I love a good passion. Give me hate. Give me love. Standing in the middle is what Kathy Sierra dubbed, "The Zone of Mediocrity" or what I call the Area of Apathy.
There are some who still ride the fence about social media. They don't "get it" but they want to be "in it" – so they open accounts, say something once and sit the fence. They don't try to find a task, engage in a conversation or even do something ballsy (Mistakes are Tuition). And then, they blame social media.
Let's look at Social Media as a swinging door. You're either IN, or you're OUT. Just don't stand in the middle.
If your task is listening to what others are saying, that's great! But for the love of Scoble – don't say that and then say you don't subscribe to any RSS feeds or search strings.
Things change (improve?) fast. If you stand in the middle and do nothing, the door will knock you on your apathy.
Today, you can get in on the love affair. Find a Panera location near you and come in for breakfast — and you’ll get a free cup of coffee. Heads-up, they’ve changed their brewing and timing methodology….good stuff.
I’ll be at Panera U this morning, but find any location and tell me what ya think about the new coffee.
It's natural, really. At our core, we all want our opinion to be accepted — so we take a stand and write or speak words on top of words to show our brilliance, right? Oh, yeah….sometimes we just don't blog talk. I guess that's an alternative (not).
We can flip any blog post or small talk from a dry monologue into a potentially inviting and engaging conversation. Simply add a question at the end of the statement.
We all want interaction and comments on our blog, don't we?
You see how I just turned that last sentence into a question, don't you?
Probably not a good idea to do this with every sentence, but it's practice, right?
I don't know about you, but when I go book shopping, there are certain things I do to "thin slice" a book before I buy it — and it's similar to how I look at a blog for the first time, before I subscribe to the RSS feed or recommend it to others.
When I grab a book off the shelf, here's what I do to determine if it's worth my time and money:
Cover (Title, image, subtitle)
Back Cover (blurbs, about author)
Inside back flap (about author)
Copyright date (if it's not this year, it better be close)
Table of Contents (potentially a view of the book's "Big Idea")
Index (if there is one – a good idea of the contents)
Flip Thru (if it's all text – I'm gone. Let's face it, this writer wrote this without me in mind)
That's the thin slice of book buying for me. How about blogs? I do something similar (and so do my students):
Sidebar near the fold or scrollbar (RSS feeds, search the site)
Categories (Much like a Table of Contents)
Timestamps (When was the last post and are the postings consistent?)
Comments (is this an engaging blog/community?)
Date-based Archives (Tells me how long the blogger has been at it)
Twitter/FriendFeed/Other SocNet buttons (Where else does this author engage?)
Blogroll (Do we read similar authors?)
A couple more steps, but still – it can be done in a likkety-split-second or two. If you're new to blogging, this is a great start at finding new blogs to read, link to, and follow. If you're new to reading books — stop right now and head to your local library.
I think one reason it's so hard to get out of the rough, is you want to come out with a bang. Actually, it's better to dive in like nothing was missing (and don't apologize for the lack of posting)
Here's a bit more depth on what you can do to kick things back in gear:
Post a Numbered List: Readers love numbered lists. Easy to read. Great to share. Best yet, readers can add to the list – so it's a conversation starter.
Run a Poll on Twitter: Use Twtpoll and post the results.
Use Someone Else's Content: Yep – Steal it (and give them attribution of course). Embed a YouTube video or a SlideShare presentation. Find the author's web site and link to that too!
There ya go. Whatchya waiting for? Let's get started, eh?
The loving look of a smile With a still moment of pause To show the passerby They're important to your cause.
Whether young or old, Citizen senior or Gen Next Doesn't matter their race or religion Nor does it matter profession or sex.
To take but a moment With all the muscles in your face And let that person know You're glad to find them in this place.
There are no coincidences Only the illusion of chance And the loving look of a true smile Will make even the coldest heart dance.
So if it's on your blog or your phone At Panera or on a tweet Take a moment and smile a real smile To all who cross your path – online or in the street.
I keep hearing blogging is dead. Not yet, it isn't. There are still thousands who will discover the brain power that social media brings to the table. Yet – is our own proficiency in a thing also our deficiency in teaching it to others?
Here's a look at some old literacies – do you still teach these?
Whistle Stops are conversations, eye-openers, or tools representing the
brain train discovered while traveling along the Conversphere. From
business to education, life hacks to giving back, these are the posts and
links that have in some way grabbed my attention!
Presentation Design in 2009 by Scott Schwertly at Ethos3 – How to add more storytelling to your PowerPoints this year.
Nine Steps to PowerPoint Magic by Seth Godin at Seth's Blog – Each (or any) of these steps will make you a better presenter and your audience more engaging.
Empower Your Point – "A daily source of tips, advice and news to improve your presentation skills"
Believing that Blogs are Conversation Stations, I coach small business and solopreneurs to use Blogs and Social Media to amplify their reach, their relationships, and their revenues.
