MackCollier.com

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#Blogchat LIVE at SXSW Review: Online smartitude goes offline

Let’s be honest: Two years ago when the first impromptu #Blogchat was held, I had no idea it would become as big as it has.  And even 2 months ago, I had no idea that we’d be in Austin at the largest social media event/festival on the planet, doing a LIVE version of a popular Twitter chat.

Yet on March 13th, there we were, spread out over three floors at the Social Media Clubhouse.  Connecting with each other and chatting about blogging.  It was such an amazing group, with 5 co-hosts helping me lead the conversation; Richard Binhammer, Ken Lingad, C.C. Chapman, Shannon Paul and Becky McCray.  Much of the success of this event can be tied to these five people, as they all did a wonderful job of connecting with everyone and keeping the conversation going.  They are all wonderful speakers, and beyond that (and this is far more important) they are truly good people.

The event itself ended up being a regular #Blogchat, without the laptops and Twitter.  Which is exactly what I wanted.  We had about 70 people spread out over 3 floors, with each floor discussing the same topic, ‘What can company blogs learn from personal bloggers?’  What was amazing was that each floor had a slightly different take, based on the people in attendance.  For example, Ken and I co-hosted on the 2nd floor, and our conversation focused on how important it is for company blogs to find their unique voice, and how that makes it easier for readers to connect with them.  While on the 3rd floor, which was hosted by Becky and C.C., creating a social media/blogging policy and guidelines for your company was a focus.  This makes sense, since that floor had representatives from Dell and Cisco participating.

Thankfully, the online experience of #Blogchat seemed to translate fairly effortlessly to the offline world.  Now there were a few hiccups, but thankfully, these were mostly logistical issues that were a byproduct of never having done a Live #Blogchat before, and not knowing what to expect.  And this really was a test to see if there’s a future in this model, and I believe there is.  Not only did I get very positive reviews from the participants and sponsors, but I’m also talking to people at multiple events throughout the end of the year about possibly having a Live #Blogchat be a part of their event.

Let me add here that the PEOPLE that participate in #Blogchat are what make it work on Twitter, and y’all made the Live version a success as well.  Thank you to EVERYONE that attended.  Y’all all brought and shared your smartitude, and I really think the event itself was a nice contrast to many of the ‘parties’ at SXSW, and a fabulous chance for us to get together with some smart friends and have an interesting and informative conversation.  I also think it was a wonderful pairing for #AllHat3, earlier in the day.  Again, thank all of you that came.

In closing, I have to say how lucky I was to have 1680PR and Dell as sponsors for the Live #Blogchat.  This was the 1st time we’d done a Live #Blogchat, so obviously the 1st time I’d needed to bring on sponsors for it.  Ken reached out to me directly about being the Main Sponsor for the Live #Blgochat when he saw my post on looking for sponsors that I wrote here back in January.  Ken and his team were completely accommodating, and they understood why #Blogchat works, and didn’t suggest we change a thing.  And besides that, Ken’s a great guy, what I really liked was having my friends at SXSW meet him, then hearing them later tell me that they enjoyed spending time with him.  That means a lot to me to have #Blogchat sponsored by good people and I think/hope Ken and I will be able to work together on future projects.

And my goodness, what else can I say about my friends at Dell?  Richard was one of the Live #Blogchat co-hosts, so I was hoping Lionel could join us as well.  Not only did Lionel attend the Live #Blogchat, but so did Susan Beebe, Carly Tatum AND Sarah Richardson!  Then afterwards when a few of us at the Live #Blogchat event went to the Hilton Lobby to do #Blogchat on Twitter, Dell’s Laura Thomas joined us there!

On Monday I was talking to a member of the social media team at a major brand that everyone has heard of.  He was telling me that his team was looking for ways to use social media to connect with and engage consumers.  I said “Let me tell you something, in the span of 2 hours yesterday, I got to chat with SIX members of Dell’s social media team here.  Yes, social media is hugely important, but putting feet on the pavement still matters.”  What makes Dell’s social media efforts so brilliant is that they understand that the interactions created via social media are just the start.  They leverage those online connections into offline ones.  THAT is where the magic happens.  I don’t keep gushing about Dell because I love their products, I gush about Dell because I love the people BEHIND those products.

Again, thanks to everyone that attended the 1st ever Live #Blogchat.  If your company would like to talk to me about sponsoring a Live #Blogchat or if you are an event organizer that would like to add a Live #Blogchat to your program, please email me for more details.

If you couldn’t make it to SXSW, here’s a few more pics:

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SXSW 2011 Review: Still the biggest, and still the best

“I’m not going this year.”

I heard that from several friends when I asked them about their SXSW plans for this year.  This, along with the reviews I heard from people that attended last year (which I missed), made me a bit worried about what my third SXSW experience would be like.

It was my best trip yet to SXSW, hands down.

The wonderful thing about SXSW is it’s the only place in the world that gives you access to such an amazing group of people.  I got to talk brand advocacy with Jackie Huba and Virginia Miracle.  I talked marketing to teens via social media with marketers from Nokia and Coca-Cola.  I watched as a few brilliant people organized an effort on the fly to raise tens of thousands of dollars for Japan quake victims.  There’s only one place on the planet where all this could happen, and it is in Austin, Texas in March.

The SXSW experience isn’t perfect, but as is such with much of life, it is what you make of it.  For example, one of the biggest complaints I have had (and heard from others), is that it doesn’t make sense to spend a couple of thousand dollars to go socialize for 3-4 days in Austin every year.  I was determined to get real business value and leads from SXSW this year.  So as soon as I had it finalized that I was attending, I started reaching out to companies/people that I wanted to connect with, as well as letting everyone know what my schedule would be.  It made a HUGE difference in my experience in Austin.  Hell I was talking business with a SXSW attendee in the Houston airport for my connecting flight TO Austin last Friday.  Better planning and being proactive about attempting to connect with people made all the difference.

The Sessions: I honestly only attended one actual session, Valeria Maltoni’s session on Influence, and I only caught a few minutes of it.  I did catch the Content Rules book reading with Ann Handley and C.C. Chapman, as well as David Merrman Scott’s book reading of Marketing Lessons From the Grateful Dead.  But I heard from many people that the sessions were surprisingly good this year.  I was happy to hear this, because the quality of the sessions had been woefully lacking in my 2 previous trips to SXSW.  Good to hear that wasn’t as big of an issue for 2011.

So the bottom line: Should you attend SXSW next year?

My advice is yes IF you properly plan.   Here’s what I would suggest you do if you want to attend SXSW:

1 – Buy your badge as soon as possible.  This will save you money, and you can always sell the badge to someone else later if you decide you can’t make it.

2 – Reserve a room in a hotel downtown.  A big reason why you want to buy your badge early is so you can also get your room booked.  Now a big reason why my SXSW experience was so much better this year was because I was able to get a room at the Hilton, which is literally across the street from the Convention Center where SXSWi is held.  But you don’t have to go with the Hilton, the Marriott and Hampton Inn downtown will all put you within 2-3 blocks of SXSW and most of the off-site events and parties you would want to attend.   I believe the Four Seasons is close by.  Yes, these hotels are a bit more expensive, but I think the convenience factor makes up for it.  Other than the cab ride to the airport, you should never pay more than $10 for a cab fare anywhere, even if you can’t find a buddy to catch a ride with.

3 – Decide exactly WHY you are going to SXSW, and plan accordingly.  Are you going to socialize?  Then make a list of the people that you absolutely have to meet/connect with, and start contacting them ASAP.  Also, figure out where the ‘hot-spots’ are for people hanging out (The Blogger’s Lounge is always a safe bet. Figure out where it is located and use it as your ‘home base’).

Are you going for business leads and networking?  Then same thing, make a list of the people/companies you have to connect with, and find a way to make that happen.  You want to do this planning because NO plan is safe at SXSW 😉  Schedules are constantly changing, I had meetings run over, I had other people cancel meetings, I had others wanting to schedule some on-site.  Everything is fluid with SXSW, so the sooner you can plan ahead and lock people down, the better.

4 – Let everyone know where you are and will be.  I’m not a big FourSquare user, but I was using it often at SXSW, simply to let others know where I was in case they were looking for me.  I was also doing the same thing, I actually avoided one party because I saw that only a couple of people that I knew were tweeting from there, while another event had more people I knew.  And also write a blog post sharing where you will be, I had several people contact me to meet after I wrote a post saying where I will be.

5 – See if you can get help covering travel costs. Going to SXSW *is* expensive.  Even if you book early, you will still pay $450 for your badge, plus $300 a night for hotel, and probably close to $500 for flight.  Add in food, cabs, and anything else you want to buy while in town, and you could easily hit $2,500+ for the cost of the trip.  If you work for a company, see if they can pay some/all of your costs for you to go to connect with others.  If you are an independent, see if you can go with a client and have them help defray your costs, in exchange for connecting them with others while there.  Or if you are a blogger, maybe a company would be willing to sponsor your trip?  The great thing about SXSW is that almost all of the ‘big names’ in the social media space are there.  And companies want to connect with these influencers.  If you are an influencer or can help your company/clients by connecting them to these people, there’s value in that for companies.

6 – If you are a content creator, take advantage of SXSW.  I really didn’t do a good job of this, other than taking a few dozen pictures.  As I’ve said before, you have unprecedented access to smartitude at SXSW, so take advantage of that to chat with people, interview them for posts, shoot a quick video with them, etc.

After having gone three times, from my own experiences and from the feedback I’ve gotten from others, I can tell that the time you invest in planning out your SXSW experience has a HUGE impact on it.  Yes, serendipity happens often in Austin (and it’s amazing), but you can’t make serendipity your plan.  If you want to connect with certain individuals, make that happen, the earlier the better.

Here’s a few more pics from SXSW, and tomorrow I will have a full review of the 1st ever LIVE #Blogchat!

 

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#Blogchat for 3-13: What can company blogs learn from personal bloggers?

1680PR's Ken Lingad

Hopefully, you’ll be one of the 100 people that can join us in Austin for the 1st ever LIVE #Blogchat on Sunday.  But if not, we’ll still be doing #Blogchat on Twitter this Sunday during our regular time slot of 8pm Central.  And the topic will be the same as the one we’ll be tackling at SXSW, What can company blogs learn from personal bloggers?  And this #Blogchat will be sponsored by 1680PR, and 1680PR’s Ken Lingad will be co-hosting with me.

Also, if you’ll be in Austin and can’t make it to the Live #Blogchat (or even if you can), you can still hang out with Ken and I Sunday night from 7pm-9pm as we co-host #Blogchat.  Not sure where we’ll be setup, but it will likely be at the Hilton or somewhere close by.  When a location is finalized, I’ll update this post.

See everyone this Sunday!

 

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Fans aren’t just for Rockstars: A Framework for helping companies connect with their advocates and vice-versa

Warning: This is an uncharacteristically long post for this blog, but it’s a topic that I am pretty passionate about: Helping companies better connect with their brand advocates and customers, and vice versa.  If you’ve read this blog for any amount of time, you know how I often use the Rockstar analogy to explain how Rockstars have fans, while companies have customers.  This post attempts to address this point, and provide a framework for how companies can better connect to their customers and advocates.  And vice-versa, with the end goal being that both the customer and the company better understand each other, and the financial benefits that the business will enjoy as a result.

The best post on social media that you have likely never read is this one from Hugh in 2005.  In it, Hugh makes the case for corporate blogging (remember this was a year before Twitter was launched and the Goliath of the social media arena at the time was MySpace), and talks about the conversations that companies have internally, versus the one their customers are having externally.  The idea being that a corporate blog makes it easier for the customer to bring their external conversation to the company, and the company can more easily bring their internal conversation to the customer.

Ideally, both groups would become more closely aligned, as a result of better understanding each other.  As the customer’s external conversation begins to be heard and understood by the company, then the company’s internal conversation changes a bit.  And that change likely moves it closer to the external one, and in theory, as each group better understands the other, the two separate conversations will gravitate toward each other.  This is what I was talking about in my post on the promise of social media for businesses lies in FEWER conversations.

I was recently talking to Liz Strauss about this concept, about how businesses need to better understand the external conversation their customer are having, and how it will change the internal conversation. The idea is that businesses should be connected to their customers, especially their advocates, and bring that external conversation to the company, so they can better understand and connect with their customers.  And at the same time, find a way to connect with the customer so they can better understand the internal conversation the company is having, and the company itself.  Liz asked a very good question: “What’s the process for that?”

Uhhhhh…..

So I decided to come up with a process to do just that.  This is rough and I’ll no doubt be editing it constantly as time goes by.

To better understand what I’m suggesting, let’s look at a fictional B2C company, Carl’s Soda.  CS is middle of the pack in a crowded industry, and like most companies, can tell you their customer demographics, but doesn’t have a lot of direct interaction with their customers.  They have average customer satisfaction (avg to the beverage industry) scores, yet like most companies, do have their customer advocates.  Though the company does little to engage this group.  The majority of its marketing and advertising is done via traditional channels, with the pre-requisite experimenting being done online, especially with social media.

In short, they are pretty much lost in the shuffle in a crowded industry.  We want to see if we can change that by better connecting the company to its customers, and its customers to the company.

What we need to do is find a way to help CS get a better understanding of their customers via the external conversation that its customers are having about the brand.  At the same time, we need to take the internal conversation that the company is having about itself and its customers, and take that to its customers, in an effort to not only build brand awareness, but to also help its customers better understand the brand.  Because once both groups better understand each other, that’s going to facilitate more communication between both groups, which will increase understanding, which will lead to trust.  Which will move CS from middle of the pack, to the front of the pack.  As Steve Knox said:

As you’ll see as this process is fleshed out, it’s going to not only embrace and empower CS’s existing brand advocates, but cultivate new ones as well.

Step One: Creation of a Customer Insights Team

Responsibilites:

  • This group will be responsible for not only monitoring online and offline product and company mentions, but for preparing findings and providing them to relevant departments within the company, such as marketing, PR, customer services, product development/design, etc.
  • Additionally, this team will closely track changes in the volume of online mentions, as well as the sentiment.
  • Responsible for internal education of customers and interacting with them online.

Step Two: Creation of a Brand Ambassador Program for Carl’s Soda

As stated above, Carl’s Soda has its share of brand advocates, but really hasn’t done anything to engage them.  That starts with this program, which will be invitation-only and cap membership at 100.  This will give Carl’s Soda the ability to not only connect directly with its most passionate customers, but a mechanism to give them the tools to spread their love of Carl’s Soda to other customers.  If you’re looking at an existing model to compare this to, look at what Fiskars has done in creating The Fiskateers movement.

Step Three: Creation of an Internal Social Networking Site for Carl’s Soda’s employees

This would be a way for employees to learn more about each other, and share ideas and feedback.  This would also give employees a way to give feedback on the working environment, and suggestions for improvement.  Unlike the brand ambassador program, this should be open to any employees that want to participate.  Similar corporate models could be Best Buy’s Blue Shirt Nation, or Dell’s internal IdeaStorm for employees.

Now we need a mechanism in place to facilitate the flow of the external the customers are having to the internal walls of the company, and a separate mechanism in place that will facilitate the flow of the internal conversation that the company is having about itself and its customers, to the customers.  This leads to Steps Four and Five:

Step Four: Creation of a Brand Advisory Council

This will be a 6-person council comprised of 4 brand advocates for the company, and 2 customer advocates (who are company employees).  The 4 brand advocates will be chosen from the membership of the brand ambassador program.

Responsibilities:

  • The Brand Advisory Council will be over the Brand Ambassador Program.
  • The Brand Advisory Council will work with the Customer Insights Team to ensure that Carl’s Soda has the most accurate information about its customers
  • Will meet quarterly with key executives at Carl’s Soda to give them greater insights into the company’s customers and advocates.

Step Five: Creation of a Customer Advisory Council

This will be a 6-person council comprised of 4 customer advocates (who are company employees), and 2 brand advocates, who are also members of the Brand Advisory Council.

Responsibilities:

  • Will be over the internal social networking site for employees as detailed in Step Three.
  • The Customer Advisory Council will be responsible for bringing the internal conversation that the company is having about itself and its customers, to its customers.  This could be done via meetups, or even social media by highlighting employees and their thoughts via posts, video, etc.
  • Will meet quarterly with key executives at Carl’s Soda to give them greater insights into the company’s employees and the internal conversation they are having about the company, and its customers.

Now as I stated above, this is a rough draft and I will no doubt be altering this several times in the future.  But the entire reason for this process is based on this truth: Participating in a conversation changes that conversation.  This process is about finding a way to better align the external conversation that customers are having about the company, with the internal conversation that the company is having about its customers.

The benefits of this process include:

  • A better understanding of its customers, which leads the company to more effectively and efficiently market to its customers.  Which lowers marketing costs.
  • As the company better understands its customers, and vice versa, customer satisfaction improves.
  • As the company’s employees have a mechanism in place (internal socnet) to connect with each other and provide feedback on the company itself, employee satisfaction improves.


Why I think this is so important

Several times I’ve written here and elsewhere about how rockstars connect with their fans, and more or less have the same conversation.  Some companies, such as Harley-Davidson, have many brand advocates, and as a result, the internal and external conversations aren’t that far apart.  Harley-Davidson loves its products and brand for many of the same reasons its customers do.

But many companies have difficulty with this because the conversation the company is having and the one the customers are having about the company, are usually quite disjointed.  This process attempts to address that, and bring the two conversations more closely together.

At the end of the day, companies cannot afford to ignore their customers any longer.  Customers now have the tools available to them to mobilize and communicate with themselves far faster than the company can communicate on its own behalf.  Recent PR trainwrecks like Motrin Moms and Kenneth Cole’s #Egypt tweets on Twitter attest to this.  Companies have to not only be aware of what their customers are saying, but find a way to bring that conversation into their walls, and vice versa.  This process helps them get started along that path.

What have I missed? And there is a TON I have missed, trust me.  Does this make sense?  Again, it’s the starting point, the execution side hasn’t really been addressed yet.  What would that look like?

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#Blogchat schedule with Ann Handley & C.C. Chapman!

Or “The one with so much smartitude we needed an extra co-host” 😉

Join Content Rules co-authors C.C. Chapman and Ann Handley as they co-host #Blogchat tonite at 8pm Central!  The topic is How to Create Engaging Blog Posts, and since these two smarties literally wrote the book on this topic, they are the perfect fit!

If you want to follow along with us, I suggest you use TweetDeck, and create 3 columns: One for all #Blogchat tweets, one for @MarketingProfs’ tweets, and one for @CC_Chapman’s tweets.  Also PLEASE make sure you follow Ann and C.C., even if you can’t join is today, as both are brilliant and super-helpful.  Also, make sure you subscribe to their sites(here’s Ann’s, and here’s C.C.’s) and of course check out their book, Content Rules.

As for the format, here’s what we’ll discuss:

1 – At 8:00pm, we’ll discuss how to create engaging blog posts.  So if you have any questions for Ann and C.C. on how to create more engaging blog posts, this is where you want to be!

2 – At 8:30pm we’ll shift to talk about how to ‘re-imagine’ content, as Ann and C.C. describe it in Content Rules.  That is, how to take one piece of content, such as a webinar or white paper, and also get a blog post(s), an interview, or whatever.  I know that one of the issues #Blogchat participants are constantly struggling with is how to create more content, so the tips here from Ann and C.C. will be a big help!

As always, make sure you take a LOT of notes 😉

If you’ve never joined #Blogchat and want to know what it’s all about, click here.  The general rule is that we are all here to learn from each other.  If you have any questions, feel free to ask, #Blogchat has an amazingly helpful community, and we’ll be happy to help you if we can, so just ask!

And a final reminder, if you’ll be attending SXSW, Ann and C.C. will be one of FIVE amazing co-hosts at the LIVE #Blogchat in Austin!

Thanks again to C.C. and Ann for agreeing to join us!

 

 

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My SXSW schedule

social media training, brand evangelists

This time next week, my plane will (hopefully) just be landing in Austin.  I’ve never been this excited about attending SXSW and I have a ton of events I’ll be attending, so I wanted to list everything here, so hopefully we can connect.  I’ll be at SXSW from next Friday through Monday afternoon.  The majority of my time on Friday and Monday during the day will be devoted to meetings, and I’ll be in the Austin Convention Center for the most part.

If you are a company (Especially big brand B2C) that:

  • Needs Social Media Training
  • Needs Social Media Consulting or Advisement
  • Needs help launching a brand ambassador or blogger/influencer outreach program
  • Want to discuss sponsoring a future #Blogchat or sponsoring a LIVE #Blogchat event

Then please email me and let’s set up a time to discuss your needs.  I’ve already got some meetings scheduled during Friday and Monday, but if you want to discuss how we can work together, I’ll make sure we get a chance to connect.

As for Saturday and Sunday (and Friday night), I am going to spend those days connecting with my old and new friends.  Here’s the events I will be at:

Friday Night: Ignite Social Media Party, starting at 7pm.

Saturday: Tequila Now party for the Now Revolution from 1:30 – 3:30pm.

Saturday Night: Either Wiley book party, or Frog Design’s Opening Party (which would be better?)

Sunday: #AllHat3 from 12:30 – 3:00pm

Sunday: #Blogchat LIVE at SXSW from 3:30-6:00pm (YES!)

Sunday Night: #Blogchat on Twitter from 7pm-9:30pm (probably from the Hilton lobby ;))

So if we haven’t met let’s please do so at SXSW!  Feel free to email me and we can get together and I can shake your hand, at least 😉

 

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40 Dead Simple Ways to Get More Comments on Your Blog

Want more engagement and interaction on your blog?  Yeah, most of us do, here’s 40 tips to get you started:

Blog Design:

1 – Put your picture on the front page and the About page of the blog.

2 – On the About page write who you are and why you are blogging.  Both #1 and #2 make it easier for readers to connect with you, which makes them more likely to interact with you.

3 – Highlight commenters.  Remember to always reward the action that you want to encourage.

4 – Use the Comment Luv plugin on your self-hosted WordPress blog. Again, when someone comments, they get an extra link, which encourages more comments.

5 – Add a form to subscribe to your blog via email.

6 – Add Feed/RSS subscriber buttons to your blog.

7 – Add a link to contact you directly, by email at least.  Or add a Contact Me page. Remember, not everyone is comfortable commenting on your blog, they may want to use email.  Getting an email exchange going can convince them to start commenting.

8 – Create a blogroll or ‘Favorite Reads’ page highlighting your favorite blogs and add blogs from your regular contributors.

9 – Write a comment policy. Tell your readers exactly what is expected of them when they comment.

10 – Don’t moderate comments.  Nothing about the words ‘Your comment is awaiting moderation’ encourages a reader to comment more.  Nothing.

11 – If you do moderate, approve comments as quickly as possible.

Writing posts:

12 – Take a definite stand. Tackle a heated issue and firmly state your opinion/beliefs.  Notice how Beth Harte did that in this post on Social Media ROI.  Notice how some commenters are agreeing with her, and how some are disagreeing.  But by taking a stand, she got a conversation started.

13 – Close your post with ‘What do you think?’ Possibly the 4 words that get more interaction than any other.  Chris Brogan often ends his posts with ‘Your Turn’.

14 – Link to other bloggers that are creating valuable content.  Notice this post has 5 links to other bloggers.  Those links will help my readers find valuable content, and it also increases the chances that my readers as well as the writers I linked to, will comment here.

15 – Be personal.  Lisa Petrilli probably does this better than anyone, and note that her readers respond in kind.  It makes it much easier to share your personal thoughts when someone else does first.

16 – Get on a regular posting schedule.  We talked about this yesterday.

17 – Write in a conversational tone.  This is tricky, but what I try to do is write a post as if I am saying what I think first, and then I know you are going to make your point in the comments, and then we’ll continue the discussion there.  But in general, think of writing a blog post as if you are writing a letter to someone, not a memo.

18 –  Write posts based on comments your readers have left.  Did Jackie leave an amazing comment on your last post?  Did it spark you to write a long comment?  Why not take that long comment and turn it into a new post.  Then reference Jackie’s comment, and link to her blog as well.   Remember, reward the behavior that you want to encourage.

19 – Add great comments to your post.  If you don’t want to do the above, then you can add a comment to the end of your post.  Add an UPDATE at the end, mention the comment and person who left it (with a link to their blog).  This ALSO encourages everyone to read the comments, since you just alerted them to the fact that there’s some serious smartitude happening there.

20 – Write about breaking news.  Especially controversial news, my recent posts on Groupon’s Super Bowl ads and the Kenneth Cole Twitter PR snafu got a lot of interaction, because I wrote about them right after they happened.  If I wrote about either topics today, there would likely be MUCH less interest.

21 – Write passionately. Don’t sell me your ideas, tell me why they are going to change the world.  Make me understand why you are so passionate about your ideas, and that increases the chance that I will get excited about them, and want to respond.

22 – Encourage readers to promote themselves and share more about what they are doing.  Becky McCray’s Brag Basket is a wonderful example of this.

Responding to comments:

23 – Refer to your commenters by their first name.  Remember when I said to write in a conversational tone?  This is a perfect extension of that.  Notice how the HomeGoods bloggers do this at the Open House blog?  Looks like they are writing letters, not comments, doesn’t it?

24 – Respond to comments.  Back to Lisa Petrilli’s blog, she usually has double-digit comments on every post, and she’s responsible for about half the comments on her blog.  See the connection?

25 – Say thank you.  Seriously, common courtesy isn’t as common as it should be.

26 – Ask a commenter to elaborate on a point.  If Tom makes a good point but you want to hear more about his reasoning, ask him to expand on his thoughts.

27 – Leave comments on other blogs.  The best way to grow your blog, is to leave it.

28 – Leave comments on the blogs of your commenters.  Again, you want to reward the behavior you are trying to encourage.

Other Social Media Sites:

29 – Promote great comments AND the commenter on other sites.  Often I will tweet a link on Twitter to my latest post, but will link to the actual comment that someone left.  And if I know what their Twitter name is, I will link to it as well.  Such as ‘Love the comment that @SWoodruff left on my post about building a blogging team’.  That way Steve gets acknowledged as well.

30 – Participate in discussions on other sites.  I have left a ton of comments on blogs after ‘meeting’ that blogger at #Blogchat.

31 – Promote other people.  All this does is encourage more people to check out your site, and comment.

 

But Mack, you promised us 40 tips, where are the other 9?!?

You have to figure out the other 9 for yourself.  Actually, after you’ve been blogging for a while, you’ll discover a few dozen more tips (at least) besides these for getting more comments and interaction on your blog.  These ‘tips’ and ‘How-to’ posts are always popular because people want to direction.  They want to know what the ‘rules’ are.

But if you want to be a truly great blogger, here’s the best rule to follow: Make your own rules.  Don’t look at the above as being the ONLY 31 tips that exist for getting more comments.  Look at it as 31 tips to get you STARTED.  Figure out how to add to this list, then share what you’ve learned, so it becomes your 50 tips for getting more comments.

What works for you that I didn’t list?  Help us find the 9 missing tips 😉

 

UPDATE: Aaron reminded me of a great way to encourage comments: Thank 1st-time commenters with a custom page.  I use this plugin so that the 1st time you leave a comment here, you are taken to a special page that thanks you for commenting!

ANOTHER UPDATE: Jonathan left this fabulous tip in the comments for leveraging Facebook to get more comments on your blog: “One tip that I have found helpful is to get a discussion going on our Facebook page telling my readers that I am writing a post on it. I include their comments to the discussion in my post and then share the link to the post in the original Facebook comment thread. It really has helped me build our community.”

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How to create a posting schedule for your business blog

If you are wanting to build traffic, interest and awareness for your business blog, one of the biggest factors is posting regular content to that blog.  When I say ‘regular’, I mean that you have a schedule for how often you post to your blog.  If you can only post once a month, then you post a new post every single month.  If you can post once a week, then every Wednesday, you have a new post up.

So here’s some quick tips for creating a posting schedule for your business blog:

1 – Figure out how often you can post to the blog, and shoot for a minimum of once a week.  And give yourself a range, and go with the low end.  It’s better to commit to one new post a week and then bump that up to 2 posts a week, than it is to start out posting twice a week, then have to back that down to once a week.

2 – Post on the same days every week.  Not everyone subscribes to blogs, and the ones that don’t will want to know when they can expect new content on your blog.  If they know for sure that every Wednesday means a new post on your company blog, then that greatly increases the chances that they will visit on Wednesday.

3 – Organize posts by content.  This is a great way to get more posts on your blog.  For example, if you are subscribed to industry sites and blogs, collect the interesting news and articles you find throughout the week, then on every Friday, write a post sharing 3-5 links, and write a brief summary of why the article is important.  Not only does this give your blog an extra post, but by sharing links with your readers, you are helping to keep them informed, which has real value for them.  If you only publish one new post a week to your blog then start doing this, you’ve instantly doubled the new content you create on your blog.

 

What would this look like in practice?  Here’s an example with a company that has a 3-person team creating content for their blog:

Monday:  Jessica writes a thought leadership article designed to help establish the company’s expertise.

Wednesday: Laura writes a post answering a reader-submitted question.

Friday: Kevin writes a post sharing links to industry news.

By following this simple posting strategy, the company has found a way to create content that builds its brand awareness, helps it better connect with its customers and improve satisfaction, plus draw new readers.

If you are part of a blogging team for your company, how did your team create its posting schedule?  What did I miss?

 

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Ann Handley & C.C. Chapman to Co-Host #Blogchat on March 6th!

One of the most requested topics from #Blogchat participants is how to create engaging blog content.  So I thought why don’t we tackle that topic next week with the two people that literally wrote the book on creating amazing online content?  That’s right, on Sunday, March the 6th, Ann Handley and C.C. Chapman will be co-hosting #Blogchat!  The co-authors of Content Rules will be walking us through how to create content on our blogs that engages your readers, and creates value for your business.  Oh and here’s a tip: If any of you are would-be podcasters, make SURE you bring your questions for C.C., who is one the true podcasting pioneers.

BTW as a bonus, here is a review of Content Rules by #Blogchat superstar @MargieClayman.  So make sure you are here Sunday night at 8pm Central to snag some smartitude from Ann and C.C. on how to create amazing posts and content for your blog!

But that’s only half of the great news…

As a ginormous bonus, both Ann and C.C. have agreed to join us in Austin on the 13th to co-host #Blogchat at SXSW! That means #Blogchat at SXSW will happen on THREE floors at the Social Media Clubhouse, and your SIX co-hosts are Ken Lingad, Richard Binhammer, Shannon Paul, C.C. Chapman, Ann Handley, and myself.  Here’s all the info on #Blogchat LIVE at SXSW.  Unfortunately, tickets are sold out, but you can still get on the waiting list by registering here.

See you this Sunday!

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If you use FeedBurner for Email Subs then DON’T DO THIS!

If you’ve read here for any amount of time, you know that I am often breaking stuff and screwing up, and then you get to benefit from my dumbassery.  Last week, David Wood was kind enough to share with me this screenshot of how my emails from MackCollier.com look in his inbox:

EVERY day when the latest post from MackCollier.com arrived in David’s inbox, it showed up in the same format:

Sender: MackCollier.com     Subject: MackCollier.com

Seriously?  I was mortified when I saw this screenshot!  I assumed (first mistake) that Feedburner was making the title of my post as the email Subject, but that clearly wasn’t the case.  Apparently, Feedburner by default picks your site URL as the email subject.

Thankfully, it’s a dead simple change to make, and here’s how you can change your email subject so that it’s the title of your blog post:

1 – Log into your Feedburner account.

2 – Click the Publicize tab at the top (If you have multiple feeds being managed by Feedburner, you’ll want to login and then click the feed you want to change and THEN click the Publicize tab)

3 – Click Email Subscriptions on the left.

4 – Click Email Branding.

5 – In the Email/Subject Title: box, put this: ${latestItemTitle}

6 – Click Save.

Now for an example of how big this change can be, before I made this change, last Thursday’s blog post showed up in the inbox of email subscribers with the Subject: MackCollier.com.

After I made the above switch, it showed up as Subject: How is Twitter Impacting SEO and Search? Here’s the (Visual) Proof

Which email Subject do you think would get more opens?

This leads to another important point: Subscribe to your own feed.  I was already subscribed via RSS, but I should have subscribed to my own Email feed as well, so I could have seen how the emails were showing up for subscribers.

So hopefully that helps you, if you’ve been using Feedburner for a while, what do you like best about it?  What could be better?