By: Karen Cioffi,
on 5/6/2015
I’ve decided to make Wednesdays TIPS days. The posts may not be too long, but they will be packed with actionable tidbits of content writing and content marketing tips. Today is about the power of GooglePlus. I do marketing research every day and a littler earlier today, I was looking for GetResponse’s blog page. Instead of going to the site, I thought it’d be quicker to do a Google search
By: Karen Cioffi,
on 6/30/2014
In content marketing it really is ‘never ending.’ That goes for social media marketing also. The powers that be, in this case Google+ and Facebook, seem to want to make things more difficult for content marketers. Okay, the Facebook (FB) change is about money. In the beginning of the year, FB changed their algorithm reducing your page updates visibility. According to Search Engine Watch, “
By: Gail Gauthier,
on 3/28/2014
By: Karen Cioffi,
on 9/11/2013
Guest Post by Erik N. Bowman Google+ is a fantastic tool to use if you are an author and want a cheap and easy way to publicize yourself and your latest book. 1. When you set up an account, try to write your biography in such a way that best explains everything that your readers need to know about you, it should also be written in a way that it will give it maximum visibility when people
By: Debbie Ridpath Ohi,
on 2/27/2013
For more info about Kevin Sylvester:
http://kevinsylvesterbooks.com
By: Mona Zhang,
on 2/25/2013
By: Jason Boog,
on 12/6/2012
Perfect Market chief revenue officer Tim Ruder has helped writers at media companies around the country create a stronger online footprint. At the AllFacebook Marketing Conference this week, he shared a crucial piece of intelligence for writers: your Google+ profile can help your online writings get noticed.
Google can connect stories you have published online with your Google+ profile, attaching your name, profile and picture to search results for your writing. Ruder explained: “Social brings a level of trust to results that is really powerful … Trust is shifting from publisher to little face–the picture of someone beside an article. That is a pretty indelible stamp of trust.”
Below, we’ve outlined the steps you need to take to connect your Google+ profile with your Google search results.
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By: Jason Boog,
on 3/15/2012
Google+ has added a useful new feature to Google+ Hangouts, allowing you to share documents inside a video chat on the social network.
Using the new tool, you could host a live video workshop with your writing group, work on a script with a friend or discuss line edits with your editor. The whole meeting can take place in a live video chat, allowing participants to join from around the country.
Is this something you would use with long distance writer friends? Check it out:
To try it out, just click on the new “Docs” button inside your hangout:
- you can add an existing document, or upload a new one
- added documents are available as a list on the left-hand side
- you can switch between and collaboratively edit multiple documents at once
As always, let us know what you think in the comments, or via the “Send feedback” button! (Via Social Times)
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By: Debbie Ridpath Ohi,
on 12/15/2011
Above: Screenshot from a kidlit/YA Google+ Hangout I hosted this morning on my G+ Inkygirl business page. The doodle boy is by Ryan Estrada.
For some reason, I wasn't able to access the collar drawing/writing features (the top left of my screenshot SHOULD have links to those features). I was able to access them fine the last time I did a Hangout, so not sure what went wrong. BUT at least everyone else had fun experimenting with the collab tools.
Apart from that glitch, however, the main reason I can't fully recommend Google+ Hangouts for a public event yet is because there is currently no way for one person to moderate. If someone behaves inappropriately (I had someone expose himself in my previous Public Hangout!), there's still no way to kick that person out of the chat. You can block him, but that only means YOU don't see/hear him anymore -- everyone else in the chat will still see him unless they block him as well.
Still, it has great potential for creative collab with trusted invitees.
By: Debbie Ridpath Ohi,
on 11/7/2011
I just launched my Inkygirl Page on Google+! If you're on G+ and are interested in Inkygirl updates, please do add me to your Circles! :-)
If you're interested in finding out more about Google+'s newly launched Pages, read this Google+ Post.
By: Jason Boog,
on 11/7/2011
Today Google introduced Google+ Pages, a way for businesses to join the social network and connect with customers. The new feature is currently available for select partners, but publishers can add the pages in the future.
In addition, the network’s “Direct Connect” feature will let people search for a publisher or author’s Google+ page directly through the Google search bar (the video embedded above shows you how). In the release, Google quoted a Robert Frost poem at Poetry Foundation: “we’ve still got lots of improvements planned, and miles to go before we sleep.” Below, we’ve listed the available business and brand pages.
Check it out: “For businesses and brands, Google+ pages help you connect with the customers and fans who love you. Not only can they recommend you with a +1, or add you to a circle to listen long-term. They can actually spend time with your team, face-to-face-to-face … organizations can learn more about Direct Connect in our Help Center.” (Via Simon Owens)
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By: Melissa Wiley,
on 10/31/2011
Posted the following to Google+ but I like to archive things on my own site.
So. New Reader.
Like:
• Share-to-Google+ is easy and convenient. I imagine I’ll use it a lot. Which is, of course, what Google is angling for: driving my sharing activity to this platform. Which makes this actually a dislike, because it feels like I’m being manipulated.
Dislike:
• All the white space at the top—ordinarily I’m a fan of white space (I love the clean look of G+, for example), but in New Reader’s case, it serves to push the post text a good bit farther down the page. Means more scrolling, plus I like to start reading near the top of the screen, not a third of the way down.
• The gray folders & RSS symbols in the left column. Dark, heavy, dull.
• I miss +Scott Peterson‘s shared items already. 
—————————–
And later:
ARGH, it’s sinking in more and more—the ramifications of Google nixing the Shared Items part of Reader. This ties in so much to what +Felicia Day was talking about the other day regarding RSS vs stream-sharing. Sure, people can share Reader items to their G+ stream, but it means there’s no one single place you can go to READ those items. They’ll scroll by in your stream. If I want to see what, say, +Scott Petersonhas shared (not that he’s likely to because he doesn’t like the way it works now), I’ll have to click onto his profile or risk missing stuff in the stream.I mean, sure, I can do that for HIM. But for all the people whose Shared Items I enjoyed seeing daily? Most of them aren’t even on Plus. And even if they were, I can’t very well click to a bunch of different individual profiles every day.Suppose I could set up a circle for People Who Share Interesting Stuff. Just…more work, more curation.
Google, it was working beautifully before. I want a central place to read accumulated posts, not a fast-moving stream I have to swim up.
Look, I love change. New platforms make my heart go pitty-pat. (Witness my early adoption of G+ & numerous eager-beaver posts about it.)
But not if it’s backward change, change that makes more work for me, or means I’m going to lose a trove of information I found valuable.
Another element of my frustration is something I wrote about on Bonny Glen the other day. The stuff I shared via Reader was different from the things I share to G+, FB, Twitter. The latter tends to be newsy, informational items. The former, my Reader-share stuff, was often more personal, a lovely glimpse of someone’s day. It feels awkward and sort of invasive to push that into an info-stream.
By: Debbie Ridpath Ohi,
on 10/26/2011
Still torn between Facebook and Google+. I have been using both social networks, but eventually I know that eventually I'm going to have to pick one or the other as my main social network hangout; I simply haven't the time to use both regularly...as I've mentioned before, my current goal is to use social media more effectively so I can spend more time on my writing and illustrating projects.
Yes, I know there's always Twitter. I don't really compare Twitter to Facebook and Google+ because for me, it's such a different animal. I love Twitter but I find I use it far differently than I do Facebook and Google+. More on this in a future blog post.
What I'm Liking about Facebook
Anyway, I've liked some of the recent changes that Facebook has been making. I'm sure that some of these changes have been in response to Google+ features that have been popular, but I'm all for healthy competition...especially if it means improvements to my own user experience. Yes, I know. It's all about meMEMEEE! I like the simplification of privacy settings. I like being able to tweak how much of people's information I see in my incoming stream. I like being able to access my Close Friends list from the main page.
Unfortunately the company has not always been great at communicating with its users about upcoming changes, so there has been a lot of confusion and resentment. I can sympathize, though. In my experience, the larger an online community grows, the more difficult it is to make changes without upsetting users. People get comfortable with how things work and may get irritated about having to learn a new interface, even if it ultimately results in a more positive user experience.
What I'm Not Liking about Facebook
Even though it's easier to read and share with particular Friends list, there is currently no easy way to retroactively organize the people on your list. On Google+, you can mass-select users and to use drag-and-drop to move them to particular Circles. In Facebook, you have to individually select each user. Major pain, especially if you have a lot of people following you.
I'm also not crazy about how Facebook Fan/Pro Pages work right now ... but at least Facebook HAS Pro Pages, unlike Google+. I only started one after finding out that there is a cap on the number of people with whom you can connect via a personal Facebook account. Not a problem for me yet, but I've heard of more and more authors who have reached their cap and had to start from scratch (in terms of making connections) again....this time with a Pro Page.
What I'm Liking about Google+
Overall, I find Google+ to have a cleaner and more intuitive user interface. I love the whole concept of Circles, which makes it easier to read and share with specific groups of people. The people who follow my posts on Facebook and Google+ represent a wide range of interests in my life. There are my friends from university, family members, writers and illustrators, board gamers, filkers, comics people and others. Although each group probably wouldn't mind occasional posts from me that didn't overlap with their own interests, they'd probably be turned off (as I would) with too many.
My gamer friends, for example, would be far more riveted by my reviews of board game prototypes from a board gaming convention then would my writer and illustrator followers. Meanwhile, the board gamers would likely have little interest in my promo posts about children's book illustrators and writers.
I find it easier to discover interesting new people on Google+ than I do on Facebook. I also find I usually get far more responses to what I post on Google+ than I do on Facebook, and more interesting and involved discussion. Why? I'm still trying to figure that out.
Another feature of Google+ I love: Google+ Hangouts! I'm a huge fan.
What I'm Not Liking about Google+
No business pages. No in
By: Melissa Wiley,
on 10/24/2011
…and I will miss your Shared Items sidebar widgets.
As you’ve probably heard by now, Google is shifting Reader toward a format more integrated with Google+:
As a result of these changes, we also think it’s important to clean things up a bit. Many of Reader’s social features will soon be available via Google+, so in a week’s time we’ll be retiring things like friending, following and shared link blogs inside of Reader.
Well, dadgummit. I really like Google+, and I’m all for change that makes things more convenient for me, but I have loved Reader’s sharing function. I especially love the “people you follow” part. Scott routinely shares highly interesting items from his massive daily blogreading. Convenience is key: currently it requires no more effort on his part than clicking that Share button. I hope the new method is as easy—on both the sharing and reading ends.
Here’s a link to a Google+ sidebar widget. I’ll probably replace my “Made Me Click” sidebar widget with it.
By: Jason Boog,
on 10/20/2011
While building our Writers on Google+ directory, this GalleyCat editor decided it was time to point out some common problems we’ve seen in many Google+ profiles.
Below, we’ve listed five common Google+ profile mistakes. If you avoid these problems, you will build a stronger following and help readers find you online. Even if you don’t use the service very often, you should make sure you have a strong and clear Google+ profile.
What other Google+ profile mistakes have you seen?
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By: Debbie Ridpath Ohi,
on 9/30/2011
Just had a great Hangout with some of my Pixel Shavings pals (group of children's book illustrator/writers who glog (groupblog) together): +Hazel Mitchell +Sheralyn Barnes +Russ Cox and +Fred Koehler. We missed you, +John Deininger!
We've never all been in one place together and some of us have never met in person, so it was great to actually chat face-to-face.
You can find out more about us at:
http://pixelshavings.blogspot.com/
By: Jason Boog,
on 9/20/2011
Google+ Hangouts now supports smartphone video chats and will allow participants to record their video sessions–two powerful features for virtual book clubs and writing groups.
The mobile video chat feature only works on “Android 2.3+ devices with front-facing cameras” with Apple iOS support under construction. You can download the mobile app in the Android Market now. If you want to make some literary friends on Google+, check out our Writers on Google+ directory.
Here’s more about recording video hangouts from Google: “Just start a normal hangout, and you’ll have the option to broadcast and record your session. Once you’re ‘On Air,’ up to nine others can join your hangout (as usual), and anyone can watch your live broadcast … We’re starting with a limited number of broadcasters, but any member of the Google+ community can tune in. In fact: we’ll be hosting our very first On Air hangout with will.i.am on Wednesday night, September 21. For more information visit will.i.am’s or my profile on Google+.”
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By: Sandra de Helen,
on 8/3/2011
I am busy lining up a director for my New York reading of Blue Roses at the Dramatists Guild Friday Night Lights series on October 28, 2011 at 6pm. Stop by if you are in Manhattan that evening. The play runs between 60-75 minutes. You can still make your 8pm show.
I will have finished a first draft of the sequel to Blue Roses by then, which I can pitch at will to anyone who shows interest, and maybe to strangers who will listen, just for practice. (Pitching your story is critical if you're a writer who wants to get produced.)
On the poetry front: I received a late night email from Binge Press and Productions. They want to publish my mini-chapbook "Invert Sugar" of lesbian poems. I'm quite happy about it. They produce these minis, not to make money, but to promote poets. I'll receive 50, fifty!, of these little charmers, plus 100 broadsides of one of the poems from the book to promote myself, and they will sell as many as they can at places like the AWP, book fairs and readings.
Serendipity much? I'll be giving away books and broadsides at my reading, won't I? And handing out business cards, of course. Speaking of which, my new cards sport ALL my social network info: google+, Twitter, blogspot, Facebook, website, email and cell. What do you include on your card?
By: Debbie Ridpath Ohi,
on 7/28/2011
I've been compiling an "add yourself" list of literary/publishing people on Google+. Short URL: http://bit.ly/GP-LIT
To add yourself to any of these lists, just go to the appropriate list and make a post. Feel free to include a URL. You an always edit/update your listing later on. Do spread the word to others on Google+, thanks!
Note: Please don't ask me to add you to the lists -- I purposely made this an "add yourself" directory for easier admin. :-)
I don't know about you, but I spend lots of time on social networks. I joined for promotional purposes, but it's turned out a place where I've made lots of genuine friends I really care about. Though I've never met these friends, they've become a part of my life.
Although Facebook has a few recent quirks I don't care about, such as trying to force the chat feature on me and making me reset to unavailable when I sign in, it's so far my favorite.
Second is Twitter, where the comments are short and easy to read.
Fast on their heels is Google+, where I can add friends in special circles to keep them organized in my mind, then I can send comments to the public, or choose one or more of the circles with which to share.
If you want to link up with me on any of these sites, you can find me at:
http://facebook.com/morgan.mandel
http://twitter.com/morganmandel
https://plus.google.com/?tab=XX#117105778530924169363/posts
What about you? Where are you? Name up to three social networks you spend time at and make sure to leave your addresses so we can find you.
By: Jason Boog,
on 7/25/2011
Our massive list of writers on Google+ has almost reached 400 accounts today. To help all these new users, we’ve collected a number of promotional tools for writers and publishing professionals on Google+.
First of all, if you want to interact with other writers or readers on Google+, add your name to our Writers on Google+ directory. Make sure your profile is simple, direct and concise. Consult Twitter Profile Mistakes Writers Should Avoid for some general advice.
Next, follow this link to create a shortened, easy-to-remember version of your Google+ URL. For instance, the service converted this GalleyCat editor’s Google URL from a long stream of letters and numbers to this handy URL: gplus.to/jasonboog.
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By: Melissa Wiley,
on 7/14/2011
Here’s a first—a post I wrote on Google+ first and am crossposting here instead of the other way around. Just some musings about my love of meta-discussion and about introverts vs. extroverts. (The fact that I can write a 600-word post there is one of the many reasons I am loving it.)
—————-
A Twitter conversation yesterday got me thinking about why I’ve had such an urge to write about Google+ both [there] and elsewhere—both how-to kinds of posts and meta-discussion about the nature and uses of [that] platform vs. others. Two reasons struck me:
1) Some people, and I’m one of them, enjoy puzzles. When I dive into a new app, platform, or network, I get a charge out of poking around, trying to figure out the tricks, puzzling out the easiest way to do things. I enjoy reading other people’s puzzle solutions; I like the challenge of putting my own hacks into words. The puzzle itself is part of what attracts the early-adopter in me.
But I have plenty of friends who don’t enjoy the puzzle stage. My husband—a brilliant guy; this isn’t about brains—will be the first to tell you he gets irritated when faced with a new platform to figure out. Change energizes me; it annoys him. And if he clicks onto a new site and discovers it’s going to take a little time to find his way around, meh, who has time for that? He’s a busy guy.
He’s not alone; I have many friends who are turned off by the baffled-newbie stage that I myself find so exhilarating. (Of course you know this means THEY are the folks who stick things out, who finish what they start. Some of us are explorers and some of us are homesteaders. Both kinds of people help build a civilization.)
Well, here I am in love with this new terrain, and I want my friends to settle in here and help build a culture. If I can help make it more appealing to them by helping other explorers make clear paths, I stand to benefit by the arrival of excellent neighbors.
2) Thinking about this, it hit me that for me, liking something is a social act. I enjoy everything more when I can talk about it with others. I don’t think all people are wired that way—actually, I think this may be a chief distinction between introverts and extroverts. For some people (again I hold +Scott Peterson up as an example), liking something is a private, inner experience, not at all dependent on the involvement of others. In fact, if too many other people start enthusing over the thing too, that can actually diminish the introvert’s enjoyment. For the extrovert, it’s the more, the merrier.
(Let me make it clear that I LOVE and admire introverts. I married one, didn’t I! And my passel of vert offspring is pretty evenly divided between intro and extro. I have shared Jonathan Rauch’s Atlantic Monthly article, “Caring for Your Introvert,” far and wide.)
For years I have looked at the introvert/extrovert distinction as having mostly to do with what drains you & recharges your batteries (as described in Raising Your Spirited Child). Some people get recharged by social contact with others; some people get recharged by time alone. In the past I have described myself as an extrovert with a strong introvert streak because I do need a fair amount of time alone to read and think and write.
But what struck me yesterday, pondering the G+ meta-urge, was that even in my alone time, what I do is social. I read—but even as I&rs
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By: Melissa Wiley,
on 7/13/2011
By: Melissa Wiley,
on 7/12/2011
A GeekMom Guide to Google+ Part One—the first in a string of Google+ how-to posts I’m writing for GeekMom. First topic: circles. (They spin me right round, baby, right round.)
In future posts I’ll be tackling profiles, privacy, and how to find your friends. If you have any other questions do please pop over there and leave me a comment!
By: Debbie Ridpath Ohi,
on 7/9/2011
I've been using Google+ pretty heavily for the past week. See the end of this post for a list of Google+ resources for newbies.
If you're just interested in my overall summary, here it is:
Even in its beta testing phase, I like the look and functionality of Google+ much more than Facebook. It's easier to filter the info that you read and share, using Circles. I love the Google+ Hangout video chat feature, which has huge creative collaboration and teaching potential, in addition to the obvious fun social aspect. In addition to the fact that Google is gradually integrating other services so many people use (Picasa and Blogger will become Google branded), I believe that the Hangouts feature is going to ultimately tip the scales in favour of Google+ when it comes to the whole Facebook vs Google choice.
Shorter summary:
Google+ is only in beta and I already love it.
Above: how I felt when I first heard about Google+. Did I really need to join ANOTHER social network?
But here are some detailed reasons why I like Google+ so much:
Compared to Facebook, it's uncluttered
I'm really hoping that Google+ keeps its current clean design. I know they will probably add Google ads at some point, but I don't mind this (just as I don't with Gmail) as long as they're not too obtrusive.
It's easier to filter information
I have multiple interests and follow people who focus on those various interests, including writing, illustrating, webcomics, board gaming, filking, techies, social media, digital publishing, iPads, and more. I was excited when Facebook added Friends' Lists, but then they not only buried them so they were a pain to find (whereas Google+ keeps them prominently displayed) but I couldn't share with specific Lists.
As a result, I find it nearly impossible to keep up with my Facebook stream since everyone's posts, pictures and videos come through in one huge, unending, gloppy mess.
With Google+ Circles, I'm finding it easier to keep up with posts from my different groups of friends and acquaintances, plus follow higher profile people who may not know I exist but whose posts I find interesting. I'm still finetuning, but here are some of my current Circles:
I'm sure that the Google+ people are working to improve Circle filtering functionality. I would love to be able to use Boolean filtering algorithms, like "everyone in Circle A -except- for the people in Circle B." I would also love it if Google+ added smarter searching and search results suggestions, so that I could look for particular topics within a Circle or group of Circles.
Compared to trying to sort through all the information and noise on my Facebook stream, however, I'm loving Google+, even in its beta phase. See my list of resources at the end of this article for some helpful info.
It's easier to share information
Because I have multiple interests and multiple circles of friends, it's sometimes a challenge to share information. Some people feel that the more people yo
I had my cards made 'afore Google+ so I have my FB Writer page, my web site and email...
Congratulations on the publishing news and I hope everything else goes swimmingly for you.
mark
Thanks, Mark. I appreciate the good wishes. I hope Google+ lasts as long as my new cards!