Angela Crocker

Write. Teach. Organize.

Creating Original Content

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Success in social networking is all about content. You’ve got to consistently share information of interest to your community. What you share should be a blend of original content created by you and referenced or curated content created by others.

Photo Credit: Ch10 on Flickr
used under Creative Commons License.

Here are 9 ways you can create original content this week:

  1. Write about the product you worked on today. What will your customers love about it? What problem will it solve for them?
  2. Praise someone you work with – a colleague, a supplier, a support worker. Share who they are and why their contribution is so valuable.
  3. Share someplace interesting you’ve visited. It could be a retailer, a supplier, a restaurant or somewhere in nature. Tell your audience why you enjoyed it and include a photo if you can.
  4. Record a video. Show your product being made or your service in action.
  5. Take photos of people, places & things. Every photo has the potential to anchor a blog post or become a tweet.
  6. Write about related products that complement but don’t compete. For example, a dog food manufacturer might write about a line of dog toys.
  7. Remove the veil and share some little known facts about your organization.
  8. Create a contest. Include a “can’t be bought” experience related to what you do in the grand prize.
  9. Conduct interviews with executives, suppliers & customers. This can be done by email Q&A or as an audio or video recording.

Go create something right now.

Political Themes in My Facebook Feed

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Last week, you may have seen my post about how the federal political parties are using social media. Today, I’m thinking about three recurring themes amongst my Facebook friends. These are:

Get Out and VOTE

I whole heartedly support this sentiment. All Canadians need to get out and exercise their democratic right to vote. This is a privilege and we shouldn’t take it for granted. Although it was created for the 2008 American presidential election, this video is still pertinent and powerful:

Women Have Voting Power

Women haven’t always been able to vote and must never forget the suffrage moment of the 1910s when women like me – wives, mothers, aunts, daughters – sought equal opportunities at the polls. This is not an issue of a century past as I recently learned that women in Switzerland only gained the right to vote in 1971 and, of course, there are women who can’t vote in many countries even today. This compelling video really struck a chord for me:

 

 

And there’s Mom the Vote, a grassroots movement to engage mother’s in conversation about voting and to raise the issues most important to parents. If you’re a parent or if you support the concerns of parents, take a moment to like the Mom the Vote Facebook page now.

GLTB Vote

The allegedly homophobic comments of Prime Minister Stephen Harper sparked a firestorm of discussion in support of the Gay, Lesbian, Transexual and Bisexual community. For me, this Liz Feldman quote sums up the reaction beautifully:

So, now I’m curious:

  • What themes are popping up in your social newsfeeds?
  • What are people saying that will change your vote?
  • What issues are most important to your community?

Let me know and don’t forget to VOTE on Monday, May 2, 2011

Should I Play Pages Gone Wild?

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You meet all sorts of interesting folks through social media. About a year ago, I met Lori Randall Stratdman from Social Media Design. Lori’s based in Georgia (I think) and we’ve had many merry conversations on Facebook and Twitter. She writes for Social Media Examiner, is speaking at BlogWorld and has fun through social media every day. Recently, I got an invitation from Lori to attend a virtual event called Pages Gone Wild and I hestitated to participate. But why?

The premise of Pages Gone Wild is to quickly grow the number of people who “like” a Facebook page. Participants are required to “like” the pages of all other participants. Those who like all the participating pages by April 29 willl be featured in an epic blog post that will go out to 100,000 readers. With close to 400 people participating (so far) and significant visibility on offer, why would I hesitate?

I have always spoken openly about my desire for quality relationships over quantity relationships. I want people to interact with people and build relationships that go beyond just the click of a “like” button.  But in order to find the quality relationships I’m looking for I need a quantity of people to get to know, right?  With this program, will the folks dropping by be interested in my content or just seeking exposure through the event?  The truth is it will be some of each.  And it’s very likely that many participants will “unlike” my page after the event but that’s ok if I meet some great new folks.

Today, I had a look at the list of participating pages and there’s some really interesting work being shared. Check these out:

 Most of these pages are brands similar to my clients – heart centred entrepreneurs, commmunity organizations and business owners exploring social media to build an online community. I know my page would be a useful resource to them and there’s much I can learn from their examples not to mention their content. So, this morning, I’ve decided to join the fray and like a LOT of new pages. If you’re a Pages Gone Wild page owner please say hello in the comments. I’d love to get better acquainted.