In this series, we will cover some of the first 60 days of integrating social media into your overall business strategy.
Day Two – Content Creation Practice
This is your first writing day, though your writing won't be viewable to the public just yet. We pick a content management tool (what we'll call "blogware") such as WordPress or Typepad.
In either case, we "hide" it from search engines during our first two weeks. During these first two weeks of "trash talking", we focus on:
- Learning the tool and how to use eye rests
- Practice free-writing and half-blogging within a disciplined time frame
- Develop your voice and thereby your categories
But more on those a bit later.
Sign up for either WordPress.com or Typepad's 14-day free trial (choose Premium). A quick side on each of these:
- WordPress.com sites are free. If you decide to keep using WordPress, we will soon move to a self-hosted version (WordPress.org), but you'll want to keep the WordPress.com site for the API-key they give you. Some plugins we use will need this API-key (more on this in two weeks).
- With Typepad, we'll opt for the Premium version because of design flexibility (though we won't think about that just yet. You'll need to sign up with your payment info, though you won't be charged during the free trial.
In either case, make sure you opt for "block search engines" during this period. This option is usually on the 2nd or 3rd screen of the initial sign-up process. If you miss it, we can go back and make sure your site is "hidden."
WordPress.com uses the term Privacy, and you should choose "block search engines" for the first two weeks.
Typepad's terminology for this is either Publicized or Non-Publicized and leave the box "unchecked" for now.
While I love Typepad (they host ConverStations and probably will for a long time), I also have sites on WordPress. Because of the plugins available on WordPress, I find myself recommending that more often these days.
Don't think about design just yet. We'll get to that. For now, just pound the keys, dawg
Note that during these 60 days, I would have about 20 face-to-face or live conversations (Skype or other form of video/screen sharing). The other days are self-paced — though plenty of homework.
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Find Your Social Media ROI
I hear it from a lot of business owners: “Where is the ROI with all this Social Media?“ If this is a question you ask yourself, maybe we should work together a bit more. We can work together solo, or via a professional learning community. Find and increase your ROI. There is a “there” there.
