SEO ALERT!

So, first of all, the term SEO (Search Engine Optimization) makes me have strange feelings. Not the good kind of strange feelings, but the bad, “DESTROY! DESTROY!” kind of strange feelings.

It’s not that I think people who ask about SEO are stupid or anything, its that I feel that the world of internet jerks has convinced the masses that SEO is all that matters, and for the low low price of $349.99, they too can dominate Google. But wait, there’s more!

And it doesn’t work anymore.

I came across this article from BoagWorld, a British blog about tech and the like. The article was about how Google is changing, yet again.

Google has started to incorporate a “live search” feature, which pulls info from places such as Facebook and Twitter into the mix.

“For some search terms Google are now displaying realtime results: effectively results from Twitter, Facebook, and other social networks.”

It’s almost as if being in the Phonebook is important or something. We have seen clients go from nothing to top results with a Twitter account alone. It’s crazy, but this stuff is actually changing how we communicate.

The original article is here- http://boagworld.com/marketing/google-changes

And, if you want, you can read more on my SEO feelings.

-Drew.

Thousands of Friends? Not Really…

I just came across this article from Mashable, explaining Dunbar’s Number. Robin Dunbar is a British anthropologist, and he says that the largest number of people we can handle as true friends is 150.

This just kicked a spark of the whole Twitter issue we have been dealing with, and that is, who cares about what I have to say? Thousands of my Twitter followers? Probably not. A few hundred Facebook friends? Meh, maybe.

I personally keep my Facebook friend list pretty tight, but I have to admit, there are people on there I haven’t talked to in a long time. Which I don’t necessarily see as a bad thing, since they (presumably) see my updates and I stay top of mind.

Just something to think about. Here’s the article-

http://mashable.com/2010/01/25/brain-facebook-friends/

-Drew

Social Media Support Group!

First Social Media Support Group!

Special thanks to Barb Moore, Marianne Farrell, and Jacob LaBure for stopping by.

Twitter… er, uhm, Un-Qwitter?

You may have seen Chelsea’s post on “Falling off the Wagon” last week. And we got a pretty good response on our “Twitter Qwitter” video. So how, exactly, is Twitter useful?

Update- Social Media Support Group, Blog Changes

Hey dudes.

Just wanted to formally announce a new thing we will be doing- the Social Media Support Group.

Every Thursday from 10:30 to 11:30, I will be hanging about at Cafe Europa (click here for a map) to go over a social media topic for 15 to 20 minutes. After that, it will be a free form question and answer time.

This is for Thrive’s Clients only, as we want to make sure you guys have the continuing support you need to make this stuff work for you. The whole goal is to make money, after all.

Secondly, we wanted to point out a few changes to the site here. First of all, the Products Page has been changed a bit. We restructured our pricing, as well as eliminated some things. The other change is the addition of a Clients Page, showcasing some of our favorites.

Now, if you aren’t on there, let us know if you want to be. But, to be fair, we want to showcase people that are rocking and rolling with this stuff. So hopefully between getting on that page and the Support Group, you will have the means and motivation to get going on all your stuff!

Cheers!
-Drew

I’m Somebody!

“I’m in the phonebook! I’m Somebody!”

-The Jerk

We have been talking a lot about what Social Media actually can do for people around the shop here lately. And Robert said something I found amusing, which is the quote above. Now, while we find that Twitter can really do great things as far as your Googability is concerned, but really, so what?

If you exist on the internet, well, who cares? Congratulations. So do billions of others.

What makes you different? What makes you worth following?

Well, not so fast. Maybe there is some real live, measurable value in being able to be found. This works in a couple different ways, some bad, some good. Bad would be if you want to stay off of certain people’s radars (see this article on Facebook Stalking), and good would be any sales professional.

Maybe it really is meaningful to be in the phonebook.

What do you guys think?

-Drew

I Already Fell Off The Wagon

Alright, so I know last weeks Thrive In 30 was about Twitter and how dull it has become. After that post, well actually just prior too, I decided to swear off Twitter for a little while. I figured it was time to the break the addiction. But then I heard about the Glutino Twitter Party. Now I know a party is never a good excuse to fall back into bad habits, but I did.It was peer pressure, I swear.

I was intrigued and a bit confused by the concept of  a specialized party held via Twitter. Here’s how it worked. The party was hosted by a gluten free company Glutino. There were a couple panel members, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and a doctor from the Celiac Disease Foundation. Many of the big gluten free companies had giveaways throughout the hour.   The party started at 6pm. I used TweetDeck for this. I have an entire column for gluten free tweeters that I follow. This made watching the conversation super easy. Every tweet that was a part of the party used the hashtag #GF. This was sort of like the ticket to the party. If you wanted to talk to the panel members or other people at the party you would use #GF.

So to break it down, it was pretty much an hour of sitting in front of my computer watching the stream of my gluten free column and taking part in the conversation. Now I know I am a total nerd for saying this but, the party was actually a lot of fun. I learned about many other gluten free tweeters I was not following,  I got some great recipe ideas, I myself got many new followers, and they all are apart of the community I am trying to build for myself on Twitter.

I guess my feelings have Twitter have changed again. I did spend a couple hours on Saturday unfollowing hundreds of people.  I started at 2018 and am now only following 600 or so. This got rid of a lot of the random noise that was driving me nuts. Most of the people I follow now are either of personal interest or are gluten free.

I guess my take on it now is that if you truly have a niche and can create a community through Twitter, than it is worthwhile. For me I use it more as a resource than for business, but either way it is nice to have that sense of community.

Have any of you been able to successfully create your own Twitter community?

Thanks for reading

~Chelsea

Breaking Up, or, I Heart Facebook Stalking

We have all been there. You, me, friends, best friends… it happens. People break up.

The interesting thing is that social media has made it really really easy to make sure that person stays in your face. All the time.

So what to do?

Well, you could hide the person, but then them and their new Somebody are tagged in a photo. And that pops up on the side.

On the other hand, I would like to quote a good friend:

“Dude. I love Facebook the most for keeping track of girls I like. As soon as they are on the market, BOOM. I’m on it.”

Which sounds really horrible typed out, but it was pretty funny in person.

The point I am slowly trying to make is that the world has gotten smaller. It’s really easy to see what people are up to. Which can be good and bad. I have had plenty of friends torturing themselves by going through exes pictures and updates.

Forgetting Sarah Marshal

The point, to get to it, is that people are looking for you. What shows up?

Check out this article I found on NPR for more on the topic - http://bit.ly/8MBRu4

Cheers!

-Drew

Thrive in 30 – Twitter Qwitter

And, thought this was appropriate:

Adios, 2009

I just wanted to post this, mostly because IT’S AWESOME. Just lol.

Found it through my good pal Tumblr.

Happy New Year dudes! We will post a new Thrive in 30 this Tuesday.

You guys stay classy.

-Drew