happykatie :: katie rocks out the interwebs

Thanks AMA Houston Tech SIG for the Business Blogging conversation

The AMA Houston Tech SIG hosted a great Blog Forward presentation today with 3 panelists of various Blogging heritages including myself (www.happykatie.com and Schipul), Greg Price (of PKF and www.fromgregshead.com) and Michael Berry (of Ops Manager at Clear Channel and of KTRH blogs).

Many thanks to Rob Roberts and the AMA Tech SIG crew for hosting the event.  I'm hoping that participants walked away with some actionable Blogging ideas for their own business online marketing adventures.   Scroll to the end of this post to view my presentation slides or visit me on Slideshare here.

In the end, it's all about the right people and the right content.  Once you have those right, the possibilities are limitless.  Recruit from within, grow your peoples' personal brands and BLOG!!  I highly recommend checking out this article by Ed Schipul on what to do when starting a Social Media program for additional background.

In case your geekery meter hasn't overloaded yet, here are some links that I shared while on stage:

Blogging Tools

1. Typepad (which Schipul uses and I use for 2 blogs):  www.typepad.com
2. Wordpress (a great free blog platform that I use for 1 blog):  www.wordpress.com
3. Movable Type (a little more complex, but great for group blogs):  www.movabletype.com
4. Blogger (free, but I'm not a huge fan):  www.blogger.com

Blog Analytics Tools

1. Google Analytics (free and greatly improved!):  www.google.com/analytics
2. Feedburner (free tool to track your RSS feed #s):  www.feedburner.com
3. Stat Counter (another freebie):  www.statcounter.com

Link Grab Bag

1. Flickr (online photography community):  www.flickr.com
2. Slideshare (like YouTube but for Powerpoints):  www.slideshare.net
3. Technorati (a search engine for Blogs):  www.technorati.com
4. Del.icio.us (social bookmarking site that rocks):  http://del.icio.us

Thanks to all who participated - I look forward to seeing you on the Blogosphere :)  And, of course, feel free to drop me a line sometime:  happykatie at gmail.com.  Photo thanks to Ed Schipul - click here for more AMA Houston pics!

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happykatie on Facebook for business in the Houston Chronicle

Cool beans, I got a mention and a couple of photos in the Houston Chronicle yesterday.  Thanks to Imelda, I got hooked up with a really super reporter named Cori Shropshire who was looking for random ways that older (= non-college aged) people used Facebook.

We emailed and chatted on the phone a couple of times, which mostly meant me subjecting Cori to a lot of Facebook happiness and Schipul personal branding blabbing.  This is what she got:

Katie Laird, a 25-year-old Web marketing consultant, jumps on and off the site all day, helping her clients, many of whom are older and less tech-savvy than she is, boost their Internet visibility. "I love it when gray-haired men ask me if I'm on Facebook," she said.

There, "you get more done and have more fun," she said, after conceding that really only about 40 percent of her Facebook time is purely work-related.

"Sometimes ... we have big marketing pushes. I'm on there for business all the time, and other times its 100 percent random personal stuff," Laird said.

"So much of my personal is also work stuff ... there's no black and white these days."

That fuzzy gray area is Facebook's appeal, users say, since the site's features allow them to be themselves. Enthusiasts say LinkedIn.com is too stodgily professional and MySpace is a circus, although several say they use both.

Facebook, said Laird, is a more pleasant alternative to the wild-and-crazy days spent ... well, perusing other social networking sites.

"Facebook is far less time-consuming than YouTube," she explained.  To be productive, she suggested limiting Facebook check-ins to twice-a-day.  "Everything in moderation," she said, then laughed.  "Must leave time to blog, too."

Words you find on the things you buy

Chocolove
Originally uploaded by cknlomein

Packaging matters to me.  A lot. 

Unique touches and good design sway me greatly in my purchasing choices - I will be far more likely to spend a little more cash if a product is thoughtfully constructed.  Yes, I'm a sucker like that.

Here are 2 swell examples of unexpected packaging that made me sublimely happy this week:

~  A silk black strappy tank top from Talla (a birthday present from my mom :) ) had a nice size-card attached to it by a white silk cord that told me this:

'May you have enough happiness
to make you sweet, enough trials
to make you strong, enough sorrow
to keep you human and enough hope
to make you happy.'

~  A dark, dark Chocolove bar flavored with hot chilies and sweet cherries was housed in a wrapper that brought us the voice of Oscar Wilde, quoting his poem In the Gold Room:  a Harmony - full excerpt after the jump:

Her ivory hands on the ivory keys
Strayed in a fitful fantasy.
Like the silver gleam when the poplar trees
Rustle their pale leaves listlessly,
Or the drifting foam of a restless sea
When the waves show their teeth in the flying breeze...

I like it when my purchases speak to me, thank me, befriend me and joke with me.  That's why I'm also a huge MOO cards fan, Threadless lover and Jones Soda junkie.  Those brands love me; they tell me so regularly and that makes me want to give them part of my paycheck :)  There's a reason they call them Lovemarks!

Meet Heliomag - my favorite corporate Blog

So you've probably noticed that I'm a pretty big Helio fan these days.  My Helio Ocean is great, my customer service experience with them has been fantastic and now I'm hooked on their blog:  Heliomag.

Talk about a company doing that Social Media hat dance right - Heliomag is actually a place that real people like to visit and doesn't try to bore me to death with thinly veiled corporate policy blahblah and other ridiculousness.

Heliomag gives you cool interviews, sweet art exhibit and creative news, tips and tricks for your Helio,  music reviews and oh yes -- a link to the DVORAK zine. dOOd.  In short, their company Blog is a universally interesting place that offers regularly updated unique content, which in turn makes Helio look cool and informed, which in turn makes me - the consumer - feel cool and smart for giving them my money.

I like feeling cool and smart - how about you?

Battle of the big boys - Sony-san starts a blog and kind of sucks at it

It's interesting to see big corporate players start Blogging - at one point it was exciting, but now I feel a bit... skeptical... jaded?  I don't know, just less stoked. 

Corporate Sony JUST joined in on the Blog action this week (surprisingly late) and so far the results are lackluster.  Here's why I'm not excited:

1. Uhmm... a corporate Blog launch with just one post?  Strange strategy... give us a little post padding here!  I need something to chew on, to see that a company blog has really established its voice and focus. 
2. 2 posts in 5 days makes me think you just don't care.  Especially if the Blog is only 5 days old... seriously...
3. Pimp it!  I can't say exactly what the Sony blog traffic is looking like, but I am only seeing like 60 comments per post.  For a Sony blog?  Sony!!  Looks like someone needs to jumpstart the old buzz machine and start kicking out some decent content.
4. For a Blog that's supposed to put a face on a huge company, this site is decidedly uncreative and  cold.  Seems like the design, name and even URL could be given a little TLC to put a little social in the new media.

Popgadget interviewed Marcy Cohen from Sony on their foray into Social Media Land, who said:

"With the growth and impact of the internet, we realized we needed to be more proactive and have a dialogue with the customer " says the 6 and a half year veteran of the company. "It gives a face to the company and also helps us learn about the customer through unfiltered comments. Besides comments and feedback, we'll have regular contributors ...guest bloggers. Ultimately, we expect it will benefit the consumer."

Ya' think?  Ho freaking hum.  Hope things pick a bit, although it was interesting to hear a little more about Sony's DSLR plans.  Hopefully they'll take a hint from the PSP Blog and make it a little more snazzy and connective.

happykatie uses her NPR voice on Business Maker's Radio

Russ Capper and Erica O'Grady were cool enough to invite me back to the Business Maker's Radio Show to try out an HP Advantage technology tip vignette recording.  Check it out here!