It’s coming up on the year anniversary of when I started blogging, tweeting, and doing other such things. I have learned so much over the last year that it seems pretty hard to believe it has only been a matter of months that I’ve been in this world. I can’t wait to see where I am a year from now!
In the meantime, I have been reflecting on some of the resources that have helped me immensely over the last several months, and I thought I’d take this opportunity to share them, and others, with you.
Books
They say that hindsight is 20/20. If I was starting my Social Media efforts right now, as you might be, I’d start out by reading the following books, in this order.
UnMarketing, by Scott Stratten
Content Rules, by Ann Handley and CC Chapman
Trust Agents, by Julien Smith and Chris Brogan
The Now Revolution, by Amber Naslund and Jay Baer
In my defense, only Trust Agents was published at the time that I started. Still, no excuses!
Must read blogs
ChrisBrogan.com (Chris Brogan’s Blog): The idea of interweaving humanity into my online presence was molded as a result of reading Chris’s blog religiously. There’s always a ton of other great info over there, too!
PushingSocial.com (Stanford Smith’s Blog): Stan focuses most on blogging (and with good reason, he’s a master), but he is also a great source for motivation!
CopyBlogger.com (founded by Brian Clark): Content, content, content – and great Social Media tips as well.
ProBlogger.net (founded by Darren Rouse): Lots of other posts about content creation as well as how to make a living from your blog.
DeniseWakeman.com (Denise Wakeman’s blog): Denise is a blog queen and her own blog is always full of helpful information. I learned an awful lot from her when I was first starting out.
DawnWesterberg.com (Dawn Westerberg’s blog): Social Media and marketing wisdom plus a sunshiny disposition.
Kherize5.com/blog (Suzanne Vara’s Blog): Social Media and how to market your company online.
MarketingProfs Blog: A constantly updated resource that is worth checking daily.
People to follow on Twitter
Look for the following hashtags:
#blogchat (Sunday night chat, begins at 9 PM EST)
#tweetdiner (Saturday night chat, begins at 9 PM EST)
#usguys (24/7 conversation with some of my favorite people in the online world)
and look for the following people (among others)!
@OneJillian
@qstreet
@KnowledgeBishop
@FredMcClimans
@REALChaseAdams
@SuzanneVara
@debmorello
@myagenda
@solete
@carlsorvino
@ckburgess
@pprothe
@pushingsocial
@dwesterberg
@dannybuntu
@ianmrountree
These folks are just a few of the ones who have helped me get to where I am (wherever that may be). Tell ’em I said they have to be good!
Posts to read right away!
I highly recommend reading these posts. Some of them helped me when I first got started, and others would have helped me if they had been written at the time!
50 Power Twitter Tips, Chris Brogan
Why Smart Readers Prefer Dumb Bloggers, Stanford Smith
How to be a Twitter Champion, Heidi Cohen
Is there a crisis in crisis management? Cheryl Burgess
You, me, the internet, and the war for attention, Tommy Walker
5 grammatical errors that make you look dumb, Brian Clark
This is why you don’t bury your blog’s gold, Mack Collier
I’ve also written a few posts to help you out if you’re just getting started:
Ten Tricks for Twitter Newbies
1 month, 40 blogging action items
1 month, 40 Twitter action items
Do you have resources that have helped along the way? Let me know!
Image by Jean Scheijen. http://www.sxc.hu/profile/vierdrie