Slides for workshop held at the Digitally Agile Community Learning and Development event in Edinburgh on 24th January 2013. Pimp Your Online Presence in 6 Steps: http://www.clearmindedcreative.com/pimp-your-online-presence-in-six-steps/ More on the DACLD event: http://www.youthlinkscotland.org/webs/245/documents/DACLDReportJan2013.pdf

1. Facebook
Google Plus
Blog
Pinterest Twitter
Instagram
YouTube
Email
Newsletter
Pimp Your Online Presence

2. Q
What would you like
to get out of this workshop?
Do you feel positively or negatively
about your online presence?
Are you ready to rhumble?

4. In the first years of the 21st century, a new meaning of the
word pimp has emerged in the form of a transitive verb,
which means “to decorate” or “to gussy up” (compare primp,
especially in Scottish usage).
This new definition was made popular by Pimp My Ride, an
MTV television show.
Although this new definition paid homage to hip-hop culture
and its connection to street culture, it has now entered
common, even mainstream commercial, use.
Wikipedia (that most reliable of sources).

5. This.

6. Not this.

7. “Pimping your online presence is all about
communicating as clearly and cleverly as
possible who you are and what you’re
offering to the world, so that you stand out
and are remembered.
”

8. We all have to do it.

9. “The internet wasn’t built to make it easy for you to watch Lady
GaGa videos.
The Internet is a connection machine, and anyone with a laptop or
a smartphone is now connected to just about everyone else.
And it turns out those connections are changing the world.”
Seth Godin, The Icarus Deception

10. Can You Afford to Ignore It?

11. Your Digital
Identity

12. Personal Online Professional

13. What
Story
Are
You
Telling?

14. Tools for Telling Your Story
Title and tagline of your website/blog
About Page
Each Blog Post
A Tweet
Photos
Videos
Can you describe what you do in 160 characters? (Twitter bio)

15. Q
Are you comfortable
about sharing your real
identity online?
Are you willing to show
a more personal side online?
Are you concerned about the trend
towards sharing more online?

16. Google Plus
Facebook
Pinterest Blog
Instagram
Twitter
Email
Newsletter
The Building Blocks of Your Blogging Strategy

17. Your Home on the Web
Freedom
Flexibility
Ownership
Growth

18. Your website needs to be the central point of all your online communications.
Why is this so important?
Well by setting up your own space where people can visit, you have freedom to post
whatever you want to post. You have the flexibility to change things and experiment to
see what works best.
This enables you to build a platform which can potentially grow in value over time.
And if you use a self-hosted option, will be the owner of your website/blog.
Ideally, you don’t want to be reliant on specific services and companies who may
change the rules as they go along (as with Facebook EdgeRank) or rapidly nosedive
in popularity (like MySpace).

19. What is a blog?
A website or part of a website (web log)
easily updated, preferably on a regular basis
consists of individual blog posts, which are
usually presented in chronological order, with
the most recent post at the top of the page.
Can be mainly written, or based around
photos, videos or audio.
Can allow readers to comment/interact

20. Very few people are ever going to come
back to your website if it isn’t updated
regularly, and if you’re not providing
valuable or entertaining content.
A blog which is updated reasonably
regularly is a great way of keeping people
interested in what you have to say and what
you’re doing.
It’s the difference between having a website
which is like a ghost town, and one which
has life and energy about it, and attracts
people and conversation.

23. Links to
social
networks
Tagline -
what blog
is about

24. Latest post
Comments

25. email
newsletter
social
proof

26. Social
sharing
buttons
Comments

27. Pro-Blogging Recommendations
Self-hosted Wordpress (Wordpress.org)
Premium Theme (with SEO features)
Responsive Theme (for mobile devices)
Google Analytics (to measure visitors)
Akismet plug-in (to limit spam)
Back it up! (Backup Buddy)

28. Try it for free..
www.tumblr.com
wordpress.com

29. Q Do you have a personal
blog?
Do you blog as part of your
work?
Do you read blogs?

30. Email is social too.

31. Advantages of an email newsletter
People are more likely to see your email than they are to see
your Twitter update.
You can offer additional content or information that you don’t
want to post publicly.
People’s inboxes are very personal. If they sign up to your
newsletter they are probably very interested in what you have
to say.
You can remind people to visit your blog!

32. Permission Marketing
Don’t send unsolicited group emails. Most people consider them as spam.
Only send to people who have signed up or given
you permission to contact them.

33. Q
Do you have an email
newsletter?
Does it get sent out on a
consistent schedule?
Do you subscribe to any
email newsletters?
What do you like/dislike
about them?

34. Avoid Social Media Meltdown

35. Concentrate on growing one social network at a time
Focus on building relationships and having conversations - not the numbers
Be generous. Share other people’s content.
Share related content to your topic, not just your own stuff.
Set time limits!
Use a social media client e.g. Hootsuite or Buffer, to monitor and schedule updates
in advance.
Use lists and filters to see the relevant information.
Don’t post the same updates to all of your social networks. Find out what works
on each individual platform.

36. Remember, it’s about having conversations
Take some time to work out the basics (it’s very easy!)
Only follow people back you actually find interesting/relevant
Share interesting links
Keep it relevant/on-topic if possible

37. Facebook
Organisations can set up a Page or a Group.
Groups can be Open, Closed or Secret.
Pages are subject to Facebook EdgeRank - your messages will
not be seen by everyone who likes your page.
However Facebook provides insights (statistics) and allows you to
promote posts and also advertise your page.

39. Other Social Networks
Instagram and Pinterest are very visual.
Instagram is great for telling an ongoing story through
photos, and easy to update via a smartphone.
Pinterest is an online scrapbook most popular with women.
Google Plus has a small, but strong community. They now
have community pages which could be useful for
organisations.
StumbleUpon & Reddit are social bookmarking sites. They
can drive traffic but you need to invest time in the
community.
Other sites: KILTR, Blipfoto etc.

40. Q
Do you have a personal
Facebook account?
Do you have a personal
Twitter account?
Do you use Facebook or Twitter
for work purposes?
What about
other social networks?

42. Be Realistic
Be Focused
Be Consistent
Provide Value
Plan Ahead

43. Set Clear Expectations & Boundaries
External Social Media Policy
Internal Guidelines
Comment Policy
Moderate comments
Set a Posting Schedule
Refuse to engage with ‘Trolls’

44. So, Are You Ready....

45. ...To Unlock the
Digital Handcuffs?

46. Q
Do you think your staff
should have more freedom
to use online tools?
How could this be made possible?
Are you prepared to set clear internal and
external guidelines about your organisation’s
online presence?
Has this workshop made you
feel any differently about your online
presence?

47. Photo credits (utilised under a Creative Commons license):
p.9 Keith Allison http://www.flickr.com/photos/keithallison/
p.11 Tropical Pete http://www.flickr.com/photos/12023825@N04/
p. 12: Olaf http://www.flickr.com/photos/gradin/
p.16 TheMuuj http://www.flickr.com/photos/themuuj/
p.20 Allie Caulfield http://www.flickr.com/photos/wm_archiv/
p.28 Esparta http://www.flickr.com/photos/esparta/
p. 33 Hack NY http://www.flickr.com/photos/hackny/
p.42 See-Ming Lee http://www.flickr.com/photos/seeminglee/
p. 46 Keith Allison http://www.flickr.com/photos/keithallison/

48. Published Work
The Guardian online, The Scotman online, Journalism.co.uk, The Edinburgh
About Me
Evening News, The Skinny Magazine, The List.
Copywriting/Web Editing clients include:
The National Trust for Scotland, LEWIS Creative Consultants, The Johnston
Press, The Touch Agency, TEDxGlasgow.
Blogger since 2005
My first blog was focused on music, technology and other topics.
The Clear-Minded Creative (founded in 2011) was voted one of Scotland’s best
websites by The List in the same year.
Education and Previous Employment
I have an Honours degree in Communications Studies and over a decade of
relevant experience working at the heart of The Scottish Government, including a
number of years in the Media and Communications Department.
As Digital Co-ordinator for Environment & Climate Change I managed the
Environment section of the main Scottish Government website, was on the
editorial and communications group for Scotland’s Environment website and also
contributed to the initial content strategy for the Greener Scotland website,
aimed at encouraging more sustainable living. I also chaired the Climate Change
Digital Communications short-life working group.
Speaking contact:
milo@clearmindedcreative.com
Apple Store event on blogging, Washington College in Maryland, St. Andrew’s www.clearmindedcreative.com
University, BBC Radio Scotland.