Blogs

Classmate Blogs
Carol B. had a very good blog entry titled What Makes for Effective Social Media Marketing?  I enjoyed it for several reasons.  First, she threw in a tidbit of personal information.  I think this is important so that you connect with the reader on a personal level.  I also liked how she took us through the process of her checking out different company's uses of social media.  I got a good sense on the steps she took and what she discovered along the way.   Her six guidelines of what and what not to do were clear, practical and very easy to read.  My favorite was to have fun, as this step is easy and successful but often overlooked. I liked the simple way it was written while still sounding educated.


I also liked Ralph's blog on Marshall McLuhan.  While I enjoyed reading and learning about Marshall McLuhan, it was not easy to get a clear picture of his thoughts as he was a very complex man.  Ralph's description of him helped me make more sense of all the information I had about him.  In his four paragraphs he summarized and made clear everything I had read about McLuhan and made it simple to understand.


Blogs About Social Media Marketing
My favorite Social Media Marketing Blog is soshable.com.  There has not been a post on there since I started following it that I have not found useful.  I highly recommend checking it out.  A couple of my favorite recent posts are summarized here:
  
In the post Social Media is a Reflection of One's Social Skills, it speaks of the importance of applying real life social skills to social networks. Such a simple common logic, but it is easy to see how it can be left out of one's plan.  Having good social skills will help you in all aspects of life. Simple concepts like remembering to introduce yourself when you first meet somebody apply to social media just like the outside world.  A company that comes across as too technical will loose their fan base really quickly.  The post talks about human needs and the importance of meeting them.  It points out that people are online to meet their needs, and that is what you need to be doing as well.  


I also enjoyed the post 5 Situations in Which You Shouldn't Create a Facebook Page.  It may be instinct to just jump in and start now, but that is not a wise idea for your business.  This was a post I really felt covered an important topic and said that it is okay if you are not ready yet.  Take some time, get a plan together and then move forward.  Don't just assume you should immediately create a Facebook and/or other page.  If you do not have a well planned social media strategy, it may be best to wait before forging ahead into the world of social media.  You will not be well received and the damage could be large.


Blogs Used to Market
An online store that is a large part of my credit card bill each month is the women's clothing store Free People.  My wife loves it; it is her all time favorite clothing store and she spends a great deal of time on their site. So I thought I would check out their blog that she follows blog.freepeople.com/.  The grade I would give this blog is a C.  I wanted to really like it because she likes it so much.  At first glance I really did not like it.  I was put off by the disorganized, simple text and large pictures.  It did not seem engaging to me.  It grew on me a bit once I tried to put myself as a fan of the store.  One of my favorite things about it was the blogroll, or links to other blogs that I found.  I also really liked that they had categories, as this is something I have not seen before.  


I then asked her what some of the blogs she enjoyed were.  I do not have any that I am too familiar with.  She studies the travel industry and told me to check out www.blogsouthwest.com/.  I loved this blog. Definitely would give it an A.  I expected to see a lot of fare sales and other airline information, but I found a great assortment of information. From tips on going green, sports talk, funny airport happenings to reaching out to airline employees who are facing tough times, this blog was wonderfully well rounded.  Flashback Fridays offer followers a glimpse into the past of the industry.  It features the latest airline news off to the right side and is very unpretentious, not at all pushy.  Very diverse and easy to look at.  Anyone who followed this blog would easily feel a sense of community with Southwest.  I can see why she follows it and enjoys it so much.
   
The last blog I looked at was www.starbucks.com/blog.  This was an A for sure.  Another great mix of diverse topics.  And it had the categories again which I really like.  It was clean and very simple with only one photograph, if any.  So it was not overwhelming to me like the Free People blog.  Like so many I enjoy Starbucks quite often and will be looking forward to reading more of their blog.