Marketing Talk

Pick yourself up and dust yourself off

At the ripe old age of 3 or 4 months (in Twitter time), I decided that I had learned enough to start a chat of my own. Attending #blogchat had opened my mind to everything that was possible on Twitter. I had met tons of great people, I had gotten hooked on other chats, and I was pretty certain that enough people knew me that I’d be able to get my own chat off the ground. I called the chat #twit4biz (I think), and the idea was to talk about how you were using Twitter for business. I thought it was a pretty fertile area of conversation. I was planning on having chats on everything from your “voice” to the avatar choice (your logo or your face?).

I tried to do the chat for 3 or 4 weeks, and my only attendees each time were the lovely Linda Machado and Lisa Alexander. I so appreciated them coming, but it just didn’t seem like anyone else was interested in what we were saying. So, I decided to call the chat off.

I was horrifically confused and disappointed. I had gotten so many nice comments from people. I had gotten good feedback on the idea. I had gotten coaching from people I really respected. Where had I gone wrong?

Something can work and still not be right

by Margie Clayman

Every month this year, I’ve decided to take on a new eating challenge. In January, I (mostly) gave up chocolate. In February, I gave up all microwave food. This past month, I gave up my beloved Pepsi. For April, I’m trying to eat raw, which is proving highly interesting and a bit scary.

There are a lot of reasons why I’m challenging myself in these ways. I want to get healthier. That’s one thing. But also, I think that we all take for granted how EASY it is to get food and stuff it into our mouths. I love enjoying flavors. I love cooking, in fact. But because there is so much easy food, I just kind of, well, eat. It works. It keeps me nourished. But is it the best way? I am not convinced 100% that it is.

How to organize your time online

by Margie Clayman

Have you ever watched Hook, the Peter Pan take-off starring Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman? In the movie, there’s a great scene that explores Hook’s immense fear of time. You see, Hook fears his own mortality, and he is surrounded by the boys from Neverland who never grow older. You can’t really blame him for hating the sounds of ticking clocks.

The thing is, I think we all kind of hear that incessant ticking, especially in our online world. There is so much to do, and our online reality, for many of us, is just a small portion of how we spend the time of our lives. There is so much pressure to do everything perfectly, get everything done, and it can all seem a little overwhelming. How do you prioritize this stuff?

If someone tells you they have an answer to that question, be very cautious. Alert system: Orange.

Women and Social Media: Chanelle’s post is live!

by Margie Clayman

I’m very very excited to tell you that post number two for the Women and Social Media Series is now live!

Chanelle Schneider, who is a leader on Twitter via her Gen Y chat, interviewed three women in the “baby boomer” age group. The conversation that ensues about looking for jobs using Social Media, advice on how women could use Social Media, and advice for women looking for jobs, is really remarkable and a must see.

So check out Chanelle’s post, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Oh My! Baby Boomer Women Transition Careers Through Social Media

If you missed it, check out Daria Giron’s post from last week, A Glass Ceiling in Social Media?

You can check back here for an overview of the Women & Social Media Series

We hope you’re enjoying this series so far! 🙂

I’m here because of you

by Margie Clayman

Just about a year ago, I was trying to tweet and blog, and I wasn’t having very much luck at it. It all looked so easy and effortless until I started trying to do it. I knew then that any success I would find in this space would be because people took a chance on me. And a year later, as I reflect back on what has happened in my online reality, I must pause to celebrate you.

You write posts that motivate, inspire, and sometimes really tick me off.

You corner me into writing novels in your comment section which result in me meeting more really cool people.

You pick me out of your stream and decide to say hi.

You introduce me to other great people.

You ask me questions that alternately motivate me to find the answer or completely blow my mind.

You offer never-ending, undying support.

You are not afraid to steer me clear when I’m going on the wrong path.

You are not afraid to slap me on the back when I have stroke of good luck.

You open up doors of opportunity for me that I thought were locked with deadbolts.

You read my ongoing ramblings, and then you say nice things about them.

In the end, you can’t really get anywhere in Social Media without people. Without people, who will respond to your tweets? Who will back you up when you’re in a tight spot? Who will listen to you sing nonsense in celebration of something great? Just like in real life, you need people around you. Great people. Even if your goal is solely money-making, you need people. Who is going to click those ads, after all? Who is going to retweet that post? Monkeys aren’t there quite yet. You need people.

I was looking at some of the comments I’ve gotten lately. I don’t get the most comments in the world. I don’t get all that many retweets. But I’ll tell you what, I wouldn’t trade the comments I get for anything in the world. They’re your thoughts, your questions, your observations, and representations of time you’re spending on my behalf.

I’m about a month away from turning 1 year old in the online world, and I will never forget, and will always be cognizant of the fact that any success I find and have found is because of you.Without you, I’d just be blogging and tweeting to myself.

Kind of scary, really.

If you stop and think about it, I’ll bet you’re here because of a bunch of great folks too. That’s what this crazy game is really all about, isn’t it?

Thank you for everything you do, even if you just silently read here. I’m here because of you.

New Time for TweetDiner

by Margie Clayman

A lot of people have told me that they really wish they could come to the TweetDiner chat, but the time just doesn’t work for them. So, I thought I would use this opportunity to a) figure out how to do a poll on my site and b) Find out what day and time would work the best for everyone. If you don’t see your favorite option listed, please let me know in the comments.

Our chat this Saturday will still happen at the regular time – 9 PM EST 🙂

Thanks!

[poll id=”1″]

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