Moving to a New Blog

Good Works Grapevine is in the process of moving to a new home on a new server! It will be a much better set-up for me and will hopefully offer more exciting features for my readers. I hope to have the move completed over this weekend and will be back in the swing of things. In the interim, you can catch me on Twitter at @gooddogzbeth or on WeTV.com!

Three Books You (and I) Must Read

I must admit that I love to write and dislike reading. Well, I should say that I like reading blogs, magazine articles and the pretty articles in USA TODAY. But it takes a lot for me to sit down and read a book cover-to-cover. My husband makes fun of me for consistently taking business books on vacation and never touching them.

I am on a mission – I’m going to read to following three books over the next few weeks. I’ll report on how they turn out.

Media Rules! – Brian Reich is a great guy and is a thought leader in the social media space. I saw him speak at NTC and he is extremely accessible. I really can’t wait to read this book. Thanks, Brian!

Wikinomics - A friend recommended this book almost a year ago and I’ve made one attempt at reading it but got distracted. Going to take another run at it. I’ve heard its not an easy read but a must for anyone interested in social media and the effect its having on business.

Groundswell – Great book on social media that just came out. Written by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff of Forrester Research.

If you have any input on any of these books, please feel free to share!

Reston, VA – Taste of the Town

Each June, the Reston Chamber of Commerce organizes Taste of the Town, an event that brings local restaurants together for a food extravaganza. I’m helping the Chamber with their social media strategy, so please check out the event and stop by if you are in the metro DC area!

House Sale Update – Are Realtors Using Social Media?

Our house has now been on the market for a month and I’m already tired of having people in my house and keeping it sparkling clean. Our house is listed on Realtor.com and MRIS, but I’m wondering – are Realtors embracing social media?  It seems like such a natural marriage since realtors connect through word of mouth – seems like a way to take it to the next level. But it seems like it hasn’t really been adopted yet. Just curious if anyone has any thoughts…

Yahoo Groups – How Do You Use It?

I must admit that I’ve become a little too comfortable with our Yahoo Group. We have a couple of groups and primarily use it as a document repository, internal calendar and as a listserv. We’ve been using is for a couple of years now. I’ll be honest. I think I’m the only one that uses the internal functionality. We have 3 other board members and from what I can tell, they really don’t use the tool. We do have a couple of regular posters to our Listserv, but again, not a lot of traction. Is Yahoo Groups still “all that”? Is there another tool we should be using for these functions? I would love to hear new ideas.

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/gooddogz-rescues

Who Says Twitter Has No Value?

I ran across this little tidbit while surfing today. File this under “Too Much Time on my Hands”.

http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/05/20/twitter-now-as-powerful-as-the-clapper/

Pet Tales Blog on WeTV.Com

Many thanks to WeTV.com for giving me the opportunity to blog about animal welfare. My new blog just launched and it looks great. Fantastic job WeTV! Check me out!

Social Media on the Diane Rehm Show

Today Diane Rehm had a great show on social media featuring Gina Bianchini, Andy Carvin, Josh Bernoff, Manuel Hernandez and Amy Worley. Check out the podcast!

Twitter – Do You Really Need a Strategy?

There has been an ongoing conversation on one of my listservs discussing how to use Twitter and the comment came up – “Do you really need a strategy for using Twitter”? The author couldn’t understand why there was so much talk about how to use Twitter and proposed that we just use it and not put so much thought into it. In my work life, I spend all my days developing strategies for clients, so not having a strategy for how I use tools is foreign to me. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Do we always need a strategy when utilizing social media tools? Let’s debate!

Growing Your Social Network – Participation is Key

So you’ve set-up your social network – Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Fickr, Twitter - now what? One of the critical paths to success within a social network is participation. Social networking does not to adhere to the “if you build it, they will come” mentality. You must engage your audience and participate in the conversation. Blog regularly. Comment on the blogs of others. Comment on Facebook “walls”. Comment on the photos of others. Reach out to your constituency and understand their needs. Then, do what you can to support them through regular discussion. Share your ideas. Spend a little time everyday feeding and tending to your network. Social = human interaction. People want to be seen, heard and be part of something bigger than them. By talking with your audience, your social network is sure to thrive and grow.