One of the things I like about WordPress is its versatility. WordPress isn’t just blogging software. With the right theme, you can build a website that doesn’t resemble a blog at all. Essentially, writers who become familiar with WordPress become empowered as web designers as well.
A few weeks ago, I made a website for a client who was launching a green building business (see or click the image below).
It’s a predesigned theme that I purchased from ithemes.com, customized a bit and configured. I also wrote the content. I like WordPress because you don’t have to start from scratch with the theme design. If you get a system down and are familiar with the theme you’re implementing, you can create a professional site fairly quickly.”
Gotta love WordPress. Read the rest of Tom Johnson’s post for ideas, but think: what could you add to this blog to make it more of a “website”?
There is much more than blog functionality in the design, just like there is much more than blog functionality designed into Posterous, but in a different way. You can have pages in addition to the blog part of a WordPress site, and these pages can be as simple as an “About Me” to as intricate as a contact form or an MLS property search.
Speaking of MLS searches: our MLS provides an embeddable home search function for free (well, not in addition to the MLS fee), so if you self-host you can structure yourself a decent site for next to nothing.
Posterous is a good tool in your arsenal- it can be used to try to tame the Social Media Beast. You are on the road, you take a cool local-interest picture or shoot a minute’s worth of video with your phone. From there, you can selectively shoot it to your blog, Flickr, or YouTube, just by sending as an attachment.
So in addition to creating an online photo gallery that can be updated through the day- very useful for creating an image gallery for a two or three day function without actually having to email or upload pics. Or selectively pop off content:
Posterous posting
So, good enough. But many people don’t like the PlainJaneness of the platform- they have added a few themes to the original but they are only minorly customizable. You can pop in a header and change some of the colors and layout, but you might want to be that person who makes a smashing first impression, or you want your Posterous to reflect the look of your blog or website. What to do?
I considered learning coding for this then realized, “Yeah, right.” Probably not going to happen. Then I heard about Tumblr.
You can import Tumblr themes to the Posterous platform, and pretty easily. The photo at the top is a theme I imported.
From Blog In Isolation :Tumblr have even helpfully created a theme repository for Posterous users. You just find a Tumblr theme you like, copy and paste the HTML, dump it into Posterous and you’re done.
And here’s how:
Go to the theme page link above. Browse through the themes and find something you like, then Install it to your Tumblr account (yes, as far as I can tell you will have to make one.) Next, click Customize, then click Theme, and when that window drops down, click on “Use Custom HTML” at the bottom. Copy all of the code.
Back over at Posterous, go to settings, then click the “Theme and Customize my Site” button. When the new window opens, click on the “advanced” button all the way on the left. Replace all of the code in there with the code you just copied from Tumblr
I too have a box of letters- from my father to my mother while he was in Korea. A couple of weeks ago, a friend of one of my friends was deployed to Iraq, and they have been keeping in touch through cell phone and other social media avenues.
Of course, it’s the same social part- people needing to be together, to touch even if it is only a meeting of the minds. A letter between lovers, a text message from one friend to another, fingertips brushing as a glass passes hands- all interaction, all valid, and none of it is “virtual.” Hearts can be broken – and joined- online as well as off.
I like that in-your-face advertisement is becoming a thing of the past. It used to be that there were three TV stations, so whatever the sponsors wanted to do by way of advertisement was fine- the audience was captive. Ads have to be clever now so they are not skipped over. Think of the Superbowl commercials. People look forward to seeing them as if they were a part of the entertainment, and after last year’s Superbowl I watched the ads get “rated” on twitter. They were obviously ads- the sponsor’s name was not scrubbed from the production- but they were clever, and drew by attraction.
And it is something to remember in your own interaction as a business person- online or on the bus. Be genuine, present your product in a light-hearted and clever way. If you are in sales- remember that sales is marketing! People will not accept being part of some archaic “touch” program that you have: they will switch the station.
“What’s up?” That’s why most people use twitter. It is a remarkably effective way to stay connected in short bursts, and networks can extend all over the world.
In the same way that people share bits of their lives, they will also complain about what goes wrong- and, where before the Internet their thoughts would have touched a small group of people, now online influence extends to the thousands.
This video had over 2 million views when I first saw it at a few days old. As of today’s date there were over 4,800,000 views. In fact, when I flew United on the way back from San Francisco, the flight attendant announced at the onset, “We will only be a few more moments, folks, as we gently stow luggage aboard the plane for the flight. We do NOT break guitars at United.”
Twitter is an ideal way to step in and solve problems before they get big.
So we know what twitter is. Here is a brief humorous video of how to use it.
from Jason Preston of eatsleeppublish.com
Your responses have to be under 140 characters. If you don’t understand the acronyms, www.urbandictionary.com is a huge resource for all modern permutations, although keep your blinders on- it tends to be NSFW in parts.
You sign up at twitter.com. For company use, you probably want to find a name that can be used across all platforms, so if you decide to build a facebook page or expand your presence, you can consistently use a name. To search to see if the name that you like is actually being used anywhere else, try http://knowem.com/. I run my name through every now and then for the fun of it to make sure that someone else isn’t using it on other sites that I don’t frequent.
Here’s one example of a success story- and there are many others. Do you have fond feelings for your cable company? Most people don’t- and Comcast wanted to change that. They developed a twitter presence, choosing ComcastCares for the twitter name instead of just Comcast. This was actually a very smart move, because each time the individual trying to reach Comcast on twitter typed that name, he or she reinforced that idea.
Instead of waiting for contact from the person who is unhappy with service, Eliason monitors a search and proactively deals with problems. This is very important in creating a strong customer service social media program.
Companies like Comcast are dealing with an individual’s issues very publicly in the twitter offer to help, as all conversation is seen in the public stream. Additionally, press releases announcing the addition of a social media component to customer service will reach a large audience in a more effective way than advertising. And Comcast itself has been the subject of a multitude of news articles, again more effective than advertising.
What does this mean? A company can add a whole new layer of publicity- but this can be a double-edged sword. You need a plan in place to be able to address any complaint that is brought up. Comcast’s offer of “Can I help?” would not be effective if systems for dealing with problems were not in place.
From http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2008/10/30/why-does-comcast-care-about-twitter-video/ by Jeremiah Owyang
