What better way to find out what educators are talking about on the web than to talk to one who is using some of the new social media tools. Today I have the privilege of introducing an avid teacher blogger, Scott Walker.

Scott blogs at TeacherTechBlog where he helps other educators better understand how to incorporate technology into their classrooms.

Scott graciously answered a series of questions that allows us a peek into not only the types of technology teachers are incorporating into their classrooms but how social networking facilitates the distribution of that information . This will be a two-part series. Read the rest of this entry »

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Okay, now that you know where your customers and prospects are at their various social websites, how do you engage them and what should you say?

First, you need to listen to them for awhile. It’s okay to be a “lurker” until you grow more comfortable with blog and social site “netiquette.”

Here are some of the things your customers will say:

–what they like and don’t like

–what programs they use

–what they don’t have

–what they wish they had

–what they would use if…

–what problems they are trying to fix

Locating and listening to your customers talk to each other is a wonderful marketing research channel. Try it out. Visit some of the sites. Monitor some conversations. You  might be surprised at what you learn. There is no commitment on your part just yet. You’re just listening. And what are you hearing?

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Do you know where your customers and prospects are? Do you know where they congregate to gather and share information? Do you know that they may be talking about you whether you are there or not?

Online communities facilitate conversation between people of like minds. So what is the cyber equivalent of the back fence for educators? Where can K-12 publishers pick up on the current concerns of teachers and administrators?

Click through to one or more of these online communities to find  teachers, technology specialists, media specialists and administrators using social media to talk about what is on their minds from what is working in their classrooms to the pace of education reform.

http://www.weareteachers.com/

http://edublogs.org/

http://teacherlibrarian.ning.com/

http://edublogger.org/

http://www.theedweb.com/

http://tappedin.org/tappedin/

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In my Social Media and Internet Marketing presentation last week at the AEP Summit in Washington, DC, it seemed that about half the audience was not using RSS feeds. As there are a number of time-saving reasons to do so, I’m posting this short video that explains it simply and visually. This RSS instructional video is just one of a number of similar videos put together by Common Craft. I highly recommend them.

Read more about how to use RSS Feeds.

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It seems this time of the year finds me frequently boarding planes, and this spring has been no exception. This year, it has been a bit different as I’ve been both an attendee and a presenter. Both the K-12 publishing industry and the independent publisher industry are experiencing tremendous change. Both industries can look to evolving business models, changing consumer patterns, and the effect of the Internet for much of the cause and solution to their current challenges.

Recently, I attended SOBCon 08 in Chicago which was billed as biz school for bloggers. SOBCon is the moniker for “Successful Outstanding Bloggers Conference” co-founded by Liz Strauss and Terry Starbucker.  It was a tremendous learning experience with a group of people who had similar personal qualities but worked in a array of industries. The thing we all had in common was that we were bloggers.

What I realized there is that professionals in every industry are grappling with the same issues we are in K-12 publishing. The biggest change is not just centered around how we gather information or the quantity of information now available to us but about how we use that information to build communities around common interest. Read the rest of this entry »

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