other social media Archives - Fairy Blog Mother

Banishing blogging myths: it’s too technical

Posted on Thursday 25 April 2013 by Alice • 0 Comments

A lot of people don’t start a blog because they see it as something ‘techie’. The other day I spoke to an up and coming young chef who was cooking fabulous food. She had taken wonderful pictures of her culinary creations and she was doing the right thing by posting them onto her Facebook page. This proved she was used to social media and understood the need to publicise her wares.

I told her that because she was happily posting onto Facebook, this didn’t mean she couldn’t do the same in a blog. But the very word ‘blog’ immediately put her defence shields up; it was technical, it commanded website knowledge, it was totally the unknown… and that was the crux of the problem, she didn’t know or understand anything about blogs.

Further questioning quickly established it hadn’t taken her long to get to know Facebook so that she felt easy about popping in to upload a picture or make a comment about her latest supper party she had hosted or tell her friends about the scrumptious wedding cake she had just delivered to the bride’s family.

So I explained to her this is exactly the same with a blog. They are just as user-friendly as the other social networking sites, especially WordPress, which has been refined and simplified over the years to make it as easy as writing in Word. The majority of us use Word almost every day, it is a commonly used platform we all understand, so it stands to reason a content management system like a blog should be made just as easy to use.

I write a nature post every day as part of my blogathon. I go in, write the post and then I’m out again within 15 minutes (these posts are never very long). WordPress has made it as easy as possible to write, edit, upload and compose posts by eliminating all the difficult technical stuff, by creating intuitive methods of achieving what you need to do, placing the methods and buttons required in easy to find places, and taking all the hassle away.

All the hard work has been done behind the scenes so you don’t have to worry about the technical stuff. All you need to do is to click on the appropriate button and everything is done for you! No technicalities required whatsoever! Couldn’t be easier!

I specialise in teaching non-technical people how to create a blog and regularly post in it. I understand that some people are confused by the jargon, bemused by the editing fields, scared to press a button in case it blows the computer up, frightened to go into the ‘unknown’ in this weird and wonderful blog.

But once they have a friendly, helpful, empathetic person by their side helping them with each function and explaining each transaction, they soon pick it up and are blogging away like anything. Quite a few start to predict what comes next and it is me that has to run to keep up with them! That’s brilliant, because I have given them the confidence to try things out for themselves, and that’s what my blogging teaching is all about!

Filed Under: Blogging education, blogging encouragement, Blogging help, blogs and blogging, non-jargon

Let’s get more people blogging!

Posted on Wednesday 24 April 2013 by Alice • 0 Comments

I came across a shocking statistic: only 13% of businesses have a blog!

After having a good think about this, I came to the conclusion that probably it’s because not many SME owners are aware of how beneficial blogging is for their business. Even if they have heard about blogs (as they are finally starting to be recognised as a business resource), they can’t see how a blog would work within their business, understand its relationship with social media, or even for digital marketing campaigns.

And then there is the rise of content marketing over SEO, for which a blog is a perfect medium for original writing and conversational communications with the potential customer base. Using a simple CMS (content management system) to explain, express and exchange ideas with the public so that they get a chance to understand a business better, is a vital part of customer relationship management.

A blog should be used as a hub of any social media campaign or activity. It is where the beef of your message is contained. The activity on social media is limited in its content, so this should be used to direct interested parties back to the blog with attractive headlines and relevant links. Structure messages on social media based on the call to action back to the blog, where much more information can be delivered to them for better comprehension, suitable persuasive content and further links back to the website where the business transaction can take place.

Blogs are actually very easy to set up. They don’t require any technical knowledge, and many are designed to be similar to other word processing platforms using familiar icons, etc. In fact if you can cope with updating your Facebook profile or page on a regular basis, this is no different to creating and maintaining a blog, as the system and reasons are the same. And if you are thinking why bother creating a blog as well as using Facebook, then consider the different audiences that use these platforms, and spreading a marketing message around the web will increase the exposure of it further.

For those who are not used to it on a daily basis, technology can be quite daunting until it is properly learned. And even then that process is not easy, as many people who technical proficients are unable to explain what they do without peppering their language with jargon and other confusing vocabulary. In fact, training and explaining about blogs in a way that anybody can understand does require some specialist knowledge, namely having been on the receiving end and experienced the difficulties each student is going through. Blogging jargon is mostly of American origin, so translating it into English and then relating it to everyday circumstances or the interests of the learner certainly helps in understanding and retaining that newly-founded knowledge.

Fairy Blog Mother aims to become one of the best WordPress trainers and tutor providers available for businesses and individuals. By being able to explain and teach blogging in a proficient and easily understandable way, blogging use will be increased and maximised to its full potential. There is so much a blog can do for a business, as long as it is totally and appropriately understood, appreciated and implemented.

Filed Under: Blogging education, blogging encouragement, blogs and blogging, increasing business visibility, non-jargon

Content marketing is about communicating, not keywords

Posted on Tuesday 23 April 2013 by Alice • 0 Comments

Back in 2012 there was SEO. Now in 2013 there is content marketing. Are these the same? Think again.

There is a move away from the importance of keyword use to a preference for promoting and respecting original writing. Repetition and duplication are given short shrift, only to be replaced by original content with relevant subjects, links and references to other authoritative sources.

Another difference is readability. An unrelentingly SEO-ed post would be stuffed to the gills with keywords, there would be no need for copywriting skills except how to incorporate the desired keywords in as many places as possible to stimulate the search engines. Now content marketing is rewarded with excellent writing, reader appreciation, reciprocal sharing via social media and plenty of comments and feedback. This can only happen if posts are written properly, have appropriate prose, grammar and syntax, and be suitably entertaining, informative and useful for the reader.

Content marketing communicates to the reader, not the search engine. Writers should address their audience in a way that shows they are understood, known and appreciated. Conversation is key: posts should be written as if directed solely to that one person reading the content, using familiar, personal and human language. Stories should take over from facts, case studies replace selling statements and the overall message should reflect ‘What’s in it for them?’.

The concept of conversation came from social media. The search engines noticed that a lot more interaction was taking place from to-ings and fro-ings from friends and contacts, however trivial, because the language used was easily understood, appreciated and simplified. There was no need for meaningless keyword use: repetition was natural, the vocabulary was appropriate and the pace fast. Short communications were vital to cope with a limited attention span, and messages were usually scanned first before a decision to read them properly was reached.

Another move was away from the written word. Images had been taking over since 2012 with the rise of Pinterest and other related social platforms. Video was making a comeback as creation facilities increased in mobile and tablet applications. Instant gratification of visual communication was made possible at a click of a button to express an idea, thought or observation on different media available to the audience.

Many things have happened since the beginning of the year, and we’re only about a third of the way through. Therefore it’s important to be aware of developments so you can keep up and adapt accordingly. All those agencies that specialised in SEO may now have their noses out of joint, but unless they can adapt to the world of good writing, excellent prose, meaning communication and exciting conversations that can relate to the reader, all good attributes towards blogging, they may find themselves falling behind.

Filed Under: blogging encouragement, blogs and blogging, social networking, use of words

Use your blog for conversation outreach

Posted on Monday 15 October 2012 by Alice • 0 Comments

Ultimately, I think a blog should be used for conversation outreach. What I mean by that is: posts are a way of communicating with your readers and visitors. They should be set up as conversations acting as a medium for self-expression, explanation and exploration of an idea or concept.

Social media thrives on conversations. After all, it is termed as ‘social’, whether it’s for networking or bookmarking. This is not a platform for selling, a point that is misused by sales people and misinformed marketers from the old school. It is a method of creating, continuing with and working on conversations with all sorts of people, whether they are past, present or prospective customers.

The concept of conversation outreach is paramount when it comes to blogging. When I write my posts I tend to compose them as conversations in my head with another person. It’s like sitting down to coffee with a friend and instead of the words coming out of my mouth, they’re spilling out of my fingers through the keyboard. Sometimes it can get quite frustrating when I can’t type fast enough to keep up with my thoughts!

I believe this makes them not only more conversational, but more interesting to read. Back in the old days when I was just starting out in the world of blogging, it took me hours to write a post, carefully choosing my words and constructing my sentences. The result was dull, staid and far too academic. What you don’t want to post is a carefully calculated article-like thesis, because they usually bore the pants off your readers. Keep those aside for article websites or your college tutor.

Look for conversations within social networking sites. They are (or should be) happening all the time, easily and obviously spotted by being interesting to read, capturing your attention or talking about fashionable or trendy topics, usually readily shared around the internet. But interspersed in between these are status updates about what your dog had for breakfast, tweets that are stuffed full of jargon or hashtags, or dumped post links from disinterested bloggers in the discussion section of Facebook or LinkedIn groups. These examples are not creating conversations, in fact their conversation outreach is virtually nil.

Social bookmarking performs better through interaction, which is a geeky way of having conversations. It’s important to be interested in other bloggers and what they write, in order for them to show an interest in you. This social interaction should spark off blog comments, reviews and recommendations, which in turn raises the popularity of each blog and thus more attention from the search engines (as well as other visitors). In fact, commenting on blogs per se, whether through social bookmarking or not, is a very good way of creating conversations within blogs, and I particularly remember one 14-long comment relay I had with a blogger on one of my posts as being very enjoyable.

So think carefully about creating some form of conversation outreach when you update your blog. Is what you’re saying interesting to your readers? How will it maintain their attention, give them something for nothing and make their lives better for reading it? Is your post suitably optimised with appropriate keywords to increase its attractiveness to the search engines? Remember your powers of communication should not be compromised by over-use of keywords, spoiled by bad spelling and grammar, and undermined by poor research or an inability to tell a good story. It’s important to satisfy your readers as well as the internet spiders in your attempt to complete a satisfactory conversation outreach.

Filed Under: blogs and blogging, increasing business visibility, social networking, Writing tips

How do you respond to blogging sell?

Posted on Wednesday 26 September 2012 by Alice • 0 Comments

If you are pretty busy on the net, especially on social media like I am, depending on who you’re connected with you’ll probably be bombarded with lots of messages saying you need to have a blog, # number of reasons why to have a blog, what a blog has done for XYZ business, what happens if you don’t have a blog, etc, etc.

Then there are two ways of looking at these messages. If you already have a blog, you might be tempted to fill in the gaps within your knowledge to see if you can make your blog better (I certainly fall into that camp). If you don’t have a blog, the constant pressure of starting a blog when you don’t know how or are a bit wary of new technology can be very daunting.

If the first party respond, they may gain some more information and if they put it into practice may benefit from it. But the second party will only get more confused when they receive an e-book full of jargon and digital marketing practices they’ve never heard of before. If they manage to plough their way through it all, it may well put them off ever attempting blogging.

Not everybody has the know-how or determination to self-learn. Certainly when I first started I was dazzled by the tech stuff, it seemed so way out and complicated. But I wanted to do it myself, and certainly I made lots of mistakes alongside all the successes, but there was enough of the latter to encourage me to continue.

And now I want to share those successes (and mistakes so you don’t make them) to prevent you from going through the same angst and stress. Even so, I hope you will have different problems, notwithstanding that you will come to me to sort them out, but that it’s important to have difficulties in our lives to improve them and appreciate the better times.

So if you aren’t someone who has the time or inclination to stumble through the blogging maze, or is bamboozled by the technical talk found in most blogging guides, take a look at my tuition packages. The Fairy Blog Mother was formed to help non-technical folk start up a blog, and gain the confidence to continue with it. And of course I will benefit further if you tell me what you want so I can create new courses, or let me know if anything continues to be confusing so I can correct and improve it.

Filed Under: Blogging education, Blogging help, blogs and blogging, non-jargon

Magic Moment: Where does your blog traffic come from?

Posted on Monday 23 July 2012 by Alice • 1 Comment

Click above to ask me a question

It’s always a good idea to know where your blog traffic is coming from, whether your last flurry of social media activity resulted in lots of clicks, or whether that link you placed on a particular website has brought in a few new visitors.

This Magic Moment begins the investigation of this section in Google Analytics that shows how your visitors have accessed your blog. If you click on Traffic Sources > Overview in the left sidebar, you will see this page:

But it is this pie-chart that shows the most interesting information:

Over 70% found my blog through the search engines. This means they had asked a question or used particular keywords that were directed to my blog.

Now I could get quite excited about this, as it does lend the idea as to which search keywords they used, and perhaps I could write some more posts using those keywords to get more traffic. We shall see what the real story is later in another Magic Moment, and how I could encourage these visitors to use my blog further.

Over 11% of traffic comes from referrals. I would like this to become a lot more in the future, so I will investigate which referral sites have been used and how or whether I can explore more effective use of them to increase more focused traffic back to my blog.

17% direct traffic shows that people know my blog’s URL or at least its name, and by typing it in have successfully gained access to my blog.

And finally campaigns – this is interesting, as I have yet to set up any proper campaigns, so those five visits are very intriguing!

So now I will quickly glance at the first 10 referral sites that sent traffic to my blog (click on Traffic Sources > Sources > Referrals to access this page):

I will go into more detail in another Magic Moment, as there is a lot to explore here, but I want to show you the top 10 referral sites I am currently getting:

The top one, t.co, is Twitter. I am presuming this amount of traffic has resulted from the use of the plugin ‘Tweet Old Post’ that automatically sends out past posts at irregular intervals throughout the day, which helps to keep my blog alive for those who are on Twitter at that moment. Ideally I should be investigating into more activity on Twitter, both automated and spontaneous, to generate some more traffic back to my blog.

LinkedIn and Facebook are also doing quite well, and there is certainly much more I could do on these social media platforms to increase traffic (part of my marketing plan that begins in the autumn).

The others trickle in, and unless you want to do a concerted effort in a particular referral site, or through a special tinyurl associated with a social media platform such as bit.ly or su.pr, it’s probably just worth noting which ones provide how many each month, and raise an eyebrow if necessary at any unusual ones that pop up, especially when viewing the extended list.

More demystifying in the next set of Magic Moments to come…

Filed Under: Blogging education, blogs and blogging, increasing business visibility, Self-hosted Wordpress blogs

Magic Moment: Adding a Pinterest button #1

Posted on Monday 25 June 2012 by Alice • 0 Comments

Click my logo to ask me a question!

It’s so nice that WordPress.com does everything for your blog without you having to worry. Whenever something new comes onto the market, you can be sure that the latest version will automatically provide your blog with the application ready for you to activate.

Pinterest is taking the visual side of social media by storm. Therefore it seemed natural that bloggers should want to share their posts on this platform. But beware, Pinterest works with pictures, so ideally your post should contain a suitable picture for Pinterest to capture and link back to your post.

And if your post doesn’t have this sharing Pinterest option available at the bottom, activating it is so easy!

In the Dashboard, click on ‘Settings’ and then on ‘Sharing’. This will take you to the Sharing Settings page:

Here you can see which sharing buttons have been activated and which haven’t. All you need to do is to drag the Pinterest button down from the ‘Available Services’ section to the ‘Enabled Services’ area and the ‘Live Preview’ will automatically show you what it will look like at the bottom of your posts. Rearranging them is as simple as dragging the button to its desired position.

Next you decide how and where you want your sharing buttons to be:

And don’t forget to save your changes! If you don’t like these settings, change them and save before viewing them until you are happy.

Now the Pinterest button will show underneath your posts:

This will allow the reader to pin your post onto their most appropriate board.

The next Magic Moment post will be about how to set up the Pinterest sharing button in WordPress.org.

Filed Under: Blogging help, Free Wordpress blogs, increasing business visibility, other social media

How the position of a share request can go viral

Posted on Wednesday 18 April 2012 by Alice • 0 Comments

Click my logo to ask me a question!

Of course you want to encourage your readers to share your posts on social media. This is the way your blog’s content is exposed to a larger audience, spreading your expertise and message further afield than was possible before.

That is the beauty of social networking. It is also an indication that shows which format works best for promoting your blog, especially if you place counters against your share buttons.

Prolific bloggers like to share impressive statistics about the number of visitors they get to their blogs, and generally they have to work very hard to achieve these results. I confess that if I do get a higher than average record of click throughs to a social network, I’m hopping around the room with joy. This is because I don’t put in place carefully constructed marketing processes to get a higher sharing rate, which I really ought to do if this blog is to succeed.

However, this blog is not short of call to actions asking my readers to share. Usually I’m quite happy with a small number of responses (as long as I’m not stuck with a big fat zero), and it does depend upon which kind of reader has the opportunity to read what I have written.

But, when some kind, influential person does retweet my post, the effects can be amazing! Suddenly I’m looking at numbers this blog does not normally see; jaw-dropping statistics that totally surprise me. And it is also interesting which position these call to actions need to trigger the best response: ie the floating bar on the left that stays in the same place when the reader pans down.

Recently I had to change this plugin, as suddenly the original floated too much to the right, placing itself over the text. In fact I noticed this more with another blogger, and drawing his attention to it, persuaded him to find an alternative. Ever since the new version was installed, the counters have recorded phenomenal figures – in spite of it not being visible on the main blog page.

I can only deduce that my other plugin that retweets old posts managed to catch the attention of beneficial blog readers who were suitably appreciative enough to share my posts, providing a higher readership than had been encountered before. I am thoroughly pleased that the effort I took in activating these plugins: ‘sharebar’ and ‘tweet old post‘, has finally paid off, and suggest that those who have WordPress.org blogs should install them as well.

Filed Under: blogs and blogging, increasing business visibility, online marketing, other social media, social networking

The use of blogging within social media campaigns

Posted on Monday 5 September 2011 by Alice • 1 Comment

Click my logo to ask me a question!

I’ve said it many times before that your blog should be the hub of your social media marketing strategy. It is the alpha and omega of marketing online, from it your social networking exploits can issue forth to their audiences and be there to collect the finished results.

Of course blogging should take centre stage. Many companies overlook or brush aside blogs, as they think they are used purely for self-expression. They fail to understand the importance for communication to get the overall marketing message across. An archive of easy accessible material aimed at education, entertainment and information-based articles specifically written for the audience in mind.

Using social media within integrated marketing campaigns can only work if there is a realistic objective. If this is understood, there are various methods which can put in place to guide the campaign towards the ultimate goal. Blindly participating on social media without a proper aim may be enjoyable in the short term, but it can be also be viewed as a waste of time because nothing is seemed to be achieved. Only by aiming towards a proper outcome will social media become useful and powerful within the overall marketing campaign.

Blogging and social media used in combination will enable companies to learn all they need to know about their customers. Social networking isn’t about selling, the focus should be on communication, conversations, observation, following and understanding trends, catching breaking-news early and taking action before the competition. Used properly, companies can almost ‘merge’ with their target market: comprehending, empathising, educating, gently changing the general shift towards their products or services without actually using direct selling tactics.

The power of integration should be two-way, through the encouragement of responses from the readership and inviting followers to subscribe so they are constantly kept up to date with the latest posts. And, of course, blogs can be easily and effectively integrated within all social networking profiles through RSS, thus extending the audience and exposing the marketing campaign over a wider area within the web. And by participating in sharing and referral tactics within social bookmarking sites will also prompt further expansion of the messages involved, as well as a larger awareness of the blog and its authors.

Filed Under: blogs and blogging, increasing business visibility, online marketing, social networking

You need to share to get more traffic

Posted on Wednesday 31 August 2011 by Alice • 2 Comments

Click my logo to ask me a question!

I’ve had a lot of questions recently about how to get lots of traffic to a blog and whether it is worth participating in social media to do this.

Unfortunately, if you want to promote your blog successfully, you need to think in the long-term. As with all marketing methods, nothing can be done properly overnight, and that does include using social networking sites.

You need to use social media to build up your reputation and your readers’ understanding about you. We all can’t be blessed with instant recognition and a truly magnetic personality that instantly attracts thousands of followers – those that appear to have these qualities have worked really hard behind the scenes before unleashing themselves on their public. Even those that seem to ‘pop out of the woodwork’ really have been slaving away at their promotional tactics and business presentation.

So to go back to the original concept, yes, you do need to use social media to increase your blog’s traffic. The cold, hard reality is that you need to work at gaining followers. This can be accomplished by becoming the best in your field, your niche, or whatever area your blog’s subject is about.

The 80/20 rule also applies here. Give away 80% of what you know and retain the truly best bits within the 20% you charge for. Win followers on your side by sharing your knowledge; help people, let them get to know you and trust in you, gain from the added value you have given them to improve their lives, and make them believe there is much more to have if they maintain their connection with you.

And while you are succeeding in collecting a huge number of followers, friends and subscribers, you’ll be feeding your new posts regularly into your social networking profiles and Twitter stream. It is there you will have a potential audience to read your wonderful new content, which will allow your blog traffic stats to go up and up.

To make these stats even better, participate in some sharing activities of your own. Nobody tolerates a one-sided relationship, so start reading other people’s blogs, comment on their posts, retweet them on Twitter, share them on Facebook, recommend them on social bookmarking sites, refer readers to them, offer to write guest posts and interview them for your own blog.

And after a while you’ll start to enjoy this social networking lark that so frightened you in the beginning – and as well as making lots of friends, associates, contacts and business prospects, your blog’s traffic will be improving all the time!

Filed Under: blogs and blogging, Free Wordpress blogs, increasing business visibility, other social media, Self-hosted Wordpress blogs, social networking

Tag Archives: other social media