Best Practices: Keeping People Coming Back For More

Sometimes, I wonder if 50 years ago people considered what the future would hold. Individuals wrote books and articles in magazines, but was it ever a thought that one day anyone (and everyone) could be an author on their own personal page?

Today, that thought is a reality. Anyone and everyone can be their own author posting their ideas, thoughts, and experiences. While there are some excellent blogs, there are also some blogs that are poorly done. So what should a blog be or not be? What are the best practices?

Susan Gunelius wrote an article listing five tips on writing a blog. Of all my research, I believe her few tips, while brief, are the best tips to apply to any blog whether a corporate blog or a personal blog.

She begins by suggesting an appropriate tone. From my own experience, this will dictate a lot of who comes through to read the blog and who will continue to follow it. Figure out the audience you are attempting to reach and create a tone that will build the blog.

Next she suggest being honest. Honesty is one thing we often times don’t do enough. We attempt to create a picture about ourselves or our organizations to make them appear to be something that might only be somewhat true. This doesn’t mean we should air our dirty laundry, but there is a balance and a reason to be genuine with those who will follow us.

Thirdly, she says, “Don’t Just List Links.” Gunelius explains that, “Blogging is time-consuming, and sometimes it can be very tempting to just list links to other online content for your readers to follow. 

Don’t fall into that trap. Readers don’t want to have to follow a breadcrumb trail to find something interesting to read.” I know for me, I’m not impressed when I have to go to one place to go to another place, what makes us think our readers and followers would want to do that either. Make their life easier by putting in the time and creating a well-thought out blog post.

Next, Gunelius notes that providing attribution is key. Obviously, our goal is to be honest, genuine, and not a stealer or plagiarizer. That being said, offer credit where credit is due. It is easy to do and will lead to more respect. If it wasn’t your idea, offer some attribution to whomever it should go to.

Lastly, Gunelius encourages bloggers to “write in short paragraphs.” I have been to so many blogs where the paragraphs and posts are like reading a novel. It is cumbersome and difficult to get through. I often miss a lot of key elements because there is so much detail. The blogs I love the most are from individuals who share a little snippet here and there about what they’re up to or enjoying or working on as an organization. They throw a few pictures in and keep their post short and sweet.

I believe that if bloggers keep to these guidelines in general, they’ll find they are able to do well and maintain a strong following if they promote their blog well.

Reference:

Gunelius, Susan. 2014. 5 Tips to Write Blog Posts: How to Write Posts that Get Noticed and Keep Readers Interested. March 1, 2014. http://weblogs.about.com/od/bloggingtips/tp/TipsWriteBlogPosts.htm

Box: Business App for the Highly Compliant

If your work is anything like mine, you know how important keeping information confidential is. Not only is it important to keep client’s information confidential, it is essential because compliance is breathing down our necks making sure we’re keeping our practice in line.

One tool that I have found to be especially convenient in our work is an app called Box. You may or may not be familiar with what Box is or how it works, but this tool is a great resource to help us share information between devices and with clients in a fast, easy, and secure way.

Box is a cloud-based app similar to Dropbox that allows us to share information between each other and between clients within a given timeframe. This tool makes life infinitely easier as last minute appointments pop up or if we forget to include certain elements into our presentations. Best of all, this tool is secure! In the financial industry I work, security is a top priority, so this tool is a wonderful resource all around for us.

While we do not fully use or implement this tool currently, it is a goal and dream of ours to get it working all the time and for all our clients.

One downside to this app are it is an internet based app. If you don’t have access to internet, it is not overly helpful unless it has been previously downloaded.

Intellectual Property: Whose Property Is It Anyway?!

How often have you said, “Oh I heard someone say blah blah blah.” I find myself in this boat all the time. We live in a world where information is constantly being shared and ideas are being thrown around all over the place. And, yet, we often don’t remember to credit the source where the idea originally came from—if we even know that.

Often times, our ideas and sources come from a person who heard someone else say who gathered the idea from another place. The credit and idea get lost in translation. Social media has only exacerbated the issue with people sharing and moving ideas from one place to another. It is difficult to figure out where the idea came from and where it is going.

When we consider Copyright in terms of books, articles, and other materials, it is easy to find when people misuse information or plagiarize the idea or directly quote without giving credit where credit is due. However, the concept of Intellectual Property is far more nebulous. Often times the ideas we have come from things we’ve seen and we don’t realize or remember that it was someone else’s idea.

Wikipedia defines Intellectual Property (IP) as, “a legal concept which refers to creations of the mind for which exclusive rights are recognized.” The article continues by saying, “Under intellectual property law, owners are granted certain exclusive rights to a variety of intangible assets, such as musical, literacy, and artistic works; discoveries and inventions; and words, phrases, symbols, and designs.”

In terms of social media, I believe that the difficulty comes because we are so open and out there with our thoughts and ideas. As I mentioned before we take and use ideas, quotes, and thoughts all the time without realizing we are taking that ‘Intellectual Property’.

Many individuals argue that information that is placed in a public forum is public unless otherwise stated. After all, how can we possibly monitor whose idea it was first?

I’d like to echo that concept in a different way. I believe that when we post things—especially from an organizational standpoint—we need to offer credit as often as possible. But, we also need to recognize that when we post ideas, it is public information. Know and understand that the likelihood is that the idea or concept will be used in other contexts without being given credit.

I think understanding what social media is and how it works is important. It is a melting pot of sorts that allows everyone to be someone. It comes with great value and importance in today’s day and age, but also with great responsibility. I suppose in a way it comes back to the golden rule. If you’d like your information to be given credit, credit those around you who deserve the same respect. It may not happen, but that doesn’t change the responsibility we have.

Reference:

“Intellectual Property.” March 2, 2014. En.wikipedia.org. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_property.

Adobe Connect: YouTube

Webinars—if you haven’t done one, you should strongly consider doing one! Whether you’re participating or presenting, the platform is different and unique compared to a regular classroom-setting presentation.

Recently, I presented a webinar using Adobe Connect on YouTube. To begin, I was not quite sure what to expect in terms of whether classmates would show up, whether the technology would work fully, or whether I would even be nervous presenting. I’m an individual who has done a lot of presenting in previous classes, singing on stage in front of hundreds of people, and have a personality that is not easily frightened by being in front of others. Using Adobe Connect made the nervous element melt away as you cannot see anyone and essentially it feels like you’re just talking ‘at’ your computer.

The presentation went well. I was concerned with staying within my time limit which I did go over on by several minutes. But, overall, a very basic demonstration of YouTube a little about its purpose and some common uses for organizations.

One aspect of Adobe Connect that I enjoyed and felt enhanced my experience and the experience of my peers was the fact that you can upload content into the main part of the program allowing the other individuals to see a presentation. One aspect of Adobe Connect that was somewhat challenging at times was the technical elements. It seemed as though at times I would have trouble getting my microphone to work or others wouldn’t be able to see my presentation.

Overall, however, the program worked well and was a very easy platform to use for Webinars or presentations in the future.

YouTube: Broadcast Yourself

We live in a world where anyone can be somebody. We live in a world where people become rock stars because they posted a tweet about something or posted a video of themselves on YouTube and were ‘discovered’ by someone. YouTube’s catch phrase, “Broadcast Yourself” picks up on that mentality and certainly has been the vehicle to take individuals to the next level.

For my social media project, I put together a presentation on YouTube. Maybe you’re familiar with YouTube because you have watched a video or maybe you have even posted a video on YouTube previously.

From my own experience, YouTube is something that I have used to share performances with friends and family. I love to sing and this was a vehicle I could use to share with family and friends who lived far away from where I was. (I’m sure on some level back then I was hoping to be ‘discovered’, too.)

Some things that I learned in research and along the way with using YouTube include the purpose of having your own channel. The easiest way I can explain this is to consider the various channels you watch on TV. These TV channels typically have their own set of shows that they own and air. 

Similarly, your channel on YouTube is your place where you can share and air your own ‘shows’ or videos.

One other valuable item I learned while using YouTube, especially from an organizational standpoint, is to consider privacy and having a waiver or form. If you’re producing a video on YouTube for a company, please consider having those in the video sign a waiver that says it is OK for you to show that video publicly.

YouTube is certainly a place where you can share with the world what you want. But, do be cautious of what you post as it is a public place.