The value of blogs and Twitter as marketing tools

I have been active as a Mikronet blogger since the blog was first started, and have enjoyed the comments – although these are rare, they are generally a boost to the day – but I’ve decided to take a break, at least until the autumn.
I have just read a good piece about the benefits of blogging: Blogging: It’s More than a Brand (Jessica Miller-Merrell • March 24, 2010 ) who covers networking, media access, getting your company known etc – have a look. She sets out some very good reasons why blogging is of commercial value as well as being of value to colleagues as a tool for dissemination of information.

Incidentially, I found her article through a Tweet: What Your Twitter Stream Tells Us About You  which is also well worth having a look at.

The remarkable thing to me is that these two interesting items have only just been posted and yet have already gained readers and comments.

So, if you are not already blogging and would like to have a go, how about continuing the English language entries while I’m on a break? It is fun, you and your company gain visibility and you get to meet some interesting people.
It is a pity that Mette Juul’s (our new blogger) blogs are in Danish, as our non-Danish readers are missing some very good and relevant stuff about handling the delicate aspect of money – how to price yourself, how to charge for work done, really relevant for us Mikronetters. We need more of this really relevant stuff!

Back in the autumn!

Cheers,

Helen

New year resolutions

So now it’s back to work after a really relaxing and enjoyable few weeks. The snow is lying deep and beautiful, a great start to 2010.

I try not to make too many  new year promises to myself -  the fervour rarely lasts mre than a few weeks.

But – this year I’ll do my utmost to get the quality project going.

Martin Bolbroe  -who has been interested in the quality project since the idea was first aired – has urged me to start a Twitter about this project. He even set up a Twitter account – Quality4Micros for the project.  I am grateful to him as  the tweets will teach me something about this (to me) new social networking tool and also – I hope – give good feed-back on the various sections of quality matters discussed on the KvalitetsPraksis blog.

C.V. versus blog – or combined?

I  read Ryon Harms’s item “Your Resume is Dead. Long Live Your Blog!” (2009 May 26)  on blogs and cvs with great interest. 
Briefly he considers that finding a new job by submitting the usual 2 page cv is a waste of time, as potential employers will be inundated with look-alike cvs which does not really communicate what you have to offer.

So, he suggests that you start a blog which will enable potential employers to judge what your skills really are, particularly as blogs are records of the present  – not the past. To quote

“You’ll see few tools are more effective than blogs at building communities and communicating with your network.”

He suggests 3 ways of networking with the new blog (cut drectly from his article):-
1. Rather than send the, “Is the position still available?” email, instead send potential employers an interesting blog post relevant to their industry
2. Rather than send another “I’m looking for work” email to your network, instead send a topical blog post that sparks conversations and keeps you top of mind
3. Rather than limiting yourself to personal contacts, instead build a thriving audience that spreads your message and attracts unexected opportunities
His entry sparked a great many interesting comments, have a look at http://thesocialexec.com/
It’s well worth reading.

Helen

Gratis CMS og weblog-systemer – Hvilket er det bedste … ?

Spørgsmålet er stillet adskillige gange på mikronet …
      

- hvad skal jeg vælge … ?
      

- … hvis jeg vil bruge et af de gratis Content Management Systemer (CMS) / weblog-systemer – hvilket er så det bedste ?
      

- i juli 2008udgaven af .net tidsskriftet finder du seneste forsøg på at kåre de pt. bedste systemer
      

- det skal bemærkes at kriterierne i kåringen ikke er helt gennemskuelige og er baseret på forfatterens egen erfaring og subjektive bedømmelser, ligesom det kun er et udpluk af parametre der er taget stilling til i kåringen
- nogle af de parametre der er lagt vægt på i bedømmelsen er : skalérbarhed, løbende udvikling af nye faciliteter, up-to-date med aktuelle browser-standarder
- imidlertid, så er det en rigtig god oversigt over de systemer der er tidssvarende og aktuelle, lige nu – og dermed et udemærket grundlag for at man selv kan gå igang med en mere indgående vurdering
      

Gratis CMS og weblog-systemer – Oversigt :
  

System : WordPress 
      

System : Movable Type
      

System : Expression Engine
      

System : Blogger
      

System : Drupal
      

System : Radiant
      

System : Textpattern
      

System : DotNetNuke
      

System : Typo
      

System : Joomla!
      

      

Gratis CMS og weblog-systemer – Kåring af de 5 bedste :
      

     

   

Rating : * * * * *
System : WordPress
  

   

Rating : * * * *

 

System : Expressionengine
  

   

Rating : * * * *

 

System : Movable Type
  

   

Rating : * * *

 

System : Blogger
  

   

Rating : * *

 

System : Drupal

 

- mere information i artikel i .net tidsskriftet, juli 2008

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Websites – dos and don’ts

I think I have mentioned David Gurteen in this blog before – he is someone I admire for his  vast expertise in Knowledge Management. An article by him in InsideKnowledge, 2008 , 11 (9) sets out just what he looks for in websites – and what he likes and dislikes. I think the points he makes are relevant to all websites :

  • Do not use ‘marketing hype’ -accolades, lists of books and papers published, powerful, flowing marketing prose that says nothing. Start a blog instead – something that let the readers know what you can do.
  • Newsletter  – not just a way to harvest e-mail addresses – do give a description of content, frequency of publication or back copies.

He ends up by saying: “today to demonstrate your ability, you have to give people something of value – not hot air!”

I recommend that Mikronetters read the whole article!