I understand the frustration many of my clients relay to me. It takes so much time — time no one seems to have. But, I am of the opinion it is a matter of priorities. If you make your social activities a priority — as it should be if you want to have a successful online presence, then you find the time!

To help address this concern that is voiced to me several times every day, here is my list of the Top 5 WordPress Social Plugins that can help save time, encourage and enhance your social media efforts:

Top 5 WordPress Social Plugins

1. Share and Follow: See the “follow” tab pinned the the left of your screen? Share and Follow lets you config that to your personal taste to match your site and includes all kinds of other features you can take advantage of to allow site visitors to network with you and pass your site on.
2. Subscribe to Comments: Makes it easy for site visitors to track conversations (because you have made it a priority to respond to site comments quickly!) while encouraging ongoing interaction. Subscribe to comments offers commenters the option to sign up for e-mail notifications of subsequent entries.
3. Thank Me Later: Thank Me Later will automatically send an e-mail to those who leave a comment at your site. You configure the messages to reflect your personality and encourage return visits and online engagement.
4. TweetMeme Retweet Plugin: Retweeting your posts are only a click away! Search for your Tweets on Twitter and thank the retweeters and get involved in the conversation they create.
5. Wibiya Toolbar: The Wibiya Toolbar, get’s pinned to the bottom of the user’s browser screen, and allows you to choose from a great variety of tools and features including Facebook and Twitter applications, Google Buzz, Smart Share, Real Time Notifications and Statistics, 3D picture galleries, 3D YouTube video galleries and much, much more.

The above plugins are certainly not the end all be all. There are tons of great tools out there to help you in your quest to manage your social media efforts. Whether you choose just one or a combination of the above, just choose!

social — adj
living or preferring to live in a community rather than alone

You are now in the online community — join in the conversation!

At your service,
Judith

Top 5 WordPress Social Plugins is a post from: WordPress Consultant: Judith Kallos, At Your Service...

What works for one company or Web site may not work for another. Each and every site, site owner and stated goals are unique. That is why I recommend to my clients that they always look for new insights, opinions and strategies to test and tune what works specifically for them.

There is a new resource for Social Media that is taking a stab at becoming a hub for Social Media Marketing expertise. Social Media Marketing Magazine has launched touting to be:

Social Media Marketing (SMM) Magazine’s innovative editorial approach features the expertise of a number of marketing leaders from the business, publishing, and academic communities.

With their unique perspectives, SMM Magazine helps you navigate
through the social media maze and emerge with a more clear
understanding of how to achieve your marketing goals by
applying effective strategies, tactics, and best practices.

Sounds interesting … And, from what I’ve read in the inaugural issue there are some excellent insights and articles. Stuff that can make you think about what may work for you.

What I found ironic however, is how there are no social media tools to keep up with SMM from their site. You can see they have a Twitter account by the “Follow Us on Twitter” button all the way at the very bottom of every page like an afterthought, but that’s it. There isn’t even a way to subscribe to SMM’s Blog RSS feed.

One would think that if you are talking exclusively about Social Media, you would integrate the tools you can use effectively in that effort on your own site. While I agree plastering the site with all the available Social Media icons is not necessary or recommended, you would think the Blog RSS feed would be a no brainer.

On one of their Blog posts titled Social Media Marketing: So Much More than Tools (which has since been taken offline), the author states:

A general who takes his troops into battle with plenty of weapons but no battle plan would be labeled a fool. My question then becomes is there any difference in a social media marketer doing the same thing?

Give the article a read and apply it to your market.

Time will tell if this site can become a true Social Media portal or just a Social Media archive. Why not check it out and let me know what you think?

At your service,
Judith

Social Media Marketing Magazine? is a post from: WordPress Consultant: Judith Kallos, At Your Service...

I defined what social really meant in my post Facey Pages & Tweety Books a Fad?

Now, let’s define “friend”:

• a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard.
• a person who gives assistance; patron; supporter: friends of the Boston Symphony.
• a person who is on good terms with another; a person who is not hostile: Who goes there? Friend or foe?
• make friends with, to enter into friendly relations with; become a friend to.

So, there are semantics at play here and it is your choice how to best use these services to fit your needs. But I bet if you were to hold the above definition to the concept of friends on any social site that you use for business, the number of “friends” on your profile would most certainly decline dramatically.

For me, on Facebook for example, I no longer found it possible to be “friends” with those I don’t know who were there to “follow” my business posts, while having family and real friends also seeing my “day job” commentary. My friends and family could care less about my business networking and I know that those who were “friends” that never spoke or even e-mailed with me before, could care less about my puppies latest antics.

So what I did was to decide to make Facebook my one personal place on the Web for real, actual, authentic friends — based on the definition above. And added a separate Facebook Business Page. If I get a friend request from someone I don’t know, haven’t e-mailed or worked with — they aren’t truly my friend — they need to visit my Facebook Business Page instead because I am keeping things separate.

This is decision everyone has to make for themselves. The way I look at it is not every stinkin’ thing I do online has to be about business, monetizing or for commercial gain. I’ve decided to make Facebook, primarily because my family and techno-challenged friends are all there, my bastion of fun and personal online. And now, due to the many Facebookers who have e-mailed me, I now have a business page there for them too.

If someone wants to network with me (or be a fan), they also have my Blog here that they can sub to and comment on, my numerous other sites to subscribe to as well and any one of my Twitter feeds to “follow” (istudio, WPGirlFriday, WPMuse). For business, “following” is a more accurate term for Social Media business contacts in regard to those you don’t know or have had no (or do not plan on any) personal contact with. If someone wants to follow me, they have many alternative venues. My friends and family — only one — Facebook.

I’ve yet to find anyone who has successfully used one social media account effectively and efficiently to serve both personal and business activities. Being social media is all about engagement and participation how can you possibly satisfy both. You can’t.

That’s why I’m drawing the line in the sand between business and personal. I don’t want those I don’t know being able to see my life details and I don’t want to bore my family with boring techie posts.

Have you successfully crossed the personal/business divide? Are all your “friends” really friends? And, if not, how does that benefit you other than to have that large number screaming “look at all my friends” displayed?

What say you?

At your service,
Judith
Your WordPress Consultant

Social Media Friends: Are they really friends? is a post from: WordPress Consultant: Judith Kallos, At Your Service...