The Social Media Beginner’s Tool Kit
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
17 Comments
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How handy! Thanks for compiling this. The kit’s almost complete. I’d suggest adding a large supply of premixed caffeinated drinks.
well, that’s a gimme 🙂 haha 🙂
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What a fantastic resource! As a complete Social Media newbie, it is incredibly overwhelming to step into the torrent of activity and have any idea what to do.
This kit will save me a lot of time and bewilderment as I get up to speed.
Thanks!
Happy to hear it – I know exactly what you mean. When I first started out I had absolutely no idea what I was doing or where to start. It seemed like everyone else was in on the game except me 🙂 So, I thought I’d help folks newer than me cheat a bit 🙂
It’s really great that people are sharing this ifnormtioan.
This is fantastic, Margie. I’m honoured to be on (another of) your lists!
Have you any thoughts on specific tools you use? There’s a lot of knowledge value here… Any thoughts on procedural value stuff?
(Disclosure, I’m likely working up a page in the next few weeks on just that)
Excellent stuff 🙂
I very much look forward to that page!
I think in terms of procedure, my “1 month” posts kind of cover that a bit. I tend to shy away from procedure because I think when people see step-by-step lists, they feel that if they follow those steps, they’ll be golden. Didn’t happen that way for me, so I don’t like to set those kinds of expectations if I can avoid it. However, I would say the ignition point for any online procedure is to be sure you are okay with admitting what you don’t know and looking for information from people you trust. Those are 2 things that helped me across the board.
Absolutely! I doubt I’ll do step-by-step, but resources the way you have here. A list of twitter programs, and so on. Can’t be handing people the golden megaphone, can we? 🙂
Margie,
The essence of your kindness could never be summed up in a few words.
With each of your posts, tweets, comments on blogs, tells of story of a woman whose heart is filled with love and compassion. You share not only knowledge, insights, but passion for what you love most in life and that is “people”.
Thank You for mentioning my name and all you do!
Love,
Cheryl
@ckburgess
Aw, thanks so much, Cheryl. I really appreciate that 🙂
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I am really enjoying watching you evolve/transform/show your feathers off.
Standing ovation!
😀 Thanks, my friend. ((Hugs))
I’m scrolling around at 5 this morning and land on this great post. And it’s great not just because you mention me but because I would’ve loved to have found it when I first got started. There’s no greater value to new “players” than finding others who will engage with them. And when I perused your list of tweeps to follow, they are the same who engage with me.
You continue to smooth the way for others by sharing your insight in a straightforward, no-nonsense style – you’ve made such a difference for others, Margie. And especially for me.
What a sweet thing to say, Sam. Thank you very much for that.
And yes, we share an awesome community. No doubt about it 🙂
Brilliant! This is a really marvelous stuff for me. I was curious to see a stuff like that. Fabulous post!
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