From the monthly archives:

May 2009

10 Sure-Fire Ways to Maximize Your Online Distribution Channel

by David Finch · May 29, 2009

David Finch

David Finch

It doesn’t matter what venue you choose to attend, there’s a common question that someone will be asking, “how do I get more traffic to my web site?” Which is often time followed up by the second question, “how can I make more money with my web site?”

The answer to these types of questions aren’t found hidden within the hard drive of your favorite influential blogger, but are revealed from a core of principles and disciplines. If you’re consistent in these practices, you can watch your readership grow and traffic increase.

Read More →
66 comments

Personal Branding Tips From SME

by Jason Falls · May 28, 2009


This afternoon, I had the pleasure of talking to the American Marketing Association’s Louisville chapter about personal branding. I preceded the presentation by saying that while I suppose it’s true I have built a recognizable personal brand of the past two years or so, I haven’t done so with that intention. My focus has been on evangelizing social media, attracting new clients to Doe-Anderson and growing my connections in the social media world. The fact that I’ve build a personal brand in the process is a nice complimentary result.

Read More →
18 comments

A Day in the Life of a Social Media Manager

by Kat French · May 27, 2009

Kat French

Kat French

You know, if there’s one thing I get asked more than anything else about my job, it’s “What do you actually do all day?”

Because apparently, people think social media managers spend all day on Twitter/Facebook collecting followers and congratulating each other on getting paid to spend all day on Twitter/Facebook.

Well, Bub, I’ll tell you what I actually do all day. Behold, a look behind the velvet curtain at a Day in the Life of a Social Media Manager:

5:30 AM – Alarm goes off. I crush the snooze button because who the heck actually gets up at 5:30? Not me, clearly.

Read More →
367 comments

My Pitch Log Mashup, Vol. 7

by Jason Falls · May 26, 2009

Jason Falls

Jason Falls

Time to clean out the inbox again with a Pitch Log Mashup. As a reminder, this series is a collection of the sites, services, platforms and programs I get pitched by PR folks, start-up entrepreneurs and various others that I either don’t have the time or the interest in really writing full blog posts about, but are probably somehow still interesting or useful for you.

And if you’re interested in pitching me something, increase your chances and read the “How To Pitch SME” page. If you’re wondering why your pitch didn’t make it on my list, see the, “How To Pitch SME” page. If you’re still not sure, re-read the, “How To Pitch SME” page.

Read More →
11 comments

Walking The Fine Line Of The Personal Brand

by Jason Falls · May 25, 2009

Jason Falls

Jason Falls

The exploration of your personal brand is quite a captivating experience. It is, after all, all about you. Human beings, by nature, prioritize themselves over others. Whether from an inherited survival of the fittest conditioning imperative in our ancient ancestors or just a matter of world perspective, we do think about ourselves on some scale of priority.

But therein lies a danger we must recognize. While your personal brand may well serve a valuable purpose for you and your company, separating and recognizing the best interests of those two entities is important. Regardless of how successful or influential our personal brand is, we need to be certain to keep our egos in check.

Read More →
149 comments

7 Ways to Avoid Being a Social Media Clone

by David Finch · May 22, 2009

David Finch

David Finch

I was sitting in a meeting a few days ago and made a statement on how it would be nice if someone could clone me and then send my clone to attend my next meeting. It seemed comical at the moment and everyone chimed in on how productive it would be if they had their own clone as well. Who wouldn’t like to have a personal clone to sit in at meetings, attend jury duty and take care of basic responsibilities? However, within the social media space it has become easier to clone someone else’s ideas and even tone than it is to use the tools at hand to become an extension of the REAL you.

Read More →
86 comments

VoxTrot Sheds Different Light On Social Media Monitoring

by Jason Falls · May 19, 2009

Jason Falls

Jason Falls

I caught up with my Twitter buddy Mike Troiano at the Inbound Marketing Summit in San Francisco recently. Mike is on the board at Crimson Hexagon, a web applications company in Boston that has its philosophies based on Harvard research and theories. When I asked about what they were up to, Mike told me about VoxTrot, a soon-to-be released social media monitoring product that looks at gauging online conversations a bit differently than other tools like Radian6, Scout Labs and Techrigy.

Read More →
21 comments

Ask SME: How do I start a blog if I’m not a computer nerd?

by Kat French · May 19, 2009

mail_boxToday, we’re going to dip into the old Social Media Explorer mailbag, and answer a reader question.  

(Actually, we don’t have a mail bag.  We never get physical mail from readers, except the one time I got a box of Ginsu knives.  And the time someone mailed Jason a bunch of pedometers for starting Twit2Fit.  But mostly we never get real mail.  
A reader emailed this question to us, and we like throwing out Old West metaphors.  It makes this crazy mixed up digital world seem a little more human.  So try picturing us  with a big, heavy canvas mail bag that we pick up from the local train station and lug back to the office about once a week. See, isn’t that more fun?)  

From our friend T.W., Louisville, KY:  

Read More →
18 comments

Redefining FriendFeed

by Jason Falls · May 18, 2009

Jason Falls

Jason Falls

For the longest time I have had a rather eye-rolling reaction when people mention FriendFeed. The life streaming service certainly has its merits and aggregating all of your social activity into one place is a nice function. However, using FriendFeed as your primary place of interaction constricts the number of people you can interact with (not everyone uses FriendFeed), while conversely, avoiding FriendFeed means it becomes an impersonal, automated broadcaster of what you do.

Read More →
147 comments

← Previous Entries

Subscribe to SME via email!

Close (X)

Probably the best thing you will do all day.