Deep dive into blogging with Chris Griffith

Google Bonita Springs, Florida, and one of the first sites to pop up is http://www.lifeinbonitasprings.com/, a blog by Chris Griffith, a realtor with Keller Williams Elite Realty in Bonita Springs. Also known as Twitterzilla where she tweets about daily life in Bonita Springs, Chris is an avid user of all tools social to promote the community she loves first, and sell real estate, second.

While there are currently some 200 million blogs, many still fear blogging and are unsure what it can do for their business.

So – starting with the basics. Still not sure what blogging is? In simple terms - it’s a basic Web site that allows you to publish content and contact information. It’s an inexpensive means of marketing and unlike employees – a blog is working for you 24/7!

Ready to start? Chris recommends new bloggers use one of three free programs:

Wordpress
Typepad
Blogger

For more sophisticated bloggers, Chris recommends Windows Live Writer. A one-stop shop for building and maintaining blogs.

Not a do-it-yourselfer? You can always hire a professional to help you set up your blog, manage your blog and promote it through other social networking sites.

If you’re just getting started, these tools are risk free, easy to use and can get you up and running fast. However, Chris cautions, you need to decide what you’re going to blog about first.

Blogs become your “public” voice so think about your personal brand and how you want to be known. People become involved with you via your blog because they feel they know you and can engage with you. It’s personal – it’s social - and it’s all about building relationships.

Two types of blogging personalities initially emerge:

- Freezers: Not sure what to write about/immediate writer’s block
- Prolific writers: Rewriting War and Peace with every blog

The challenge is to find what’s right for you and use your own voice to share your information/point of view/etc.

Wondering what to Blog about? Focus on your customers and share:

- What we believe our customers need to know
- What they want to know
- What they are searching for
- Show our authority on a specific subject

Get personal! Showcase fun, “behind the scenes” stories and anecdotes. This is social media after all!

Need a few more pointers about blogging?

• Start with writing about what you know!

• Stay current with what’s happening socially, culturally and in business. Key posts off current events.

• Running out of ideas? Think green and recycle information such as emails, reports, forms, videos, pictures.

• To expand your reach stalk the search terms your followers used to find you.

• Sweet talk Google and she’ll come to you – in other words – know the right words to optimize your search in Google!

Yes! I have a Blog – now what?

Promote your Blog! Integrate your Blog with other social media tools such as Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and Flickr.

Enhance your content by adding photos and videos. “A picture is worth a 1000 words – a video – a million!" (Credit to OnePersonToo).

And a few final thoughts when blogging:

• Be yourself
• Be polite
• Be cautious about photos your post
• Always remember – blogging is a marathon, not a sprint!

Live with Marketwire - Wickles Pickles

Googling "press release distribution"...title tags show up in bold. (Yes, if you're tech-savvy this is basic, but most of us here are basic!)

It's all about measurement...The Pheedo Network - targeting bloggers and RSS feeds that are industry-specific.

Robyn's giving us an overview of navigating the world of social media, great emphasis on aggregating your Twitter accounts, shortening url's, etc.

Hashtags! A way to follow tweets acording to topic. Just put # in front of the subject.

Check out your competition on startpr.com

Yes, we have a chapter of the Social Media Club right here in SWFL! www.smcswfl.org

Q & A with Robyn
How to use Twitter effectively...instead of "I'm walking my dog now", provide value to your followers and use links to give them more info!

What about all the acronyms/codes on Twitter? Where are all the definitions? Just Google them!

What qualifies "spamming" bloggers? Anything that's not relevant to the blogger! But yeah, there are gray areas.

Tina Haisman, APR, CPRC offers this advice on behalf of local reporters - if you're not really their friend, don't "friend" them on Facebook. It's a more personal network vs. professional.

From Lynn Schneider, APR, CPRC: Separating the internal and external, personal and professional in a large organization...where's the line? What about time management? Use filters, use delayed release applications for Twitter, aggregartion for posting.

Kate Gooderham, APR, CPRC: How do you post a link? Starting with Facebook...
Well, ya gotta be here for this hands-on stuff, can't describe it!

Join us at Hodges University....