Just Give Me Something to Blog About…

Been blogging for a while and running out of ideas?

Here are some thoughts to stop writer’s block and get you back on the path to blogging!

• Subscribe to newsletters related to your topic. Pick a hot story of the day and offer your unique take on it.
• Post an interesting article you read or even better, help another blogger, and share one of their blog posts that you enjoyed.
• Recycle existing content
• • If you’re writing an email to a client explaining something, consider turning it into a blog post!
  • Got an email newsletter? Chop it up and rework it into a blog post with a more conversational tone.

• Provide helpful, step-by-step, information on how to do something (like this post). People want help and tips and this will keep them coming back to your blog.
• Share the love — give your spin on someone else’s topical post with a link.
• Interview people and include them as profiles. This will help build your readership (because they’ll tell everyone they know to read your post about them) and gives you a break. All you have to do is send them a list of questions and let them answer!
• Ask a question or post a poll. Let your readers weigh in on a hot topic.
• Post a photo from an event you attended with a quick one-liner or share a video.
• Keep a notebook with you always to jot down ideas as they come to you. This way, you’ll never run out of topics! I’ve got a list a mile long of things to blog about. Hope that becomes your problem too.

Any other ideas out there about what you can write about or how to brainstorm topics?

Target and Moms, Not a Match Made in Heaven

Target and moms go together like peanutbutter and jelly, don’t they? Well, we always thought so, but I guess Target does not.

I’m sure many of you read my blog post about my disappointment (that’s putting it mildly) that they advertised a Britax carseat for $40 and then canceled all orders after they discovered it was “incorrectly priced.”Not a great way to get in with moms, thank you very much.

They were all excited and when I interjected my note of being wronged by Target, I was pretty much ignored or shut down. That’s OK, I know they were excited about Target, and like the rest, I’m very disappointed to be disappointed in a store I loved so much too.

Sooo, turns out Target summarily dismissed their pitch to create a mom panel with one email.

Now, Target, come onnnn!!! You had a group of enthusiastic moms who wanted to get involved and spread the word about Target. Do you have no idea the value of that these days? Moms are probably your biggest shopper and spreading the word virally online would have been a great way to try to counteract the decline in sales all stores anticipate this year, not to mention setting yourselves further apart from other retailers who are not so savvy or who don’t even have such a dedicated group of moms.

Now, maybe they didn’t have to create a panel, but they could have taken advantage of this group in some way. The email linked above is pretty dismissive and discouraging.

The worst part is Target probably is not monitoring any of this stuff online or on Twitter, so had no idea how much excitement and buzz was going on out there about this group (not to mention the customers disappointed about the carseat). Clearly they are not, or they would jump on this opportunity.

So, now they’ve ticked off moms with the carseat thing and ticked off moms who were their biggest fans.

Target, you just don’t get it. Call me if you want to PR advice on how to smartly use social media, but it might be too late…

Turns out some of the moms still are trying to love Target anyway. I know, I know, it’s hard to walk away from. I guess that’s why Target can get away with this.

Oh, and they did offer me a $25 gift certificate after the carseat incident. What do you think? Should I take it? Am I overreacting to this whole thing? Tweet with #targetmoms or post a comment and let me know.

Motrin Moms, Target Too

There are lots of good uses for social media, but I’d like to highlight consumer power today. Social media tools give us the ability to share a message far and wide in near real time. Companies, beware. If you make a misstep, the world is going to hear about it fast and you’d better be listening and prepared to get in on the conversation fast!!

Have you heard about the Motrin ad that got moms across the country in a tizzy? Maybe not, because this amazing incident took place in about the span of 72 hours.

Let me give you the story. Motrin posted an ad on its Web site (watch it above) that used the voice of a mom, citing how while the use of baby carriers and slings made her feel like “an official mom,” they sure made her body hurt and, thus, had to take Motrin. Well, moms across the Internet, bloggers and Twitterers and more, took offense to this seemingly shallow and not very well thought out depiction of moms who carry their babies. And frankly to me, they missed the point. I mean, carriers and slings are supposed to take some of the strain OFF your body. They HELP, not make it worse. But that’s beside the point.

Moms on Twitter created a special group called MotrinMoms just for talking about this topic. They blogged about it, emailed Motrin, called them out on Twitter (read their discussions) and spread the word far and wide. In fact, for a couple of days, it was one of the most popular things discussed on Twitter.

Within 3 days, Motrin posted an apology on its Web site and pulled the ad completely. I think we can thank social media for this quick response. I’m sure it would have happened eventually without Facebook and Twitter and blogs, but moms would have had to write letters, emails, make phone calls — all of which, are not as instantaneous and viral as social media. Kudos to Motrin, however, for listening and doing the right thing. Best thing they could have done in this situation.

Now, on to Target. I hope you will help me spread the word about this as well. Earlier this week, a Mom blogger who writes the “Deal”icious Mom blog, posted a fab deal on Twitter. A Britax carseat, normally $280 now on sale for $42. We really needed a second car seat for our youngest and had been looking for a deal, so as soon as I saw this, I had my husband hop on and buy it. Done, no problem.

Well, two days later, Target sends us an email “canceling” our order because the item was “incorrectly priced”. Here’s what else the email had to say:

“We’re sorry, but we are unable to offer this item for the incorrect price. The correct price is $279.99. We have canceled your order for this item. If you would like to order this item at the correct price, please visit Target.com to check for availability.

Despite our best efforts, a small number of items on our site are occasionally mis-priced. We do, however, verify prices as part of our shipping procedures. If we discover that an item’s correct price is higher than our stated price, we will either contact you for instructions before shipping or cancel your order and notify you of the cancellation. This pricing policy is posted in the Help section on Target.com.”

This is such an example of poor, poor customer service, which I would not expect from Target. In these times of economic uncertainty and predictions of poor holiday sales, do they really want to alienate more customers, a lot of whom are probably moms, their biggest customers?

They have seriously underestimated the value of word of mouth here, as well as the viral abilities to spread this horrible service online. I have started my own group on Twitter – #TargetMoms. See the discussion thus far. Please join me in lobbying Target to correct this grievous mistake. Please blog, Twitter and email them here.

Power to the people man! Thank you social media!

Social Media Failing You? Here’s What to Do

I recently had a colleague, whom I’d presented a Web PR plan a few months ago, come back to me to say she just wasn’t getting the clients she expected from her social media efforts. So what gives?

I really put some thought to her dilemma, because for me this stuff works great, and thought you could benefit from my suggestions to her, as well.

So if social media ain’t working, try these tips:
1) Start Twittering!
As I have uttered many a time, Twitter has pretty much taken all the other Web 2.0 tools I use and put them into overdrive. It’s a perfect way to choose your target audience (follow who you want to hear you and who you want to learn from) and promote your blog, your events, and overall position yourself as the expert you are.

2) Cross-promote.
All these things work best together, not as isolated entities. Link to your Facebook page on your blog. Promote your blog posts on Twitter and in your Facebook status. Ask people to follow you on Twitter on MySpace. Link to your blog on your YouTube Channel. You get the picture. The more you cross-promote, the bigger this stuff builds.

3) Put the pieces together.
Use programs like FriendFeed that help you manage all this stuff under one roof. Link to your YouTube channel, your RSS feeds, your podcast, your blog, your Facebook page, Twitter, blah, blah, blah, here and people can truly follow EVERYTHING you’re doing.

4) Make time for this stuff.
I know you all are not the type to just set up your profiles and never go there again, but I’m betting you’re still not spending enough time on a lot of these tools to seem like you’re really “present.” If you don’t seem present, people will stop paying attention to you. Set aside 45 minutes to an hour each day and dedicate yourself to engaging this stuff. It seems like a lot, but you want it to work, don’t you?

5) It goes both ways.
Want people to comment on your blog? Comment on theirs every so often. Be active and interact. Leave a note on someone’s Facebook wall, add a video comment to their YouTube video, be a fan of their Facebook page, write a positive recommendation on LinkedIn. I promise they’ll pay you back in spades. Listen and you will be listened to.

6) Check your stats.
Make sure you have some analytics tool like Google Analytics so you can check to see what’s working for you and what isn’t. If you’re getting loads of referrals everytime you post a blog entry in your Facebook status, keep doing that! Pay attention to what key words people are searching that send them to your page. Try to do more blog posts that use those words.

7) Remember this is a PR tool, not a sales tool.
So the goal here is really to build awareness and position yourself in a certain manner, not directly drive sales. That’s up to you. This stuff will drive people to your Web site, your blog, your Facebook profile, but once they get there it’s up to you to close the deal.

Got any other tips? Let me know if these work for you.

Who’s Reading Social Media? Journalists

Keeping Your Blog Fresh

Well, since I’ve been delinquent on that over the last couple weeks I thought I would inspire myself (and you) by writing a post on tips for keeping your blog up to date.

Sure, writing your blog is one more thing on your to do list, but if you’ve chosen a topic carefully, you’ve picked a topic that you are truly passionate about and that you won’t mind spending time writing about.

That said, even the most passionate people may be hard-pressed to keep their blog fresh, say at least twice a week (which is what I recommend to all my clients). Soooo, here are a few tips:

1) You don’t need to write a long, introspective narrative every time. In fact, it’s better if you don’t. Folks online tend to have a short attention span and move on to something else quickly. So don’t bore them … and don’t waste your time trying to create a never-ending post.
2) No need to be poetic either. Be conversational. Be authentic. People want to know what’s on your mind and if that occasionally results in a misspelled word or random thoughts, so be it. It’s real and that’s what counts.
3) Read the news on your blog’s topic. Post a quick comment about your thoughts on a hot news story.
4) See my previous post for another example of a quick post. I found a really cool image on Flickr, which has a widget you can click on which automatically posts the image to your Blogger blog and let’s you make a quick comment about it.
5) Consider sharing a video that relates to your topic. No words needed.
6) Put writing in your blog on your to-do list, ideally the same time every week. That way you, and your readers, know when to expect a post. And you don’t think of it as something to do just when you have time. It’s just as important as your other work (really).

OK, lest I break rule No. 1 of my post here and blog on too long, I’m going to stop. Any other ideas out there about how to keep your blog fresh?

What Would You Give to Keep Your Blog?

Had to blog about this!

A new study from BlogHer found that women bloggers (of which they say there are 15 million writers and 21 million readers) would give up almost anything — including alcohol, their PDAs, their iPod, or reading newspapers or magazines — except chocolate to keep their blog!

Too funny and brilliant PR move on BlogHer’s part to fund this study.

Hmmm… would I give up chocolate to keep my blog? I think not. What would YOU give up to keep your blog?

Death by Blogging?

Last week, an article in the New York Times discussed the risks of blogging, including death! Apparently, a couple of well-known bloggers have kicked the bucket in recent months and the article makes the case that staying on top of a popular blog can be quite stressful. Both died of heart problems.

So by encouraging you to blog, am I signing you up for an early death? I don’t think so. These folks write on their blogs constantly. Many blog about a particular industry and feel the need to try to be the “first” to break industry news. The article says many of these bloggers are even afraid to sleep for fear that another blogger will get the scoop and post it first.

I simply recommend blogging as a way to establish your expertise in a given subject area and provide a more personal dialogue with your target audiences. To do this, I do suggest blogging at least twice a week, but multiple times a day is a bit much I think.

That said, as someone who helps clients with Web 2.0 tools for a living, I do feel I should personally be engaging these tools myself. I mean if I’m recommending them to my clients, shouldn’t I be using them too? And keeping up with all this stuff while running a business (and a family) can be a bit stressful at times.

I think the key here is the same for anything else: moderation. Take what tools you think are the best fit for you and put your energy there. Don’t try to be all things to all people or try to keep up with EVERYTHING. That just might send you to an early grave.

Getting Political

In an article in the Charleston (SC) Post & Courier today, the reporter notes a well-known political blogger lauds South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint as the most Web savvy U.S. senator. Kudos!

DeMint, who previously owned a market research company, obviously understands the power of PR and marketing and has tapped the power of the Web to further spread messages on issues he he’s supporting. He notes he regularly sends email press releases and pitches bloggers (the likes of the infamous Matt Drudge) and ultimately sees his messages end up in the mainstream media.

“When these radio talk show hosts come in, they’ll sit there for 30 minutes reading the blogs before they go on the air. It used to be the newspaper, but now it’s the blogs,” says DeMint in the article.

It’s true that journalists nowadays scour the Web for information and story ideas. If you can get your message out there and get bloggers to write about you, it’s very likely you’ll end up in traditional media as well. And the reverse is true too — if you secure a major story in the media, bloggers will jump on that and write about it too (exactly what I am doing here).

Case in point: a Wall Street Journal article in its small business section noted a man who sold bean bag chairs and who hadn’t been successful with his business. On a whim, he sent a pitch to the write of Engadget.com, a popular technology blog, who didn’t write about him, but traded advertising on the blog for some free chairs. What do you know? Within 48 hours, the editor of Playboy saw the ad and wrote about him in the magazine, after which he sold 500 chairs within a week. Pretty powerful stuff.

So whether it’s politics or bean bag chairs, don’t forget about the Web when it’s time to spread your message.

What Makes a Blogger?

Ever wonder who’s blogging? A lot of people think it’s just computer nerds who have nothing better to do than sit at their desk spouting out their thoughts online, but a new survey has found that is just not the case.

BIGresearch interviewed 15,000 people about blogging and found that one-quarter of them regularly or occasionally blog. More than half of bloggers are male and almost half (44.7%) are married. More than one-quarter of them (28.4%) hold a professional or managerial position. The average age is 37.6.

69.7% of Bloggers are White/Caucasian, 20% are Hispanic, 12.2% are African American/Black and 3.7% are Asian. Average income is $55,000 and average years of education completed was 14.3.

So, think twice before bashing bloggers! We’re actually a pretty diverse, smart crowd.

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