech hub.

According to the writeup, here are the elements that keep this part of the city hopping….

“The attractions of East London for start-up technology companies, eager to become the next Google or Facebook, are numerous. It is relatively affordable; accessible; and incredibly vibrant and culturally diverse, with plenty of quirky bars and restaurants and an exciting and dynamic arts and culture scene. A strong feeling of community pervades, attracting creative entrepreneurs who thrive on networking, exchanging ideas and forging collaborative relationships.”

There’s nothing in there about needing people with lots of money.

There’s nothing in there about fancy buildings or much of anything swanky.

I see a lot about an environment where the joy of creating is encouraged, and that doesn’t cost money; it “costs” determination and imagination among a variety of citizens in a community, like those at the Shoreditch/Old St. TechHub.

Even small towns can encourage the entrepreneurial and tech spirit, and even one guy in Kansas can support the arts.

What can you do this week to bring some East London to YOUR town?

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This is a photo of my lap during the South by Southwest (SXSW) Global Tech Summit.

Quick photos and some tweets went up on my Android smartphone, plus special check-ins to each session on Gowalla.

Other tweets and watching the conference hashtag happened on the TweetDeck dashboard on my Dell laptop. Most Facebook business page updates for Tourism Currents or Freelance Austin came from the laptop as well.

Great quotes and insights from speakers were often captured via pen and notebook (yes, it’s true, but they always boot up) to become Facebook or LinkedIn status updates or blog posts days, weeks or months later.

Online publishing is best served by whichever tools work for you, and don’t be surprised when one size does not fit all.

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Getting a bit tired of people offering to buy you coffee and “pick your brain?”

I have to tell you, this sort of request was a lot less bothersome when I had a salaried position than it is now, when I’m an entrepreneur and a freelance writer/speaker/consultant, and my time is quite literally how I make a living.

Sure, some people don’t mean anything by it, some have read networking advice that says I’ll be flattered to be asked, and others really ARE moochers.

How can you tell the difference, and how can you turn those people who are fishing for information into possible paying customers of your work?

I have some answers for you.

There’s a live webinar on the topic coming up tomorrow (April 26, 3 pm CST) with me and my Tourism Currents business partner Becky McCray, plus we’re including a toolkit with a workbook and role-playing audio, all in a package we’re calling How To Draw the Line Between Free and Paid.

The live version of our webinar will only be offered this one time; anyone who signs up after Tuesday will have to settle for the recording. During the webinar, we’re going to add some valuable tips:

• The advantages (yes, there are a few) and disadvantages of sometimes working for no pay.
• How to tell the difference between predatory brain-picking and friendly questioning.
• Why social media tends to cause us to be overly casual about the value of our work.

All the details are here: http://is.gd/DrawTheLine

If you’re ready to jump right in and sign up, go straight to the registration page here: http://is.gd/DrawTheLineSignUp

Nope, it’s not free; it’s $37. We’re charging because we want you to take it seriously, and actually do the work required to set up a system to change brain-pickers into customers.

Plus, we’ve gotta stand by our own words, and no, you may not pick our brains for free!

We promise, though, that it will be worth every penny.

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