Agriculture and Social Media: Expanding Your Impact Through the Use of Blogging

Agriculture and Social Media Expanding Extension Programming Andy Kleinschmidt OSU Extension Educator

Technology <ul><ul><li>Agriculture has been blowing the doors of technology with amazing advances </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>Herbicide-resistant crops </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>Bt technology in corn </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>Advances in food safety </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>GPS technology, autosteer </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>Who is telling the positive story? </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Extension has always been doing some amazing work. How to market the positive aspects of ag biotechnology and Extension? </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>>>One answer is social media<< </li></ul></ul>

What is social media? <ul><ul><li>Everyone has a role in sharing news, observations, knowledge, research, innovation, ideas, etc etc etc </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Only minimal technical requirement, but large social requirement to make SM work </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>We now have a huge capacity (ala Facebook and others) to express, share and converse </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>It affects anybody that has a message to get out to anywhere in the world. Obviously, this includes Extension. </li></ul></ul>

Why social media? <ul><ul><li>The tea leaves are very strongly pointing towards Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Linkedin, Buzz, Wave, and real-time collaboration/real-time networking </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>If you want to have a conversation, address a group, or share information you must be available </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Social media allows you to be available and part of the conversation </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Important: YOUR AUDIENCE IS NO LONGER THE CONSUMER OF INFORMATION BUT ALSO THE PRODUCER OF INFORMATION </li></ul></ul>

<ul><li>Improve SEO - I cannot stress this enough, and you'll see this mentioned a couple of times in the presentation </li></ul><ul><li>Connect with clients and those NOT familiar with Extension </li></ul><ul><li>Influence </li></ul>Why social media?

Extension Can Be Great(er)! <ul><li>Let me give you the TED example via Luckie & Company </li></ul><ul><li>TED went largely unnoticed for two decades until they began sharing their talks online, now 200+ million views. </li></ul><ul><li>Takeaway: use social media to share excellent resources, content is king (Extension has GREAT content), "find the line between offering value and giving away the store" </li></ul>

The hardest part is starting... Attribution: http://www.flickr.com/photos/matthamm/

Where to begin? <ul><ul><li>I believe blogs are incredibly powerful </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>Repository of information; searchable and built-in archive </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>Nearly realtime (get info out of your inboxes) </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>Does remarkably well for SEO </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>Great stats, measure of impact </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>Two way communication, allows for commenting </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>You become accessible </li></ul></ul></ul>

Attribution: http://www.flickr.com/photos/somewhatfrank/ <ul><li>I’ll discuss framing a complete strategy at the end of the presentation, but for now I’ll start with blogging: </li></ul><ul><li>Great SEO </li></ul><ul><li>No character limits </li></ul><ul><li>EASY </li></ul>

agvanwert.wordpress.com Began May, 2008

Blogging Case Study Success Step 1: write post about smartphones on the farm (March 2009) Step 2: contacted by John Sutter of CNN (@jdsutter) Step 3: CNN article called Twittering From Tractor-Smartphones Sprout on Farm How did this work? Answer: SEO

Blogging Case Study Success <ul><li>My ‘Aha!’ moment with blogging came in October, 2009. </li></ul>

October, 2009 <ul><li>Issue 2 post success </li></ul><ul><li>Extremely timely </li></ul><ul><li>Controversial issue </li></ul><ul><li>Unbiased </li></ul><ul><li>SEO ‘Ohio Issue 2’ in google </li></ul>

Blogging Case Study Success <ul><li>Tweet turned into shirt </li></ul><ul><li>Proceeds donated to Ohio 4-H (approx $200) </li></ul><ul><li>Sales hosted on blog </li></ul><ul><li>Cost = $0 </li></ul><ul><li>SEO; agriculture shirt </li></ul>

Blogging by email. Dead. Simple. <ul><li>From email inbox to blog in 2 minutes. </li></ul><ul><li>Requires: blog AND mobile email </li></ul><ul><li>Consider using Posterous </li></ul>Great info is useless sitting in your inbox…

Marketing your colleague's work 1. Peggy Hall, author 2. Posts are pumped to my twitter and facebook 3. I do nothing, other than rip the initial RSS into a feed

Advertising/Marketing Your Blog <ul><li>How do you get the word out about your blog? </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Twitter, Amplify, Facebook easily #1 for me (non-search engine) </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Many communities have online newspapers, make sure your blog is connected. </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Optimize, be sure to write for search engines </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>EXTREMELY rapid turnaround of information -- try to be first to get the information out </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Backlinking, link sharing </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Forums - Sean Hannity Forum, ATV Forums, AgTalk </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Blog directories - I've had good luck with Alltop </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Stumble, Digg </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Enough is never enough </li></ul></ul><ul><li> </li></ul><ul><li>• </li></ul>

Incredible variety! Notice: 1. Twitter/Facebook *gasp* work! Not toys 2. forums important 3. Local too! (vwindependent.com)

Successful blogging tips <ul><ul><li>blog regularly, at least once a week </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>get your blog talking to your facebook, twitter, linkedin, amplify, or whatever SM strategy you are using </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>write for clients, but also write for search engines </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>be an authority </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>be topical and timely </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>evergreen </li></ul></ul><ul><li>7. backlinking is good </li></ul><ul><li>8. 'push to post' via email </li></ul><ul><li>9. use schedulers for blog </li></ul><ul><li> posts </li></ul><ul><li>10. niche, specialization </li></ul><ul><li>11. make yourself accessible </li></ul><ul><li>12. be transparent and </li></ul><ul><li> conversational </li></ul>

Focus on Blog TITLE too... <ul><li>Original post title - "How to Start a Blog" </li></ul><ul><li>What's wrong with this title? It is pure vanilla; there is very little meat in this title that would make me want to click on the title and read more. </li></ul><ul><li>Better post title - "Building a Popular Blog: 4 Simple Steps You Must Do" </li></ul><ul><li>Why is this better? </li></ul>source: http://kleinschmidt.posterous.com/write-a-killer-title-with-this-short-formula

Focus on Blog Title (con't) <ul><li>Here is a formula that you can use to write great headlines~ </li></ul><ul><li>[create a sense of urgency] + [convey brevity] + [show specific value] </li></ul><ul><li>Put as much thought into your title as your content. </li></ul>source: http://kleinschmidt.posterous.com/write-a-killer-title-with-this-short-formula

<ul><ul><li>using more than one channel/stream shortens engagement curve </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>there are so many channels available </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>figure out your social media objectives and engage in as many platforms that make sense </li></ul></ul>Attribution: http://www.flickr.com/photos/intersectionconsulting/

Attribution: http://www.flickr.com/photos/intersectionconsulting/

Caveats <ul><li>I spoke much about blogs, but let me say that the tea leaves are not pointing to blogs as the new media. Frankly, blogs have been around for years and some have moved on from long blog posts. "Attention Crash" </li></ul><ul><li>Average American visits 110 domains/month and 2,500 webpages in that same time. So, if you want to be one of those websites that are visited, you must be visible in the places where people are spending time and be visible to search engines. </li></ul><ul><li>Time is finite, and so is your ability to share data. Use wisely -> short posts and visual (infographics) </li></ul>

TOS and Liability <ul><ul><li>You should become aware of your university/business policies </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Realize that you may be on your own with regards to liability. </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Your employer is not agreeing to the TOS, but you as an individual are agreeing; this absolves your employer from liability of your actions </li></ul></ul>

My Strategy <ul><li>1. Blog is my hub </li></ul><ul><li>2. Spokes are: </li></ul><ul><li>youtube Amplify </li></ul><ul><li>photobucket QIK </li></ul><ul><li>twitter friendfeed </li></ul><ul><li>facebook </li></ul><ul><li>Linkedin </li></ul><ul><li>3. …for now </li></ul>

Social Media Business Card <ul><ul><li>http://socializedcard.com/ </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>http://card.ly/ ** </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>http://twtbizcard.com/ </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>http://www.retaggr.com/ </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>https://magntize.com/ </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>(what I use) </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Source: Dailybloggr </li></ul></ul>

Conclusions <ul><li>Be EVERYWHERE </li></ul><ul><li>Consider adopting different stories for each SM tool. </li></ul><ul><li>Make sure EVERYTHING is discoverable with search engines = SEO, SEO, SEO (yeah, it’s important) </li></ul><ul><li>No bullhorn, no preaching. Be pro-active and host the conversation. </li></ul><ul><li>Remember, don't look at the technology. Look at the social mix. Start with the strategy, then use the correct channels. </li></ul>

more conclusions <ul><li>Eric Schmidt (Google CEO): Mobile Is The Future, And There’s No Such Thing As Communication Overload </li></ul><ul><li>BE PATIENT!!!! </li></ul><ul><li>May be a bit harsh, but if you are not using some of these tools, you are not staying relevant. </li></ul>

Your Social Media Plan “ Set up a twitter, facebook, youtube, blog and wait for the magic… Fail.” – Mani Karthik, SEO Specialist, Flip Media, Dubai

Final thought... <ul><li>"If you're new to Twitter [blogging, Facebook, SM, etc] and it feels like no one hears you, stick around. It takes a while, but so worth it. " </li></ul><ul><li>- Scott Stratten aka @unmarketing </li></ul>