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If you’re not familiar with the use of Hashtags, I recommend you read that post by Mashable on how to use them for business purposes and them come back here.

How do I make it so my blog posts don’t get lost in a sea of Tweets?

Do you know how scientists put an electronic tag on an animal they wish to study to keep track of it? Well something similar happens on Twitter but here the electronic tag is a hashtag (#) and people use them to track/search for information tagged under a specific hashtag.

An elegant solution but with an inherent problem.

The problem is most people on Twitter will research hashtags (#) for tweets that interest them instead of individual people. Why? Because it’s a lot more easier to scan a category as opposed to looking through everything you’ve tweeted including stuff they don’t care about. So unless you’re an established source of information (like Mashable) for a specific category (#socialmedia) then you won’t have this problem but if you’re not you’ll have to accept it and counter it to make sure people see your tweets long after you’ve publish them.

One way to counter this human problem, is to just add a categorical hashtag at the end of your tweet. For example if you have a blog about cooking recipes, add the hashtag #recipes or #cooking at the end of your tweet and voila! your blog post will appear with all other posts tagged with those hashtags.

Nice!

Another option that works if you’re more experimental and publish posts directly to Twitter from your blog (which I’ve been experimenting with here), is to add the hashtag directly to your blog post title like I did with this post: Unconventional #blogging advice.

I haven’t seen anybody else try this and haven’t really noticed a negative response to doing it this way. Finally, you should also publish your posts maybe 3 times at different intervals during the day (with the hashtag!) so that people who where not online at a certain hour can see your post when they are.

Closing thoughts…

Hashtags were born out of the necessity to filter information and have grown to have many more uses which makes them very valuable. Add them to your blog posts and experiment with different types of hashtags as well as putting them directly in your blog post.

Help people find your posts!

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Want to stand out? Want to be known for something? Want to be ‘THE’ instead of just another guy no one knows? Want to be THE GUY everyone wants to be?

Remember, ideas not content? If you don’t, click the link and then come back over here.

Great to have you back! I spotted a couple of tweets from Jane McGonigal (@AvantGame) that reflect this simple principle:

Applied towards your online brand experience the point is: Your content marketing strategy should be focused on ideas with a purpose for action not for consumption.

So if you’re planning on starting a blog about cooking, think about ‘why?’ you’re doing it (purpose of your blog) before you decide ‘what?’ content you’re going to publish on it. You stand a better chance of your content being shared and therefore being talked about if you create content for action not consumption. This simply means that, as Jane so clearly puts it, your content should help people achieve some goal that makes their life a lot more interesting.

Here’s a BIG idea again: It’s not what and how much you publish, it’s what people do with it that counts.

P.S. If you don’t know who Jane McGonigal is I recommend you watch her TED video below, I guarantee it’s well worth your time!

Does this resonate with you? What’s the BIG IDEA behind your content?

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Setting your sights on a target gives you power and direction

The web is full of ‘how to’ advice on better blogging and for the most part the recipe goes a little something like this: publish frequently, provide useful content (ideas) and 

I don’t disagree with the recipe, the problem is that for the most part anybody with something relevant to say can do this and so here then lies the problem: If everyone follows the same advice then what is distinctive about your blog? about you?

To counter this, the recipe I follow for my innovation blog is very simple: Declare war on your enemies.

Pick an enemy

An enemy can be a mindset, ideologies, concepts, another blogger or person with whom you don’t agree with, a brand, a competitor, etc you get the picture. For me personally my enemy is my country’s (Mexico) ‘more of the same’ ‘me too’ copycat behavior and fixed mindset. A recent post might provide you some clues into why this is the case…

Have a BIG idea

The key is to have a BIG idea that counters your enemies POV and then present it in a better or different way. The clarity of ‘declaring war on your enemies’ strategy fills you with direction and purpose which feeds your passion because when you have an enemy you have something you are displeased with to shoot at.

An example is Apple’s ‘I’m a Mac/I’m a PC’ ads that paint Microsoft as boring, people took notice because Apple took a stand and it ignited passion in their fans…people love a good fight!

Don’t be afraid to polarize people

Not everyone will agree with what you have to say and when you take opposites you’ll create enemies and as terrifying as this sounds, it’s actually a good thing because you’re making your stand and people take notice. The key here is to arouse yours and others emotions!

Brand yourself or be branded

This strategy is working for me and has resonated with some of my fellow tweeps such that a few weeks ago I was surprised to see @ThinkTank_ (innovation consultancy) tag me with the ‘innovation insurgent’ moniker on a tweet! I was extremely happy to see this as it clearly states what I’m about and soon other tweeps gave me their thumbs up

Although I know I don’t put enough useful information (in my opinion) and could do a better job of presenting actionable ideas, I think my blog presents a distinct and authentic POV as everything I post there is clearly directed at the things I’ve encountered in my young personal as well as professional life.

This strategy can work wonders for you too but there’s a difference between being useful and passionate, being useful can get you going but being passionate can propel you new heights! Any of the (___) for Dummies! books is useful, Leading the Revolution by Gary Hamel on the other hand is passionate; mix the two together and you have Seth Godin! 

Bottom line is be passionate in your blogging!

Action steps:

• Direct your energies towards a frustration you have and declare war on it. As stated above this can be a person, competitor, idea, concept, etc, we all have one.
• Search for people who fit your frustrations and pick a fight. These can be ‘opinion leaders’ who’s egos are getting too big and you might just be the one to give them a wake up call.
• Declare war on yourself and challenge your own assumptions. Keep your mind moving as you’re likely to spur some competition and you need to keep yourself on your heels to counter and learn.

To conclude I leave you with a quote that speaks the truth: Where all think alike, no one thinks very much by Walter Lippman

http://twitter.com/jorgebarba/status/11458881984

What say you?

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