ThePodcastSisters

Podcast Sisters 61 - Handling Negative Feedback on Your Blog or Podcast

This week's Podcast Sisters Podcast, we discuss tips and advice on how to handle negative feedback on your blog or podcast.

Have you ever experiences unexpected negative comments on your blog or podcast - Krishna, Heather and Anna share what they have done when they have received feedback that you might find discouraging.

We'd love to hear from you - what thoughts, feedback or suggestions do you have for future content? Or perhaps you have suggestions for subjects you would like us to cover?

You can post your comments here or mouse on over to our Podcast Sisters Friend Feed room.

Or you can join us over at the Podcast Sisters Facebook group to discuss this week's show.

You can also send us an email perhaps attaching an audio file with your comments to podcast.sisters(at)googlemail.com.

REMEMBER SUBSCRIPTION TO THE PODCAST SISTERS IS FREE! 

1) To listen now on line without any downloads then click here and press the play button

2) Or to subscribe in iTunes      

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Podcast Sisters 60 - Social Media For Farmers And Rural Businesses

This week's Podcast Sisters Podcast, Krishna and Heather discuss Heather's learnings from her time studying for her Nuffield Scholarship which is exploring the opportunity for the adoption of Web 2.0 and Social Media in rural businesses and farming communities

Show Notes

00:00 Introduction -  Reader's questions

02:36 Issue with Facebook virus

07:29 Twitter issues - use of Auto Follow

08:54 Using Twitterific (Mac) and Twhirl (PC)

10:52 Social media and using a  preferred method of contact

13:31 Blip.fm music channels and linking to Twitter

16:30 Heather's Nuffield Farming Scholarship - Researching best agicultural practice

19:32 Heather's project - Development of Web 2.0 and Social Media and Application to Farming and Rural Business

21:57 Initial research findings and opportunities for rural communities

25:54 Personal choices and opportunities afforded by social media

29:18 Transparency of industry, consumer and society - how we are seen by others and our reputation.

34:20 Precis of report and initial findings and recommendations - Connections and relationships not about tools and the internet

36:31 What should farmers and rural business start out to do in the adoption of social media

42:44 Tips regarding opportunities for web presence for farmers and relationship with their customers

49:28 Show ends

Resources For The Show

We'd love to hear from you - what thoughts, feedback or suggestions do you have for future content? Or perhaps you have suggestions for subjects you would like us to cover?

You can post your comments here or mouse on over to our Podcast Sisters Friend Feed room.

Or you can join us over at the Podcast Sisters Facebook group to discuss this week's show.

You can also send us an email perhaps attaching an audio file with your comments to podcast.sisters(at)googlemail.com.

REMEMBER SUBSCRIPTION TO THE PODCAST SISTERS IS FREE! 

1) To listen now on line without any downloads then click here and press the play button

2) Or to subscribe in iTunes      

3) Or if you use a different podcatcher then here are the feed details:

What's this?
or copy the address in the field below to your podcast software:

Which brands are using Twitter?

I often get asked about which companies are using Twitter. We mention Twitter quite a lot on the podcast, as after our initial cycnism we are now fans of the microblogging service - or at least Krishna and I (Anna) !

Well there is a Twitter Brand Index that is compiling a list of companies who are checking out Twitter. The one thing that hits me is the array of companies or organisations. You may think that this would only be used by technology companies.....but the list illustrates that the tool is not just for technology brands.

The whole microblogging arena really interests me as an engagement tool - watch out on The Engaging Brand for an podcast interview that I will be having with Pownce - we will be exploring how microblogging can be used as an engagement tool.

Twitter Hall Of Fame

As you know, you'll find Anna and I on Twitter.

I've seen a steady increase of entrepreneurs, media companies and corporates start to join the Twitter community over the recent months.

Twitter has become a place to research, build friendships and even promote your business. But I don't recommend jumping in to the Twitterverse without doing a little research first.

Yes you can microblog and each microblog post is only 140 characters maximum. But remember that each Tweet that you make is indexed in Google and will come up in Google searches and Google Alerts- so be careful what you Tweet.

As part of your research, why not take a look at this article from InsideCRM called the 'Twitter Hall of Shame' which shares 50 notable Tweets covering information from business to political Tweets, and from marriage proposals to wine tasting parties on Twitter.

And if you are on Twitter, don't be shy about connecting to Anna and I.

What stories do you have to share about the difference Twitter and microblogging has made to you?

Attribution: Thanks to Fiona King of InsideCRM for sharing the 'Twitter Hall of Shame' article with me.

How Twitter Can Help you to Find People in Your Local Community

For people new to Twitter who wants to see who is twittering around your own locality there is a tool that combines the googlemap application and twitter users - called Googlemap Twitter Mashup. All you do is put in your zip or postcode and it will show you "tweets" from people who live near you.
May be useful in finding contacts around where you live - interestingly there was no one who lived near me!

Free Teleseminar 12 May 2008: Social Media For Solopreneurs

I'm afraid it's been a bit quiet over here on The Podcast Sisters recently as Anna and Heather have been travelling and then Anna has been ill.

If you are missing our voices and views about social media, then you might want to hop on my call this week for Biz Growth Live, where I am in conversation with Peggy Murrah and Chris Muccio about social media for solopreneurs and how it can help you attract more clients.

You can find out more about the call which is a FREE teleseminar masterclass taking place at 1pm ET/6pm Ireland and the UK on Monday 12 May 2008 here.

If you already receive my newsletter you will have the details of the call in number so you don't need to register again.

Hope to hear you on the call soon.

Encyclopaedia Britannica Webshare

When you are writing a blog post or an article for your website, if you are looking for a definition of a word, then it's likely that you will hyperlink to Wikipedia.

Well another source that is now available to you is Encyclopaedia Britannica where if you are a blogger or webpublisher, you can apply for an account to cite Britannica in your articles. This means that you can bring your website visitors and blog article readers access to the robust definitions on Britannica and they do not need to have an account to access the site which costs US$70 per annum - they have access to the definiton you link to.

And our friends over at the For Immediate Release podcast, Shel and Neville have been working with Britannica to support them in this strategy - thanks Shel and Neville for encouraging Britannica to make the resouce freely available to web publishers and bloggers.

So why not apply for your account for Britannica Webshare today?

Oh I almost forgot - you can also follow Britannica on Twitter and receive a daily Tweet about an article on Britannica too.

iQ Content Online Marketing Bootcamp: Dublin 22 - 24 April 2008

As I mentioned on The Podcast Sisters show we recorded this evening, if you are in the Dublin area between the 22-24 April 2008, I highly recommend that you check out the details of the forthcoming Online Marketing Bootcamp being hosted by iQ Content. Read on to find out how to avail of a 10% discount on the registration fee.

The online marketing bootcamp includes workshops on the following areas:

• Search engine marketing 202: More advanced techniques for enhancing your website's search engine visibility
• Content strategy: Getting your content mix right to drive traffic, engage customers and increase conversions
• Writing for the web 101: Creating great content – the fundamental techniques
• Writing for the web 202: Beyond the basics – writing to convert and persuade
• Accessibility for web managers: Planning, procuring, delivering and maintaining an accessible website
• Information architecture that works: Essential techniques for structuring and organising your website
• Killer web applications: Designing usable and effective web applications
• Personas – Getting into the head of your customers: Tools and techniques for understanding your customers
• Practical user testing: Planning, conducting and reporting on user tests
• Web analytics 101: Fundamental techniques for measuring the success of your website
• Web analytics 202: More advanced techniques for measuring the effectiveness of your website
• Website healthcheck: How to evaluate the effectiveness of your website and benchmark it against your competitors
• Kick-start your web strategy: Defining and implementing an effective online strategy
• Web governance: Getting your organisation organised – people, teams and processes
• Web project management: How to deliver a successful web project
• Email marketing: Planning, creating and delivering effective email newsletters
• Online advertising: Conceiving, creating, implementing and measuring an effective online advertising campaign
• Search engine marketing 101: Driving more traffic to your website – the fundamental techniques.

You can attend for 1 day, 2 days or 3 days and as I'm speaking at the event, you can use the special code I've been given by the event organisers and can therefore avail of a 10% discount - please note this is not an affiliate link - I asked the organisers if my community of readers could benefit in some way and am delighted that they made this discount available.

All you need to do is put in the code 'speaker' when making your booking.

I'm speaking at the session on the Wednesday afternoon - the iQ FutureNow Seminar where we'll be covering emerging trends and technologies that you need to start thinking about. Do let me know if you plan to be there won't you. I'm trying to clear my calendar as much as I can as  know the content that will be covered at the online marketing bootcamp will be outstanding.

Twitter As A Travel Companion

New York has opened my eyes even more to Twitter, it has been invaluable

• Communicating with people and arranging meetups
• Asking questions about how to get around or where to eat.
• Making new friends
• No need for email
• Insight into people and their lives before I met them

Twitter at the moment has, I believe got about 1m users. However, I still think that this will be an important web package as it is so easy, so portable and intuitive to use. Remember if you want to find out about who is using Twitter in your locality then go to TwitterLocal.

In the meantime, I am meeting up with 3 people today that I would not have been able to, without twitter.

Blog or Website?

I think this is the question that I get asked most often. The answer for me is a blog..however, that is the right answer only if you see the power of blogging, that you feel comfortable with

• Building a readership over time - it is not a short term fix.
• Investing time in writing valuable content
• What your brand personality is and what you want to convey as your company's personality.

To help you decide there is a great article over at Problogger Tips to help you decide whether blogging is the right direction for your small business and internet marketing efforts.