Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Monday, April 17, 2017

Social Media as a Disruptive Technology

What is a disruptive technology?  "New ways of doing things that disrupt or overturn the traditional business methods and practices. For example, steam engine in the age of sail, and internet in the age of post office mail."

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/disruptive-technology.html

I can guarantee that no one took "notes" when I was an undergraduate by taking a picture of the whiteboard! Just like the mobile devices we all use have disrupted the way we study and learn, social media has also "disrupted" the way people live and do business.  

Please read the following blog posts that explore this.  







Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Monetize


This week we are going to be looking at ways to make money by blogging.  There are people out there earning a living as bloggers, and even more supplementing thier income. Of course, we know there are companies that use blogs as a way of promoting their product but I am focusing here on individuals who succeed in creating income - money or in kind - from their own blog. So - here are some strategies you might be able to utilize.

Collaborate with other companies 
This blogger has such a following that target has collaborated with her several times to design
products to be sold in Target.
http://www.designlovefest.com/2017/03/dlf-lugggage-giveaway/#comment-1840240

A common method is for a company to collaborate with bloggers writing about their product area.  Often multiple bloggers writing about the same topics will be involved.
http://www.lilblueboo.com/2017/03/how-to-display-a-sea-glass-collection.html 

Ads
https://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/truth-chickens-die/

Sponsored posts 
https://www.designertrapped.com/diy-pipe-desk/

Use your blog to promote other items you sell 
http://inspiralized.com/curried-cauliflower-and-lentil-salad-with-carrot-noodles-and-honey-
cumin-dressing/

http://www.livesweetblog.com/bunny-rompers/ 

Affiliate links 
http://www.mrsplantintexas.com/2017/03/the-cheese-trap-herbed-cheese-ball.html 

Reviews (get free stuff!) 
https://prettyprintsandpaper.com/2017/03/06/review-chalkola-chalk-pens-discount-code/

Blog leads to opportunities
This blogger had a niche food blog which led to a publisher giving her a book deal. She now uses
the blog to promote the book. (And look at how she adds links to other blogs that promote her
book. Collaboration!)
http://thefirstmess.com/2017/03/08/hot-pink-smoothie-cheers/

From the mouths of bloggers 
http://www.carrieonliving.com/blogger-bytes-how-do-i-make-money/

http://www.carrieonliving.com/how-to-get-sponsored-content/

Monday, April 3, 2017



Media Literacy and Fake News

I have talked in class about the importance of understanding and recognizing fake news.  The comic at the right does a great job of explaining it as well. Below are some links on fake news and some on teaching about fake news.  The latter might be helpful in your Public Education Activity.













Image from
http://www.robot-hugs.com/comics/2016-10-18-outrage.png

Friday, March 31, 2017

Up Your Game part two


Hello class. This week we continue to work on improving the quality of our social media presence. Here are some examples of the kinds of things that we talked about in class. Please read all the blog post. Your WRR will be on these posts.

Collaborate

A private Facebook page is one way to build a community. The sense of scarcity makes followers feel special, you can offer things to just those followers, and your followers end up creating much of the content. 


This blog regularly features interviews with other bloggers and real life business people. It is an opportunity for mutual promotion.  The blog gets content and the guests get free advertising 

Self promotion

Look at all the ways this blogger promotes herself throughout the post. Particularly the links to other posts the reader might be interested in. 

Using your blog to promote readers to follow your other social media


Use one social media post as part of another

Look how she provides an easy to pin image to encourage people to link to her post through Pinterest

Another example of making it easy to pin 

Look at all the ways she connects to her other social media AND promotes her product. A product that she was able to create because of the blog. 

Using a hashtag to get your readers to promote your blog (and create community)

Easy Ways To Make Good Posts

This blogger has this post theme every week. Knowing she has this, she can be collecting content easily during the week and put it together easily. Notice how at the end, she lists links to other blogs. This is also quick and easy content style that a lot of bloggers employ either as part of a post or its own post. If your reading other blogs in your area, it should be easy to put together a few links to other quality posts. 


Take a blog post idea and develop it over more than one post. 

Here's another sample of how providing a link to another bloggers post you like, can make a
quick, quality post for you.
http://www.designlovefest.com/2017/03/happy-monday/

Here is another themed post that this blogger uses regularly but would be easy to create.
http://www.designlovefest.com/2017/03/happy-pictures/

And another (she takes a photo and makes a sign inspired by it)
http://www.designlovefest.com/2017/03/hand-drawn-love-73/

Another theme post
http://abeautifulmess.com/2017/03/10-things-i-love-sunday-3.html

Collaborate with others
http://tatertotsandjello.com/2017/03/great-ideas-early-easter-ideas.html 

Here is another themed post that this blogger uses regularly but would be easy to create. 

And another (she takes a photo and makes a sign inspired by it)

Another theme post

Collaborate with others



Sunday, March 19, 2017

Up Your Game

Hello peeps -
This week is about taking your social media presence to a new level. You have been creating your social media, and hopefully getting the hang of it, for about six weeks.  Now that you've gotten your feet wet, it's time to focus on increasing your quality.

 Instead of a lecture this week, I've curated a series of blog posts for you to read. These focus on different ares of social media and how to improve them. So please read through all of these and think about how you can apply these ideas to your own social media.

Preparing Content
http://www.abeautifulmess.com/2017/01/blog-qa-how-long-does-it-take-to-draft-content.html

https://coschedule.com/blog/plan-a-blog-schedule/

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2016/11/9-lessons-learned-through-nine-years-of.html



Photography

http://rowanmade.com/tips-for-curatingyour-instagram-feed/

https://later.com/blog/how-to-take-good-instagram-photo-with-your-phone/

http://besottedblog.com/photographer-finder


Vlogs
What are they -
http://socialnetworking.lovetoknow.com/What_is_Video_Blogging

Why do them -
https://www.impactbnd.com/blog/tips-for-a-successful-video-blog
https://www.business.com/articles/say-hello-to-vlogging-why-you-should-be-video-blogging/

How to improve your vlogs -
http://www.convinceandconvert.com/guest-posts/video-4-mistakes-you-make-when-posting-video-on-your-blog/

Thursday, March 16, 2017

Give your readers a reason to come back

In class, we discussed ways to increase the traffic and loyalty or connection with your audience. One of those ways is through giveaways and incentives. Here are links to some blogs who are doing just that.  And they are all using different kinds.  So there are lots of ideas!


Giveaways And Incentives

https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/apollo-personalized-learning/

http://www.designlovefest.com/2017/03/iphone-dlf-case-giveaway/

http://www.marcandangel.com/2017/03/12/one-thing-real-love-never-does-to-you/

http://tatertotsandjello.com/2017/03/easter-bunny-spring-printable-tags-signs.html

http://thebloggess.com/2017/03/02/its-world-book-day/

Thursday, March 9, 2017

What makes your social media good?

Hello my bloggers -
So we have finished the section of the class where we examine how social media works with other areas of communications like P.R. and journalism.  Next we are going to take a look at ways to make our social media even better.  We will start with exploring what constitutes "best practices" in social media. So, please read chapter 11 in the book thus week.

Monday, March 6, 2017

Going a little crazy??

A bonus post! 

I’ve read through all the responses to the course and the most common challenge facing people is time management.  I totally understand.  I am facing the same challenge. Social Media is time consuming.  If you learn nothing else in this class, you will have learned how much time social media takes up and why it is a full time job at some companies!

That being said, there are some things you can do to make it easier.

One is utilize some social media tool to help streamline your process.
1.     If you can use an RSS feed like Feedly for reading blogs (most of them anyway), that make following the blogs a little easier.
2.     Using the hash tag #4Dracam should also help us follow one another more easily.
3.     Using a tool such as HootSuite to manage your posting can also help.
4.     We will be covering some approaches to your posts that can help save time in the next week or so as we discuss quality posting (and moneymaking J)

Your organizational approach to your social media can also make a big difference.  Be sure you are organized. Have a place, either digital on your phone or pad or physical on a notebook you have with you, and write down ideas for posts when they come to you.  You should also keep you posting schedule here. Plan ahead on your posts so you are not creating them at the same time you are posting them. Try to plan your posts at least a month at a time. There are some tools that will let you write them up and then publish them when you say to! 

Finally, mental attitude can be a major help or hindrance.  If you feel overwhelmed and out of control with your social media or the course assignments, that is going to stress you out, make it harder, and make it less fun. This isn’t really that hard.
Each week
1.     You follow the posting schedule YOU created.  If it’s too much (many people underestimate how much time it takes which is why there are scheduled times to reassess your schedule), change it!
2.     You have a reading, which you read and write up a short report on.
3.     You follow other people media and make some comments. (You do not have to comment on every dingle one).
4.     You let me know when you did these things.
5.     You create plans to put what we are studying into practice.

Keep in mind you do not have to do all of the assignments!!!!!  There are more assignments than there are points needed. This is intentional so you can pick the ones that appeal the most to you. Don’t freak yourself out thinking you have to do every single thing. Do the math. Be strategic.

Remember that this is a blended class. That means you get a class period a week, at a time of your choosing, to do all the social media following.  You should be spending two hours per week per hour in class on homework. So that’s 4 hours a week on homework.  With the added “Wednesday class,” that’s 5 hours a week to do this and it is totally doable in that time.  But not if you just try to squeeze it in here and there. You need a planner and a schedule.


I know this can be a lot of work but communications is hard and time consuming.  It’s also fun.  Don’t lose the fun in the stress.

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Social Media & Journalism

Hello class - This week we continue with our exploration of how social media is used in other aspects of our culture. We've read about PR and Marketing, now let's take a look at how social media works with journalism. Read ch. 3. The WRR is due 3/8.  And let's shake things up a bit.  Rather than writing about how this can be applied to your own social media in the second half of the report, instead, write about how social media and journalism effect your own life.  We will be having a guest speaker on the 6th who will talk to us about using social media for journalism. Enjoy your spring break!

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Social Media and Public Relations

Hello social media peeps -  
We learned about social media and business last week. This week, we are exploring  another aspect of that. Social media and public relations. So this week read chapter 4. The WRR is due 2/22.

There is an additional assignment option. I am going to call these assignments "Putting It Into Practice."

Assignment - Social media for a good cause. Research an instance (news, intl news, humanitarian) where social media played a crucial role in a social or political context. Write three pages. Describe the cause, and what role social  media played in the outcome. How do you think a similar situation would've been handled prior to the existence of social media.  This assignment is due 2/22 

Thursday, February 9, 2017

Social Media and Marketing

Hello, hello.

Hopefully you are all getting the hang of the class schedule now.

Adina came in to talk about how social media is used as part of a business endeavor and we will continue to explore this idea. This week, read chapter 5.  The WRR on chapter 5 will be due on 2/15. We will discuss Adina's information and the two chapters 5 & 6 on Monday.

There is also an additional assignment you can do to earn points.

Create a mock-up of a web-based business, either selling a tangible product, services or a professional blog. Create a little plan, as to what digital assets you want to use to promote your business and how you would use them. Describe what social media, why those choices and how you would use them. 

The deadline for this assignment is 2/15 and it is worth 20 points.

Thursday, February 2, 2017

Let's talk numbers

Hello bloggers -
This week we will begin to look into the numbers involved in social media. For this week, read chapter 6 in the text book.  WRR due Wednesday February 8.  See you Monday.

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Hello bloggers.

This weeks assignment-  read the following blog entries.

http://www.dearblogger.org/plan-a-new-blog

http://www.designertrapped.com/starting-a-blog/

http://www.teachercast.net/2017/01/07/the-first-3-5-things-i-do-before-starting-a-new-website-project/

http://www.designertrapped.com/mistakes-to-avoid-when-starting-a-blog/

http://www.abeautifulmess.com/2017/01/blog-qa-how-long-does-it-take-to-draft-content.html

http://coschedule.com/blog/plan-a-blog-schedule/

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how-to-write-blog-post-simple-formula-ht#sm.00010a56fl12tffi3pbfnrdl4z8m9

http://besottedblog.com/vintage-stock-photography-resource

http://rowanmade.com/tips-for-curatingyour-instagram-feed/

https://later.com/blog/how-to-take-good-instagram-photo-with-your-phone/



And submit a WRR (Weekly Writing Report) by next Wednesday.

Additionally, be sure to follow all your classmates (remember Feedly can make following all the blogs a little easier).  I want to be seeing comments!

And I want everyone to follow The Bloggess.  (http://thebloggess.com/)

And be sure to post your media addresses/handles etc. if you havnt done it yet.

Let me know if you have any questions




Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Creating Your Social Media Presence

 OK Peeps
This week's assignment builds on last week's assignment - where you gathered information and posted it on the discussion board regarding the different types of social media and what they are best used for. So, this week, you are going to establish and organize your own social media presence that you will be maintaining for this course.

Each student should have a blog and at least three other social media accounts which will support the purpose of your blog. Hopefully you can now see the purpose of last weeks assignment. I don't want you to just pick three forms of social media that you currently know and use and say, "OK, I'm doing a blog about X and I'm gonna use Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest because I like those." I want you to really think about what your blog is going to be about and what you're trying to achieve with it, then consider the best uses of the different forms of social media and use that information to decide which social media forms will best support the purpose of your blog. For the purpose of this course I am including a website as a form of social media. When we next meet in person we will discuss the ways in which this is not a social media but why it's being included for this class.

You may use social media that you have already established if it will work to support your blog, or you can create new accounts, or you can embrace a whole new form of social media that your haven't used before.  It's your call.

Additionally, I want you each to create a social media plan. You will decide how often you're posting to your blogs and how often you are posting to your other forms of social media. You will also identify one skill area that you want to develop that will enhance your social media presence. For example, if you were doing something on fashion perhaps you might want to increase your photography skills to take better pictures to post. If you have a blog to sell your photographs, perhaps you want to improve your understanding of how you can use the media commerce tools to make sales on social media. If you want to have a website and you're not happy with the templates, perhaps you want to learn some basic HTML coding. It's up to each person to decide what skill they really want to work on.

There is a form posted on the LMS for you to fill out and submit that encompasses all of the things that I have described in this blog post.  All of this work must be done this week and your report is due next Wednesday. You will submit it it through the LMS.

Your social media should also be up and running by next Wednesday. Please post links to your social media accounts in comments on this blog. By next Wednesday, we will all begin following each other's social media. If you have any questions you can leave a comment below or you can contact me directly via email.