My name is John T. Meyer and I love connecting with people. This blog contains my thoughts and opinions on Ideas and Collaboration. But I really want to hear yours, so feel free to leave a comment. 
Celebrate Life’s Little Moments
I like to celebrate the little things in life.
John’s Toolbox: Wordpress Settings
I want to work to add value for YOU, my blog readers. Hopefully my random ideas and motivational speeches help, but I’m launching a section in my blog called Toolbox. The Toolbox will be really specific how to’s and actionable items that you can do at home on your own website, blog, or social network.
I truly want this to help you so let me know what types of issues you’re having and what you want to be added to the Toolbox.
For today we’re starting really simple. This is just a common settings mistake that many people make on their Wordpress blogs. I know, it seems simple enough, but it’s a must do for any Wordpress blogger. Take a look…
Social Media Jobs are HOT
Here’s the link to Mashable’s Job board which is frequently updated with great opportunities. Definitely check it out as social media jobs are HOT… just like me!
Learn Twitter by Tweeting, Not a Book
A pic of the business book section at Barnes and Noble below
I’m sick of seeing all these new books on bookshelves on how to Twitter, what is Facebook, and starting a blog. The best way to learn is to do it! If you need help, use Google.
It’s Entrepreneurship Week
People often ask me if I’ve always been an entrepreneur, as if it is an inherent trait or part of my genetics. I’m not really sure, but if running lemonade stands and creating massive trade channels of baseball cards counts, then yes I guess.
Although I generally don’t like the word entrepreneur, it’s no secret that my life has completely changed in the past nine months when I decided to chase a dream. And that’s really what entrepreneurship is about right? Chasing a dream!
I wanted to note on my blog that this week is nationally recognized as Entrepreneurship Week. Here’s a great video from a company called Grasshopper, which is dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs.
If you’re a local entrepreneur in South Dakota I suggest taking advantage of many of the events happening on the SDSU campus in Brookings. The Innovation Campus (full disclosure: a client of 9 Clouds) has set up a great blog called The Innovators Guild and will serve as a hub for all innovation and entrepreneurship news and opportunities in the region. Check it out and remember that there are people out there who want to help you chase your dream.
No Excuses to Get Started
As a related post check out last week’s “Change to Do It Now”
SDSU vs USD Draws Strong Community Alliances
Packed house at Frost Arena
I went to the South Dakota State University versus University of South Dakota women’s basketball game last night at Frost Arena. Great to see the rivalry between the Jackrabbits and Coyotes reignited after six years.
A full crowd of nearly 6,000 was in full force to cheer on our hometown Jacks. It goes to show the power of a community built around geography and shared experience. Nearly every South Dakotan is either a Jackrabbit or a Coyote and bloodlines run deep in these rivalry matchups.
Online you can’t unite your community by geography like the SDSU/USD rivalry, but you can unite people through shared experiences. In your blogs, videos, and pictures share content that people can connect with and say, “I remember when” or “That reminds me of.”
This form of connection will go a long way to strengthen your online community. Don’t worry about the force of 6,000 people, but the power of tight 20 or 30 people.
Six essential tools for first-time bloggers
Hundreds of bloggers fill the Blogger Lounge at SXSW Interactive 2009. Photo by loiclemeur on Flickr.
Once you decide to take the plunge and start blogging there are a lot of things to do. It’s hard enough to consistently write new posts and stay dedicated to producing content as well as monitor the analytics of that content. I decided to put together my essential blogger’s toolkit.
Google Analytics – It’s free, it’s easy, and it’s literally the best. You must install Google analytics on your blog. Not only will you get the number of visitors and pageviews, but where your traffic is coming from and how they get to your site. All very important information to fine tune and grow your blog.
Bit.ly – There are a host of link shorteners out there but for my money you can’t do any better than bit.ly. Bit.ly provides real-time link tracking which is very handy to see what links are working. You can sync your Twitter account with bit.ly and all of your Twitter links will be tracked in one place. You also have the awesome ability to customize your shortened links so people know what that little link is all about.
Feedburner – Need help managing your blog’s RSS feed? Look no further than Feedburner. With Feedburner you can create your own custom RSS feed and get all the analytics to track subscribers, readers, and more. Feedburner has been a favorite tool of bloggers since its launch in 2004.
TubeMogul – If your blog is going to involve video than TubeMogul is essential. TubeMogul will first spread your content across all the video media sites but also aggregate your analytics so you have a real count of views and clicks. Check out my Tools for the Trade post on TubeMogul to learn more.
Disqus – Take the discussion and your blog comments to the next level. Disqus allows you to efficiently moderate comments and develop your blog’s community. Readers can also login and comment via their Facebook or Twitter accounts. Disqus works on nearly any blogging platform including Wordpress, Tumblr, Blogger, Squarespace and more.
Hubspot – Hubspot is a Boston-based company that specializes in inbound marketing software. They have some ridiculous tools and amazing software that will really help, but will cost you a pretty penny. Have no fear my friends, Hubspot does offer a free marketing kit. I’d also recommend many of Hubspot’s free tools from Grader.com: Website Grader, which will do a basic but essential analysis of your site’s SEO and inbound marketing, and Twitter Grader which will analyze your Twitter account, your followers, and Twitter habits, and provide any suggestions.
These tools are just the tip of the iceberg for bloggers, but ones that I would consider essential for any beginning blogger. There are many other great blogging tools and everyone has their favorites so I’d love to learn more about what’s out there. What’s in your blogger’s toolkit?
I originally published this post on Silicon Prairie News but thought it is worth a read in case anyone missed it. Thanks!
