A huge list of social media and blogging guidelines

There are many social media and blogging guidelines online. While researching I found myself searching back and forth between sites. On this post I have put the most impressive links in one place for reference and hopefully not to re-invent that wheel.

I’m a bit obsessed with social media guidelines having recently come back from the  inspirational, amazing, early morning soiree that was Localgovcamp. I am still buzzing with excitement about what’s happening in the world of local authority social media.

One  policy that really sings to me  is Zappos Twitter policy ‘Be real and use your best judgement’ - that’s it!  Thanks to original posts  listed below  just for reference….

• Liz at LGEO Research
• Dave at Dave Press
• Carl Haggerty’s notepad
• Laurel Papworth
• 123 social media
• Govloop
• Christyweb
• Mashables 10 must haves for your social media policy
• Stap isi – where to post local government online guidelines
• Step two designs  – Moderating internal discussion forums, blogs and other social media

The list

Employee guidelines

• Civil Service guidance on participation online
• New Zealand Government – Guide to Online particpation
• Carl Haggerty’s Social media and online participation guidelines
• Intel’s Social Media Guidelines
• IBM’s Social Computing Guidelines
• Social media explorer – Employee Policies for Social Media Participation
• Scout blogging – Corporate Guidelines for Using Blogs and Forums
• Sun Microsystems Communities: Sun’s Guidelines on Public Discourse
• BBC personal use of Social Networking and other third party website
• CIPR Social Media Guidelines
• Draft guidance for New Zealand State servants using social media
• Gartner Public Web Participation Guidelines
• Greteman Group (Marketing Agency)
• IBM Social Computing Guidelines
• CISCO Internet Postings Policy
• HP Code of Conduct
• Harvard Law School – Terms & Policy
• US Navy – Web 2.0 – Utilizing New Web Tools
• CIPR Chartered Institute of Public Relations Social Media Guidelines
• US Air Force Social Media Policy (includes flow chart)
• Porter Novelli
• Government Policy
• Dow Jones Social Media Interaction Policy
• Harvard Law School Blogs Terms of Use
• Sun Guidelines on Public Discourse
• Cisco’s Internet Postings Policy
• IBM’s Social Computing Guidelines
• Dell’s Online Communication Policy
• United States Airforce “new media and the airforce”
• Telstras 3 r’s of social media engagement

Blogging guidelines

• BBC staff blog guidelines
• USA.gov – Government and Social Media – advice on blogging
• BlogCouncil – Disclosure Policy
• Opera Employee Blogging Policies
• Electronic Frontier Foundation How to Blog Safely about Work
• Canadian Broadcasting Corporation blogging rules
• Opera Blogging Policy
• Sun Blogging Guidelines (pdf)
• GM Motors Blogging Policies
• Media companies: For Journalists entering into public debate
• IOC Olympic Athletes Blogging Policy
• Yahoo’s Personal Blog Guidelines for staff

Once digested and reviewed i’m working on  a very simple version in plain English using lovely charts….

Blog moved

My new blog is at http://www.webyogi.co.uk/wordpress/

How companies are using twitter for business

Checked LinkedIn lately? The new partnership between LinkedIn and Twitter allows you to sync your accounts. So..if  you’ve found an interesting article that affects your business  you can Twitter it and have it tweeted to your LinkedIn contacts too.

When i first started to use twitter i felt like it was some sort of secret club (a freemasons for geeks) where everyone knows each other. I was petrified of doing my first tweet and thought how i do i use it, what for and what’s the #.@ all about?

As i started to use it i realised that Twitter is just a communication tool to let one person connect with another. It’s also a form of permission-based marketing.

Using twitter for business

Companies know that they should probably be using Twitter but they are not all clear on why or how. Ruth Mortimer – Marketing Week .

Companies can take several different routes to using twitter for business…

• direct - using twitter as a marketing or public relations channel
• indirect -  let employees tweet to promote positive feelings about the company (making sure they follow acceptable and desirable online particpation guidelines)
• internal – by using microblogging services like Yammer and present.ly
• listening -  keeping track of what’s being said about the company though micro conversations

Here are some other ways that companies are using twitter for business …

• real time coverage of events and feedback or questions e.g conferences
• building the companies brand - brand engagement answering customer service enquiries, for example Jetblue Airlines say ‘have a question? Follow us and let us help! They have 1,441,981 followers.
• talk about topics customers may be interested in
• broadcasting news and special offers
• share ideas or communicate about what projects staff are working on

Some organisations have corporate twitter accounts others have multiple accounts to offer a different take on the corporate tweet. Whatever approach is taken Twitter allows companies to engage directly with customers and be more human which can’t be a bad thing.

• Twitter 101 for business
• Chris Brogan’s 50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Business
• readwriteweb – 4 ways companies are using twitter for business

Can the internet make you rich?

Loadsamoney?

ITV’s tonight programme this evening explored how the internet is opening up new avenues for budding entrepreneurs to make their fortunes online  in these recessionary times.

Most of the entrepreneurs in the programme simply had a good idea and used the web and social media to exploit it. Take Lauren Luke’s You Tube video make up tutorials – Brilliant! – I’ve subscribed and i didn’t even realise i needed to.

When the internet first came around it was synonymous with porn, online dating and dodgy websites that sucked. How things have changed, nowadays  :-

• there are 42 million online shoppers in the UK
• 71% growth in the last 2 years
• Now 17p in every pound is being spent online (almost twice that of the US).
• £68.4 billion UK trade is expected to be done on the internet in 2009 compared with only £87m in 2000

What strikes me is that the people who are successful are authentic, real and practical. Social media channels simply enable entrepreneurs to promote ideas, products, messages or behaviors and spread them like viruses -  as Malcolm Gladwell so eloquently describes in The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. Image the potential that Crowd Sourcing brings for business and social change…

Links

• Daily blog tips – 28 ways to make money online from your website
• Monetize your website – Squidoo

Facebook users in Brighton

How many people use social media in Brighton? I thought i’d do a bit of research to find out the statistics  – harder than i thought! So i’m making a start with Facebook.

Just for info …the resident population of Brighton in 2001 was 247,817.

Facebook users in Brighton

I used the Facebook “advertising” option and these are the results based on facebook’s estimates (not entirely sure these are great estimates). The following statistics are based on the search criteria:

• people who live in the United Kingdom
• people who live within 25 miles of Brighton or Hove

Age group

• Under 25 – 192,120 people
• 26- 40 – 205,440 people
• 41 – 55 – 82,720 people
• 56 plus – 17,600 people
• Men – 255,580 people
• Women – 292,800 people
• All age 18 and older – 477,760 people

Facebook isn’t the only social media tool, but it does provide a good example of the level of people locally who you could reach, and who are likely to have not been reached before other than through traditional marketing channels.

Social media usage statistics in Brighton & Hove – Part 1

Sometimes its hard to convince people of the impact that social media is having on peoples lives. Is social media a fad? Is social media the new cigarette? Or is it the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution? View this video and make your own mind up…

Blogging for beginners

Been showing a colleague today how to set up a blog. It’s so exciting to see people dive in and explore the wonderful world of the blogosphere. There are lots of blog hosting services (places where your blog will live) to start blogging on. The most popular ones are Blogger, WordPress and TypePad but there are many more. I use WordPress, it’s easy to use and get started, just sign up and experiment. I am not a expert blogger but here are some tips i have come across recently that i have found useful …

- Keep it simple – Start with an easy to use blogging tool like WordPress

-  Pick topics that you are passionate about -  you’ll find people with similar interests to connect with.

- Interact - Make sure your blog has a comments feature – when someone leaves a comment email them or leave a reply.

- Think about the purpose of your blog – Decide what you will and won’t write about and stick to it.

- Read other blogs and link to them - Blogging connects people thinking through similar issues.  Link to them, add your own ideas, leave comments. Technorati is the place to start – have a look at the top 100 list and subscribe to feeds you find interesting.

I use my blog as an online reference library to note posts and links that i love. Here are some links to blogging resources that i have found useful …

• Blogging tips
• Become a blogger - free video tutorials in simple plain English nice….
• Debbie Weil’s blogging for beginners
• Problogger – 9 Things to Do To Make Sure Your Next Blog Post is Read by More than Your Mom Mum
• Dosh Dosh blogging tips
• Five Beginner’s Blogging Tips – John  Chow a man with a great sense of humour. I heart John Chow
• TechRepublic – 10 Ways to Become a Better Blogger
• LifeHack – 101 Steps to Becoming a Better Blogger

SEO : keyword discovery tools

The first stage in search engine optimisation is keyword discovery. Nothing works better than a good ‘thought storm’ to choose target keywords and phrases and plan your strategy. Keyword planning ensures that you focus your resources on valuable keywords – not targeting keywords that are ineffective.

Mike Moran and Bill Hunt call this the Goldilocks principle. Try to find keywords that are not too hot, not too cold but ‘just right’. The next stage is to use keyword tools to find out words heavily used by searchers, reveal variations and find out keyword demand. I use several keyword tools to make better decisions as over reliance on one tool can be misleading. The most useful  keyword discovery tools i have found are  :-

• Wordtracker
• Google adwords
• Google insights for search (beta)
• Trellians keyword discovery
• Yahoo keyword tools
• Microsoft adcenter
• Xbercode Ad Word Analyser

The first stage of keyword discovery can be very time consuming and represents 20% of seo work. Solid understanding of the ‘just right’ keywords and phrases is the most important aspect of search engine marketing. There are many seo resources on the web. The best ones (in my opinion) are on my blogroll so check them out for more information.

The best books i have read on seo and search engine marketing are:-

• Search Engine Marketing, Inc – From the pioneers in search engine marketing,  Mike Moran and Bill Hunt
• The New Rules of Pr and Marketing – David Meerman Scott
• eMarketing excellence – Dave Chaffney
• Get into bed with Google – Jon Smith – wee mini guide perfect for bedtime reading
• Get to the top on Google – David Viney

Social media sites for mums and mumpreneurs

Attended the annual event of the year in Portslade’s social calendar today – the village fete! Aside from home made cakes and bagging a bargain Whistles red dress (v savvy) i bumped into lots of local mums. So… feeling inspired tonight to blog about some fabulous social media sites for mums and mumpreneurs.

According to a Rapleaf study, while both sexes still use social networking sites in huge numbers, women are the ones holding down the fort. There’s been a lot of exposure for mummy bloggers, so Sony have decided to get the dads involved through the ‘here come the dads’ digidads project. So what online resources are available to social  mums?

Mumpreneurs

Mums in control – is a new website for mums who mean business. It’s the UK’s fastest growing support and advisory service for working mums. The aim is to create an area for mums covering all aspects of what it is to be a working mum or mum in business (mumpreneur). How brilliant!

She’s connected – One woman two busy lives… sound like you? Does me. This is twitter for women with personal and business profiles, a blogging directory and lots more.

Supermummy – mumpreneur network, podcasts, radio show, groups, forums, magazine blimey this really is super mummy!

Everywoman – connects women in business. Online community all about female entrepreneurs helping each other to excel.

Essential business guide - From the amazing Julie Stanford the essential business guide is the best small business guide on the planet. The award winning Essential Business Guide is the only business book ever to win a Plain English Award and Business Book of the Year. Perfect if you are already running your business or just starting out.

MomLogic – Great videos and articles for parents

Blogher -  for women in the blogosphere. Lists nearly 10,000 female-authored blogs – a must read for anyone interested in learning about women in social media and joining the community.

Mom bloggers club – Where all the moms or mums  gather to blog.

ClubMom – is a place for mums to connect with other mums to ask questions and get answers from other moms on which they can rate and comment on.

iVillage – started in 1995, is one of the oldest sites for women. A bit too girly for me.

There’s lots more  Top 10 social media sites for women on Mashable and mommy bloggers  galore at alltops blogs for moms by moms but that’s all for now folks – motherhood calls!

Social media tips for journalists

Robert Peston the  BBC’s business editor has recently blogged about the future of news journalism. In his  Richard Dunn Memorial Lecture post he says …

“Rather than total journalists, perhaps we are becoming Denis Waterman journalists as per “Little Britain”, i.e. we write the theme tune, sing the theme tune, and so on.”

Apart from making me smile the point he makes is that  in national and international news, convergence has already happened for TV, radio and newspapers. We all do video, audio and the written word. I had a chat with a journalist colleague recently about the best way to monitor news releases and blogs on the internet. It got me thinking about how journalists can use social media to reach other news hounds and how to measure the impact.

The web has changed the rules from communicating with the media to communicating directly with consumers, the primary audience is no longer ‘journalists’. There are many influential PR bloggers – see Steve Rubel’s micropersuasion blog for example, and resources like Gina Chen’s top 10 tips for journalists who blog.

10 Tips for reaching journalists through social media

 

1. Optimise news delivery for searching & browsing – key words and key phrases have become more important
2. Place links in news releases to deliver people to landing pages on your website
3. Make sure you have RSS feeds on your website. Some journalists love rss feeds. RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication” – it’s a format for distributing and gathering content from sources across the Web, including newspapers, magazines, and blogs
4. Create an online media room
5. Muck rack - follow journalists on twitter
6. Pitch bloggers – being covered in important blogs will get you noticed by mainstream media
7. Does your local reporter have  blog? Read it, comment on it, track back to it and start your own blog!
8. Target one reporter at a time and pitch to the particular journalist direct
9. Follow up potential contacts promptly
10. Use social media monitoring tools to track conversations and mentions (see below)

Social media links for journalists

• The journalists guide to facebook
• The journalists guide to twitter
• A journalists guide to the digital age
• Help a reporter
• Google news UK
• Prnewswire.com
• Newstxt.com
• AP style guide

Social media monitoring tools for journalists

 

• Moreover
• Yahoo! news
• Google news UK
• Digg and Reddit – search for submitted stories that match your company name
• Technorati - let’s you get quick updates on any blog that utters your company name
• Google blog search and Google alerts
• Blogpulse – conversation tracker
• Addictomatic - useful aggregator for blogs, twitter and just about anything else
• Yahoo Pipes
• Twitter search
• Back type
• Boardreader – Forum search engine
• Social media mention – who’s talking about your brand? Like Google Alerts but for social media
• Lexicon - Facebook buzz  – You have to login to see it. Search any keyword and see how often it is discussed on Facebook users’ “walls”.

Google Caffeine – what does it mean for SEO?

Google Caffeine Update is Google’s updated web search. Google Caffeine update will be rolled out in the next few months. Watch Mashables’s video on Google Caffiene on how it will affect search engine rankings. To test the Google Caffeine Update, go to http://www2.sandbox.google.com/ and enter your search terms.  Noticed any differences in results from the existing Google homepage? I haven’t yet….

So what are the differences?

• Real time information and social media (Twitter, FriendFeed, Facebook) seem to rank more highly
• The index – the number of pages that are returned when searching is larger
• Image or video search listings (called universal search) – are less obvious.  This may be because Caffeine update is still in beta as i can’t image that this is less important
• It seems to index more individual pages on sites in some searches, less in other searches – again may be because it’s beta.

So, in a nutshell the results aren’t all that different yet and it’s difficult to notice any differences (yet).  What it does imply is that real time information, social media and updated content will be more important. Add to this is the Google’s focus on localised information e.g Google maps and it shows where to focus search engine optimisation energy. Time to start the blog, tweet your heart out and get social.

Google caffiene links

• Google Caffeine Bookmarklet
• Compare Caffeine results with regular Google