A Lesson on Spamming by Jennifer Hudson Taylor

I'm seeing a lot of people spamming others and myself. Some do it on purpose and don't care. Others only want to promote themselves and have trouble understanding the blurring boundary lines of acceptable promotion and real spam. Another select group are newbies to the social media world and don't know any better. They are still learning about the unspoken etiquette's of the do's and don'ts.

According to spam.abuse.net, spam is flooding the Internet with many copies of the same message, in an attempt to force the message on people who would not otherwise choose to receive it. 

If you believe this only applies to emails being sent out, or email loops and groups, then think again. It also includes unwanted and unassociated comments on blogs and social media pages, and private messages sent through these systems. If you reply to a person's status on a social media site, it should always be related to the original post. It's inappropriate to post something totally and completely unrelated to the discussion. 

What happens if you do this? You will get unfriended, unfollowed, blocked, muted, put on restriction, reported as a spammer, and possibly locked out of your account. Trust me, it isn't worth it. It doesn't help your reputation, the reputation of your business, and your credibility will dissolve among your peers and competitors. It's the complete opposite of what you are trying to achieve.

Spam Pitfalls to Avoid
1) Don't send out emails or email newsletters unless you offer the ability for people to subscribe and unsubscribe to your email list.

2) If you belong on email loops and other social media groups and forums, be sure that you read and understand the rules of the group. Some will not allow any kind of promotion at all. Others will allow certain kinds of promotion, while others allow it on certain days of the week or certain times of the month.

3) If you are on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, and etc., only post comments on other people's pages that pertain to their status updates and discussions. For example, if a person posted a review of their book and a link to it on THEIR page, you should not post a reply comment about your church youth choir and link to your church no matter how proud you are of your church. Post those kinds of things on your own page or on your church page.

4) If you decide to post a comment on a person's page that is not a reply comment to a status post, I would caution you to first post a general comment of encouragement or complimenting the person whose page you are on. Be very selective in posting links back to you if you do not personally know the person. My advice is to wait until you are in a discussion and post a link to a particular article or video that actually pertains to the discussion. Avoid posting blatant, generic links that only pertain to your website/blog and that only promote YOU or your books. Give them something that is of use to them.

5) Do not tag people in photos and or discussions that have nothing to do with them unless you personally know them and KNOW they will be interested in the discussion. Whatever you tag them in will automatically post on their page as well, and they will be exposed to people you have connected and accepted as friends, but who they have not. This is that "friends of friends" feature that Facebook warns us about in our privacy settings that so many people still don't understand.

This is not an exhausted list, but a good beginning. My goal is to address the issues that I see most often. If you simply remember that your personal pages are meant for YOUR promotion, and other people's pages are theirs for THEIR promotion, you should not have any problems.

What about you? What are some of your spam pet-peeves?

Overcome Your Fear of the Blogosphere by Zoe McCarthy

Is the following how you react when you hear: “You must build a platform to increase the likelihood you will ...”

What’s a platform? How can I, a person resistant to social media, break in and raise my public image? Do I want to stand out? Why can’t I write good novels that publishers propel into the market place without all the fanfare? My name in small print is fine. Who has time to plug into social networks and write blogs, anyway? What do I have to say to people? (Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

 

I think that’s fear speaking of the new and unfamiliar. It was for me. Step through my journey with me and maybe your anxiety will dissipate.

Preliminary work:

1.      I determined to do it.

For me, keeping in contact with God gives me courage and perseverance. God is bigger than unfamiliar words, codes, and confusing how-tos. He’s stronger than obstacles. When He calls me to do something new, He always does his part when I do mine.

2.      I attended social media workshops.

Author Stacy Hawkins Adams explained platforms in our writers’ group. Later, I attended the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers’ Conference and scheduled social media workshops. From author Gina Holmes’s class, I learned writers must start building their platforms well before they’re published. In Edie Melson’s workshop, she stepped us through creating a blog. Creating a blog still seemed scary but not foreign.

3.      I read books and subscribed to social media blogs.

Platform by Michael Hyatt and Selling Your Book Like Wildfire by Rob Eagar chiseled off more of my fear. Through subscribing to blogs, such as Copyblogger, Jeff Goins, Writer, and Author Media, blogging tips and processes became familiar. Familiar calmed me.

4.      I perused others’ blogs.

I noted their similarities and differences, what I liked and what I didn’t.

5.      I determined what type of blog fit me. Hyatt’s Platform listed three basic types of blogs: “web journals,” single-theme sites, and those focusing on a theme with occasional deviations. The latter two appealed to me.

6.      I mind-mapped what I could share and sustain over time. After petitioning God and brainstorming, I realized I needed to choose from my passions: creativity, the Bible, and writing. My mind map showed I had many life experiences using my creativity to engage people. I could help others do the same in their workplace, home, and volunteer activities. Creative in Everything was born.

Taking the plunge:

7.      I chose a service.As a novice, I’ve started with a web-hosted site. I chose WordPress because most of my research materials mentioned it.

8.      I muddled through the setup.Creative in Everything is a work in progress. Thepreciousgem I’ve learned is: Quit freaking out over the many obstacles. Stop, pray, and persevere.God will work ways around hindrances. Now, I view roadblocks as challenges. I’mcurious to see what God’s going to do.

9.      I wrote the best post Icould, took a deep breath, and hit publish. My marketing strategy in a book proposal promised I’d have a blog by 10/1/2012. That deadline prevented me from endlessly pursuing perfection.

10. I emailed a paragraph introducingmy blog to family, friends, Facebook, and Twitter.I includedCreative in Everything’s benefits to readers and my every-Thursday schedule, which I’vehonored. I’ve enjoyed reconnecting with people.

Successes

11. I receive encouraging testimonies. Everytime someone comments or emails me how a post has helped them, I praise God for guiding me on my blogging journey.

What tips could you add to help others overcome blogging fears?

Through Creative in Everything, Zoe M. McCarthyenjoys helping others find imaginative ways to engage people in their daily responsibilities. Zoe’s depended on her creative juices to grab the attention of corporate colleagues,middle school students, Sunday school and Bible Study Fellowship preschoolers, and male prisoners.She’s a retired actuary turned full-time writer. Represented by Hartline Literary Agency, she spins contemporary Christian romances and short stories with splashes of humor. A self-publisher of two books of contemporary Christian short stories, she’salso published stories with Christian Fiction Online Magazine.Zoe and her husband live in mountainous Southwestern Virginia. They’ve raised two sons and enjoy playing with their five grandchildren. Creatively, of course.

Creative in Everything: http://zoemmccarthyblog.wordpress.com

Email: zoehgwp@gmail.com;

Facebook Author Page: http://www.facebook.com/ZoeMMcCarthyAuthor;

Twitter:https://twitter.com/zoemmccarthy

Like A Book? Tell Somebody by Andy Scheer

Technology is great, but sometimes it's good to remember the basics.

Take the novel I just started enjoying. How'd I find out about it? Somebody told me.

A couple weeks ago I wrote about my resolution to broaden my reading this year. Someone emailed me about a particular author's series.

I checked my public library's website, found they had the first two books, and reserved those copies. (It's great to have a well-stocked library.)

Turns out the first book was printed back in 2003. The copy I checked out was from the fourth printing, so it must have sold well.

But for some reason, even ten years later, the author's name was new to me. If someone hadn't told me, it still would be.

I expect to finish the novel soon (weekend reading time is tight during the NFL playoffs). If the rest of the book is as good as the first third, I plan to tell some people about it... What a novel idea.

Where Do Your Ideas Come From? By Linda S. Glaz

What sends that first tingle shivering down your spine? Where do you get your story ideas from? Your characters’ personalities?

I like “out of the box” female characters, so when I saw this photo, I knew I had to have a WWII woman who liked to wear pants in spite of what her love interest thought. This lovely girl standing next to an auto in pants flapping about her ankles showed me vulnerability, sweetness, and courage. Because young ladies did not often allow themselves to be seen in pants in the early forties, she had to exhibit courage.

A news story often sets my heart to pounding. A corrupt politician—I’m guessing those stories are overdone because of the abundance of material J. A kidnapping, a restaurant closed because its main course meouuwed. So many interesting articles, news bytes and such that there is a “novel” idea around each corner.

Where do your ideas come from?

What makes your senses go on full alert?

Too Many Rules Can Hurt Your Online Community by Jennifer Hudson Taylor

Last week I joined an online community group and on the same day deleted my membership in the community. It wasn't because the community group lacked information, interaction, had spammers, people with rude behaviors, or any of the reasons we would typically assume. It was for one reason only--too many rules.

I thought to myself, there is no way I'm going to remember all these rules and I will end up forgetting and violating one of them by accident.

My next thought was, I don't have time for this. I need to make my life simple.

My final thought was, what does this online group have that none of the others have? Nothing! 

Delete.


Don't get me wrong, I believe in rules. Setting up sensible rules are necessary to prevent few people from spamming, posting bad links, verbally abusing and hurting others, or posting offensive things. However, there is a balance. Keep in mind that for every bad individual, there are many more who are reasonable, sensible, professional adults who don't need to be treated like children. Keep your rules sensible and balanced for the majority who are not trouble makers.

I have joined a number of online email lists, Facebook groups, LinkedIn groups, and now Google+ Community groups. Some post simple rules that are only a few paragraphs, while others have several pages of specific, mind-boggling, over-bearing rules that no one will be able to remember.

A month ago, I joined a LinkedIn group that I thought would be interesting and helpful. I received a standard welcome email from the moderator with a long list of rules and by the time I got to the third page of rules, I stopped reading. I haven't posted or participated in this group, because to be honest, I'm really not sure what is allowed and what isn't. I will probably leave the group soon. There isn't any point in being a member of something I'm hesitant to participate in.

If you are thinking about creating a community group and the purpose is to build a large network of people that will ultimately increase your platform, my advice would be to try and keep things as simple as possible. Do you really want to waste a lot of time hand-holding, coddling, and reprimanding individuals for the slightest of offenses when you have a lot other productive things to do?

Remember, setting too many unnecessary rules will discourage good people from joining your community, and indirectly slow the growth of your online community.

What are your thoughts? Have you had your hand smacked for posting something to an email loop or an online group forum that you thought would be perfectly acceptable? Have you dropped out or been tempted to drop out of any online communities for something similar? Or have you had to deal with the opposite issue of too much self-promotion and rude comments that went unmoderated?

Off the grid by Terry Burns

Yes, I'm pretty much off the grid and have been that way for a couple of days. It's amazing how much we come to depend on these computers and how much it impacts our lives when we don't have them. My work computer had something of a meltdown and while I can do a few things on this travel computer, much of what I need to do is on it. They are working on it and I expect to get it back later today. Hopefully with problems resolved.

It has been warning me but I was too busy to listen. I've had some email snafus where I lost some messages, but I was trying to resolve email pproblems and didn't realize there was an underlying computer problem causing it. So it has kinda had me off the grid for a couple of days and even if I get it back tomorrow won't be much different as I will be at the hospital with Saundra for some minor surgery. Amazing how quickly life makes adjustments to what we consider 'normal'.

I'm not sure what sort of things will be involved in getting back up to speed when I get the computer back. It was an operating system problem and they just upgraded it while they were at it so I'm relatively sure adjustments will need to be made and pretty sure some email loss will be involved as well. These things are such a blessing when they work right and such a curse when they don't.

Hopefully things will return to normal soon, and I solicit your prayers for Saundra tomorrow. I've been told there is no such thing as 'minor' surgery when someone is taking a scapel to us ourselves or to someone we love. I'd say that is true. I am anxiously awaiting the results of the surgery . . . on Saundra . . . and to a lesser extent on my computer.

Did You Celebrate 2012 by Diana Flegal

As the New Year gains speed, I am still writing, organizing and reviewing my many lists. I have a to-do list with submissions to submit, manuscripts to complete, and critiques for the first upcoming conference of the year, a list of personal and professional goals for 2013, a list of books I want to read, a list of friends I want to keep in touch with and visit this year and my prayer list. (Seems so many of my friends are experiencing various serious difficulties).

Today I was tempted to go back to bed, wake later and start over. Instead I stopped and spent time reviewing my goals from last year along with notes from the books I used in my devotional reading each day. I celebrated and circled the things accomplished then highlighted the items to transfer onto this years column, thankful to God for helping me get done what I did.Have you taken the time to celebrate your 2012 victories? I encourage you to do so.

Amongst my notes were many quotes and questions that encouraged, stretched and inspired me. I would like to share a few with you.

Embrace failure- Think bigger...Feel the pain of failure and use it to move forward.
Why Things Don't Get Done Danny Iny Firepole marketing

The proof of desire is pursuit. Passion pursues. Passion is tenacious, determined and focused. It is your personal responsibility to pursue. The proud withdraw. The humble reach.
Mike Murdock 7 Overlooked Keys to Goal Setting

In what specific way has God demonstrated His love to you recently? What does the certainty of His love mean to me?
Seeking Christ: A Christian Woman's Guide to Personal Wholeness.  Kay Marshall Strom

The storm was a common example and symbol of chaos and distress....a very useful picture of human life at the mercy of forces beyond our control. The intent here is not just the fact that God has control of nature and the elements but that God has everything in his hands and brings us to our desired haven even by means of the storm. Every storm is God's storm. 
Day 70 He Stills the Storm Your 100 Day Prayer/ John I. Snyder

Basic Principle: Create a container for a task, time and space within which you want to take the steps to effect your change. You decide what you want to accomplish and how much time you will spend on it. You set the timer and you do not get up from your desk until the timer goes off. 
It Takes an Egg Timer: A Guide to Creating Time for Your Life   Joanne Tombrakos

How did it get so late so soon?
Dr. Suess

Work as 'art' and having a product to 'ship'
Seth Grodin

There is time for work and a time for love. There is no other time.
Coco Chanel

Stop trying to control anyone else, the world and your circumstances. The only one you are meant to control is you. You have no idea how effective we can be in others lives if we can practice self control.
Joyce Meyer


Please share a favorite quote or note of encouragement that will bless our readers and help them move into the new year they are facing.

And Happy Happy New Year you all!

Diana