geoffliving's posterous

Blog Less, Photograph More

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This sunset photo was taken on a westbound flight to Arizona this evening.

You may have noticed. I've been blogging less on my personal blog, actually much less. Instead, I've focused on delivering one quality post on a social media related topic a week, and leaving the rest behind.

I decided not to blog as much for a couple of reasons. First, my blog readership dropped significantly per post when I stopped blogging about social media regularly and focused on more general life and marketing issues.  The only posts that seemed to garner traffic were the social media centric posts, which makes sense since I've been blogging on the topic for six years now.  Even those posts were suffering as a result of the diffused subject matter.

This caused me to stop all non social media blog posts.  The readership was so low that it wasn't worth the time to write them.  That being said, I still can't bear to write about social media more than once a week (reason #2). Honestly, I do so much more than just social media these days. It represents a minority portion of my work life, albeit a significant minority. And I have less to say about the topic, and don't want to rehash old posts over and over again.  

So I have settled on one post a week as the compromise. And I am still blogging once a week about social good at the Inspiring Generosity blog (social.razoo.com).

With the rediscovered time, I have reengaged with my social photography hobby, taking a photo day and sharing it with fellow photographers and friends online. I am also reading more blogs regularly. As I result, I 'm curating those posts I find most worthwhile on Twitter during the business week, scheduling the shares on Hootsuite (finally, I am appreciating this tool).

The end result is interesting. Though overall blog traffic has dropped by about 20% since November, on average, the weekly social media posts are getting 300% more readership than they were flanked by non social posts.  Less gets more. And my photo blog is  rocking again with roughly 2-3000 photo views a week, and I have picked up 500 new followers on Twitter this month.Looks like a win-win-win to me.

Overall, there's a point to this story. And that's stay true to yourself. Even if it flies in the face of convention.

Exclusively Razoo in 2012

A few folks have been asking me what I will be doing in 2012. I am consulting exclusively with Razoo this year, and will be leading their giving days initiative. This is  a really exciting opportunity for me as it allows me to run multichannel campaigns that touch hundreds and even thousands of nonprofits.  My goal is to strengthen nonprofit communities through the giving day model we have developed, including the training and capacity building initiatives.

So, in the near term I will not be taking on any consulting opportunities, and can only take speaking inquiries. Thanks to everyone who asked about what was next.

Thoughts: Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Olympus E-P3 & Pinterest

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Like all geeks, I have been playing with some new toys of late, and thought I'd share.

First up, I replaced my work phone, which was Motorola DroidX with a Samsung Galaxy Nexus.  This state-of-the art Adnroid phone is as billed: Fantastic.

The phone works much better than the DroidX, which seemed to crash quite a bit with age.  The Internet use and social networking apps are great, including Google+ integration. Even the low grade camera is servicable, though I still use my personal mobile iPhone 4S for mobile photography. A big thumbs up for the Galaxy Nexus.

Next up is the pictured Olympus E-P3.  The Olympus E-P3 is one of the top ranked Micro 4/3 cameras that have the photography industry abuzz. These 3rd generation cameras are much smaller than DSLRs, but use similar concepts such as interchangeable lenses, Manual settings, auto settings, HD video cameras, etc. My first take on the Olympus E-P3 is that it is extremely robust, and the operating system is significant and rich in features.

It's going to take me months to get comfortable with it, but this is no different than my experiences shooting with my Nikon D90 and D60 before that.  I love how elegant the design is, and how light and small the camera is. Looking forward to kicking the tires a bit and providing a deeper analysis of the camera.

Lastly, I just joined Pinterest, which is the shiny object of the month in the social networking world. I'm not feeling it. I can see why some people love it (particularly women, as it seems to be marketed towards the fairer gender), but it feels to me like yet another place to manage content, and I don't need that. And I'm not particularly interested in the content that's being shared there today.

In a time when there are more social tools than types of restaurants, less is more. Just like Quora and Empire Avenue last year, I'm giving a thumbs down for Pinterest, at least for now. I'll keep a professional eye on it in case it becomes a must have.

Honored to be Washington Post's #DCTweeps 2011 Top Social Media Geek

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Yesterday an odd thing happened to me. I actually won a popularity contest, successfully being voted as the top social media geek on Twitter by Washington Post Local readers (@postlocal on Twitter).

There were a few friends who could have won the award, Andy Carvin, Jodi Gersh and Alison McQuade, and many more who deserved to be listed, so by all means this was not scientific. For that reason, I tend to rant against contests like this as they are innacurate views of influence. Instead, I go about my business and do the best job I can.

So this was quite a surprise. I wasn't even originally nominated, someone suggested me as a write in.  Then as a wild card candidate, DC voters selected me. Even more surprising, after the announcement my Twitter handle trended in the Washington area.

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I am someowhat shocked. And I am honored.  Thank you for choosing me, DC readers. I suspect that I'll likely continue as I was, but it's still  a cool moment in time.

This Is It: Nedra's Fantastic View on Social Marketing

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Nedra Weinreich has been a long term social media buddy in the nonprofit tech space. I finally had a chance to read and review her book on Social Marketing (meaning sociatal change communications, not social media), "Hands-On Social Marketing: A Step-by-Step Guide to Designing Change for Good."

From discussions of each media form to a very pragmatic and useful discussion of how social change communications varies from traditional marketing, Nedra delivers a text that should be in every nonprofit communicators hands. If there was one book, this would be it.

There are many, many books out there about marketing and quite a selection on nonprofit management. Of late there has been a growing but still sparse lexicon of books dedicated to social marketing, or how to affect change through a cause or other nonprofit. None of them are as comprehensive and hands on as Nedra's fantastic book.

In my work with nonprofits I see so many communicators who are change advocates, but they don't have the basic fundamentals of communications or marketing. That's why I really appreciate this book. It answers a need for savoir faire and capacity building in this particular skill set.

Please, don't ignore this book for a more popular title that has nothing to do with the sector. Every tool you need is here.  I highly recommend Nedra Weinreich's outsanding book with a 5* rating.