MackCollier.com

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The One Simple Thing You Can Do to Increase Email Subscribers to Your Blog

Email subscriptions, increasing email subscribers to your blog, rss, feedburnerSubscribe to your blog’s feed via email, then read it on your smartphone.

For those of you that aren’t aware, I live in a very rural area of Alabama.  Most days I work from home, but at least a couple of times a week I will go ‘into town’ to run errands and I’ll usually stop off at a local library to get some work done, etc.  Earlier this week I was on one of my trips into town and I went by Olive Garden to grab some lunch.  I do this often (yes I love pasta, and yes I have simple tastes ;)), and when I do, I will always use my smartphone to get on Twitter.  What I’ll do is scan the tweets from my lists, and RT any interesting links I see being shared by my followers.

On Monday, I was eating lunch, when I got that day’s blog post emailed to me because I am subscribed to my blog via both email and RSS.  Here’s what I saw when the email arrived:

1 – The title of the email was ‘Why Social Media Measurement Fails Most Companies‘.  Boom!  No fooling around, you know exactly what you will be getting when you open the email.  And note that the title promises to address a real problem that many businesses are facing.

2 – When I opened the email, the very first sentence of the email answered the post’s title:  Because they measure what’s available, instead of what benefits their company.  You know, there’s something to be said for writing well, and using stories to make your point, but there’s also something said for getting TO the damn point!

3 – The rest of the post offered simple and relevance examples that (hopefully) backed up the main premise of the post.  There wasn’t a lot of beating around the bush.

 

And as I read that post, I realized that a lot of people, especially executives and marketers at companies, were getting this same email right now.  They were just like me, they were busy, they were probably going to get lunch (just like me), so they were likely either reading this email in the back of a cab, or at a restaurant table while waiting for their meal.  So because they were subscribed to my blog via email, on their lunch break they got an email from me that was quick, to-the-point, and included social media advice that they could take with them back to the office and start working on as soon as they get back from lunch.

This also drives home another point; you have to consider how your blog’s readers are receiving and reading your content.  You can’t assume that they daily set aside 30 mins just to come to your blog and be blessed by your insightful thinking.  You have to assume that they are getting your content in a way that’s convenient to THEM, and that they will be spending at best 30 SECONDS with your content, not 30 minutes.  You need to quickly give them a reason to invest their precious attention reading what you have to say.

Now, one final tip about improving the experience you are providing your email subscribers: Make damn sure that when your blog’s posts are emailed out, that the subject of the email is that post’s title and NOT the title of your blog!  I learned this TOTALLY the hard way.  An email subscriber contacted me well over a year ago and sent me a screenshot of the last 20 or so posts he had received from me.  He said ‘now Mack I know you aren’t a spammer, but how does this look to you?’  The screenshot showed 20 emails all in a row, every one had the same thing:  From – MackCollier.com  Subject – MackCollier.com

I was mortified!  I didn’t realize that Feedburner was sending out my posts via email with the title of my BLOG as the SUBJECT of every email!  I naturally assumed that the subject of each email would be the title of each post!  This is another reason why it pays to subscribe to your own blog via email, so you can see your content as your subscribers do.

For example, if you receive this post via email, it will read From – MackCollier.com  Subject – The One Simple Thing You Can Do to Increase Email Subscribers to Your Blog.  Much better, right?  If you use Feedburner to provide email subscriptions to your blog and want to make this same change, here’s what you do:

1 – Sign into your Feedburner account

2 – Click the Publicize tab at the top

3 – Click Email Subscriptions on the left

4 – A few sub-options will open up under Email Subscriptions, you want to now click Email Branding

5 – At the top where you see the box for Email/Subject Title: you want to put ${latestItemTitle} in that box.  That way Feedburner knows to use the title of each post as the subject of the email and NOT the title of your blog.

That’s it!  So if you haven’t already, make sure you subscribe to your blog via both email and RSS.  Then try to access your feed in all the ways your readers might.  Look at it in Google Reader (or whatever RSS reader you prefer).  Look at it in your inbox, and yes, look at it on your smartphone.  Consider not only readability, but also what that person might be doing as they are reading your post.

For example, if they are reading your post in the back of a stinky cab on their smartphone, will your post instantly resonate with them?  Because many times your readers will be reading your post in an environment that’s less than optimal for understanding.  Which is why you need to simplify the content delivery process, and make it easier for your subscribers to understand your point(s).

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Why Social Media Measurement Fails Most Companies

Social media measurement, ROI of Social Media, Measuring Social MediaBecause they measure what’s available, instead of what benefits their company.

For example, let’s say your small business launches a Twitter account this afternoon.  How will you measure the success of that account?  By measuring number of followers, of course!  And if you want to get really spiffy, you could also track how many RTs you’re getting and your level of exposure!

Right?  The problem with this approach is that we aren’t factoring in your businesses strategy and goals for using Twitter.  What are you trying to accomplish?  How will getting more followers and RTs help you achieve your goals?

When I measure the effectiveness of my own Twitter efforts, I look at two metrics:

1 – Referral traffic from Twitter to this blog

2 – Leads generated via people I have connected with on Twitter.

That’s it.  Because my strategy is to use Twitter to increase my awareness among potential clients by sharing content that drives traffic back to this blog (referral traffic), and to engage in conversations and network with people so that they will hire me to consult/train for them (leads).

I was having a conversation recently with a new client about using Twitter, and they told me they were going to track the number of followers as their primary metric for success.  They even had plotted out X% growth that they wanted to see happen over time.  I told them it was fine to track number of followers, but follower growth needed to be a function of them achieving what should be their larger goals for Twitter.  This particular client wanted to use Twitter as a way to boost awareness for themselves, and the products they offer.  They were competing against 2 main competitors that had much higher levels of awareness.

So I suggested to them that we focus on using Twitter as a way to drive interest back to your blog and website.  So we went from tracking just followers, to also looking at things like:

1 – Referral traffic from Twitter to the blog (and as part of the metrics associated with the blog, look at referral traffic from the blog to the website).

2 – Level of engagement on the blog.

3 – Number of links generated to the blog.

4 – Sales leads generated via Twitter.

5 – Downloads of white papers via a link shared on Twitter (also share same link on the blog and compare/contrast download rates)

Now sometimes, it can be hard to know for sure that a new lead or link was generated via a contact on Twitter (or another social site).  That’s why it pays to ALREADY be tracking these metrics, then when you make a change (like adding a Twitter account), if one of the metrics you are already tracking suddenly increases, it’s a good bet that what you changed (adding a Twitter account) made the difference.

For example, let’s say that you launch a Twitter account, and in the 1st month you notice that hits to one specific product page on your website increased by 23%!  To try to figure out why, you check your website’s analytics, and discover that most of the hits were generated by a referral from one blog post written about that particular product, that included a link to the product page.  You do a bit more digging, and discover that most of the referral traffic for that one post, came from Twitter.

Now you at least have some idea of how Twitter is making an impact on your business.  You should further check into this and try to determine exactly why that particular post did well (The topic?  The writer?  The structure of the post?), and also try to figure out why it was so popular on Twitter (In what context was the link shared? What day?  What time?  More than once?).

The bottom line is that effective social media measurement is all about figuring out exactly what YOUR goals are, then measuring metrics that tie back to those goals.  We’ve all heard the saying ‘what gets measured gets manufactured’, and it couldn’t be more true when it comes to social media measurement.  If all you want to measure is number of followers to decide if your Twitter efforts are working, then you WILL find a way to increase your number of followers.

Remember: Strategy first, then identify metrics to measure based on desired outcomes, not what’s easiest to measure.

PS: Have an existing social media strategy and you want to have it audited to make sure you are on the right track? I can do that, and I guarantee my work.

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5 Steps to Giving Your Blog Clarity and Focus

One of the most common complaints that struggling bloggers have is ‘I don’t know what the blog’s focus is’.  This is a BIG problem for a lot of bloggers, but it’s one you need to overcome if you want to truly have a successful blog.  Here’s 5 steps to getting you past this roadblock:

1 – Figure out who you are writing for.  It all starts here.  Once you figure out who you are writing for, then your content strategy to reach that audience will fall into place.  For example, I am writing this blog for companies that want to learn more about how they can successfully use social media to connect with their customers.  That’s my primary audience.

Your primary audience could be potential employers, potential clients, or your friends and family.  But whoever it is, YOU need to figure it out, because if you don’t know who you are writing for, you can best bet that your readers won’t.  And you need to pick something more concrete than ‘people that want to read my stuff’.

2 – Pick your title and tagline.  After you’ve decided who you are writing for, then look at your blog’s title and tagline.  You might not be able to do much with the title, but your tagline should explain exactly what your blog is about.  Note that mine is ‘What are you doing?  Helping companies understand the ‘social’ part of social media.’  That tells them exactly what they are getting into.

3 – Use the 3-second rule.  If someone that doesn’t know you arrives on your blog, how long will it take them to figure out what the blog is about?  If it takes longer than 3 seconds, assume they will leave.  This again, is where the tagline can really help you, because when we arrive at a new blog, we immediately look for the blog’s title/tagline, and then any pictures.  If we are confused by the title/tagline, and don’t see any pictures of the blogger, we will probably leave.

4 – Keep your sidebars clean. On a lot of blogs the sidebars are a hot mess.  In fact on some, the fancy widgets etc are actually throwing off the formatting of the entire blog.

When it comes to the sidebars, think about how the content/information/widgets you put there will help you reach your blog’s goals.  You will have a TON of options for adding stuff to the sidebar(s), but that doesn’t mean you should.  Less is often more when it comes to sidebars.  Remember, the content is the star of the blog, don’t make it take a backseat to flashy widgets and such on the sidebar.

5 – Be careful with ads on your blog.  A lot of bloggers think that they aren’t a ‘pro’ blogger until they have ads on their blog.  Or that they won’t be viewed as being a ‘serious’ blogger without ads.  Horse-hockey, ads take up space that could be given to content that could help your readers.  Period, so don’t make that tradeoff unless those ads are worth your time, and that of your readers.  Remember, the purpose of ads on a blog is to ultimately ENHANCE the experience of the blogger AND the reader.  If the ads aren’t making you any money, and aren’t relevant to the reader, then they are a total waste of time.  I’m not saying that you shouldn’t have ads on your blog, but I am saying you should only keep them if they make sense for both you and your readers.

So there are 5 quick tips for bringing clarity and focus to your blogging efforts.  If you only follow one, PLEASE pay attention to #1 and decide who you are blogging for.  Everything else will flow from that.

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Why setting realistic goals for your blog is so important

Several years ago when Technorati was still the rage, I used this trick to discover interesting new bloggers.  I would do a search by authority (which at the time was the number of links a blog had), and then sort in ascending order, so that the blogs with 0 authority would be shown first.  Normally, these were the bloggers that had just started blogging, and this method really helped me discover bloggers before the they became popular.

One day I found a blog that had really low authority, and it had about 2 months worth of posts.  I noticed for the first couple of weeks, there was a new post almost every day.  All very thoughtful, well-written (and lengthy!) posts.  But I noticed that none of them had comments.  For the next two week’s worth of posts, there was about 2-3 posts a week, then after that the frequency gradually fell to once a week, then once every couple of weeks.  All posts were well-written, interesting and thoughful reads.  And none of them had the first comment.

Then I noticed the newest post on the blog, which was over a month old.  In contrast to the other posts, this one was only one sentence long.  It read “Why doesn’t anyone comment on this blog?!?”

I realized that I had just seen this blog die.

When it comes to having a successful blog, realistic goals are so important.  Because your blog will only grow if you can commit to it, and you probably won’t be able to meet that commitment unless you can see that you are making headway.  And that starts with setting realistic goals that you have a chance of achieving.

If you are considering launching a blog, here’s some tips to make sure you are setting realistic goals for your blog:

1 – Underestimate how much content you can create.  For example, if you *think* you/your team can write 3 new posts a week, start out with 1 or 2 a week, and see if you can work up to 3.  It’s FAR easier to work up than it is to go back down.

2 – Underestimate how much time you can spend with blogging activities.  If you *think* you can spend 2 hours a day, then half that to only spend an hour a day.  And half that again to devote 30 mins a day to activities on the blog (such as writing posts, responding to comments) and 30 mins a day to reading other blogs and commenting on other blogs.  Maybe you can up that commitment over time, but it’s better to start low and go high, than to start out too high and have to back down.

3 – Think months, not weeks when you are timelining your blogging strategy.  Blogging is a marathon, not a sprint.  You have to remember that a lot of the ‘pro bloggers’ that have very successful and vibrant blogs are NOT in the same situation you are.  For many of these people, their blog represents the majority of their sales and promotional efforts.  As such, they can afford to devote the several hours a day that it usually takes to create an extremely popular and productive blog.  You probably cannot, so you shouldn’t compare yourself to these bloggers and look for similar results.  If you can only invest 30 mins a day to your blogging efforts that’s fine, just understand that it will take longer to see that blog gain traction if that’s the case.

 

Those are some quick tips to get you started setting your blogging goals, for those of you that blog for your company, what has worked for you?

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Participation is no longer an option

Although he didn’t realize it at the time, this gentleman was actually live-tweeting the raid on Bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad a couple of days ago.

Twitter ‘broke’ the news that Bin Laden was dead late last night, before mainstream media did.  As @ReallyVirtual’s tweets show above, the information was actually out there a couple of days earlier.  The lesson for mainstream media is the same as it is for your company: Anyone with access to the proper devices can use social media to create and distribute content faster than you can.

The days of creating and distributing a carefully-crafted message via only the channels you select, are over.  Mainstream media, to its credit, is realizing this, and is using social media to supplement its efforts and improve how it delivers news, and incorporates reactions from others.

Today, your business is no different.  You have to make the choice to begin to participate, or to begin to become irrelevant.  But thankfully, the choice is still yours to make.

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Coca-Cola’s CMO talks about how the company’s marketing approach is changing

Joe Tripodi, Coca-Cola’s Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing and Commercial Officer, recently penned a great article for the HBR on how the brand’s marketing is shifting from impressions to expressions.  I wanted to focus on one point that Joe made:

Build a process that shares successes and failures quickly throughout your company.Increasing consumer expressions requires many experiments, and some will fail. Build a pipeline so you can quickly replicate your successes in other markets and share the lessons from any failures. For example, our “Happiness Machine” video was a hit on YouTube so we turned it into a TV commercial, and we’ve replicated that low-cost, viral concept in other markets.

This is vitally important, especially when you are dealing with emerging marketing areas such as social media and mobile, and within big brands.  I recently wrote about the need to facilitate feedback internally AND externally (and among both groups), and I think this is an area that brands that have more mature social media marketing efforts will definitely capitalize on.  One of the big ‘knocks’ against social media especially is that it’s said to take a lot of time to implement and execute properly.  To Joe’s point, if a feedback system/cycle is put in place internally, the outcomes discovered by one area of the company, can be shared throughout, so that there’s no need to constantly re-invent the wheel.

Check out Joe’s article, and here’s the tv commercial that resulted from the success of their YouTube spots.

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What’s the REAL business value of blog comments?

Amy has an interesting post on her blog today on the value of blog comments.  In it, she writes:

I think blog comments are VERY overrated. “Social media experts” act like they are the be-all-end-all but personally I think they are insignificant for many (not all, but the majority of) companies.

If I ran an SEO blog, I’d expect comments from my peers and MAYBE a few clients.  However, if I was in charge of a blog for plumbers, I would NOT expect any comments. Plumbers are going to be out fixing sinks and such all day long, they are not going to be sitting in front of their computers waiting to weigh in on clogged toilets and whether or not industrial Drano is environmentally friendly.

Now I could easily see a plumber having a blog that created content on teaching others how to do simple plumbing upgrades/repairs on their own, and how blog comments could have value as it would let the plumber answer questions from readers and in the process, establish the plumber’s credibility and expertise with potential customers.  But I think Amy’s larger point on the true value of comments, is valid.

Companies need to understand that while comments DO have value on a blog, that value will be different for each company.  And that comments are NOT the end goal for any blogging strategy.  If any of you write for a company blog that is judged ultimately on how many comments you generate per post, I’d love to hear from you.

Let’s assume a fictional company blog has the end goal of generating more sales on its website.  So the average path that a person might take on the blog would look something like this:

1 – Arrive on blog

2 – ???

3 – ???

4 – ???

5 – Leave blog and go to website

6 – ???

7 – ???

8 – Purchase product from website

 

Let’s say this visitor commented on the blog before leaving it and going to the website and purchasing a product.  If so, that action would have taken place at #2, #3, or #4.  Probably #2 or #3.  The point is, the visitor leaving a comment is low on the totem pole of importance.  What you want to look at more closely is what happened at #4 to prompt the visitor to leave the blog and go to the website, and then what happened at #6 and #7 to prompt the person to purchase the product once they arrived on the website.

But even IF a comment happens at #2, it still has value if it moved the visitor on to the action they took at #3.  The point is, you need to understand that you can’t judge the blog’s effectiveness solely on comments per post, you need to look higher up the chain to find the value.  And it could be that for your unique blogging goals, that getting comments on the blog is more important to you.  For me,  getting more comments per post has value for me in several areas:

1 – It helps me learn from my readers, which means the content I create here is (hopefully) more useful.

2 – It gives me ideas for future posts.

3 – It helps establish for event organizers that the content I am talking about resonates with readers, so they should hire me to speak at their event.

4 – It helps establish for clients that I know how to build engagement and interaction via blogs and social media.

Now if your company’s blogging strategy is built around building engagement and your online presence, then comments on your blog has a higher value for you.  Each company’s situation is different and the only ‘one size fits all’ rule when it comes to blogs and social media is probably that there is NO ‘one size fits all’ rule 😉

So blog comments will have different value for each blogging company.  While comments are NOT the silver bullet that some social media experts claim, they aren’t totally worthless, either.

Those of you that blog for your business, what value do YOU place on comments? And I’d like to hear from business bloggers moreso than personal bloggers.  If you have a personal blog, comments are absolutely more valuable for you.  But I’d like to hear what business bloggers feel the value of comments are.

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Creating a Corporate Blogging Policy? Here’s Six Areas to Consider

Creating a blogging policyYesterday we talked about considerations when creating a social media policy for your company or organization.  But if your company or organization is planning on launching a blog, you also need to consider what policies and guidelines (both internal and external) will be in place for your efforts.  Here’s six areas that you should consider when creating a corporate blogging policy:

Internally

1 – A formal blogging policy.  Similar to your broader social media policy, the blogging policy should govern specific issues associated with your blog, and be relevant to the blogging team and the content created there.  It should be governed by your social media policy, which should be governed by your employee guideline/code of conduct.

2 – A blogging schedule and guidelines for writers.  This will communicate to bloggers what is expected from them as far as output and timing, and also the focus of the content and the tone that they should use.

3 – Comment policy for bloggers.  This will let the bloggers know exactly how to respond to comments from readers.  A framework should be provided to bloggers on how to respond to comments, and the Air Force has an excellent flow chart for how to handle comments.

 

Externally

1 – A solid About Page.  This communicates exactly what the focus of the blog is to readers.  It can also reinforce to the bloggers what is expected of them.  A wonderful example of this is Patagonia’s About Page for The Cleanest Line.  It not only tells what the blog is about, but gives the blog’s comment policy, and outlines exactly how readers can contact the bloggers, and even how to submit posts if they want.

2 – The blog’s comment policy.  This should always be included on a blog so that there can be no confusion later on.  The comment policy should clearly communicate to readers what type of comments are acceptable, and which ones are not.  If comments will be moderated, that should be mentioned as well.

A great (and lengthy) example of the guidelines for readers commenting is on the Code of Conduct page on HomeGoods’ OpenHouse blog.

3 – Bios and pictures for all bloggers.  The blog should have a bio and pictures available for all bloggers.  This helps the readers connect with the bloggers and literally helps put a ‘human’ face(s) on the blog.  Here’s how SouthWest collects the pictures of their bloggers all on one page on their blog, and you can click on each picture to read that blogger’s bio.

 

These six areas will help you flesh out your company blogging policy.  If your company has a good example of a blogging policy, what does it look like?  Please share with us in the comments.

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10 Considerations When Creating a Social Media Policy

social media policy, blogging, twitter, facebookMore and more companies are adopting the Nike philosophy of ‘Just Do It’ when it comes to social media.  And while there is value in jumping in the water, companies and organizations are increasingly seeing the need for a social media policy that will help employees understand how these tools should be used on behalf of their employer.  If your company or organization is considering creating a formal social media policy, here are 10 areas to consider:

1 – Defining what ‘Social Media’ is to your business.  You can ask 10 different people what the term ‘social media’ means, and gets 10 different definitions.  Your employees are no different, you need to define exactly what sites/tools/etc fall under the ‘social media’ umbrella for the purposes of your policy.  For example, most people consider Twitter and Facebook to be social media, but what about email?  Your blog?  Your website?  See how clarity can help?

2 – Make employees aware of any special communication considerations involving your industry.  The pharmaceutical industry, for example, has strict guidelines as to what company representatives can and cannot say to current/potential customers via social media channels.  Make sure your legal team is involved to make you aware of what the boundaries are.

3 – Define what ‘acceptable behavior’ is for your employees via social media.  What language can they use?  How does their tone and the way they respond reflect on the company’s branding and culture.  Will what they post on the personal Facebook account impact their employment?  Spell everything out so there can be no confusion later.

4 – Define what employees should and should not disclose.  For example, employees should always disclose their affiliation with the employer when posting content to social media sites, and shouldn’t disclose financial information about the company that ‘isn’t for public consumption’.

5 – Make sure employees understand the ‘chain of command’ and who owns what.  If different groups/departments should handle responses based on content, etc, then clearly spell that out so the intern in product design doesn’t respond when the manager in PR should be.

6 – Spell out copyright usage in content creation.  Make sure employees understand and respect copyright laws regarding the usage of other people’s content.

7 – Make sure that employees understand they are responsible for the content they create and the responses they make.  Remember these three words: ‘Google Never Forgets’.

8 – Create stand-alone policies for additional social media presences that the company maintains.  For example, if your company has a blog, it should also have a corporate blogging policy.  Different tools have different audiences and goals, and require a slightly different approach.  For example, the Air Force has a fabulous flow-chart for responding to online comments.

9 – Make sure all employees understand what your social media strategy is.  Help them understand what you are trying to accomplish via social media, and that will help them understand how their efforts feed into that ultimate goal.

10 – Make sure employees understand that their social media usage on behalf of the company will be monitored.  Also remind them of employee guidelines, and how their behavior using social media is governed by this.

 

So if your company or organization is ready to start creating your social media policy, these are 10 points to consider.  If your company or organization has a formal social media policy for its employees, what other areas should be considered?

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How do you know if it’s ok to use someone else’s picture on your blog?

Chris asked me a great question:

What’s a good policy on using photos from other sources when you blog?  Can you use other sources as long as you credit them?

I am no expert on copyright, so what follows is mostly ‘common sense’ advice.  What happens if you find an amazing picture on a site that would be perfect for your post?  Do you use it?

My advice is you should use the picture ONLY if you can find on the site where the owner has given you express permission to use their pictures.  If they don’t list this somewhere on their blog, look on their About page, or they may have a Creative Commons logo that will tell you if you can use the content on that site.

So if you can’t tell if it’s ok, assume it is not.  And if you DO use a picture, always make sure you include a link back to the source.  Even if the person doesn’t ask for this (they should).

Now, what’s the best source of pictures you can use on your blog?

My favorite is Flickr.  Flickr has hundreds of millions of amazing photos posted by its users.  When the user uploads the photos, they set whether or not everyone else can use their photos, and under what license.  Not everyone will give you permission to use their photos, but when you are talking about hundreds of millions of photos, the odds are you can find something that will work for you.

Each picture you find will list on the bottom right of the screen either ‘All Rights Reserved’ or ‘Some Rights Reserved’.  If it says ‘All Rights Reserved’, then you can’t use it unless the owner gives you explicit permission.  If the photo says ‘Some rights reserved’, then you can use it, but under the terms of its license.  You can click where it says Some rights reserved to learn exactly what those terms are.

Here is an explanation of the different types of Creative Common licenses:

Attribution: This license lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation. This is the most accommodating of licenses offered. Recommended for maximum dissemination and use of licensed materials.

Attribution – ShareAlike: This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work even for commercial purposes, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms. This license is often compared to “copyleft” free and open source software licenses. All new works based on yours will carry the same license, so any derivatives will also allow commercial use. This is the license used by Wikipedia, and is recommended for materials that would benefit from incorporating content from Wikipedia and similarly licensed projects.

Attribution – NoDerivs: This license allows for redistribution, commercial and non-commercial, as long as it is passed along unchanged and in whole, with credit to you.

Attribution – NonCommerical: This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially, and although their new works must also acknowledge you and be non-commercial, they don’t have to license their derivative works on the same terms.

Attribution – NonCommercial – ShareAlike: This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms.

Attribution – NonCommercial-NoDerivs: This license is the most restrictive of our six main licenses, only allowing others to download your works and share them with others as long as they credit you, but they can’t change them in any way or use them commercially.

 

So how do you attribute works on Flickr?

The photo above came from Flickr, from a user that licensed the photo via the Attribution license.  That means I am free to use the photo, and could have also adapted it if I wanted to.  For example, if I want to later use it in a slidedeck, I could, as long as I added attribution.

How I attribute photos from Flickr is via this method.  I add the following at the end of the post ‘Pic via Flickr User (User’s name)’.  I then add two links to this, where ‘Flickr User’ is, I add a link to the CC license that covers the picture.  Where the user’s name is, I add a link to that user’s Flickr photostream.  Now you can do this, or link to the picture itself.  And for some pictures, the user will specify exactly what link they want you to use, and in that case you should if you use their photo.

So that’s where I go for amazing photos, what sources do you use?

Pic via Flickr user Life House Design