I stumbled across a great simple seven page Twitter How To in pdf this afternoon courtesy of Duct Tape Marketing.  Click here to for your free guide to using twitter.

Twitter can be time consuming and you need to ensure that your followers have a genuine interest in the knowledge you provide. If you would like some help setting up your Corporate twitter strategy feel free to contact Her Media.

I happened across Bit.ly while cruising Clay Newtons Blog this morning. I have permanent residence at another URL shortening site that has been causing problems so I have dragged their Url shortener into my toolbar to test it out.

They also offer the following services:

Twitabit and SwitchABit.

A note for Jay of Bit.Ly if you are reading this Please list some contact details on your blog.(I know I know I am always bugging everyone about being ‘real’ if you work online.)

If you test out BitLy let us know how your clicks are tracking.

I logged onto Facebook yesterday to see the  ‘The new Facebook is here Try it now’ bar across the top of my profile. I am always cautious and went looking for some information from facebook about this ‘new face book’.  I didn’t locate any official Face book notifications so I began my Google quest.

Yes Face book is launching a new layout and interface experience for their users and it appears that eventually we will have to accept the new design.  So I gave in and switched.

Here is the before:

And the after:

My first impression. They messed with something that worked for me and the new Tab system will mean I will have to spend more time on Facebook. Yes, it just takes a moment to  ‘open a tab’ but all those just a moments in my life add up to a large amount of time.

If I worked for FaceBook I’d say great ! more page views means more advertising revenue. As a  user it stinks.

The rumours are true when you switch all of your wall posts and updates are in ONE place.This is cumbersome when you are searching for a specific post. However the ability to adjust your privacy settings right there at the wall post is great.

There are some things I really don’t like however there are an equal number of new features I do like.

Here are some of the new features:

Tabs:

The Publisher area: Action items (things you do) I like this feature, it will save me time

Click on Write a note and the box expands:

This is interesting for those of us in Marketing:

Seems Facebook is asking users to ‘rate ads’. I know that these ads are Cost per click. But the ads CTR is going to go down the tubs as I am sure people will opt to  ‘rate’ the ads instead of clicking them. Essentially turning their ads into  ‘display ads’ as apposed to interactive. The users interaction is going to be rating the ad not interacting with the advertisers wish for them to CLICK the ad.

Really this doesn’t make sense if their ads are sold on s CPC basis they should be encouraging clicks not ratings.

I watched Randy’s lecture some time ago and shared it with my son.

If you haven’t seen it yet I would encourage you to do so and to remember this great man.

Memoriam article

It’s Saturday and BlogHer 08 is almost over. This evening I wanted to share a great resource for those of you blogging and wondering about the Tax implication for bloggers. This information is (unfortunately) only for US bloggers. Kelly Phillips Erb of Taxgirl has posted her Taxes for Bloggers notes from the Blog Her 08 convention.

So be sure to visit Tax Girls post and download the free PDF handouts.

Karrine - Her Media from BlogHer 08

This morning I encountered a new blogger on the internet named Greg Hollingsworth. A political and social issue blogger from the USA writing Devil in the Details . His Blog layout is refreshingly simple, different, and easy to navigate. I picked up on this search area containing a widget by ‘Lijit’ and had to check it out.

I am not in need of yet another way to track stats as I like Google Analytics as it allows me to keep tabs on not just my own sites but that of my clients as well. However the search feature sounds promising

“install the Lijit Search Wijit on your blog to give readers the most relevant results from a source they trust. YOU.”

The sign up process allows you to pull all the information from your other Social network and blogging platforms so before you start be sure to sign up with the following services (should they be of interest to you) using the same User ID.

Continued

Watch for Her Blog Radio to debut in August 2008 !

We are working on our first four shows and if you are a female blogger we would love to have you join us ! Just stop by and complete our introduction form.

I will be vacating the  premises soon to head down to San Francisco  for Blog Her 2008 so if I seem distant it is because really I am.

I found this great list of Blog Directories today to Get Elastic Ecommerce Blog

I thought I would share them, If you take the time to use any of them, please leave your comments for the rest of us.

Of course if you are a female blogger you need to start with Her Blog Directory/

50 Free Blog Directories That Pass Link Juice

62 Feed Aggregators

Continued

Here’s where you can find Karrine (aka The almost always organized mom of Her Media) at Blog Her 2008 (Special Thanks to GreatAupair.com)

Friday, July 18, 2008
8:30-9:00 AM
Day One Breakfast  * Yes I will eat breakfast
9:00-9:15 AM
Welcome to BlogHer ‘08
“Speed Dating” for BlogHers

Break-Out Session #1
Who We Are: Introversion, Blogging and BlogHer
MommyBlogging: Is MommyBlogging Still a Radical Act
Break-Out Session #2
Who We Are: Race and Gender: What are the lessons of 2008
What We Do: DIY Content Syndication and Promotion
Break-Out Session #3
Who We Are: Blogging with a Global Perspective
How We Communicate: Video Blogging
Room of Your Own: Funding & Incubation Opportunities and Women Entrepreneurs

Saturday, July 19, 2008
8:15-9:30 AM- Breakfast

9:30-10:30 AM Morning Keynote:
HybridMedia: How we will all work together to build a converged-media future

Break-Out Session #1
MommyBlogging: The Commercial Momosphere: Policies, Ethics and Outreach

12:15PM - 1:45PM: Join us for the BlogHer Swap Meet

Break-Out Session #2
What We Do: There’s More to Monetization than Advertising

Break-Out Session #3
What We Do: Blog to Book Redux

5:15-6:15 PM Closing Keynote: Living the Truman

Sunday
8:45-5:00 PM BlogHer Open Space, the “Unconference”

I will be staying an extra evening

Monday:

In SF until about 5pm - Network anyone ? ?

I received a tweet announcing the new board being elected atthe ‘Social Media Club’.

The club works towards establishing ethics and standards and promoting social literacy focusing on Social Media.

This years executive includes;

Fellow Canadian Megan Cole (based in Vancouver BC) and ;

Lee Aase - Social Media University, Global
Rohit Bhargava - Influential Marketing Blog and Personality Not Included
Richard Binhammer - RichardatDell
Michael Brito - Britopian and Conversations Matter
Chris Brogan - ChrisBrogan.com
Mike Chapman - Austin Social Media Club and Every Dot Connects
Alex de Carvalho - alexdc.org and Social Object
Todd Defren - SHIFT Communications and www.pr-squared.com
Serena Ehrlich - Business Wire
Jason Falls - Social Media Explorer
Maggie Fox - Social Media Group
Jon Gatrell - spatiallyrelevant.org
Howard Greenstein - HowardGreenstein.com
Francine Hardaway - Stealthmode
Josh Hallett - Hyku
Annie Heckenberger - pikpr.blogspot.com and redspurs.com
Chuck Hester - iContact
Chris Heuer - ChrisHeuer.com
Sherry Heyl - Mind Blogging
Tara Hunt - HorsePigCow
Bill Johnston - Forum One Networks Forum and Online Community Report
Jennifer McClure - Society for New Communications Research
Mike McGrath - Dogpatch Dispatch
Jake McKee - CommunityGuy.com and Ant’s Eye View
Gregory Narain - SocialTwister
Lee Odden - Online Marketing Blog and TopRank
Erica OGrady - ReinventingErica.com and Peanut Butter Media
Jeremiah Owyang - Web Strategist
David Parmet - Marketing Begins At Home, LLC and PerkettPR
Jackie Peters - heavyBlog
Doug Pollei - pollei.com
Pierre-Yves Platini - Yoono
Douglas Pollei - Pollei.com
Connie Reece - Every Dot Connects and Austin Social Media Club
Chris Saad - ChrisSaad.com
Andy Sernovitz - Word of Mouth Marketing and GasPedal
Brian Solis - PR2.0
J.J. Toothman - jjtoothman.net and Red Pill
Todd Van Hoosear - Tech PR Gems
Des Walsh - Des Walsh dot Com
Kristie Wells - KristieWells.com

Congratulations everyone.

To find out more about social media,  visit: http://www.socialmediaclub.org