Twitter is officially mainstream during the Amgen Tour of California (ATOC). Twitter is engaging race fans as professional cyclists traverse California for 9 days. Racers, team directors and fans are “in conversation” on Twitter using hashtags #atoc and #toc. (Hashtags are keywords included to identify common stream of conversation on Twitter.)
How to get Live Twitter Race Coverage
Get live race coverage on Twitter Search at http://search.twitter.com/search?q=atoc.
You don’t have to sign up for a Twitter to enjoy live commentary and race coverage about the Tour of California. Learn what the fans are seeing and thinking, what some of the racers and team directors are sharing.
Cycling fans are turning to Twitter to read these 140-character micro-blogging updates, aka “tweets.”
@rustyventure is thanking the Twitterverse for their coverage, as shown above. He concludes:
“best race news was #atoc.”
This is written to SEOs and Social Media marketers, myself included.
Are we using our skills and talents to make a positive impact? Are we helping optimize society? How are we giving back and making a difference?
Is SEO “all about me?”
SEO, the process of getting websites to rank high in the search engines, is a critical component of online marketing efforts.
- We need to develop a lot of content.
- We optimize various forms of content (text, pdfs, podcasts, video) and our website(s) for universal search.
- We work to improve PageRank (authority) with Google while building up “social trust” by getting more links from other sites.
- We Blog, Sphinn, Digg, Thumb, Tweet, Snip, Share, Bookmark, Comment…
Focusing on SEO can result in tunnel vision, since a lot of this effort is “all about me!”… My website. My clients. My reputation. My content. My opinion. My pocketbook. Me. Me. Me. Remember, I’m talking to “myself” as well. Read the rest of this entry »
Is a picture worth a thousand words? Maybe. Here is overview of a few photo editing tools you may consider. Determine your goals, first.
What type of photos do you need to create and edit?
- Avatars for a your Social Media profiles?
- Photos for Flickr, Picasa Web Albums, FaceBook, and other online sharing?
- Images for your website and ecommerce store?
How much do you want to spend? Most of us would say “nothing.” Creating quality photos doesn’t require a huge capital investment. It does take a little time and creativity. Read the rest of this entry »
Our conversation makes up your brand. We talk about our experiences with your product, your services, your customer service reps, your employees… We talk about you. Your brand is our conversation! Our perceptions of your company affect how we talk about you, how we influence other people, and how we open our wallets. We put our money where our mouths are!
Branding & Reputation Management
A brand is what someone associates with something else.
- What do people associate with you? Is it positive?
- What is your company trying to project?
- Who are you in the minds of your audience?
I just attended an online seminar, a Twebinar titled, “Who Owns Your Brand?” This was the second of a Summer Series on Social Media by Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan on Twitter).
Below are my top four nuggets from the Twebinar and my “take” on the importance of branding and reputation management.
Nugget 1: Social Media is like the Gutenberg Press for the Bible.
The Bible was once owned by the church. The people didn’t have access. Reading and interpretation of the Bible was controlled. The Gutenberg Press put the Bible into the hands of the people. It became cheap enough for them to have their own Bibles. Social Media and blogging have paralleled the power of information. Companies used to own and control their message. The Internet and blogging has redistributed control. We, the people, now have access – a voice. Read the rest of this entry »
Social Media is now an alternative news source! Social Media offers ways for people to get their message out, to acquire and share information. We are the reporters and news aggregators! We’re helping others. I’m going to quickly cover how Twitter has become one alternative news source.
Broadcasting Twitter News
Twitter is a microblogging platform where people, world-wide, are communicating and broadcasting news. News is sent out as “tweets,” messages sent to Twitter. Each tweet is like a bird chirping, short and hopefully sweet – 140-characters or less. The conversation on Twitter may be as simple as updating what you are doing, posting links about informative or fun website articles, to providing information about fire and evacuations.
Read the rest of this entry »
