Carol Stephen, Author at

How you can engage with people different from yourself?

June 27, 2019 By Carol Stephen 2 Comments

How you can engage with people different from yourself?

For this post, I actually took my own advice. Stuck for topics, I went back and read my post how to come up with a year’s worth of blog content. And buried in that blog post, was the title for this blog post!

Start with the Generic

When you’re talking to someone with a different background, start with the generic. You might try the weather. These days, the weather can be more than a litle exciting. In fact, sometimes I’d rather have the weather be a lot more boring! Often, friends in different parts of the country or the world are struggling with flooding or drought. And sometimes they appreciate your asking how they are. Speaking of boredom, have you read Can the Simple Pursuit of of Total Boredom Make You Smarter?

Our Workforce is Diverse

You may need to work with someone with a different background since our work force is now spread all over the globe. People with different racial backgrounds, of different ages, and different viewpoints all need to get along. Many of my friends get to work with people from India or China, for instance, as a result of their work. And on social media it’s easy to connect with people in different countries.

Keep Talking

Don’t for an instant assume that you have nothing in common with that ultra-liberal tree hugging kook you just met online (oh, wait! That would be me!). Keep talking to them, and you’ll see that they’re not that different from you. They love their family, enjoy good food, want security, and so on. They’re probably thinking the same thing about you that you are about them. But there’s still common ground. I like this article by Aysha Bagshi, Sense and Nonsense: Diversity and Friendship. In it, she says “In a diverse environment, the truest of friendships require trusting and sharing to be implicit and perennial.”

Don’t Give up

Even if that person voted for someone you’d never vote for in a million years, chances are you may have hobbies in common. Or you’ve lived or visited the same place. Or, as Aysha Bagshi shares in her article, you feel a closeness despite being advantaged or disadvantaged. And even if their personality is quirky, you never know. You could end up being very good friends.

Are Your Friends Similar to You or Different?

Some friends can be challenging to maintain. Others always have an interesting perspective. Do you like to hang out with people who are similar to yourself? Let me know in the comments. And thank you.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: how to engage with different people

Email Marketing: How to Dive Deeper 10 Ways and Why

June 20, 2019 By Carol Stephen Leave a Comment

Email Marketing: How to Dive Deeper 10 Ways and Why

Last week’s #DigiBlogChat: “a deeper dive into email marketing” with Brandon Olson of aWeber was so informative that I’ve decided to create a blog post summarizing some of the high points. By the way, if you’d like to join #DigiBlogChat, we’re on Twitter Tuesdays at 1:00 pm Pacific Time, and we’d be happy to have you!

Q1. Why Should You Use Email Marketing?

There are lots of reasons to use email marketing.

Nearly Everyone Has an Email Address

Email Marketing Still Very Personal

Because Even Cats Like it?

Email puts us in charge, not algorithms.

3.8 billion email users in 2018

72% want to receive promos via email

Q2. How do you get started with email marketing?

Start with Your Offer, Hook, or Incentive

Email Templates and a Data Source

Q3. What makes a good email opt-in incentive?

Tie your offer to the action

A good email opt-in incentive

Depends on Audience

Ideas for Incentives

Q4. What content should you include in an email sign-up form?

Ask for as little as possible

Ask only for what’s necessary

Tell them why to subscribe

Include a clear benefit statement

Signup Form Best Practices

Q5. How do you drive traffic to your email opt-in incentive and signup form?

Make a Compelling Offer

Drive Traffic Just Like You Would to Social Media Posts

Recipe of the Week Club

Use one-to-one outreach

Q6. What should you write in your emails?

Bring Value

Templates for Non-Writers

Personalized Content, Storytelling

Q7. What makes a good subject line?

Subject Line Ideas

Include an ask or a deadline

Good Subject Line is Like a Good Headline

Don’t Use ALL CAPS in Your Headline!

Personalize the Subject Line

Q8. How often should you send emails to your subscribers?

Once a week or once a month

Q9. When should you send your emails? Is there an optimal time?

Top Day is Tuesday

Why Can’t We Choose?

Avoid Mondays and Fridays

Q10. What’s GDPR? How can you make sure you’re complying with it?

General Data Protection Regulations

GDPR and Online Privacy

Myths about GDPR

This Is What Happens When Your Small Business is on Social Media

June 13, 2019 By Carol Stephen Leave a Comment

This is what happens when your small business is on social media

The best thing that can happen when your small business is on social media is that you look like a big business. And, of course, you can move faster without having a huge sit-down meeting with all the board members. When it’s just a few of you (or maybe just you), you have the authority to post whatever you’d like, whenever you’d like. That can also get you into trouble if you’re not careful. Here are some ideas to keep you on the straight and narrow.

Your Voice Is the Voice of the Business

You don’t have to have a million followers when your business is small. In fact, having fewer but more dedicated followers is often even better. The most important thing with social media and your small business is engagement. By the way, if you missed it, you might like This is What Happens When You Write a Book, which is about my book, 21 Ways to Total Social Media Engagement (That Will Make You Look Like a Pro).

Get Hyper-Local

With social media, your small business can focus on local clients and customers. That’s not to say that you won’t find others (or that others might not find you), but people in your immediate area are the most important people to connect with for those with a brick-and-mortar. And even if you don’t have a brick-and-mortar business, sometimes it’s good to connect in person. For instance, you can promote check-ins through Facebook, use lists of locals on Twitter, or find leads on LinkedIn, according to this article about How to Connect with Local Customers via Social Media.

Look Bigger Than You Are. Photo by Val Vesa on Unsplash

You Can Look Bigger Than You Are

Do you want to look like a big company? Often, startups want to look bigger. Or any ambitious business that wants to grow wants to appear like they have a huge staff. You may only have one or two people on staff, but you’d like to expand eventually. Don’t be like some startups, get started, and then have a sad, sad social media graveyard. If you’re that startup, then give me a call!

Get Your Name Out There

Social media is really good for name recognition. People might not remember how they found you. Was it on Instagram? Twitter? Or was it during a conversation at a party? Sprout Social has an excellent article on 12 Ways to Boost Brand Awareness on Social Media. And there are some good real-life examples. See the tweet from Moon Pie, for instance. Wonderful stuff! And as they point out, you only have a few seconds to grab someone’s attention.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: brand awareness for small business, local clients for small business, social media for small business

Content Creation Will Make You Insane If You Let it

June 6, 2019 By Carol Stephen 4 Comments

Content creation will make you insane if you let it.

So many people have been talking about content creation lately. But do they ever talk about the daily grind of what happens when you have to churn out content on a daily basis? Mostly, content creation is glorified as something easy and simple that anyone can do. How much work goes into the creation of content, though? Like so many things in life, the answer is: it depends.

Who’s Your Audience?

Your audience is made up of at least two parts: those who actually visit your webiste and read your posts, and the little bots that roam around Google visiting your site. Having new content on a consistent basis helps your site rank higher so that both the people and the bots are satisfied. Of course, your human audience should come first. You don’t want your words to sound like they’re written for bots!

Photo by James Jordan

The Problem is Consistency

Coming up with one or two or even ten blog posts isn’t the problem. The problem is sustaining your content creation for months and maybe years. Will you ever get tired of writing? What if no one reads your writing, or you don’t just don’t feel like blogging any more? Will you be able to continue writing even if you don’t want to? If you’re feeling stuck, you might like this article: Content Creation: How to Make Your Writing More Fun! And, once you’ve read that and followed it, you could also share that blog post four (or more) different ways.

Content Creation: Be a Tortoise, Rather Than a Hare

Creating content for your readers puts you in the camp with the tortoises, not the hares. That is, you need to have steady progress and keep at it. Someone told me something a long time ago, and it stuck: Apply the seat of your pants to the seat of the chair for success. So sit down and write something–anything–even if it’s bad. Write one sentence. Then write another one. See where it takes you.

Photo by Colin Remas Brown

Wrangle Those Words

Keep at it, even if you don’t feel like it. Because sometimes you’ll change your mind as you start writing. It’s like going to the gym. Put on your gym shoes and get yourself there and fake it if you have to. One thing that helps me write more is to read my words out loud. Try it and let me know how it goes! And don’t go insane in the process.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: blogging, blogging consistency, content creation, writing

Can Social Media Be Used for Social Good?

May 30, 2019 By Carol Stephen Leave a Comment

Can Social Media Be Used for Social Good?

Of course, you already know the answer to this one: social media can absolutely be used for social good. But here are some examples that are really positive. Because who doesn’t like good news? By the way, here is an article you might like: This Is What I Really Really Love about Social Media.

Animal Rights

Actor Ricky Gervais, while not a huge fan of social media, mentions how animal rights petitions can be signed online, changing things quite quickly. There are countless examples of reversals in policy due to people demanding animal rights. People can quickly collect money for a necessary operation for a beloved pet, and they can post about animals available for adoption online, too. The ASPCA recently showcased an article about the positive effect social media has had on animal shelters and rescues.

Human Rights

Like animal rights, human rights can be influenced by social media. Take this article from Amnesty International about how social media is transforming human rights monitoring. Since the emergence of social media, elections are being monitored more than ever. Journalists cannot be everywhere at the same time, so citizens tweeting and posting can fact check and witness what is happening around the globe at lightning speed.

Organ Donation Awareness

During the past ten years or so, organ donation awareness has been mentioned more often, with living donation increased. My good friend Amy Donohue donated her kidney as the result of a tweet she saw. She’s working on “Social Media Stole My Kidney.” And she took a trip across the U.S. to raise awareness. Follow Amy on Facebook.

Land Trusts

One of my favorite ways to use social media for social good is raising awareness. Land trusts can connect with donors, host events where citizen scientists are invited to participate, thank volunteers, and so on. Land trusts help to preserve the places that we love. There are many land trusts all over the country–simply type in land trust and your location to see some local to you. I really like Sempevirens Fund, which protects redwoods near where I live. Do you have a favorite?

Photo by elpinto007

Giving Campaigns

Giving campaigns, such as Giving Tuesday, allow nonprofits to establish channels for donations to favorite causes. Giving Tuesday allows nonprofits to discover new donors, as well as raising awareness. Giving Tuesday has been successful largely due to social media.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: social media and animal rights, social media and human rights, social media and organ donation, social media and social good

How to Share a Blog Post Four Different Ways

May 23, 2019 By Carol Stephen Leave a Comment

How to Share a Blog Post Four Different Ways

Everyone talks about working smarter, not harder, but what does that actually mean? If you’ve been wondering about what that looks like, stick around, and you’ll get some ideas.

Content Creation: How to Make Your Writing More Fun: https://t.co/TwQsHzybeQ #marketing #contentcreation pic.twitter.com/16oKU7KMtu

— Carol Stephen (@Carol_Stephen) May 16, 2019

Your Time is Valuable

Do you really want to sit down and create an entirely new blog post from scratch? No! How, then, can you take the same post and share it all over the place and make it look entirely different? Ah, that’s the secret. For this exercise, I’ll use my own blog post, Content Creation: How to Make Your Writing More Fun. Take a look at the original blog post so you can see what that looks like–that is, with the top image shared. Remember, not everyone is going to read your excellent writing, no matter how great it is. So the original is the first one shared.

If you're trying to make your blog post more fun, the Images may be even more important than the writing itself (but don't tell your writer friend that!). https://t.co/ND1SbXRpvZ #ContentCreation #Writing pic.twitter.com/rDibfdpXuN

— Carol Stephen (@Carol_Stephen) May 20, 2019

Use a Different Image

The image is probably the most important part of your article, even above the title of your blog post. So make it beautiful! Or make it something that will make your audience say “hmm…I wonder what the heck that is!” Maybe that happens when I use my own pictures. I imagine people squinting with puzzled looks on their faces. So rather than rewrite that blog post, I could change the image. Take a look.

"To fully appreciate bad writing, you need to pick up something at the airport before you get on a plane." Content Creation: How to Make Your Writing More Fun: https://t.co/ND1SbXzO7p #ContentCreation #Writing pic.twitter.com/tmyLm7x8Pz

— Carol Stephen (@Carol_Stephen) May 21, 2019

Change the Quote When You Reshare

No doubt, you’ll have a few different quotes that you can pluck from your blog post. So choose one or two, put those into quotes, add the title, the link, and a hashtag or two, if needed. Of course, you don’t have to change the hashtag or the shortened link, but you could reach a different audience (at least with different hashtags). And using a customized link does look fancier.

One Post Four Different Ways

Customize for Social Media Platforms

The post above was shared on Facebook. It looks similar, but with a different quote, different image, and no hashtags. You could do something similar on LinkedIn. You might want to share the same post but on a different day.

Bonus Idea

Another way to change up a blog post is to write a completely original quote–it’s kind of “meta,” but why not add something about what was happening the day you wrote it? Or some sort of context about the article itself?

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: blogging, how to share blog post, recycling content, writing

Content Creation: How to Make Your Writing More Fun

May 16, 2019 By Carol Stephen 4 Comments

Content Creation: How to Make Your Writing More Fun

Sometimes work can be a real drag. On those days when you start looking at the clock before lunch, you know it’s going to be longer than it needs to be. The solution? More fun, of course! But that’s easier said than done. Here are some ideas to influence your writing, which if you’re a writer can, in turn, make your day more fun.

Add Colorful Images

Images may be even more important than the writing itself (but don’t tell any writer that!). As Neil Patel writes in his excellent article 11 Best Practices for Including Images in Your Blog Post, “What you need to understand is that your audience is lazy.” That is, they want to get the information as quickly as possible. And images can make your readers smile or laugh, too, while getting them more information. Yes, visual information counts.

Appreciate Bad Writing

Bad writing has its place. And if you’re someone who writes for a living, writing badly is probably difficult for you. It would be like asking someone with perfect pitch to sing something off-key. Reading bad writing may be something that hurts your teeth. You know what I mean, you writers out there! To fully appreciate bad writing, you need to pick up something at the airport before you get on a plane. And you must read it while enjoying those miniscule pretzels you get with your orange juice. If you appreciate bad writing, then you’ll notice the difference when you see good writing. You might like Content Creation: What Are the Best Habits for Writing?

Automatic Writing

Do you ever write without any end in mind? That is, just fill a notebook with a page of whatever’s on your mind? At first, the words may seem like gibberish. But you may notice after a while that there’s a topic or two in there that could be expanded. And those topics that you happen upon accidentally can be even more fun. Automatic writing works really well in the morning for me, but you can take a try any time of day. The important thing is to turn off the editor who lives in your head and keep going.

Combine Two Unique Topics

This is probably my favorite way to write. Combine two topics that you wouldn’t usually see together. For instance, What Nikola Tesla Said about the New iPhone Will Blow Your Mind! probably isn’t an article or blog post that you’re going to see very often. That’s what some might call a long, long, long tail word. So you might think about combining someone in the news along with another topic and see what happens. At the very least, you’ll have fun writing!

Write for Yourself

That is, don’t worry about what anyone else will think. That’s a good way to start. Of course, if you have an audience, you need to keep them in mind. But if you don’t have anything written, you can’t go back and edit later. You need to have something on the page so you can go back and change it, after all.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: automatic writing, content creation, make writing fun, more fun content creation

What’s the Best Social Media Site for Discussions?

May 9, 2019 By Carol Stephen 6 Comments

What’s the Best Social Media Site for Discussions?

Maybe you’ve joined all kinds of social media sites in order to share your own content. And now you’re saying now what? Maybe you’d like to have conversations and some engagement on those sites. Maybe you’d like an actual discussion. Where would you begin? By the way, you might like my article on engagement: For Better Social Media Results, Focus on Engagement.

Lines Are Blurring Between Sites

In some ways, the lines between the different sites are blurring. Facebook looks a lot like LinkedIn (and vice-versa) these days. You can scroll, like, share, etc. And video is becoming more popular across all sites.

Smaller Sites Offer Discussion

Some lesser-known sites offer opportunities for discussions, such as Quora and Reddit, but then again, are your customers and friends there? If they are, then, by all means, join them. But if they’re not, maybe it’s better to go where the people are. The 21 top social media sites for 2019 (from Buffer) are those with the most users. But wait! That doesn’t necessarily mean you should be on Snapchat!

Larger Sites May Be Better for Discussions

If you’re looking to connect with more people, the larger sites tend to attract more people. Here are some of the benefits of each:

Twitter is very good for chatting with a group, focused on a specific topic. Tweet chats are plentiful and seem to be making a comeback. I’ll be writing more about Twitter chats, and started writing a TweetChats: Your Complete Guide. Here is Part One.

On Facebook, you can have a discussion, and it’s a bit easier to follow threads. You may want to start the discussion at a particular time (when your audience is online) by checking your analytics.

On LinkedIn, you can also follow threads, similar to Facebook. On LinkedIn, it’s good to post at times when your audience is online, too. Early in the morning is good, and so is right after dinner time.

YouTube is becoming more and more popular, and is the largest search engine, after Google. How-to videos, in particular, do very well, and there’s plenty to discuss there.

If you market to Millennials, and especially women, Pinterest is a great place to be. 80-90% of Pinterest’s users are women. Recently, Pinterest went public and has been doing well.

Do You Have a Favorite Place for Discussions?

Maybe you like to comment on blog posts! Or maybe you like Facebook. Do tell!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Best Social Media Site for Discussions?, where to have discussions on social media

TweetChats: Your Complete Guide, Part One

May 2, 2019 By Carol Stephen Leave a Comment

Your Complete Guide to TweetChats

Part One: Do You Really Want to Host a Tweetchat?

In this series, I’ll go through a step-by-step process for everything you need to know about tweetchats, starting with hosting tweetchats–maybe even more than you want to know. It’ll include structured versus unstructured chats, how to choose a name, how to promote, ways to extend your reach, how to measure your success, and more. If you’re 100% positive that you want to host one, though, skip this post. In Part Two, there will be information about how to get started. I’ve already written a few articles about tweetchats which you might enjoy:

Challenges of Hosting Tweetchats

Tweetchats are a lot of work. If you’re hosting a tweetchat, some of the things you must decide are:

how to name one
how to promote yours
deciding whether or not to have a co-host
how much time it will take
whether you have the time
what it will do for your business
what happens if you go on vacation
how will you promote your tweetchat

They are a commitment and to create a good one will require lots more time than the 30 minutes or one hour of the chat itself. People can hijack your hashtag and promote their own agenda, so be prepared for that. Also, you’ll need to come up with a weekly or monthly topic (though some are very loose).

Pluses of Hosting Tweetchats

There are lots of positive reasons to create a tweetchat. Social Media Examiner has a good list of reasons and steps to hosting a successful Twitter chat. Although it’s from 2012, there’s still a lot of good information there.

A tweetchat can:

give you credibility
help you connect with your followers at a deeper level
bring you more followers
establish you as an expert
entertain you
help you easily meet new friends by providing a topic of conversation
bring you new business.
surprise you. Sometimes a big brand will chime in and you’ll be surprised by that. You may get offers of sponsorship, money, or free cars (just kidding about the cars…checking to see if you’re still with me).
be highly entertaining! And if you’re like me, and work alone a lot, you may enjoy the company.

Questions?

If there’s anything you’d like to know about leading a tweetchat, leave a comment, and I’ll try to answer your questions within the blog. And thank you.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: hosting tweetchats, how to host tweetchats

Is Social Media the New Foundation of Friendships?

April 25, 2019 By Carol Stephen 2 Comments

Recently, there have been more articles about people being lonelier, and especially millennials. There seem to be fewer ways to meet people, with more of our shopping done online, and even classes being online these days. So what’s a person to do? How do you go about meeting people? By the way, if your loneliness leads to depression, you may want to see a professional. Here are some ideas for dealing with loneliness.

Hobbies Explored through Social Media

For me, my hobbies have often turned into friendships. I’ve talked before about knitting (in the context of boredom), and how that has opened up into another world of friendships. Stick with me for a minute here. So I found out about local knitting classes on Instagram, invited a couple of girlfriends to go with me, then met a whole bunch of other knitters with whom we now share wine, knitting, and details of our lives. With a new hobby (perhaps it’s a different hobby for you), you might also know people within your circle who already knit or photograph or like to hike, and reestablish those connections.

Online Classes

Even if you are in a class that’s online, sometimes people want to meet in person. And those meetings can blossom into friendships. Years ago I took an online class and am still friends with the woman who taught the class. I discovered the class through Twitter.

Meetups

Another way to meet and make friends is through meetups. There are many meetups for all kinds of interests, and if there isn’t one for your interest, you can easily create your own. For instance, I’ve met many people through a meetup that I used to attend on the Law of Attraction. Although many classes are only available through Meetup, some of them announce their meetups through social media. That may be indirect, but it’s a good way to meet people, too.

Photo by Ignite New Zealand

Have You Met People Online and Then In Person?

How did that go? And are you still friends? Leave me a comment! And thank you.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: social media foundation friendship, social media friendship