Tumblring along

The first new tool, Tumblr, is a blogging platform founded in 2007. While not as extensible as WordPress, it offers various features and themes in a user friendly web-based interface. It’s great for photos, short text posts, link-sharing and video sharing, with separate templates for each type of post. Tumblr offers easy integration with Facebook and Twitter, allowing you to cross-post to both platforms separately or together. (more…)

Today’s Twitter Follow Friday (#FF) post is testimony to the “social” nature of social media. The two people I mentioned in this week are well known in Boston-area social media circles. After reading their tweets and blog posts for over a year, I finally ventured to the Boston Media Makers meet-up (first Sunday of every month at Doyle’s Cafe in Jamaica Plain) where both are regular attendees. Read on . . . .

Ari Herzog (@ariherzog) is a social media enthusiast who leveraged his presence on the web to a city council seat in the Newburyport, MA. As such, Ari has a unique few of the intersection between social media, online marketing, and local government. He reached out to me after I mentioned I was a resident of neighboring Haverhill, and since then, we’ve had spirited discussions on all topics digital. He also introduced me to an SEO professional who provided valuable feedback on some of my consulting work.

Adam Weiss (@adamweiss) is a Boston area podcaster, photographer, and digital media strategist. He podcasted regularly for Boston’s Museum of Science, and now produces and hosts the critically acclaimed Boston Behind the Scenes podcast. Full disclosure here: I’ve yet to meet Adam in person, but after mentioning at a Boston Media Maker meet-up that I was looking for a social media project to work on, he put me in touch with Jenny Attiyeh, producer of the Thoughcast podcast. I now work with Jenny as a social media producer for Thoughtcast, which includes serving as the Twitter voice of the podcast. Thank you Adam, for the great connection!

Thanks to both Adam and Ari for reaching out to me over the last few weeks. I hope I can soon repay your kindness.

I’ll point out again, that these two valuable connections were made thanks to social media. Both Ari and Adam are active tweeters and bloggers, and considered by many to be thought leaders in their respective areas. Had I never ventured into the world of tweets, blogs, and Facebook updates, or attended the meet-ups organized by other social media types, we never would have met.

And what about you? Do you have a connection or interesting story that had its advent in social media? Let’s here about it in the comments.

Wow! It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything, so I’ve decided to take a close look at the last five items I’ve added to my Delicious account. Click here to see the whole feed.

1. What you need to succeed in Social Media, by Chris Penn.

What can I say about Chris? Along with Chris Brogan and Amber Neslund, Penn is one of the web’s most prolific and influential bloggers. He built a nationwide community around one of life’s most painful and boring topics – college financial aid, and used that as a springboard to become a leading authority on all things web and social media. When he talks, I listen.

In this short but powerful blog post, Chris points out that media (social or otherwise) is only a means to help “communicate something fundamentally human.”

The lesson I take from this post is this: Be a great communicator about something you are passionate about. Use social media to help magnify that passion to an audience that benefits from your knowledge.

2. The reason your personal brand sucks, by Chris Penn.

I’ve always hated the term “branding,” but I’ve embraced the whole “personal branding” phenomenon. In this post, Chris urges the reader to “distill your essential quality,” the factor that makes you as an individual unique in what you do, and how you do it.

“Once you figure out your essential quality, your personal brand will take care of itself,” Chris writes.

I’ve taken this piece of advice to heart in both my day job, and my consulting activities, and it will guide my actions for the foreseeable future.

3. Eleven ultimate resources to help you become a WordPress champ, by Blog Design Studio

I loves me some WordPress, and this is one of many posts with links to WordPress info, tutorials, and plug-in data. Link number six on this page was of particular interest to me, a link to wpbeginner.com. I’ve used it myself several times already, and recommended it to friends and clients.

4.Why Flash should be open source – and why it won’t be, by AtomicPoet’s Blog

The lack of Adobe’s Flash on the upcoming iPad has spawned many questions regarding the viability of the RAM-hogging, browser-crashing protocol. This post suggests that by open sourcing Flash, it could be developed into a more reliable product, thus making it an appealing addition to both the iPad, and the iPhone.

The most ironic thing about this post? It’s posted on the most anti-Flash blog theme I’ve ever seen; a plain white page with black Times New Roman type text, devoid of any “gee-whiz” type of visuals.

5. Critic’s Notebook: Christopher Hawthorne on Unhappy Hipsters and the mystery behind it, by the Los Angeles Times

If you’ve yet to stumble onto the Unhappy Hipsters blog, you should take a few minutes to visit. Its author posts a photo of mid-century modern architectural design, mostly from Australia’s Dwell magazine, and adds a snarky comment. Very clever, indeed.

The mystery however, is that nobody has any earthly idea who is behind the new blog. Los Angeles Times architecture critic Chris Hawthorne offers his best guess, as well as a snarky-tinged review of the blog itself.

Ed attends a session at Wordcamp Boston

Time for the six month check-up, a look at where I am now, and to possibly define my direction for the next six months. To find out how I got here, check out this post, and this post, both written after I attended Podcamp Boston.

Here’s what has happened since that warm weekend in August:

Rehash Website- I’ve escaped the iWeb/MobileMe/GoDaddy trifecta and moved on to WordPress; the change has been instrumental in my understanding of social media marketing and search engine optimization techniques. WordPress comprehension has also given me a new skill set to market as a service. I’ve taken on a client, showed her the benefits of WordPress, and helped her launch her own site. I’m encouraging other clients to move to WordPress, but even if they don’t, I now have excellent knowledge of ways to optimize their Google presence.

Define my role - Yes, you read that last paragraph correctly. I now have clients, people I help to walk the tight-rope that is social media. One of my glaring weaknesses coming out of Podcamp Boston was that I could not define what is was that I did. Now, I have purpose and vision, and I’m actively seeking clients to help achieve their goals. Currently, I’m doing this work pro bono, and will continue to do so until I define my focus a bit more.

Networking opportunities and professional development - I’ve come out of my shell a bit, attended a handful of  social media meetups, a second Podcamp event, and a Wordcamp event. I’ve seen some familiar faces, passed my cards around, practiced my elevator statement, and look for opportunities to talk about how I can help or collaborate with others. Working a crowd at a networking event still challenges me, but it gets easier the more I do it.

The lessons of the last six months have been ample. I’ve grown professionally, focused on my skills, defined a role, and helped others understand how they can use social media in their own professional and personal lives. Along the way, I’ve posted several blog entries documenting my progress and kept a nice record of my thoughts and actions while learning and growing.

So I will continue on this same path, with a goal of defining my focus, marketing my services, and looking for more networking opportunities. Stay tuned for a full report in six months.

Boston Wordcampers get expert advice at the Wordcamp Genius Bar

Put 400 bloggers/social media enthusiasts in one really hip building, add in interesting session topics, excellent food, cool swag, and a few surprises, and you get Wordcamp Boston. The inaugural event took place at the Microsoft NERD Center in Cambridge, MA, on a frosty Saturday in January. Here are my takeaways:

1. Build a persona – In order to write to a target audience, you must create a persona exemplifying said audience. This was the first of many excellent tips offered by Hubspot’s Karen Rubin, during her informative and entertaining session, Rock My Blog. Writing to a persona helps you focus your message, and ensures you stay on target over the long run.

2. Define the look of a webpage – When talking to clients, I often struggle to articulate the look of a web site. Thanks to Jake Goldman’s excellent Themes 101 presentation, I now have ways to describe different webpage styles.

3. Use short codes for more versatility – Wordcamp’s Ignite sessions offered a wealth of information in rapid fire mode. For example, during Michael Susz’ presentation, I learned how embeded short codes in .php files can perform helpful tasks. Great. As if searching for plug-ins and themes weren’t distracting enough. . . .

4. Meta Keywords have no SEO value – This quote direct from SEO expert Cory Eulas during his talk on SEO Analysis. I’ve known this fact for a while, but for some reason, the fallacy that meta-keywords hold the key to Google glory keeps creeping up.

5. Microsoft Nerd Center – Time for full disclosure here, I work for Apple, and have been to the Cupretino mothership twice. It’s a cool campus with great design, but this Microsoft space in Cambridge was the hippest place I’ve seen. The tenth/eleventh floor workspace presentation area offers several industrial design work/meeting areas, random online workspaces, and cozy corners that demand thoughtful creativity. The place is so well designed to foster productivity that I wanted to sit down and start banging out tweets and blogs posts.

Were you there, pressing your word knowledge on the banks of the Charles River? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Last August I attended Podcamp Boston and resolved to start a WordPress Blog. Five short months later, my blog is up and running, has a few subscribers, and is powering a new life direction as a social media consultant.

This weekend I’m attending Wordcamp Boston, the Hub’s inaugural WordPress event. The buzz surrounding this event has been off the charts, with tickets selling out twice in the few short months they were available, rumors of black market ticket channels, and folks aching to attend.

I’ll be attending sessions in both the beginner and applied track, including Rock My Blog,  PHP & CSS, and Themes 101.

My afternoon program includes a session on plugins,  SEO Analysis,  and Media 101.

This conference offers great opportunities to network with other bloggers, and I’ll be in attendance with a client whom I’ve been helping set up her own WordPress website. There are also several other attendees that I have met through various other social media events, including Podcamp New Hampshire and Nashua Tweet-up.

Check back over the next few days for a full report on the activites.