My number one advice for writing

Make yourself sit down and just do it…

Some find the thought of having to write something very daunting, painful like going to the dentist.

However, you’ll find if you make yourself sit down and just start, you’ll get involved with the process and may even enjoy putting your thoughts into words.

You may scoff at this notion but consider this… inspired writing doesn’t necessarily have to happen during traditional work hours. Some write best after the kids are in bed and some write best early morning. Try to write when you feel you are in the best frame of mind and you can give your writing your undivided attention.

Don’t worry about having it perfect immediately. Write/type all your thoughts and then rearrange and edit. When you think you’re getting to the final draft stage, read it out loud to see how it sounds.

I realize I’m biased, I enjoy writing as opposed to say… doing calculus… but know that it doesn’t have to be so painful, just sit down and do it and start with baby steps, the rest will follow.

Sarah Wallace is a research analyst, blogger and podcaster. To learn more about her, click on the tabs above.

What is this New Twitter?

What is this New Twitter? Watch the video from Twitter below. They started rolling it out last night, who will be next!

Sarah Wallace is a research analyst, blogger and podcaster. To learn more about her, click on the tabs above.

Some new Twitter features I can get on board with!

This weekend I discovered some new Twitter features that I can get on board with! I realized @NerdBoyTV was following me and when I went to read his bio, I saw under his Twitter handle “Also followed by…” indicating people who follow him who I’m also following. And, in the right hand menu I noticed “You both follow” which opened up to a “view all” list of people we both follow. I like these two new features because they give me some clue as to the connections we have in common. Very Facebook-like but hey, Twitter users have been asking to find some type of common thread for quite some time. Perhaps this means that @Ev, @Jack and @Stone are listening…

Sarah Wallace is a research analyst, blogger and podcaster. To learn more about her, click on the tabs above.

Follow Twitter’s @earlybird for special discounts

Twitter's @earlybird logo

According to the Fast Company article “Twitter Offers First @earlybird Exclusive Deal”, Twitter launched its @earlybird account in which advertisers can offer exclusive deals on Twitter.

The first @earlybird special is a buy-one-get-one deal for The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. In a blog post, Twitter said it will introduce a new @earlybird deal several times a week.

Twitter reports it has lined up tens of advertisers and hopes for hundreds by year’s end. Advertisers already on board include Groupon and Gilt Groupe.

The @earlybird Twitter account currently has around 54,000 followers. As word spreads I believe it will grow tremendously. People spend a lot of time on Twitter to network and learn. This is a way for users to get a little something back.

Sarah Wallace is a freelance writer helping clients with blogging, Twitter, Facebook, web copy, SEO, e-newsletters and press releases. In addition to performing these writing services, she also provides editing and consulting. To learn more about her work experience and services, click on the tabs above or contact Sarah at sarah@sarahwallace.com

Free tool helps identify brand trends on Foursquare

For those skeptical about geolocation, speculate no more. Last week, Foursquare secured $20 million in venture funding after passing the 1.8 million user mark and recently reached 1 million check-ins in a single day. Geolocation is more than just seeing where your friends are, it allows customers to be rewarded for its dedication to merchants through specials and rewards. As businesses take geolocation more seriously, Awareness, Inc. (a provider of social marketing management software) has stepped up with its free foursquare Perspectives tool that allows users to help identify trends and insights on Foursquare.

The foursquare Perspectives tool reports key statistics such as total venues, total check-ins, unique visitors and total mayorships, and presents that data through comprehensive charts, graphs and maps to help marketers easily visualize key market trends among Foursquare locations.

With this type of data, Starbucks or any merchant can pinpoint its most popular Foursquare venues and cater its marketing campaigns based on demand. Not only is this tool incredibly useful but it is also incredible that it is free.

This comes right after Awareness announced the addition of a Foursquare channel support to its flagship product, the Awareness Social Marketing Hub, to allow enterprise marketers to manage Foursquare venues and publish tips to all or a targeted segment of venues through a single interface.

Along with foursquare Perspectives, Awareness has published two eBooks available for free download (The State of foursquare2010 and Top 10 Ways Enterprise Marketers Can Leverage foursquare) to any enterprise marketer looking to learn more about foursquare and how they can include it as part of their marketing efforts.

You may follow foursquare Perspectives on Twitter at @4sqPerspectives.

You may also read my notes after seeing Foursquare Co-Founder Dennis Crowley speak about merchant relations at My Take Away From Eat, Drink, Be Social.

Sarah Wallace is a research analyst, blogger and podcaster. To learn more about her, click on the tabs above.

Why Social Media is Like Shedding Holiday Weight

As the new year starts and I realize the holiday season’s refined sugars are now resting permanently on my hips, I can’t help but note that social media is much like shedding holiday weight…

You know you should be working hard it at, it’s only beneficial

Obviously, the benefits of shedding unnecessary pounds is an improvement of your health and overall well being.  With social media, the benefits of working hard is the continued growth of your online presence which promotes an awareness of your talents, expertise, services and products.

You’ve got to make sure you carve out the time

Similar to exercise, many say the biggest challenge with social media is carving out the time. I’m not going to say it’s easy, but it’s definitely a must. And, if you don’t seem to have the bandwidth, consider delegating to either someone in-house or outsourcing the effort.

People will say to you “Wow, you’re doing really well, good for you!”

It’s true, after you shed some pounds people will say how great you look. And, by increasing your social media presence through more followers, fans or engaging with your customers, people will take notice and recognize your success.

So, let’s do it, I’ll get my hips on the treadmill and let’s all make an effort to maintain our online presence. Bring on 2010!

Sarah Wallace is a research analyst, blogger and podcaster. To learn more about her, click on the tabs above.

Social Media FTW: A Win, Win for Everyone

 

The Social Media FTW conference yesterday turned out to be a Win, Win for everyone. It was a day of meeting new people and learning from each other, this is what social media is all about. Thanks to Rich Brooks (Flyte New Media), Chrystie Corns (Where) and Jaica Kinsman (Guiding Stars) for holding a great event!

Lord knows I’m guilty of burying my head in work and getting caught in the daily grind of work for my clients. But, it’s nice to take an afternoon to meet new people and hear what others have to say.  Even though I may not agree with some points of view, it’s always good to hear other perspectives and the reasoning behind it. Expanding your horizons is good. Your brain is a muscle, as they say.

I spoke on the blogging panel and once we got started, I realized we could have used 2 hours to answer the questions in the room and go a little deeper into our list of bullet points.  If you attended my panel, I hope you were able to take something away from it that was helpful.

So, what is the number one thing I took away from the Social Media FTW conference? I took away an appreciation that we are all trying to do the same thing. We are all trying to grow our business/organization using today’s tools but by using them in a wise, efficient way.

Next, I look forward to the Big Conference which features social media big dogs such as Chris Brogan (Trust Agents),  Mike Volpe (Hubspot) and more. I hope to see you there and other social media events and gatherings!

Photo: Barbara Hart of Hire Well takes notes at Social Media FTW

Sarah Wallace is a research analyst, blogger and podcaster. To learn more about her, click on the tabs above.

If you could rename Social Media, what would it be?

Call me a hypocrite, I work in social media and I’m sick of the term. Day in and out I’m inundated with it, whether it be in my Twitter stream, while I’m trying to read business articles, or when I’m working with a client.

And, along the way I’ve found my use of social media to be changing. For example, I still use Twitter to connect with friends and business associates but lately I’ve also used it as an immediate news source. So, as our use of these social portals change, should the term?

If you were to rename the term social media, what would it be? Maybe “immediate communication” or “instant gratification.” Would love to hear your ideas.

Sarah Wallace is a research analyst, blogger and podcaster. To learn more about her, click on the tabs above.

 

A Stangant Website May Be a Good Thing…

What!!! Some may exclaim… How can a stagnant website be a good thing?!

Well, let me put it this way… As a social media services writer I am approached by businesses that have dated websites with no interactive content. At first I’m aghast but after talking to them I realize they are really, really busy. Their business is growing and the just don’t have time. They are too busy with mission critical tasks to keep a blog or be on Twitter.

This is where I come in and help them, but the point is, a stagnant website may mean a company has a great reputation and is growing exponentially and just needs some help in the online department.  Just something to think about…

Sarah Wallace is a research analyst, blogger and podcaster. To learn more about her, click on the tabs above.

The iPhone vs Blackberry Bold

I really needed to get a new phone.  My dinosaur Samsung was no longer serving its purpose since I’ve been gaining more social media clients and I needed to access various social media portals at all times.

So, I said goodbye to Sprint and headed over to the AT&T store since I knew I either wanted an Apple 3G iPhone or a Blackberry Bold.

I ended up buying the iPhone 3G (8 Gig) mostly due to price. It was $199 versus the Blackberry Bold $399 after 2 year contract.

Even though I love my iPhone and enjoy all the apps, I must say the Blackberry Bold is pretty amazing. Unlike the iPhone (pre 3.0 software release) it can cut and paste and you can use programs such as PowerPoint and Excel right on the handset. The Bold’s camera is nicer in that it has zoom and flash. And, its GPS navigation is voice guided, unlike the iPhone’s.

Also, a huge differentiator is that iPhone’s automatic e-mail retrieval is a minimum of 15 minutes. You do have the option of setting the iPhone’s retrieval to manual  but if your job is one where you have to get back to people ASAP, this might be an issue.

Again, the main reason I chose iPhone was the pricepoint (and that I’m not using programs such as PowerPoint  right now) but the Blackberry Bold is definitely a robust and powerful phone. Another smart phone to consider this summer will be the Palm Pre. It is said to be able to read flash and be very user friendly with social portals such as Facebook and Twitter.

My next blog post will be a review of the Flip Mino HD, a camcorder I just purchased for vlogging. I will discuss pricepoint, pros and cons and give video examples.  Stay tuned!

Sarah Wallace is a research analyst, blogger and podcaster. To learn more about her, click on the tabs above.