Will Social Media Threaten Traditional Media? {Web Strategies}

October 29, 2009 at 10:27 pm (Blogging, Digital storytelling, Social media, Technology, Twitter, Video, World News, microblogging) (, , , , , )

Today people receive more news in a weekly newspaper  than the average human in the 18th century received in a lifetime.  Yet with the convergence of social media platforms traditional media business models are looking more like the 18th century than the 21st century.  Are social media websites like Twitter, Mashable and Alltop becoming the new CNN, NBC, and BBC?  How does citizen journalism play a role now that more people have the ability to report from the ground first hand?

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6 Ways To Promote Your Podcast

June 10, 2009 at 7:46 pm (Podcasting, marketing) (, , , , )

Finishing up the last two weeks of the course titled podcasting in business I have learned a great deal about personal branding and marketing your social media websites.  In this particular post I will explain six ideas I thought can help boost your podcast programming.  Now this may sound similar to my earlier post on seven ways to increase your podcast subscription but these are two different fields.  If you believe you have the recording and publishing down but looking for ways to promote here are my suggestions from my experiences.

Take notes and apply these for your next podcast episode:

1. List your podcast in multiple directories. In the days before Google search engines and Microsoft’s Bing many businesses listed their addresses and phone numbers in the Yellow Pages.  The same applies to podcast producers who have over 125 different podcast directories to list their shows.

2. Make a press kit for media outlets.  Getting coverage from various media outlets requires time and preparations.  I suggest setting up a template of press releases that you can adjust and edit once you complete your episodes to send to news reporters, submit to Advertising Age, or use the traditional  distribution services like PR Newswire and Business Wire.

3. Network, Network, Network. The is a very crucial practice of becoming an effective podcast producer.  The interesting part is that this is a combination of two words net and work.  You can translate this however you like with offline socializing and promoting your website or using web 2.0 applications to engage your target audience.  Sending out a Twitter blast using keywords and links to your podcast website can be very useful.  

4. Show your badge. Just as police officers are required to show their badges upon arriving at a scene you as a producer of downloadable media files should identify your brand with a badge. They cost nothing and are easy to embed in various websites, blogs and social networks.  A badge gives the potential listener a map to visit your website and hear your episodes without typing the actual web address.

5. Record a Promo. A brief audio file that promotes your podcast is a great way to provide listeners a “snippet” of what to expect in further episodes.  Make sure not to make your promos too long or else you will lose the listeners attention.  Your promo is only a mini commercial for your full episode and I suggest you upload your promos at www.podcastpromos.com and www.promos.podshow.com.

6. Provide ranking services.  Many directories have the ability to let listeners vote  for their favorite podcasts and I encourage you to provide this link.  By having a high ranking on these services your podcast can get listed or featured on the directories websites. People who are searching for podcast to listen to use these high ranked recommendations despite not hearing about the podcast beforehand.  

I hope these are helpful tips that will assist you in promoting your digital media programs.  Once you have a good promotional plan I suggest you read my other post on ways to increase your subscription listings.

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You Got 12seconds Get Ready

June 10, 2009 at 5:57 pm (Blogging, Social media, Twitter, Video, microblogging) (, , , )

I recently discovered a new web 2.0 website called 12seconds that is a video version of Twitter. The website allows users to update their status with a mobile phone or webcam and gives you only 12 seconds to say or do whatever you want.

According to the creators of 12seconds they believed that anything past 12 seconds loses the human interest and creates boredom during typical Internet video viewing. The site has been receiving a lot of attention due to the popularity of Shaquille O’Neal’s usage at the same time Twitter’s growth has excelled 752% since 2008. Overnight success for the micro blogging website began during the Presidential elections, and steeped over to the recent Oprah Winfrey show and the Ashton Kutcher competition stunt with CNN. This article explains what some social media strategist call the “Shaq effect” due to the increase unique users Twitter has gained since the NBA basketball player joined in November achieving over 650,000 followers.

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10 Reasons You Should Blog

June 9, 2009 at 6:54 pm (Blogging, Social media, Twitter, microblogging) (, , )

I have noticed something strange in the digital media world and it is most bloggers use Twitter but not all Twitter users blog. Micro blogging is growing because it is easy to setup, easy to copy a linked article and well you only have 140 characters to say something relevant.

So here are my 10 reasons why using Twitter is not enough to develop a social media platform that is engaging and useful. Blogging separates the people who have thousands of followers with no true reporting and gives readers more to think about other than how many pancakes you ate this morning.

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Only Retweet What You Like

May 30, 2009 at 9:25 pm (Social media, Twitter, microblogging) (, , )

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With the growing demand of Twitter accounts many users are begining to ask a lot of questions on how to send direct messages, gain more followers, and the code of ethics of retweeting an update.  The term retweet better known as RT has become a normal practice for heavy users who chose to share an update, link or article of something they think is interesting.  

Now that simple form of sharing has been modified by a new website that offers rewards for retweeting an updates even if you don’t find it worth sharing with your followers.  The new service website is called www.Retweet.it and works on a credit system of resending your tweets for you to other users.  In order to sign up you have to have 50 followers or more and you immediately earn 3 credits once you join.  For every two tweets that you RT from users of the site you will get one RT in exchange.

As much as I like to share interesting updates with others I think this service sort of cheats the process and could eventually turn something that was of value to the user to Twitter spam.

Interested in hearing your thoughts on this service.

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