Five most important social media sites, explained by a non techie!

I am now in the middle of my social media course and I have listed what I think are the top five social media sites. I have only been able to successfully use three of them, LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. I have only had one major embarrassing problem and that's been Pininterest, last on my list.

One of the biggest problems I have found is finding out what these sites are! Most people on the net seem to assume you know all about it.

LinkedIn

This is the most respected and widely used site for business networking. LinkedIn is where you share ideas and get answers to questions from professionals that you'd never meet any other way. Industry specific professional groups help each other through advice, resources, referrals, and more. Plus, employers post jobs and recruit here.

LinkedIn isn't a fast-track to becoming an executive editor or a CEO but it is good exposure that can be focused on your specialty. People get to know you through discussions. They learn about you and your expertise when you answer questions for others by responding to a discussion. Again, it's about others and earning the respect of others in your network who can make referrals.

In addition, customers and employers can post public recommendations on your page, and you can see when people in your network change jobs or location, which helps you maintain a current network with viable contacts. Your network can be as wide or narrow as you want to work to make it. So obviously very popular during a recession.

Twitter

The Twitter phenomenon has been around since 2008.

The purpose is to create awareness of your presence. Messages should provide helpful tips, entertain, or inform your target market. Yes, there are spammers and hookers here too. It's easy to block the undesirable element though. The big no-no is blatant self-promotion. Like all customer-oriented content, it's about them, not you.

The short message format is also the ultimate test of your ability to get to the point, which isn't a bad thing to practice. You build a following by offering information that people want, solving problems, and engaging in useful conversation, not by promoting your work constantly. There is an amazing amount of good research information available by doing simple searches too.


MySpace

Pros

If you are looking to meet or find people MySpace is a good place to look. There are lots of people on MySpace so finding people there is easy. MySpace has music and videos you can add to your site for free.

It had advanced Editing: you can add all sorts of things to your MySpace profile. Since you can use HTML and JavaScript in your MySpace editor you are open to adding almost anything.

You can keep in touch: with email, blogs, IM, forums, bulletins and groups you can keep in touch with all your MySpace friends.

BUT

Anyone Can Contact You: There is a privacy setting for your MySpace profile but that means no one can see your profile. MySpace offers no way to allow people to see your profile but still keep them from emailing your and trying to add you to their own MySpace friend list. You may get a lot of people trying to add you to their MySpace friend list and if you don't want just anyone sending you messages then this can become a big bother.
Options Are Hard To Find: There are many things you can do on your MySpace profile that are not obvious. Creating a MySpace slideshow is one of those things. Adding HTML templates is another. Adding other HTML or JavaScripts is yet another. As you browse MySpace you will see some pretty amazing things on some of the MySpace profiles you come across and you may wonder how they are done because MySpace doesn't tell you.

Quite frankly this terrifies me. I'm worried that I don't have the technological skill to protect myself. Also it seems filled with younger teen like people.


Google+

I've seen an advertisement for this in the cinema and feel quite excited about it.

Basically, Google+ is an amalgamation of several services we already use. The idea, according to Google, is to do them better.

Circles are groups of friends you organise by topic: Friends, Family, College Buddies, Roommates, etc.
From your Circles page you drag and drop your contacts into each of these groups, which makes it easier to share what you want with them. Each topic (writing, dogs, whatever) will get its own "Spark" page and provide links to related articles, videos, photos, etc.

Hangouts are virtual rooms where you can video chat with people in your circles. For example, if you're not busy, you can start a talk with your pals.
So, basically, it's just video chat.
Huddles is a new group messaging app

Huddles is group messaging for people within your Circles. There's a mobile app available for Android now that lets you send messages from your phone. Select your group, and everyone can chat with each other.
Instant Upload shares your mobile photos

This one's simple. When you snap a photo on your phone, it's automatically uploaded to Google+.

But the word automatically worries me. If I take a shot of my dog when it rolls in something nasty to show my husband does everyone see it?

Pinterest is a Virtual Pinboard.

Pinterest lets you organise and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pin boards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organise their favourite recipes.

Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests.
I keep having a go but I had a very nasty experience with pininterest. I was trying to create a board and put a picture of a dog which looks like Spock on it, I tried a lot. And then I found out that I had done something with my settings which means I had posted that picture 17 times on my Facebook page - its affected my confidence!

In The Balance - Friday Flash Fiction

She slipped off her shoes then stood on the scales. Biting her bottom lip she tried not to cry. She had attempted to lose at least two pounds this week and had gone to bed hungry every night. Perhaps it was he jeans, she peeled them off and avoided her reflection in the bathroom mirror. What was the point? Disillusion she retreated to the fridge.
The scales chucked.
'You're really mean do you know that,' the shower said in disgust.

Reading The Naked Lawyer with anorak on

I still feel out of time due to the bank holiday and I'm trying to prepare for tomorrow. You see in the morning, me hubby and kids are getting into the car and going to Strafford Upon Avon. It's not for a fun day out, it is hopefully going to be a lot more productive than that. Hubby and I are going to our third training seminar with Chrissie Lightfoot better know as The Entrepreneur Lawyer.

We're both read volumes 5 & 6 of her book The Naked Lawyer and are ready to go. But despite the sexy title of the text book, self employment and family life can put a little downer on all the excitement. Five days work is being squeezed into three. My great friend Lynne is opening The Writers @ Lovedean. My mother in law has kindly agreed to drive down from Cheshire to watch the children all day in Strafford while we are in the seminar. I've made packed lunches for my girls. Nintendos and PSPs are currently charging to entertain the children on the two hour drive. And the dog walker just emailed to say she is unable to pop in and see the dog, so it will be Walkies at the crack of dawn. Plus hubby is still not sure of his personal brand.

But we both believe it will be worth it. Love it or hate it social media is here to stay. We both feel strongly that it is a case of keep up or go extinct.

It is so refreshing to actual read something and talk to someone who is up beat and excited about business. I particularly enjoy the concept of actually having a strategy regarding social media. Although Chrissie is primarily concerned with the business of law she understands why no one likes those individuals who only tweet, put up a Facebook message or use Linked in to try and sell you something.

I'm still working and thinking about rebranding myself. I like my new name and I've bought the domain for it. Now it is just a matter of pulling everything together in a professional manner. I still have a lot to learn.

Feel the fear and doing it anyway.

It's the last week of the summer holiday and then my beautiful girls go back to school. I love the long summer holidays and I'll be sorry to see them go. But I thrive on a good routine and structure so I think the new term will be good for me. What I'm particularly thankful about at the moment is my husband.

He is very inspiring at the moment. He suffers a great deal from shyness, so I have great admiration for him when he does pick up that phone and tries to get work or business. For him the phone is his own personal nemesis, an adversary that he will never beat. I'm sure he will be disappointed if I agree with him. But he's right. Being shy he fears being the first to start the conversation and making those all important calls are difficult. I think to some degree it will always be difficult.

Overcoming your fear, or as the famous book says 'Feeling the fear and doing it anyway' doesn't stop you feeling anxious. Yet, doing something you don't like is powerful stuff. Doing anything new in life is scary — and no one is immune to it. The only way to get through it is to get stuck into the things that terrify you. Whether it’s public speaking, telling a friend how you feel or leaving the job you hate, you have to do the thing you are terrified of. Now! And then never look back.

I was so pleased when he decided it was time to stop avoiding unpleasant and frankly terrifying tasks and just get on with it. I've noticed that it's overflowing to his personal training goals to. Basically he's managed to do what he never got round to reading in the self help book I bought him years ago.

FEEL THE FEAR IN A NUTSHELL

TRUTH ONE: The fear will never go away as long as I continue to grow.
TRUTH TWO: The only way to get rid of the fear of doing something is to go out and do it.
TRUTH THREE: The only way to feel better about myself is to go out and do it.
TRUTH FOUR: Not only am I going to experience fear when I’m on unfamiliar territory, but so is everyone else.
TRUTH FIVE: Pushing through fear is less frightening than living with the underlying fear that comes from a feeling of helplessness.

The reason I loved Susan Jeffers book is that it was written by a woman telling other women to stop trying to be perfect and have the confidence to just go out there and do something, anything.

Most self-help books tell women how to find the perfect love, Jeffers tells you that there’s no such thing until you find your own happiness. I feel so much pleasure in seeing my lovely husband dismiss what he thinks he should be doing with his time and money and instead is discovering what he wants to do to make himself happy and fulfilled.

How can that be described as anything else other than an amazing success?

Not Writing But Typing

Not Waving but Drowning
BY STEVIE SMITH
Nobody heard him, the dead man,
But still he lay moaning:
I was much further out than you thought
And not waving but drowning.

One of my favourite poems.

Unfortunately at the moment I'm not writing but typing! It's not that I have writers block. In fact I don't really believe in writers block. Once a fortnight I run a 'work' week for my writers group. Despite moans, groans and excuses when I put them on the spot, everyone manages to write something. I'm not saying that what you write will always be good, but you can always get something down.

Except I haven't. I've found myself procrastinating. I'm filling my time with other activities. I could use the fact that I'm still not completely over my stomach bug and I'm feeling run down as an excuse, but instead I took the dog out for an evening walk. All health gurus claim that this would be an instant fix to all ills. But I can't help noticing that I've come home and written a blog instead of my story...

The High Life Friday Flash Fiction

Cassie laid her head back on the tiles and waited for the bubbles to rise. She couldn't believe that she hadn't crashed the health club before. It hadn't been hard, she reported her membership card missing when she stole the purse. She'd come in and let them take a new photograph for the new membership card. The beauty of it was that the fat cow she stole it from had only been to the club four times.

At first she worried that one day she would turn up and the membership would be cancelled, but listening to the complaints from the members she wouldn't be able to cancel for another eight months if she tried. Imagine paying all that money and never coming, Cassie loved it. She was desperate to find somewhere to have a hot shower when she decided to try her luck. She raided the lost property and got a bag and gym wear. Then she took a class or two it was better then roaming the streets, next thing she was hooked. Today was the first time she braved the pool and jacuzzi, hers hadn't been the sort of childhood that contained swimming lessons.

The pickings were fabulous at a health club the things these rich morons left on offer was unbelievable. Even if they did bother to put something in a locker it wasn't a problem, they couldn't even tell she had broken in.

A handsome man smiled, 'do you mind if I join you?'

Cassie broke into a large grin, 'please do, I love the hot bubbles.'

It was hard to judge how wealthy the guy was just in a bathing suit, still if he could afford this place he couldn't a bad mark.

'Have you been a member long?'

He had a tan to die for, he probably wintered in the sun, 'a few months. You?'

'I've been coming here for years, but I must admit its not the same.'

'Why?'

'Same as everywhere, falling standards, I don't know it's just not the same, things are going missing, it use to be like one big happy family.'

'Stuff going missing?'

'Yeah, phones, wallets and now someone is even breaking into the lockers, a lot of the members think it must be the staff because the locks aren't broken.'

'Well it's probably the staff then. I wish the bubbles would come on.'

'Yeah but we haven't had any new members of staff for ages, and it isn't the same people on when things go missing and we've been searching the female members of staff when they leave.'

'I'm getting chilly I think I should go and have a shower now.'

'No I think you should come with me.'

Cassie stood up, 'look I'm going to have a shower now, I don't like they way you've been talking to me, I may even decide to speak to the manger about you. In fact I may even leave this stupid health club if the staff are thieves and your jacuzzi isn't even working.'

'Miss as manger I welcome every new platinum member personally, but I didn't greet you. My staff aren't thieves and I can assure you that our jacuzzi is working, it's over there, this is the children's paddling pool.

leftbrainwrite: COFFEE IN CHINATOWN (The Runaway--XI)

leftbrainwrite: COFFEE IN CHINATOWN (The Runaway--XI)