2009 September | Maine Video Production, Marketing, Photography and Web Design in Portland Maine : Franklin McMahon Studio

Sep

Maine Business Blogs

mainebiz33

Ok I guess I am a little late with the shout out, since I have been contributing to the website for a while now, but if you get a chance check out Maine Business. There is always a great group of contributing Maine bloggers on there, covering topics from marketing to branding to social media. Carl Natale keeps things humming with lots of fresh content weekly, so stop in for a diverse group of voices on a wide range of business topics.

Sep

Media Artist Secrets TV #6 – Connect and Rattle Cages

Connect and Rattle Cages – This episode we discuss making connections by rattling cages, checking in with previous contacts for new projects and clients – hosted by Franklin McMahon

This video is partially based on this blog post - How to Grow Your Business by Becoming a Cage Rattler

Watch the show in HD on YouTube or on Facebook

NEW! – Subscribe to “Media Artist Secrets TV” in iTunes

This show is all about the business of being creative, advancing your creative career and ramping up your empire. Each episode will feature creative career development advice and inspiration, cool guests, new thoughts and ideas. Join the conversation by leaving a comment, let me know what you think.

Thanks for checking it out.

http://www.FranklinMcMahon.com
http://www.fmstudio.com
http://www.Facebook.com/FranklinMcMahon
http://www.Twitter.com/FranklinMcMahon

Sep

How Podcasts Can Take Your Brand Around The World

I’ve been speaking at events a lot about podcasts and it has me thinking more and more about the advantages. I mean I have always know the amazing benefits a podcast can do for your business or brand, I have been involved in producing podcasts for 4 or 5 years now, but even with the changing landscape, it still makes a lot of sense. Much of this has to do with iTunes, which is a huge content delivery system (over 150,000 free audio and video podcasts available) that goes out to over 20 countries, meaning that the show you produce hits other territories almost immediately.

It’s definitely worth thinking about a global audience.

I did a podcast about two girls from Maine (Rumor Girls) and people in the US were very interested. People in the UK? Fascinated. I did one of the first enhanced podcasts (Podmodel) back in 2005, it was one of my very first shows, which featured a series of stills of my fashion photography along with audio. Italy and France went wild for the model pictures, stats went through the roof. Who knew? Tracking the analytics, it’s fascinating and surprising to see which shows become bigger hits in which countries. Sometimes I can predict, sometimes I cannot. But what happened 4 years ago is I started thinking about the global audience for my productions. I always produced shows and thought about my city seeing it, then my state. Then around the country. Then I started thinking, what foreign country would be most interested?

Sep

How to Grow Your Business by Becoming a Cage Rattler

Cage Rattle Tuesday! Actually it doesn’t have to be a Tuesday, but a great business technique is to plan one day a week to check in with some of your contacts, rattle their cages. Why? Because most of the opportunities that happen will come from keeping yourself on the minds of others. If you are like most entrepreneurs and creative producers, you network in person, make connections on the web, add peeps to your address book and have stacks of business cards. If you initially follow up with people, you may leave it as a “let’s keep in touch, I am sure there are some things we can collaborate on”. Perhaps then the weeks go by, maybe months, and there is no contact. The other person has dropped off your radar and you have dropped off theirs. But try to reboot the connection.

You could come up with a list, nothing fancy, just a list of people you want to revisit. I have a few categories in my management software named “brewing” and “connect”. Brewing is for projects and people that are more simmering, we may not have an immediate plan to collaborate, but down the line there may be some stuff. I also have a connect category, which are people I have met online or in person. Initially there may be no immediate reason to be in contact, but I do like to check in with them periodically to see what they are up to.

If you mark on your calendar to once a week go through your contacts and just rattle a few cages, you may be quite amazed at the response. You could hear “oh I was thinking about contacting you recently” or “I wanted to get your advice on something”, often they will be glad you are back on their radar. You may hear of a new project they have coming up that you both could collaborate on. If nothing else you’ll get a scope of their current projects.

Everyone is usually working on so many different things that if you don’t talk to someone for a whole month, you miss a ton of developments. Developments that could, or should, include you.

Are you a cage rattler?

Sep

Podcast Production and Marketing

Here are the slides for a presentation I gave this week at Social Media FTW Conference in Portland, Maine

(I currently speak on creative marketing, social media, creative career development, new media production, podcasting, photography, on-line video production, web technologies and on-line marketing. If you have an event coming up and would like me to cover these or related topics, drop me an email at frank@fmstudio.com)

http://www.franklinmcmahon.com
http://www.fmstudio.com

http://www.twitter.com/franklinmcmahon
http://www.facebook.com/franklinmcmahon

Podcast Production and Marketing – Presentation Transcript

Podcast Production and Marketing • Franklin McMahon frank@fmstudio.com www.fmstudio.com www.FranklinMcMahon.com twitter.com @franklinmcmahon facebook.com/franklinmcmahon

Podcast Highlights • Media Artist Secrets • Rumor Girls • Creative Cow • Women of YouTube • ShowGirls • Secrets of Second Life • Mary and Karla Show

• Featured on ABC-TV in Boston (Chronicle), BBC News (The Money Programme) Wired (Wired.com). • Sirius satellite radio and Computer Arts Magazine / Podcast Awards – Media Artist Secrets, ShowGirls • Franklin featured in Podcasting books: • “Podcasting Pocket Guide” by Kirk McElhearn (O’Reilly) • “Promoting Your Podcast” by Jason Van Orden • “Tricks of the Podcasting Masters” by Rob Walch (QUE)

• I produce my own productions as well as podcasts for clients – I develop show ideas and work with companies to extend their brand through podcasting • Podcast sponsors – Shell, Splenda, Marie Claire, BBC America, Tylenol PM, Sony Pictures, McDonalds, Covergirl

• Rumor Girls 5th most downloaded Podcast of 2006 • 1) ABC World News 2) Keith and The Girl 3) X-Play 4) CNN The Grist 5) Rumor Girls 6) ESApod 7) ICONS Democracy Now! 9) Diggnation 10) TED Talks • Most popular podcasts I produce are Rumor Girls, Women of YouTube, Creative Cow and Media Artist Secrets • Also produced Rumor Girls Uncut, Rumor Girls HD, Rumor Girls Diaries

• Podcasting is a huge market untapped by many, it is an incredible way to get your message and your brand out to thousands or millions for a very low cost

• Podcasts are the TV shows of New Media – You are the star and this is your show – best way to take your brand and business message to the masses

Podcasts • Inexpensive way to reach thousands or millions • Reach is 20+ countries via iTunes, audio or video • Best success for my clients, always outperforms YouTube, web video • Most shows I produce over time attain millions of views • Shows can be portable, more intimate

PODCAST Brieﬂy… PRODUCTION

Pick Show Topic • What are you passionate about? • What are others passionate about? • How crowded is the market for your topic? • What show would you love to see?

Hosts • Someone to steer, someone to paddle • Add in comic relief • Avoid serious coverage of just facts • Keep it loose, fun • If it’s an information show, stay on topic (news, tech, etc.)

Production • Decide on audio or video • Don’t get bogged down with equipment choices • Some shows are shot with a small point and shoot camera, some with a full HD camcorder • It takes about 5-7 shows to get into the groove

PODCAST Here we go… MARKETING

Take aim at proﬁtability

Take aim at proﬁtability • Your podcast is making as much as you want it to now, no more no less • Deal with money – be comfy with it • Don’t handle revenue or sales – delegate it

Take aim at proﬁtability • Most hosts or creators are not the sales force • Everyone wants to know how to make money at podcasting – it needs to be a mission • Making a proﬁt helps you grow the show

Promote what separates you

Promote what separates you • Tech news, Photoshop tutorials, etc. – much more competition • Be unique • Stress your strength • Promote everywhere

Promote what separates you • How many elements does your show contain that can’t be found elsewhere? • Your strength is you – can’t get “you” on other shows • Focus on the talent as what makes the show unique

Promote what separates you • Make them love you or hate you • Windows vs. Macs – passionate fans • Don’t make it so everyone will love it • You want a show that people are passionate about or really can’t stand

Be a rock star

Be a rock star • Conﬁdence • Have the big vision • No talent needed..just drive • Be tenacious

Be a rock star • Face forward – market everything with your image • A lot of life is luck – a visual identity will provide recognition and more encounters • Get a professional photographer – not your cousin Fred – for promo pics

Be a rock star • Humble is boring • Secret of getting anything you want in life – ASK – ask for help when promoting • Audio is very intimate – video is personal – fans are dedicated • Remember how close you are to your fans

Create a community

Create a community • It’s a family – not a show • Community will ride you though ups and downs, stats, income, etc. • A large community can be steered – a small one you are not usually steering • Your fans will spread the word

Create a community • A large fan base provides momentum you can’t get with a small group • 100 fans vs. 500,000 fans – the higher number lets you take more chances • Start a movement and rally the fans

Content before marketing

Content before marketing • Stats are like waves – keep the waves rocking – there will be ups and downs • Don’t let production weight you down • Low res is better than no res • Blog is not the best website for every show – think different

Don’t make a show, build a brand

Don’t make a show, build a brand • Do several shows – different formats – different demographics • Niche or go wide, middle ground is boring • Create a new market – a new industry – be ﬁrst – be best

Don’t make a show, build a brand • Know who your market is • Positioning yourself as an expert is the best thing you can do – become the go-to person • Focus on your passion

Don’t make a show, build a brand • Podcasting is a level playing ﬁeld – much like the web • Don’t always talk all about yourself unless the show is all about you • Keep on topic

Game plan

Game plan • Have a plan, what you want out of the show • No goals – no show in a year • Create benchmarks – measure your success and track it – have goals for the show • Roadmap of your empire – visualize the future of your show in a year

Game plan • Don’t just assume that if stats are up then your mission is accomplished • Deﬁne success – is it attention or money, pick one

Delegate what you are not good at

Delegate what you are not good at • Get a designer • Unless you are a graphic designer, do not do your logo • Did Charles Gibson do the ABC news logo?

Delegate what you are not good at • You are judged on your website, images, everything • Some may not even get to the show if the site is lame • You may have 30 seconds to win them over if they visit your website

Smart interacting

Smart interacting • Message board vs. emails • Once they are in your world, work hard to keep them

The Wrap…

The Wrap… • Take aim at proﬁtability • Promote what separates you • Be a rock star • Create a community

The Wrap… • Content before marketing • Don’t make a show, build a brand • Game plan • Delegate what you are not good at • Smart interacting

Franklin McMahon • New Media Producer • Studio page – www.fmstudio.com Media Artist Secrets Blog and TV Show – www.franklinmcmahon.com • Questions? 207.772.5724 frank@fmstudio.com • twitter.com @franklinmcmahon facebook.com/franklinmcmahon facebookmaine.com twittermaine.com linkedinmaine.com

Franklin is founder of Franklin McMahon Studio and is a New Media Producer specializing in creative marketing, social Franklin McMahon media, on-line video, podcasts, multimedia, writing and photography. With a client list that includes Adobe, FOX, Time Warner, McDonalds, Covergirl and HP, his range of work spans many industries. His on-line podcasts have produced millions of downloads in over 20 countries and he has been • New Media Producer featured on Wired.com, ABC Boston and BBC America. His podcast Rumor Girls ran weekly on Sirius Satellite Radio and specializing in creative the video version was the 5th most downloaded podcast of marketing and production, the year in 2006 according to Yahoo News. As an international photographer, his photo work has been seen in ads and audio and video, podcasts, magazines for clients such as Microsoft, and his coverage of photography, on-line video and the industry as a writer can be read in publications such as social media MovieMaker, Millimeter, DV, Res and Computer Arts Projects. Locally he has developed several Maine-based social organizations such as Portland Media Artists and Facebook Maine. His website and podcast Media Artist Secrets features • Studio page – career advice for content producers specializing in creative industries and social media. www.fmstudio.com • Media Artist Secrets Blog and TV Show – www.franklinmcmahon.com

Sep

10 Secrets to Developing Your Personal Brand Online and In Person

Here are the slides from my presentation “10 Secrets to Developing Your Personal Brand Online and In Person” which I gave at this month’s Time Warner Maine Web Marketing Seminar in Portland, Maine.

http://www.franklinmcmahon.com

http://www.fmstudio.com

http://www.twitter.com/franklinmcmahonhttp://www.facebook.com/franklinmcmahon

branding

10 Secrets to Developing Your Personal Brand Online and In Person – Presentation Transcript

10 Secrets to Developing Your Personal Brand Online and In Person • Franklin McMahon frank@fmstudio.com www.fmstudio.com www.FranklinMcMahon.com

Best Face Forward • Clear headshot on all your networks, professional or pro- casual • You are the brand, think of your headshot as a logo • Try to avoid switching it, even if you are bored with it • Look happy and inviting

Convey What You Do Quickly • Good Twitter Bio: Internet Marketing Consultant who loves helping startups succeed • Bad Twitter Bio: Web lover, juice drinker, margarita fan, Red Sox • List your actual location in Twitter, not foreign country, won’t come up in local search • Facebook: Add links, bio and info to sidebar

Have A Party • Networking is great, but pivot the crowd towards you • When you go to a network event, you must seek and search to connect • When you host an event, everyone is waiting to talk to you • Businesses love for you to bring a group in to mingle

Make Your Audience the Stars • Post questions that encourage responses on your blog, social networks • People involved in the conversation will stick with you longer • Interview people who inspire you • The best thing you can do for anyone is to move the spotlight towards them

Be Vocal • Generic is boring • Convey your opinions and get conversations started • Opinions make you stand out, especially in person • Covering items everyone else is blends you in

Always Be Moving • Your company is a virtual vehicle, travel • Momentum is key as is steering • If your social networks are static, so is your message • Post comments, connect with new people, produce blog content • You are either still air, windy or a tornado

Act Big, Think Big, Attract Big • Avoid terms like freelance, part- time, self-employed • Start using terms like my company, my team, my ofﬁce, my studio • Build an empire, don’t dabble in an industry • Convey this conﬁdence in person at events and on-line

Position Yourself as an Expert • Provide advice in the form of articles, video • Become the go-to person in your industry, build trust, become an authority • Providing free content will give back to community, help others • Offering your expert advice and opinions develops you and your brand

Win Over People in the Middle • Some will love you, some will really not like you • The fence sitters, the undecided, are the people to work on • The people in the middle are the largest potential audience and potential clients

Work Your Networks • Competition – be dramatically different online to stand out, focus on the unique • Create a digital legacy of content • Cross promote • See them all as your audience, don’t classify certain networks as friends or clients • Brand using your actual name

10 Secrets to Developing Your Personal Brand Online and In Person • Franklin McMahon frank@fmstudio.com www.fmstudio.com www.FranklinMcMahon.com twitter.com/franklinmcmahon facebook.com/franklinmcmahon

Sep

Using the Power of Social Media for Business

Here are the slides from my presentation “Using the Power of Social Media for Business” which I gave at this month’s Social Media Breakfast in Portland, Maine.

http://www.franklinmcmahon.com
http://www.fmstudio.com

http://www.twitter.com/franklinmcmahon http://www.facebook.com/franklinmcmahon

Using the Power of Social Media for Business – Presentation Transcript

Using the Power of Social Media for Business • Franklin McMahon frank@fmstudio.com www.fmstudio.com www.FranklinMcMahon.com

Twitter • Mix of promotion and conversation • Broadcast info about your brand, ﬁeld questions from potential clients • Others can Re-Tweet and help you promote • You help others as well • Great source of info depending on who you follow

Twitter • Takes most interaction of any network to be effective • The more you Tweet and put into it, the more you get out of it • Best network to make new connections • Being active on Twitter, interacting, will gain you more followers

LinkedIn • Geared mostly towards professionals and business people • Recommendations on your proﬁle are very helpful • Join groups based on your interests • Post questions to your contacts on the network and answer other’s questions

LinkedIn • Professional digital resume • Live element with stream of updates is not as high as other networks, most content is more static • You can craft your proﬁle to be impressive and others will see it • The more connections you can create the more opportunities

Facebook • Currently the most aggressive at being developed, Facebook is in it to win it • Recent stream of new features such as real-time updating of the news feed and ability to tag friends in your status update have kept Facebook improving • Multimedia options with pictures, audio and video • Proﬁle can be public or private

Facebook • Improved Pages now allow businesses to get the message out about their brand • Easiest network to tell a visual story with images and video right on your page or proﬁle • Live chat is immediate • Facebook is not just for friends, it is a key business and branding resource

Blogs • Complete control over crafting the story of your company • Audio and video easily embedded • Comments allow conversations between you and potential clients • Best for search engines • A chance to be less ofﬁcial and offer an inside view

Podcasts • Inexpensive way to reach thousands or millions • Reach is 20+ countries via iTunes, audio or video • Best success for my clients, outperforms YouTube, web video • Most shows I produce over time attain millions of viewers • Shows can be portable, more intimate

Podcasts • Podcasting is a huge market untapped by many, it is an incredible way to get your message and your brand out to thousands or millions for a very low cost • Podcasts are the TV shows of New Media – You are the star and this is your show • Best way to take your brand and business message to the masses

Which to Use When? • Blog or Podcast – Position yourself as an expert • Twitter – Field questions on your industry • Twitter – Send out special offers or announce events • Facebook or Podcasts – Audio and video clips – compelling • Facebook – Connect your Blog RSS and Twitter stream

Strategy • If your social networks are static, so is your message • You are either still air, windy or a tornado • Promote your links to your social networks everywhere • Offering your expert advice develops you and your brand • Home turf: Start a blog or podcast for best branding

Franklin McMahon • New Media Producer • Studio page – www.fmstudio.com Media Artist Secrets Blog and TV Show – www.franklinmcmahon.com • Questions? 207.772.5724 frank@fmstudio.com • twitter.com/franklinmcmahon facebook.com/franklinmcmahon facebookmaine.com twittermaine.com linkedinmaine.com

Sep

Business Cards – It’s Better To Receive Than To Give

A lot of you reading this network, you go to functions, perhaps you give speeches, you make connections on a weekly basis. Business cards still continue to be a pivotal part of what you do. You may think giving out your card is the most important aspect, but I feel that getting business cards is sometimes more essential. When you give your business card to someone you’ve just talked to, what are the chances that they will contact you?

It’s up in the air.

Some will immediately send a note within 24 hours. Some will add it to a pile of cards on their desk that they may never get around to. Your continued conversation with this person is left to chance.

Let’s look at it the other way. You ask for a business card from them. Now your continued connection jumps in theory to 100%. You have control over the next step because you now have their contact info. You don’t have to wonder if the connection will continue. Of course this all depends on you, dropping a friendly note to them, conveying that it was good to meet, adding your signature in the email so they can check out your site and ensure they have all of your contact info.

Of course passing out business cards is important. Everywhere you go you should have a small stack ready. But start to think about collecting and processing cards. Perhaps make it a goal to get a business card or contact info from everyone.You can write down their info or at least their email if they don’t have a card. Then followup that night or the next business day with a friendly note.

How do you currently handle the business card scenario? Do you give them? Do you get them?

Do you collect them from everyone and focus on processing them in a timely manner?

Sep

Social Media Breakfast Maine This Friday

This Friday Sept. 18th I will be speaking at Social Media Breakfast Maine. My topic is “10 Secrets to Developing Your Personal Brand Online and In Person“, it will be a great session and we’ll have some fun!

Also speaking will be social media dynamos Alex Steed and Fred Abaroa – for all the info and links to register visit: http://www.socialmediabreakfastmaine.com/upcoming/ – there are only 10 slots left, so register early. Hope to see you there!

SMB Maine – Facebook, Twitter

Sep

Redefining The Success Of Your Creative Career

Look we all want to be successful. We all want to feel like we have achieved what we set out to do. The problem arises when we benchmark our success against others. Instead of creating our own goals and celebrating the success of achieving them, we look at other’s careers and measure ourselves against them. Of course our career path never aligns with anyone else, so that’s when disappointment starts to move in. After that comes resentment, instead of celebrating your own career path you may look to someone else who is seemingly doing better and then get very grumpy. This can then cause you to give up.

For example, let’s say you are a singer. You work to craft your songs, play live around the city, promote, etc. You have all the elements in place. But then you notice your nemesis, another local singer, who seems to be playing bigger clubs, who gets a bit more press coverage, who is aligning with some talented producers. If you examine your career through your own eyes, you can get a lot of joy out of the progress you have made. However if you look at your career through this other person, it does not measure up.

Unfortunately it can then multiply. You look at 5 other artists, or 10 or more. Seriously, it can start to become a major bummer!

Redefining success means to shift the focus of calculating and measuring career steps on yourself if it is directed towards others. You have no control over other’s career paths and it makes little sense to constantly measure yourself against them. Healthy competition is fun sometimes, but obsessive angst and focus on where others are going can completely deflate any and all progress you make on a weekly basis.

How do you measure success? Is it based on your goals? Or is it based more on what others are doing?

Are you driven by your own actions or through competition?

Sep

Social Media Marketing – How Good Is Your On-Line Profile Picture?

A picture is worth a thousand words. And one picture can convey, or not convey, an enormous amount of info about your brand.

These days you are the brand. It doesn’t matter too much if you are working for a company or working for yourself, part of the recognition of your brand, is well, you. With so much to think about, updating your website, current business cards, social media updating, it’s all too easy to forget to include a good picture of yourself in all of these things. As a photographer it’s a pet peeve of mine, when people don’t promote with a good headshot. They will grab a quick webcam shot or use a pic that was taken at a function and crop everyone else out. Or worse they use a headshot from a decade ago, never bothering to update it.

Ideally the image should be of you smiling, looking relaxed and approachable. And you should update it often. Subconsciously when people first discover you, especially online, they are sizing you up. If you are advancing your career and building your business, you want a shot that is friendly, but still professional. It can be casual, but professionally shot as casual is a good idea.

Take a look at the shots you have now that you use. The one on your business card (always great branding to put your mug on your card), the one on your website, the one on your social networks. Is it old? Is it just a snapshot that looks good? Did you grab it this AM with your webcam?

Is it time to crank it up a notch or two into something that means business?

Sep

Speaking Events In September

Just a quick note to mention a couple of events I will be speaking at this month in Portland Maine:

Social Media FTW Fall Conference – September 23 PODCASTING

Rich Brooks, Chrystie Corns and Jaica Kinsman have created a Fall conference centered on social media education for small business owners, professional marketers and enterprise level executives. Sure to be a regional who’s who of social media (and that’s just the attendees!) come and join us for a fun and educational day with a terrific lineup of speakers. I will be speaking about Podcasting with my fellow pod-bud Fred Abaroa. We’ll show you how to get into the podcast market, promoting and producing your own shows. It will be a fun time, click on the link above for info about registering.

Web Profit: Using the Internet to Market Your Business – September 22 – Topic: SOCIAL MEDIA

Time Warner Cable is hosting a seminar focused on developing your businesss using the latest web technologies. You’ll learn about Twitter, Facebook and other tools, as well as have a chance to mingle and network with many local business people. I’ll be speaking on Social Media, what is currently the best on-line roads to take and what is coming up next. Admission is free, click the link above for more info on reserving your space.

Hope you can attend at least one of these events…looking forward to seeing everyone!

(I currently speak on social media, creative career development, new media production, podcasting, photography, on-line video production, web technologies and on-line marketing. If you have an event coming up and would like me to cover these or related topics, drop me an email at frank@fmstudio.com)

http://www.franklinmcmahon.com

http://www.fmstudio.com
http://www.twitter.com/franklinmcmahon
http://www.facebook.com/franklinmcmahon

Sep

Facebook Vs. Twitter: Facebook Adds Facebook Lite And Facebook Tagging

UPDATE: Facebook @mentions tagging is now live for all Facebook users (details below)

Facebook continues to add more features that make usability better and better. Clearly influenced from Twitter the two latest features this week are Facebook Lite and Facebook Tagging.

Facebook Lite

Facebook Lite is a stripped down version of the website that runs fast and eliminates a lot of the current clutter. The first thing you will notice missing are apps, you won’t see any applications or games/quizzes clogging up your timeline. I use the “Hide” feature seemingly daily on my timeline to filter this stuff out, but now in the new Lite version there are gone. Also noticications now appear in the Lite version on the bottom of your screen, keep an eye out for them because at first you may miss them as they pop up. Highlights are gone in the Lite verion, these were all the photos, videos and notes that were most viewed in your network.

The new Lite version was originally built for foreign countries where high speed broadband was less likely to be found. But the interface was so fast and furious that it was introduced this week on a wider scale, including here in the States, as an alternative option.

Below you can see several screen shots. The first is the “old” Facebook timeline, followed by the new Lite timeline. The third shot is the new Lite profile screen, which features bigger buttons and a much cleaner interface:

Facebook Tagging

Another very cool feature rolled out this week is Facebook Tagging. Very similar to Twitter, you can now tag people as you post a status update. You can see this in the screenshot above. It is done by using the “@” symbol before their name. You can also tag groups and pages. What is cool is that when you start to type in a name or group, Facebook automatically pops up suggestions to make it easier. The person you tagged will be notified (same as Photo Tagging works now) and also if someone is reading your status update they can click on the person’s name to go direct to their profile.

Facebook Tagging is available now for some and will roll out for everyone in the coming week or two, so keep an eye out for this powerful new feature.

If you would like to try out Facebook Lite, just go to http://lite.facebook.com

Facebook has been focused and agressive on improvng their service and these two great options are very welcome. I already love the new Lite version after using it for only a day or so and will be putting it through the paces in the coming week. Give it a try!

http://www.facebook.com/franklinmcmahon

Sep

Is Your Social Media Content For Your Fans A Dead Zone?

Everyone wants a following on the web, everyone wants fans, people who are checking in to see what you are up to. Producing content helps to promote you, it helps to promote your business. But think about what you are providing, what amount of original content do you produce on a weekly basis?

Let’s take Twitter for example. What do you send out to share when you are on Twitter? A new article on Mashable? A link to a post on 12 favorite designer tips by someone else? Are you spending a lot of time promoting other people’s work and websites? Or are you sending out your own content, a new blog post, new video, audio clip, photo work, an interview that was done with you, a new project you are working on? Your thoughts, your art, your work? What original content was created this week that could not have happened without you?

As your following grows, you begin to peak people’s interest in you more and more, they will start to search on content that involves you. They will go to your website, check out your social networks, start investigating. They start to like you, they want more, so what can you provide them?   Take a look at anyone who has been successful in branding themselves on the web. They almost always have a large selection of archived and weekly new content that they are dishing out. It keeps people coming back. It ensures that people are sending around their links.

Conversations happen all the time on the web and when you become vocal people will become intrigued with you and look for more about you. Ideally it is good to have a body of work that is constantly being added to so people can get to know you better.

When you build your following people will start to like you. As you grow bigger, people will start to like you and a lot will start to dislike you. Once you start getting anti-fans, you know you are making it. If everyone pretty much universally likes you online, work to become bigger and/or more vocal.

Now I know, creating content is time consuming. But it should be done if you want to grow your presence online. And it does not have to be perfect, it just needs to be developed and released on an ongoing basis. You only need to look at the people you admire and respect online to see how they are building a following. They will often have a lot of clients, business and connections online, because their volume of content has drawn people in. Instead of working at trying to make contacts and potential clients on social networks, searching for connections, they build their own network of content and info, then people come to them.

Conversations are nice to have online. But conversations about you and your work are even better.

What have you sent out to the web this week that brings people into your brand?

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