Every Task has its’ Tool – Here’s 11 too good not to share…

By admin on March 4, 2010

I have a blog, a twitter account, a facebook fanpage – now what the hell do I do?

Having the tools and using the tools are two different things.  If you can think of your online outreach accounts whether a blog, myspace, twitter, or facebook, as another way to promote your business to your customers, that will help.

Always go first to content that you already have up on your website.  This does two things.  It promotes what’s going on and it drives traffic back to your website.  Do you do staff picks on your website?  Invite folks to meet your staff and include a link back to that page.  Do the same with your events, your bestseller list, news, anything that is already on your website that you’d like get out to a larger audience.

Second, feel free to use any content on SIBA for any of your outreach.  Looking to let customers know about Okra Picks, point them to it.  Use content from Lady Banks’ Commonplace Books e-newsletter or from Wanda’s Wonderful  Book Blog.

And finally, here are some sites that can help you share and find content that your customers and you and your employees might find valuable and/or interesting.

Content Tools

http://www.ted.com/ ideas worth spreading
This is a super cool site.  Each video is about 20 minutes long and many authors have talked at TED.  You can search by topic, presenter, or mood.  Both Al Gore and Bill Clinton have done TED talks as has Dave Eggers and J. K. Rowling.

http://helpareporter.com/ help a reporter out – reporters in search of experts
This is a great way to promote yourself as an expert.  Three times a day you (or a staff person) will receive a list of opportunities from reporters looking for content on specific topics.  They are often in search of small business owners, women business owners, retailers with creative ideas, etc.

http://commoncraft.com/ our product is explanation
These are great little videos that explain many things from Twitter Search to Electing a President, Cloud Computing, and Borrowing Money, and much more.   They even explain Zombies.

http://www.futureofthebook.org/ the institute for the future of the book
This content is for the erudite among us.

http://www.socialscoop.biz/ maximize your marketing through social media
DOWNLOAD the White Paper for insights and advice on how the fast moving world of Social Media is about to change… again. Is your business keeping up? Watch this site for their often changing featured resource.

http://regator.com/ the web’s best blog posts
Searching bookseller, I found this.  I’m sure you can find something just as entertaining for your customers.

http://shelf-awareness.com/ daily enlightenment for the book trade
Most readers are interested in the industry and sharing industry tidbits lets your customers feel like insiders.  There is always something fun to share.   Subscribe if you haven’t already, it’s free.

http://news.bookweb.org/ Bookselling This Week
Again, there is always interesting news to share here.  Subscribe if you haven’t already, it’s free.

http://www.bulletproofblog.com/category/main-channels/digital-media/ the blog on crisis communication
Insights and analysis of the most pressing issues facing companies, countries and brands today. This is the blog for bulletproof- ing a reputation when it matters most – I mean who knew?

http://www.scribd.com/ Millions of readers.  Millions of documents.
This has a ton of cool content to share.  And some of them are books that are forthcoming.  Again, customers love to feel like insiders.  So let them.

http://trendwatching.com An independent & opinionated trend firm
I love this content and you may recognize that I often send stuff from this to you.  Again, subscribe to their newsletter.  It is free and chockful of interesting info.

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Short & Sweet & Scary

By admin on February 24, 2010

Scary Excellent – Sites that have Great Reputations but Scare Me

http://drupal.com/#1 drupal helps other open source projects build their communities
http://www.joomla.org/ content management system (CMS), which enables you to build Web sites and powerful online applications
http://www.zoho.com/ work.online
http://www.fogcreek.com/FogBugz/ bring your projects into focus
http://www.openoffice.org/ the free and open productivity suite
https://www.dropbox.com/ secure backup, sync, and sharing made easy

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What office supply product are you?

By admin on February 19, 2010

My son’s first tattoo was of a paper clip.  Now, we are a family that loves us some office supplies.  My husband’s family actually ran an office supply store for several generations in Spartanburg, SC, and we do love some stapling, scissoring, and securing with glue stick, rubber cement, and two-sided tape.  But I still had to ask – “Why a paper clip? Imagining him with headphones tattooed over his knee.”  He answered, “A paperclip does one thing really well, and I’m like that.”

Productivity Tools, Part II

Paper Clip Sites – These are sites that do one thing really well as does a paper clip

http://www.pitchengine.com/ social media pr press release builder
This site is free and distributes press releases to both traditional and social media outlets. I love the idea of this site and have already set up an account for SIBA but have not gotten much farther than that.  And I cannot even remember what the obstacle is but that there is one.  This is one I will have to visit again and see how stupid I feel to determine if I can go forward or not.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/ the simple way to create surveys
The basic plan is free and this is a quick, effective way to create surveys that you can place in email newsletters, or distro to your staff for feedback on ideas.  It is a friendly piece of software, one that matches my brain.

http://merchants.ebillme.com/ secure cash payments
Gary Vee connected with this site and it looks like an easy solution for taking secure payment on-line for any e-commerce site.  Security is an imperative for collecting credit card info via the internet and this site seems to understand consumer concerns.

http://www.slideshare.net/ present  yourself
This site lets you share with others,  You can share with everyone or a select group.  You can share word docs, powerpoints, or pdfs.  This is an elegant solution to sharing across the internet.

http://picasa.google.com/ free photo editing from google
This is free photo editing software.  I am not much with images but I’m hoping to get better, and my experience with google products has been good.  I love my google calendar.  I read somewhere that young people who attend conferences have an expectation that photos from the conference will be posted withing 48 hours.  It’s a goal.

http://www.wikispaces.com/ wikis for everyone
Okay, I’m not sure if I’ve tried this site or not.  I thought I had but now that I just visited it, I can’t say for sure.  So this is one I’m headed back to.  I have tried to contribute to wikipedia with no luck and I think I’m confusing the two.  This site should streamline your wiki efforts.  I’ll let you know.

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Please don’t make me feel stupid six ways.

By admin on February 17, 2010

I love to be productive and I mostly love to learn new things.  But I don’t like for the learning curve to be so challenging that I feel stupid.  I don’t like feeling stupid.  My younger brother and I were often partners in games of Trivial Pursuit, when it was all the rage, and I remember him saying to me – “I can’t believe I spent $50 to feel this stupid.” That, in a nutshell, is how I feel about trying to use some online programs.  Granted, in most cases, I’m not paying for them, but even still, please don’t make me feel stupid, even for free.

From the Links List page of this blog, I have pulled out what I term the productivity tools.  I’m going to try to present them in a manageable format and hopefully, you can just use what you need, and not bother with the rest.  The cool thing about all of the online tools is that it is like a brain-matching game.  Finding someone who has a brain that matches mine is my goal (except their brain has the patience, intelligence, education, motivation, desire, and skill to build an on-line tool).  Let the brain-matching begin.

I have divided these productivity tools into three sections.  The first I will call Strategies for Getting Organized & Beyond. The second will be Paper Clip Sites – These are sites that do one thing really well as does a paper clip. And the third is called Scary Excellent – Sites that have Great Reputations but Scare Me.  The second and third sections will follow in blog posts over the next few days. On to section one:

Productivity Tools

Strategies for Getting Organized & Beyond

http://www.stumbleupon.com/ discover the best of the web in less time
I checked books as my interest and did stumble upon a lot of cool sites but for the most part, I became irritated about not having any control over what come up though this could be a great site for finding content you might never see otherwise, like a phone booth that was turned into a lending library.  It feels more like a time waster than a time saver.

http://www.shareaholic.com/ the better way to share across Twitter, Facebook, Email and More
I find this site somewhat overwhelming but also appealing.  I will go back and take another look at it as it looks like something that would be worth the one-time investment to get it set up…Looks like a timesaver to me.

http://springpadit.com/ a free personal organizer and online notebook
It appeals to me.  I don’t have an account yet but Gary Vaynerchuk  likes it and I like Gary’s brain so it might be a match.  It is one I will go back and spend more time with but I also have to say I am really digging my Google Calendar and it has helped me get more organized. (It reminded me I needed to get this blog post up tomorrow so I went ahead and started the draft tonight.  I’m shooting for one post a week.)

http://www.evernote.com/ Remember everything.
Okay, I dig this.  I love the clipping notion.  Again, I will need to set up an account and get back to you but I will visit this again.

http://www.rememberthemilk.com/ online to-do list and task manager
It looks like it will do everything one would need as a task management tool but it seems a little too advanced for me.  I can’t really explain why it makes me feel that way but I’d probably visit the seemingly easier options.

http://gtdiq.com/ test your getting things done IQ
I am a huge David Allen fan and relate to his brain and love his strategies.

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Increase Your Sales! Information is Power!

By admin on January 26, 2010

This article was lifted from a great website that has been added to the Link List – http://trendwatching.com

And references some trends to consider when purchasing gift items for your bookstore.  Here a few that fit the criteria from Gifts Galore for Bookstores:

http://www.questmarc.com/
a portable, affordable activity

http://www.accoutrements.com/products/11888.html
the ultimate geek pen

http://www.accoutrements.com/products/11992.html
Mr. Tap Water Bottle

http://www.etsy.com/shop/polarity
expressive, affordable, from recyclables

February 2010 | As we wanted to keep things straightforward and hands-on this month, we’re highlighting “FUNCTIONALL”. Which is all about a new breed of products that are simple, small and/or cheap (with a dash of sustainability), giving them global appeal, from India to Sweden. Now, if that doesn’t warrant a brainstorming session…

FUNCTIONALL

FUNCTIONALL | Captures the phenomenon of simple, small and/or cheap products and services designed for low(er)-income consumers in emerging markets, with cross-over appeal to consumers in mature consumer societies. Goods and services especially designed for emerging markets often incorporate one or more of the following characteristics:

  • Smaller and/or limited number of features, to keep prices low.
  • Simpler, or easier to use, for inexperienced consumers.
  • Energy efficient (or not using any traditional energies at all) and/or easy to repair and/or waste-reducing.
  • Robust, as some of them are used in rugged conditions.
  • Well-designed (the democratization of design is a global phenomenon).
  • Aimed at helping owners to generate income, or allow users to create self-sustaining systems.

A few reasons why these products are of interest to consumers in more prosperous economies, too:

  • Cheap | ‘Cheap’ is king, both because of the recession (reduced spending power), and because of the shift away from ‘bling’ towards frugality and practicality as new status symbols.
  • Simplicity and convenience | Small/simple (and cheap!) also rules because of transient lifestyles (more experiences in smaller, affordable doses), and the continual need for more convenience and simplicity. Look for numerous FUNCTIONALL innovations to especially do well in prosperous metropolitan areas (URBANY!), where busy, transient lifestyles are the norm.
  • Design | Aforementioned ‘democratization of design’ means even demanding, experienced consumers will be pleased with products from countries and brands previously not known for high quality and design standards.
  • Sustainability | Anything using less or no traditional energy, or causing less waste, or boasting longer life expectancy, will go down well with eco-(status) conscious consumers.

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Source: www.trendwatching.com. One of the world’s leading trend firms, trendwatching.com sends out its free, monthly Trend Briefings to more than 160,000 subscribers worldwide.

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15 Links to Twitter Success

By admin on January 24, 2010

I hope you have gotten a Twitter account.  It is so simple to set up and use…and one day, having a microblogging account will be as expected of a business as having a telephone, or a website.  Don’t underestimate the power of this tool.  It’s email on steroids

And even if you are unwilling to set up a Twitter account for your store, be willing to search twitter and listen in on what customers are saying about your store.  This kind of marketing feedback would have cost thousands of dollars less then ten years ago.  The following Twitter tools are great for searching:
http://monitter.com/ monitor twitter
http://search.twitter.com/ see what’s happening right now
http://topsy.com/ a search engine powered by tweets

With an account, there are tons of tools to make posting to your Twitter account easy and effective. A book jacket would be considered a picture.  I use tvider.com from my telephone and I am astonished how easy it is to update from the blackberry.  To share video or pictures, try one of these:
http://tvider.com easily tweet photos, videos, & audio
http://twitpic.com/ share photos on twitter
http://yfrog.com/ your images & video on twitter
http://twitgoo.com/ share pictures or video

Twitter can also be a great tool for locating content to share with your customers via your blog or newsletter or in store.  Here are a few links that will gather twitter content for you and help you manage your own Twitter account:
http://tweetmeme.com/ hottest links on twitter
http://www.tweetdeck.com/ your personal browser
http://hootsuite.com the professional twitter client

And finally, a few for the bookseller that is sold on Twitter and looking for ways to enhance their efforts.  These tools allow you to explore twitter aps, find like-minded twitterers, get your twitter ranking, tweet from your phone, and search twitter panels on topics of interest to you and your customers.
http://oneforty.com/ find, rate, collect, share twitter apps
http://twitter.grader.com get your twitter ranking
http://blastfollow.com/ follow people on twitter via #hashtag
http://www.tweetie.com/ tweet panels
http://ubertwitter.com/ twitter for mobile platforms

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Five & Ten – Count me in!

By admin on January 22, 2010

Author Darnell Arnoult has created a great feature for her blog.  And it’s not only great because I’m the first one debuted.  It is a great idea, a great way to promote back list.  Darnell would love to include bookseller picks.  Take a look:

Five and Ten – debut
by Darnell Arnoult

It’s day one for Five and Ten, a regular Friday post of recommended reads from friends of Dancing with the Gorilla.

I’ve changed the name of this feature several times, trying to settle on the right handle. I’m going with Five and Ten because the first books I read were purchased at the dimestore,  two of my favorite authors grew up in the aisles of their fathers’ Ben Franklin dimestores: Lee Smith and Michael Lee West,  and because almost everyone I asked for a list of five books begged to give me ten.

Whatever the handle, I hope you enjoy looking back at a decade of good reading as we step off into the next ten years of this still new century.

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One of the coolest videos ever – Take Two

By admin on January 21, 2010

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Vimeo, CrushIt! & GaryVee — all excellent resources

By admin on January 12, 2010

Crush It! with Gary Vaynerchuk from Nicki Leone on Vimeo.

Hear Gary Vaynerchuk on indies, silliness, social media, Web2.0, & more.

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Southern Social Networking Summit a HIT!

By admin on January 8, 2010

I’m back from the Southern Social Networking Summit in Greenville, SC.  It was an exhausting & exhilarating two days.  I want you to know that I am busy compiling the results of everyone’s efforts.  I have nearly 40 oversized pages of notes taken by the break-out groups that I am organizing and will be posting over the next week in this blog.  So many people have written blog posts, posted videos & photos, twittered and facebooked, and I want to take the time to thank everyone.  And I want to share these links with you.  The video clips include testimonials and a word from Gary Vaynerchuk.

Video Clips (posted by Trey Pennington)

Consuming Books Blog Post

Novel Thoughts

Photos (taken by Curtis Rogers from the SC State Library)

#ssns twitter feed

Posted in Social Networking | Tagged | 2 Responses

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