Content Mastery Guide

Editor and Ghostwriter

Curating Content With Twitter and HootSuite (Slideshow)

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Everyone is feeling overwhelmed by how much new information is always flowing towards us, especially on social media. By becoming a trusted resource for relevant content, you can help others AND attract new customers who recognize you as an expert about the topics you’re posting about.

In this SlideShare presentation, you’ll learn three steps to get you started with content curation for your business, complete with examples from ESS Direct in Barrie. Hint: You don’t have to be active on Twitter to use it as a content curation tool.

For more information, see How Content Curation Keeps You Visible and Valuable to Your Network, or these other posts about content curation.

Start Blogging, Keep Blogging, Attract the Right Customers

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If you want to receive all of my latest posts by email, click here to subscribe to the weekly Blogging Tips newsletter.

How to Create a Business Blogging Plan

blogging plan
© Petr Ciz – Fotolia.com

Whether you’re starting from scratch or planning ahead for the quarter or year, these six steps break down the blog planning process to include every essential element. Put them together and you’ll have a comprehensive plan that sets up your business blog for maximum success.

This is my first guest post for Social Media Examiner.

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/business-blogging-plan/

5 Ways to Avoid the Dreaded Blog Fade

Abandoned blog sends wrong message about business
© Pitamaha – Fotolia.com

Blogging is an effective way to show prospective customers how your company’s expertise can help them, but it only works if you do it consistently. These five these tips will help keep up your momentum long enough to see some results.

http://www.steamfeed.com/5-ways-avoid-dreaded-blog-fade/

Blog of Attraction: How blogging helps you attract your best clients and filter out the wrong clients

blogging is a magnet to attract customers

When we’re attracted to someone, we tend to value and trust what they say. We like who they are and may want to become our own version of that. Plus we like the results we’ve gotten when we’ve applied their advice and suggestions, or learned from their experiences.

When you achieve that level of attraction with your readers, they will want more of you. That’s the power of blogging.

You can view a PDF version of my article in choice, the magazine of professional coaching, by following this link to my LinkedIn profile:

http://lnkd.in/dHH96i2

How to Streamline Your Blog Post Publishing and Promotion Tasks

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One of the best things I’ve done to streamline the publishing and promotion process is to insert a template at the bottom of my blog post drafts in Word. I do this for my own posts at Content Mastery Guide, the guest posts I write for other sites, and the posts I write and manage for clients.

Template for blog promotion text

For my own posts, the template looks like this:

Blog publishing and promotion checklist

I also include some reminders about formatting issues with my WordPress template (e.g., I need to save a second version of my photo in a different size as the “Featured Image” so it displays correctly in my weekly blogging tips newsletter).

With this template in place, the rest of my publishing and promotion tasks go much more smoothly. Plus, with these details at the bottom of every blog post draft, I can easily outsource the blog publishing and promotion tasks to my team for my monthly blog writing clients.

Checklist for blog post publishing and promotion

business blogging checklist for publishing and promotion
© Dmitry – Fotolia.com

I wrote the following set of instructions for a blogging consultation client based on what I was doing at the time. This was before I started using Buffer, but I still approach the process in much the same way.

In MS Word:

  • Create a blog post outline document as I’m planning the post
  • Re-save the outline as a new document as I draft the post so I preserve my original list of links and resources
  • Proofread and finalize the blog post text
  • Complete promotional text as per template

At Fotolia:

At Pic Monkey [Update Mar 26, 2018 – Now using Pixl]:

  • Re-size photo as needed and set file name (include a keyword where possible)
  • Create second version of picture with text (e.g., a quote or headline from the post, my website URL, photo copyright information)

In blog/website administrative dashboard (WordPress):

On Facebook (immediately after publishing):

  • Click “add photo” and upload the blog post photo
  • Paste the Facebook message from the Word doc template
  • At the end of the message, paste the permanent link (permalink) of the blog post
  • After the link, add one or two relevant hashtags, e.g., #blogging #smallbiz #marketing
  • If this is a guest post, or reference to another expert, link to that person’s Facebook page by typing @ and the name, then clicking the page from the options that drop down
  • Publish update

UPDATE (November 9, 2014): Facebook is now giving more visibility to posts that contain links with thumbnail images, versus those with uploaded photos (they consider that “click-baiting“). So it’s best to put your link directly into the status update box so just the small thumbnail image is displayed.

On Twitter.com (immediately after publishing):

  • Click “add photo” and upload the blog post photo
  • Paste the text of the best tweet from Word doc template
  • At the end of the message, paste the permanent link (permalink) of the blog post
  • After the link, add one or two relevant hashtags, e.g., #blogging #smallbiz #marketing
  • If this is a guest post, or reference to another expert, add the person’s Twitter name
  • Publish tweet

On LinkedIn (immediately after publishing):

  • Paste the LinkedIn message from the Word doc template
  • At the end of the message, paste the permanent link (permalink) of the blog post
  • If this is a guest post, or reference to another expert, link to that person’s LinkedIn profile and/or company page by typing the name, then clicking the page or name from the options that drop down)
  • Share posts the same way in LinkedIn groups by starting a new discussion, if appropriate to the culture of that particular group
  • Share posts the same way to your company page (but you cannot link to another profile or page from a company page update)

In HootSuite or Buffer:

  • Schedule additional tweets for later in the week

In email broadcast system (if not using an automated RSS-to-email service):

  • Open HTML template or create copy of previous broadcast
  • Paste in text of blog post excerpt along with the permalink so people can read the entire post
  • Add blog post photo
  • (Optional) Add additional newsletter content, e.g., personal note, upcoming events, featured products/services
  • Send or schedule broadcast

It’s taken many years to streamline my process to this level, and I love how much more efficient it makes me! Do you use any templates or checklists for managing your blogging tasks?

Creating Curated Content for Social Media, Email and Your Blog

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Welcome to the third and final post in a series about content curation. First we got started by organizing topics and the people sharing about those topics, then we looked at how to quickly share other people’s content with your own networks.

In the second post I noted the importance of adding your own commentary to what you’re sharing. This reminds readers of your expertise in the topic and your connection to the industry.

In this post we’ll discuss four types of content you can create by adding your own slant to someone else’s material.

1. Curated social media updates

There are tools that make it quick and easy to share content with your networks as soon as you find it (HootSuite, Buffer and the LinkedIn bookmarklet).

You may also choose to manually create new social media updates when you have a link to share. Here are some things to keep in mind when you do:

a) Use the permalink. Whether you’re recommending a blog post, article, video, social media update or another online resource, always be sure you’re using the permalink (permanent link) for the specific item, rather than the general site address. A permalink looks like this: https://www.contentmasteryguide.com/2014/03/mastering-social-media.html, while a general address looks like this: https://www.contentmasteryguide.com/blog.

b) Super-size your photos on Facebook and Google+ (*see UPDATE below). You may have noticed on these sites that some images show up full-sized and glorious, while others are displayed as a tiny thumbnail. To super-size a photo on Facebook or Google+, you must add your photo to the status update first.

Facebook share window
Before you type your comment and link, upload your photo.

c) Super-size with Buffer. Even when it’s not your post or image, you can still super-size your photo. With the Buffer browser extension, you can super-size your photos by right-clicking on a photo from the page you want to share. Select, “Buffer this image,” customize the text with your own commentary, and schedule or post the update. Voilà!

*UPDATE (September 13, 2014): Facebook is now giving more visibility to posts that contain links with thumbnail images, versus those with uploaded photos (they consider that “click-baiting“). So it’s best to put your link directly into the status update box so just the small thumbnail image is displayed.

2. Curated newsletters

Compared with social media, many marketing professionals consider email a more intimate and direct tool for reaching your audience and deepening your relationship. If you’re not sure what to include in an email newsletter, consider curated content.

a) Be a trusted filter. Mari Smith is the author of The New Relationship Marketing and Facebook Marketing: An Hour a Day. In her weekly newsletter The Social Scoop, she offers her top three recommendations for blog posts about social media marketing. Since she reads and shares dozens of quality links every week, her readers anticipate and appreciate seeing which three she’ll choose, and we trust they’ll be highly useful.

b) Offer other ways to connect. If readers are enjoying the links you share, remind them to follow you on social media and on your blog to see more of the same.

c) Remember the marketing part of email marketing. Along with the valuable information you’re sharing from others, remind your readers what your company has to offer. Here are some tips about how blogging and email work together.

3. Personal messages with curated content

You know that it’s important to stay in touch with key contacts like prospective customers, referral sources and vendors, yet these people aren’t always on your newsletter list. How do you keep it all straight, and what do you say when you follow up? Curated content can help.

a) Follow up. If there’s an article you’ve read recently that relates to a recent conversation at a networking event or other meeting, send it along with a brief note explaining why you think it will be useful.

b) As it happens. As you’re browsing content in your day-to-day travels, keep your contacts in the back of your mind, along with any specific concerns you discussed. When you find something relevant, you can paste the permalink into an email, or you can share with individual connections when you find something via LinkedIn, Facebook or Google+. On mobile browsers, look for the option to share or send a link directly by email.

c) Set a schedule. Use a customer relationship management (CRM) system, your calendar or a task management system like Wunderlist to remind yourself to keep in touch. Browse the links you’ve shared recently and consider what this individual would find most helpful and relevant.

4. Curated blog posts

In between your own original posts, you may want to offer your blog readers additional insights and perspectives from other experts in your field, or related fields. This is a great way to keep your content flowing consistently, build and deepen relationships with industry leaders, and learn new ideas.

Experiment with these different styles of curated blog posts:

a) Theme post. This is the method I recommend and implement for my content curation clients. Browse the content you’ve shared in the past week or two, and look for a common theme that is aligned with your core content categories. Add an introduction to the theme, and say a few words about each link, including a brief pertinent quote.

b) Weekly or monthly round ups. Present a list of links with a brief description of each.

c) Embedded social media posts. For more interactivity and visual interest, embed one or several social media updates right into your post. You can do this with tweets, Facebook updates, YouTube and Vine videos, Google+ posts and others. Preface each with your own commentary and description.

While I’m still biased towards creating your own high-quality content, sharing other people’s content helps you round out your offerings and keep showing up where your contacts will see you.

Want help with your content curation? Learn more about our content curation services.

How to Quickly Share Other People’s Content With Your Social Networks

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Content curation is the process of filtering out the best information you find on the web and sharing that with your network. By sticking with a set of core topics related to your business, content curation can supplement the original content you’re creating yourself (e.g., blog posts).

Essentially, you want to be able to answer yes to both of these two questions:

  1. Will my network find this interesting, valuable, relevant and/or entertaining?
  2. Will this link reinforce my business’s expertise in one of our core topic areas?

How to share content from social media sites

In a previous article, we discussed how to get started with content curation so that you’re positioned to discover the best and most relevant material for your particular audience and business.

The standard social media etiquette is to give credit to the content creator – otherwise it may appear as though you wrote the piece. When you retweet (RT) someone’s status update on Twitter, or use the Share buttons on Facebook, LinkedIn or Google+, it’s obvious that it’s someone else’s content.

If you quote from or modify the tweet (instead of RT, type MT for “modified tweet”), it’s your responsibility to credit the person who created the content (e.g., by @username) and (when applicable) where it appeared or who shared it with you (e.g., by @username via @username2).

Add value with commentary

Let people know why you’re recommending the link, and how the content will help them. You can mention what you enjoyed or learned most from the post, include a brief quote, or share a fact about the author.

How to share content right from the web

Great news! You can share content you’re reading on the web, without having to log into any of your social network sites.

Using the site’s own social sharing buttons will give valuable statistics to the site owner. Using your own sharing tool such as the HootSuite Hootlet or the Buffer extension can help you quickly create a new status update on a variety of social media sites, and also see stats about whether people are clicking on your links.

Example of social sharing buttons on a blog
Check the site’s sidebar and bottom of the post for social sharing buttons.

Before you share your update, be sure the author’s username is included for whichever social media network you’re posting to. This is another good reason to not automatically cross-post the same message to more than one site.

To find the author’s Twitter handle (username), check the blog’s sidebar or Contact Us page for the blog’s social media profiles. Adding the username is a great way to not only credit the source of the content, but to build relationships with new colleagues and add value to the ones you already have. People will appreciate you sharing their content, and if you include their username they’ll be notified that you mentioned them.

Twitter handles are easy to add with the HootSuite Hootlet or with Buffer. To add a username to a LinkedIn update right from the web you’ll need to use the LinkedIn bookmarklet. From the Tools page, look for Sharing Bookmarklet near the top of the screen and follow the instructions to add the icon to your browser.

Install LinkedIn bookmarklet

Now you can add a username for any of your LinkedIn connections (or a company, whether or not you follow their page). Simply start typing the personal or company name. Options will drop down and you can choose the name you want. You’ll know you’ve done it correctly if the name has a shaded background.

LinkedIn bookmarklet with username

Note: For Google+, search for extensions for your particular web browser. You can use sharing tools to post updates to Facebook from the web, but if you want to get someone’s attention by using their company or personal name, you’ll need to go right to Facebook.com.

In an upcoming post to close out this series about content curation, I’ll explain how to create curated content for social media, email and your blog.

Want help with your content curation? Learn more about our content curation services!