The Write Spot, LLC

Too Busy to Shop

First a word from my fellow SXSW panelist Chris Brogan, who's looking a bit rockabilly biker-ish these days:

Too Busy to Shop: Marketing to "Multi-Minding" Women by Kelley Murray Skoloda shows markers and companies what they need to know and do to attract women buyers. After all, women control 85 percent of all consumer purchases.

Kelley explains that women are multi-tasking, but multi-minding – meaning that we are thinking about home when we’re at work, work when we’re at home, and about everything else of of the darn time.

Download an excerpt or see the reviews.

I highly recommend this book if your company markets to women through traditional media (print, TV, radio, etc.) or through social medial. Not only is it an easy read since Kelly keeps the ideas and examples coming, but she wraps up each chapter with Multi-Minding (or M2) Must-Dos, a list of the lessons learned in each section.

Too Busy to Shop is also full of stats, research, examples and terrific quotes from Stacy DeBroff, the CEO of Mom Central, who knows her stuff. (Stacy’s a colleague of mine. Every time I have a chance to speak with her, I learn so much.)

So if there’s one marketing book you read this summer on vacation – or during your lunch break at the office – it should be Too Busy to Shop: Marketing to "Multi-Minding" Women by Kelley Murray Skoloda.

More me at SXSW

Just a little snippet of me at SXSW on the Dad is the New Mom panel.

If anyone filmed the whole session and posted the video, please let me know.

Dad is the new mom at SXSW '09

Bonin Bough from PepsiCo DM’d me on Twitter that he had put up some video from the Dad is the New Mom panel.

All you can see is me and Chris Brogan, and it’s just a few minutes' worth of what turned out to be a pretty enjoyable and informational panel. Still it’s nice to have a record of the session.

If Senator McCain is twittering*, so can you!

You’ve probably heard that John McCain is using Twitter to let his constituents know about earmark spending. And this from a man who few months ago said that he didn’t know how to send an email!

So what’s Twitter and why should you use it? Twitter.com is a social networking site where you communicate online to a group of friends (your followers*) in 140 characters or less. Like blogging or other forms of social media, it’s all about the conversation. Yes, you can tweet* about mundane things like, “Eating lunch. Boy I like butternut squash soup.” But it’s also a way to connect with like minds, get feedback, and keep up with trending topics.

The basics

Signing up for Twitter is easy. Just go to twitter.com, click on the “Get Started – Join” button and fill in your name. Then pick a user name and a password, and enter your email address. Enter the CAPTCHA words to verify that you’re human, click on the Create My Account button, and you’re done!

Note: Give thought to your user name. You can use your name, your book’s name, or the name of your business or blog. As a professional writer, using your full name is wise. (Mine is amnichols because my full name is a bit long.) But if you’re known by a nom de plume like “GeekWriter” or “FictionFan” then use it. Remember, once you’ve established a username in Twitter, you don’t want to change it.

After setting up your account, go into Profile and download a picture of yourself. (You can also use a logo or book cover artwork.) Then choose a basic background, save and start tweeting and following!

Geeking out on Jimmy Fallon with the Palm Pre

Joshua Topolsky from Engadget was on Jimmy Fallon last night showing off the soon-to-be-released (we hope) Palm Pre.

After reading in Newsweek about its debut at CES, I’ve been eagerly awaiting its release. Even GeekMommy, who just became part of the iPhone Borg Collective along with half my friends and relatives, is looking forward to trying it out.

I knew that Jimmy was on Twitter, but I didn’t realize he was such a techno geek. I’m in love…with Jimmy and the phone. Josh is cool, too.

So Palm, hurry up already. Until then, I’ll have to make due with my old Palm Pilot, a cell phone and a Peek. Dang, that’s so 2004, you know?

(Thanks to GigaOm Gadget Gurus for the heads up.)

Today Show Digital Mom: it's not all about free stuff, really

This morning the Today Show did a Digital Mom segment on Melissa of the ConsumerQueen.com, followed by Ann Curry interviewing Wendy Piersall of SparkPlugging and Terri Walter of Razorfish.

It’s obvious that Ann Curry understands social media and mom blogging, so kudos to her and the Today Show for doing an excellent segment.

Blogging as work, not a hobby

However, I was a little concerned that they started off positioning mom blogging as a great way to get free stuff. I too get that attitude from friends who tell me, “I want to get freebies like you.” Then Melissa said, “You know what, it’s a lot of work.” And it is.

I tell my friends that they must learn how to set up and market a blog, that they must write frequently (and like to write – most people don’t), and that they have to develop relationships with publicists, marketers and companies. I also tell them that I’ve been blogging for almost five years and am finally at a point where I consider myself a social media professional. A light goes off when they realize that blogging is work – and then they stop asking me about it.

Come see me speak at SXSW '09

Pepsi invited me to speak at a panel at  SXSW. I had hemmed and hawed about going to SXSW because it would mean a week away from family and work. With the invite – which was too good to pass up - I’ll only be going for a few days.

The panel I’ll be speaking on is Dad is the New Mom on Monday, March 16th from 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm. (Add this to your SXSW Calendar)

Here’s the panel description:

While 'MotrinGate' and other recent events have demonstrated the power of mom bloggers around the world, the other side of the parent blogger coin is also developing an engaging and influential voice. Dad Bloggers are sharing thoughts and ideas about parenting - and news and reviews about parenting-related products - at a rapidly increasing rate online.This panel provides an opportunity to connect with today's leading Dad Bloggers as they share their thoughts about tapping online communities centered around fatherhood and their insight into the future of social media as a whole.

• Bonin Bough PepsiCo
• Chris Brogan Pres, New Marketing Labs
• Brad Powell COO, IFC/DadLabs Inc.
• Jory Des Jardins Co-Founder, BlogHer LLC
• Anne-Marie Nichols Blogger/Publisher, This Mama Cooks!

Hope to see you there!

Should you be on Facebook?

This post was originally written for the Northern Colorado Writers newsletter before the recent brouhaha about Facebook. I’ve heard stories of people leaving Facebook, but with the change back to their original terms, I’m happy to stay there.

Just this week, I have “friended” my cousins and an aunt in France via Facebook, where it is the most popular social network. They are relatives I barely know and with the language barrier, I don’t know how else I would get in contact with them except through a series of relatives, email and Air Mail.

Facebook is a wonderful tool for networking and connecting with family and friends. But like most tools, you have to be wise about how you use it. If you do not want your mom, spouse, employer, or law enforcement to know what you are doing, then do not put it on Facebook.

Must haves for your social media blogging tool kit

Just when you thought you knew everything, you go to a conference and learn about a bunch of new social media tools. Since we're all trying to blog in smarter and quicker ways, here are several that you should check out.

Google's Tools

Google now organizes most of their services under one member login. So if you have a Google account for Gmail or Adsense, once you log in at Google.com, you should have access to all your Google tools.

Some Google applications that you should learn to use are:

• Google Analytics – the daddy of all analytics tools. As soon as you set up your blog, you should install the Google Analytics code even if your blogging program comes with its own analytics.
• Feedburner - owned by Google, they’re in the process of moving all Feedburner feeds to feedburner.google.com.
• Google Reader - using Google's feed reader may have future SEO and social networking benefits.
• Google Webmaster Tools - For the technically savvy, installing Webmaster Tools will help with search engine traffic. For more information go to Google Webmaster Central.

Remember, it's Google's world - we just blog in it.

Meet your writing goals with blogging

Have you set any of these goals this year for your writing?

• Write every day
• Interact with my readers
• Get a book deal
• Make money with my writing

I’m sure a few of them are on your 2009 writing goals list. But did you know that starting a blog can help you accomplish your goals.

Write every day

Some writers go the old fashioned route and write in a diary. However, since many of us are used to writing on computers and don’t feel comfortable without spell check and an online thesaurus, why not take it a bit further and write online? The beauty of blogging is that you can log on from anywhere, like the library or work, and write directly to your blog. If you’re shy you can keep it private, too.

Interact with my readers

I know a newspaper columnist who is putting together a blog so her readers can find her online. Not only can they read her blog, but they hold online conversations with her there, too. Not only does she receive immediate feedback, but her blog readers are a valuable source of ideas for future articles and blog posts.