Carol Stephen, Author at

How to Become a Better Blogger: Quick and Easy Ways

November 21, 2019 By Carol Stephen 9 Comments

Maybe you’ve thought that you want to become a better blogger. You’ve considered blogging, or maybe you’re an occasional blogger. Either way, there are always ways to improve (and I’m no exception). Every day, someone will say something that resonates. Take those tiny lessons from the things that resonate with you, put them into action, and you (or I) will improve for sure.

Read Other Bloggers

There are so many great blogs out there. Here are some of my favorites.

Bridget Willard’s blog: Bridget is the one who encouraged me to blog. Besides that, though, she’s always learning and growing. And she’s a terrific person, too.
Randy Clark’s blog. Randy Clark writes a lot, and is the author of How to Stay Ahead of Your Business Blog Forever (highly recommended!). He’s written three other books that I know of.
Mitch Mitchell has been blogging and vlogging for years. He’s entertaining and educational. In fact, Mitch writes about blogging, too!
Patricia Phillips of The Aspen Stand, a kind and generous friend.

Listen to Podcasts

You may also get ideas when you listen to podcasts. Even if the podcasts you listen to aren’t strictly business oriented, you’ll get ideas when you listen. Right now, I’m enjoying Hardcore History, which is a deep dive into the history of World Wars I and II. Dan Carlin is a damn good talker, as one review of his long-form podcasts mentioned. Each episode is hours long, which you think you can’t listen to, but his passion and storytelling make for fascinating listening.

Write Every Day

If you like to write with other people, you might join a movement, such as NaNoWriteMo, where writers encourage other writers during the month of November. You might also give yourself a deadline, or a specific number of words to write each day, or a dedicated time to write. For me, I work in 15-minute increments, because anyone can do something for 15 minutes, right? Usually that 15 minutes turns into 30 or 45 minutes because the hardest part of writing is just getting started. The important thing is not to wait for inspiration, because you might be waiting forever. You might also like How-to secrets to blogging for your success.

Blackmail Yourself

Awhile back, there was a guy who suggested blackmailing yourself by giving yourself a deadline. He mentioned giving someone else some money which would go to an unsavory cause if you failed. Now that’s one way to do it, especially if you prefer the stick approach over the carrot approach. Me, I’d rather have a carrot than a stick any day. If anyone else can remember his name, I’d be interested.

Your Seat in the Seat of the Chair

Putting your seat in the seat of the chair is the number one tip for getting better as a writer. Whatever slogan helps you get there (“Just Do it!” comes to mind) is the one to use. Tenacity and diligence are the two things that will help you improve your writing the most. Unless you have a secret, that is. Do you have a secret for improving your writing?

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: blogging, favorite blogs, writing

Steven M. Keisman, Senior Vice President Identifor

November 15, 2019 By Carol Stephen Leave a Comment

I have worked directly with Carol Stephen since she began her tenure with our company beginning April 2015. Her duties and responsibilities included a variety of social media tasks including content, tweet chats, blog writing and data analytics. Since she began, there was never an ask that was ever too big or assignment needed too soon for Carol to attack and deliver in a highly professional way usually before the set deadline. Her pleasant disposition and high level of professionalism coupled with an interest in learning as much as she could, on her own time, for a better understanding and focus to further the work she was doing, made her even more effective in helping our team reach our benchmarks.

Any corporation would be well served in meeting their social media needs by working with Carol.

Sincerely,

Steven M. Keisman, Senior Vice President

Identifor

Identify the Possible

Filed Under: Testimonial

Is Social Responsibility Part of Social Media?

November 14, 2019 By Carol Stephen 4 Comments

Recently, there have been many op-ed pieces about social responsibility. Facebook allows political ads from practically anyone. Twitter has said that they won’t post political ads. And Pinterest points people to the CDC and WHO when they search for anti-vaxxer content. Who’s right? And what is a social media platform’s responsibility? By the way, you might like this article: Why Pinterest Isn’t Social Media and Why it is.

The First Amendment

People are very concerned about the First Amendment. And I agree that we remove people’s right to free speech. After all, free speech is what makes this country strong. And shouldn’t everyone have a right to voice their opinion? But what about when people are unduly influenced because those with fake news have more money and political sway than others? Is there some way to level the playing field so those who are loudest don’t have too much sway?

Political Ads

Is it part of a reader’s responsibility to sort out lies in political ads? Facebook now says that it’s not their responsibility. And yet…we clearly know that the last election was influenced by Facebook ads. Read this New York Times opinion piece: Should Facebook Allow False Political Ads? The author believes the problem is that most people don’t read. In fact, studies show that many Americans don’t read past the 8th grade level, and that we’re in a literacy crisis. Being on social media, I’d tend to agree. Read the comments on any article or Facebook post, and you’ll see mangled sentences and bad grammar.

Anti-Science Ideas

Are we all allowed to go around saying things that are nonsense? If I want to say that water is purple and the sky is green, how do people know what’s true and how to check? After all, some people seem to believe anything that’s on the internet. Just check out all the scams going around. As I write this, there’s one scam saying that Costco is giving away $75 coupons for free. Not everyone will go to Snopes.com and check it out.

How Much Responsibility is Enough?

Scammers and hackers are getting more sophisticated. And more and more of our personal data is being given away for free. Shouldn’t social media platforms have at least some responsibility to point out what is true and what is fake? Maybe a warning of some sort that the source material has not been vetted.

What Do You Think?

Should there be a free-for-all in terms of what people can and can’t say on the Internet, even if others get hurt by their words? Leave me a comment! And thank you.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: fake news, first amendment, political ads, social responsibility

Quick And Easy Guide to Your Harry Potter Social Media Type

November 7, 2019 By Carol Stephen 4 Comments

According to the Harry Potter – Hogwarts wikipedia, there are four houses, each with a specific set of values. The sorting hat selects a house for each student, with each of the four houses being named after a specific person: Gryffindors, Slytherins, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs. How do these house types translate to your social media type? Read on.

Photo by byzantiumbooks

Gryffindor

This type values courage, bravery, nerve, and chivalry. This social media personality prefers vlogging to blogging, and likes to do live video. Whenever there’s a chance to shine, the Gryffindor personality is right there. Think about Harry Potter in the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. He travels to Godric’s Hollow without any real plan, and is attacked by a giant snake and nearly killed.

Photo by byzantiumbooks

Slytherin

The Slytherin type values ambition, cunning, leadership, and resourcefulness. Many startups, especially in the early stages, are filled with Slytherins. Slytherins may want to use the dark web, a part of the internet not indexed by search engines. Slytherins may rely on “vanity metrics” more than the other social media types. They may buy followers, which can lead to all kinds of trouble. Here’s what happens when you buy followers. Hint: Just don’t do it!

Photo by byzantiumbooks

Ravenclaw

Ravenclaw values intelligence, creativity, learning, and wit. Some of your best friends may have these same values (I’m a Ravenclaw, by the way). These are the ones who might spend hours in the library. While you might think that Hermione is a Ravenclaw, she values courage even more than intelligence. Ravenclaws believe that the pen is mightier than the sword. And very often, it is. They like to do research, and are the artists and writers of the social media world.

Photo by byzantiumbooks

Hufflepuff

Hufflepuffs values hard work, patience, justice, and loyalty. Among the Harry Potter personality types, Hufflepuffs don’t get the credit they deserve. They’re the ones quietly working away, while others may get the credit. They make good content providers and researchers. According to Harry Potter Wiki on Hufflepuff, Hufflepuffs are the most inclusive of all the types. They’re not as competitive as the other types and are modest about their achievements. Every team needs a few Hufflepuffs to succeed. In fact, I’d be willing to bet that without Hufflepuffs to do the work, nothing would get done.

What’s Your Harry Potter Social Media Type?

There are numerous tests you can take to discover your type. But if you’re a big Harry Potter fan, you probably already know which type you are. Which one are you?

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Gryffindor, Harry Potter, Harry Potter Social Media, Hogwarts, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Slytherin

How to Use Gratitude to Empower Your Social Media Campaign

October 31, 2019 By Carol Stephen 4 Comments

Photo by MR photography.

Thanksgiving is undoubtedly my favorite holiday. Being surrounded by friends and family, eating and drinking and giving thanks. Who can argue with turkey and gravy and friendship? Nobody, that’s who! How does gratitude tie in with your social media campaign? Read on to see!

Gratitude Marketing

Gratitude marketing can boost your customers, followers, and just plain feels good. Every time you thank someone for sharing something of yours, buying your product, or simply being supportive, that’s gratitude. Done regularly, gratitude marketing attracts other like-minded people. There have even been studies done about the effectiveness of gratitude marketing. See Duct Tape Marketing’s The Power of Gratitude in Marketing, for instance. And I like the idea of a hand-written card or note. Hardly anyone sends hand-written notes anymore.

Social Media and Gratitude

As part of your social media campaign, I highly recommend thanking people for sharing, for retweets, and for following you and your pages. After all, they have a choice not to. You probably have die-hard fans who like what you do no matter what. These are the people you need to thank regularly. And beyond thanking them, how about giving them a little or a big gift every once in a while? By the way, you might like How to Develop and Unlock a Tremendous Gratitude Muscle, by moi. You could start with ten things you’re grateful for in your business, and take it from there.

Be Grateful During the Tough Times

This month has been a little tough. It’s important, in my opinion, to be grateful even during hard times. We haven’t had power or WiFi for a few days during October, so working is harder. I’m writing these words from a friend’s house, and it’s easy to fall into the habit of feeling sorry for myself or feeling angry. But I’m grateful that we still have a gas stove for cooking, a good heater, and a car to go shopping. And although it’s inconvenient, I’m hopeful that we can figure something out going into the future. And if you want more reasons to be grateful, check out 31 Benefits of Gratitude: The Ultimate Guide. There are some surprising reasons, including that people will like you more if you’re grateful.

Choose to Believe that People Are Good

Most friends, family, and coworkers have been extremely kind during this tough time of no power and no WiFi, and very understanding. People have offered places to work, and said not to worry about their social media. And for that I’m very grateful. Of course, there are people who will take advantage of a bad situation, but they seem to be in the minority. The main reason I choose to believe people are good is that believing the opposite can make you crazy. That is, you might be paranoid thinking that bad people are out to get you or steal from you. Looking over your shoulder all the time is no way to live.

Gratitude Strategy

Do you have a gratitude strategy? There are many reasons you need one. And they’re all outlined in this post: Gratitude Strategy: How to Develop One and Why You Need One. So since tomorrow is November, how about starting or restarting a gratitude practice?

Thank You

If I haven’t said it lately, thank you to all the readers of my blog! Especially those who’ve stuck with me through thick and thin. You are very much appreciated.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: business and gratitude, gratitude, gratitude strategy, Social Media, social media and gratitude

Behind the Scenes of the Great Pumpkin’s Social Media Campaign

October 24, 2019 By Carol Stephen 4 Comments

Few people consider the feelings of the Great Pumpkin. Think about it: alone for weeks in a cold, dark field, with his closest neighbor competing for the same air, food, and water. Eventually, to be weighed and possibly turned into a Jack-O-Lantern (best case scenario) or thrown at someone’s house by angry teenagers (worst case scenario). The Great Pumpkin needs a new strategy for his social media! And I’m calling him him because that’s what Linus of Peanuts fame calls him.

Which Platforms?

First of all, where should the Great Pumpkin be on social media? As a pumpkin afficionado, I’d say EVERYWHERE! Because who doesn’t like pumpkins? Communists, that’s who! Even LinkedIn, that most serious of social media platforms, needs a little pumpkin. However, if we had to choose just one platform, maybe one of the visual ones. He’d do well on Pinterest, as well as Instagram. And of course, YouTube. Linus would certainly provide the soundtrack, since Linus is the Great Pumpkin’s biggest fan. By the way, you might like: Ten Simple Ways to Choose the Best Social Media Platform.

What’s His Audience Like?

Kids of all ages love pumpkins. Everyone from kids through great-great grandpas. That’s pretty much everyone, except maybe your one friend who pretends it’s not Halloween and hides behind a locked door with the lights out and the garbage can pushed up against the front door. Even porcupines and big cats love pumpkins! Just do a search on YouTube, and you’ll see it’s true. You need to know who you’re writing for so you can change your wording if you need to. Here’s an article about audience and social media that you might like.

Who’s His Competition?

Can anyone compete with the Great Pumpkin? No! So let’s skip this question. Well, maybe the Tim Burton film the Nightmare Before Christmas. Although the Great Pumpkin seems more innocent.

Photo by kromom

What Message Should He Convey?

The Great Pumpkin needs to be, well, great! He should never whine about being cold or having a candle that goes out, or anything like that. He should always look forward to the holidays. His ambition to be the best pumpkin on the block, city, and county should be highlighted. He should encourage photo ops, too. Definitely.

Photo by makelessnoise

Lifestyle of the Great Pumpkin’s Followers

What other posts could you promote if you were the Great Pumpkin’s community manager? They’re probably a fun-loving, outgoing group. We imagine lots of frolicing would be involved. Do you love the Great Pumpkin? If so, leave me a comment!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Great Pumpkin, Halloween, social media campaign

People Are Looking for You Online. Ready to be Found?

October 17, 2019 By Carol Stephen 4 Comments

Photo by darkday.

Everyone knows you should be blogging and paying attention to the little bots that roam around on Google. Consistency is important in blogging. As in, blogging more often will get you more attention, and blogging on a regular schedule helps. A lot. But what do you do if someone finds you?

So Who Is Looking for You?

And how many people are looking for you? That depends on your business, of course. For instance, if you’re a realtor, there are many many realtors in California. That’s going to be a harder sell than if you’re selling, say, hamburgers. Certain businesses have an easier time. Where I live, in the Santa Cruz Mountains, people with services do really well. Plumbers, electricians, and handy people have plenty of work. You can always set up a Google alert for yourself or your business if you’re wondering whether someone has mentioned you online.

Social Media Helps You Get Found

Social media doesn’t usually help with sales. It helps with brand recognition. So if people have seen you a few times on social media, they’re more likely to do business with you, so long as you do an outstanding job at your business. Social media can help your business even before the business officially gets started. Often, people will start their social media campaigns before the business has opened its doors. You can do the same thing! Want to know what else social media does? Here’s what social media marketing does in a nutshell.

Why Do You Want to Be Found?

That is, what do you want people to do once they’ve found you? Do you want to have coffee with them? Do you want them to download a report? Or do you want them to interact with you in some way? Decide what you want from people, and tell them. Nicely, of course. Good manners, especially online, always helps.

Here are 31 Call-to-Action examples you can’t help but click on, from Hubspot.

Having a Positive Mindset

It’s not fairy dust, I promise. People really are looking for you. And you can do a lot to help them find you. Having a positive mindset is the most important thing. Believe that people are looking for you. It’s not that the belief itself will help them find you, but the belief will help you act in a way to be found. Does that make any sense? And by the way, you might like this post about having a gratitude strategy.

Follow Up, Follow Up, Follow Up

The gold really is in the follow up, especially if you have a service that’s costly. People take a long while to decide whether something is right for them. The more the service or item costs, the longer it takes. People don’t normally buy a car in five minutes–they like to do research.

Do You Want to Be Found?

If you’d like some help getting found, I can help! Leave me a comment, and I’ll get back to you! And thank you.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: blogging, getting found online

This Is What Happens When You Manage Your Time

October 10, 2019 By Carol Stephen Leave a Comment

Whether or not you manage your time the Internet is filled with rabbit holes ready to grab you by the ankles and not let go. You may end up going down one and not emerging for the entire day. This can happen to the best of us. You’re on Pinterest, looking at shoes, and suddenly it’s 5:00! How did that happen? There are lots of shoes and shiny objects on Pinterest, and it happens. So how do you manage your time and what happens if you do? Here are some ideas.

Smarter, Not Harder

We’ve heard about working smarter not harder, but how many of us do the opposite? Here it is the end of the day, and you’re working on something that should’ve been done in the morning. Ugh. For me sometimes the important items (like blog writing) get pushed to the end of the day when I’m most tired. It’s hard to think creatively when you’re exhausted! In his article on Inc., Work Smarter, Not Harder: 10 Ways to Be More Effective at Work, John Rampton says to “keep your to-to-lists lean and mean by only focusing on your 3 to 5 most urgent, important, and challenging tasks for the day, aka your Most Important Task (MIT).” And if you do at least one of them in the morning, it’s much more likely to get done.

Photo by NathalieSt

Read Articles about Time Management

There are so many places now to find articles and podcasts about time management. Inc. Magazine has a list of 10 podcasts that will help boost your productivity. Also, you may find a few ideas to help you with time management here:

Work in Batches

Do group all your similar tasks together to make it easier. For instance, I first check email in the morning, then do my Twitter. Next comes Facebook.

Outsource, Outsource, Outsource

I say this a lot, but if you’re not good at something, or don’t like doing it, it’s unlikely to get done! Outsourcing will give you energy to focus on your most important tasks.

Photo by brunkfordbraun

Plan the Night Before

The times I’m most productive are when I can write out my entire schedule the night before. This really helps if it’s a busy or stressful time. Even five minutes spent planning your day can be helpful. When you write things down, you might think of more things you need to do! And then you get to check them off your to-do list (it’s exciting!).

Find Nirvana

Maybe not literally. But you’re most likely to be happier and less stressed if you can manage your time. Do you have a particular system you like? Tell me about it! And thank you.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: manage your time, time management

Why Outsource Your Blogging When You Could Do it Yourself?

October 3, 2019 By Carol Stephen 2 Comments

Why should you outsource your blogging when you could do it yourself? Of course you could do your own blogging. But have you? Have you even started? You could also do your own plumbing. It’s easy, said your brother the Master Plumber. You could also build your own house using leftover palettes. There’s probably a YouTube video made by those guys in Indonesia where they do (and it includes a swimming pool, too!). But have you? No!

Sewing Buttons on Pants

Here’s another thing that hasn’t happened. Sewing a button on those pants, the ones you wore five years ago that used to be your favorites. Hasn’t happened. Inevitably, you end up at the dry cleaner and ask them to do it. And that’s way easier than blogging, right? So if you haven’t sewn that button on your favorite pants, why wouldn’t you outsource your blogging? There are plenty of online resources, such as this: The Complete, 12-Step Guide to Starting a Business. I like their idea of hiring specialists, not generalists.

You’re Great at What You Do

What you do is raise money for your startup. And manage people. You’re great at networking, talking to people, and finding new business. So if you’ve ever wanted to outsource your blogging, why not now? After all, there are people with tons of talent, a background in writing, and years of experience. You might enjoy my previous article: Outsourcing Your Blogging Might Be the Best Thing You Do.

Find Someone Qualified to Blog for You

If you don’t know where to start looking for someone who could write for you, try asking around. You might be surprised at who has people writing for them. Often, bloggers are ghost writers and no one knows where they are (or who they are). Of course, doing a Google search could help you, but you might only find the biggest agencies that way.

What Questions Should You Ask?

There are a number of questions you could ask a would-be blogger. For instance:

Where did you go to school?
How much experience do you have?
Could I see some examples of your work?
Tell me something you do that no one else does

You might like this article: Hiring a Professional Blogger? What You Need to Know First.

Here Are Some Answers You Might Hear

I studied English at Berkeley, have many years of experience (five is a good minimum number, by the way), and yes, I’ve written hundreds of articles. Your results may vary, of course. There may be other questions you want to ask a professional blogger. There are some good comments on this Quora thread: Should I hire a professional blogger for my startup?

What Else Do You Want to Know?

If you were hiring someone, what other questions would you have about the process? Let me know in the comments! And thank you.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: blogging, content creation and outsourcing, hiring a professional blogger, outsource, outsource your blogging

How to Automate Your Social Media without Looking Like a Jack*

September 25, 2019 By Carol Stephen 6 Comments

The dirty secret of the social media world (besides outsourcing) is automation. Most of us do it. But you don’t have to look like a jack* when you do! If you share other people’s posts and then automate your posts, most people will still love you. But there are some ways to not just broadcast all the time.

You Must Be on the Platform

That means you have to get on Twitter, Facebook, or wherever you say you are from time to time. You can’t just broadcast. After all, you’re not the New York Times. For me, that’s at least once a day, interacting live with people. Of course, there’s no law that says you need to be there. But if you don’t want to look like a jack*, get on the platform. How often should you post? According to this post from Sendible “aim for consistency, not frequency.”

Respond to Others’ Queries

If someone asks you a question, answer them. If they share your posts, thank them. And so on. It’s important to have a presence or you’ll largely be ignored. Engage with people. Ask them questions, too. If you don’t know how to engage with people, you might like my book: 21 Ways to Total Social Media Engagement That Will Make You Look Like a Pro.

Don’t Make it All About You

Use the 80/20 rule to share other people’s posts. Comment on their blogs if they have them. Introduce people who might have something in common. Talk to people they way they want to be talked to. You’ll be surprised that people will answer you when you reach out. Here’s some more about the 80/20 rule in case you didn’t know: Why the 80/20 Rule Works for Your Social Media.

Being Playful is the Key

Your questions don’t have to be serious all the time, it’s ok to be playful. In fact, I really like this blog post about play: Why Playfulness Is the Key to Success in the 21st-Century. Author Zat Rana says “…play is an act of learning. More specifically, it’s a low-cost way to explore the world in order to obtain high-value advantages.”

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: automation of social media, social media automation

Read Other Bloggers

Listen to Podcasts

Write Every Day

Blackmail Yourself

Your Seat in the Seat of the Chair

The First Amendment

Political Ads

Anti-Science Ideas

How Much Responsibility is Enough?

What Do You Think?

Gryffindor

Slytherin

Ravenclaw

Hufflepuff

What’s Your Harry Potter Social Media Type?

Gratitude Marketing

Social Media and Gratitude

Be Grateful During the Tough Times

Choose to Believe that People Are Good

Gratitude Strategy

Thank You

Which Platforms?

What’s His Audience Like?

Who’s His Competition?

What Message Should He Convey?

Lifestyle of the Great Pumpkin’s Followers

So Who Is Looking for You?

Social Media Helps You Get Found

Why Do You Want to Be Found?

Having a Positive Mindset

Follow Up, Follow Up, Follow Up

Do You Want to Be Found?

Smarter, Not Harder

Read Articles about Time Management

Work in Batches

Outsource, Outsource, Outsource

Plan the Night Before

Find Nirvana

Sewing Buttons on Pants

You’re Great at What You Do

Find Someone Qualified to Blog for You

What Questions Should You Ask?

Here Are Some Answers You Might Hear

What Else Do You Want to Know?

You Must Be on the Platform

Respond to Others’ Queries

Don’t Make it All About You

Being Playful is the Key

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