education

Class in Session: Social Media Lessons from the Nation’s Best Schools

Author: www.cbfdd.blogspot.pt - 23994 RUB WILDBERRIES ljm

Many of the nation’s best universities have discovered that social media is an excellent way to reach, impress and attract top-notch students. Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania are among the most active schools in this arena, turning to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, blogs and message boards to inform, entertain and recruit.

Can business owners, Internet entrepreneurs and job seekers learn from the example being set by these and other prestigious institutions of higher education? There’s little doubt that methods similar to those being used to attract the world’s best students can also work to get the attention of potential customers, employees and employers.

Stars, Presidents, and International Projects: Showing Off Your Assets

So what is Harvard doing to enhance its online presence? A recent visit to the school’s Facebook page provided a look at two diverse but equally interesting subjects: a relatively nearby system that is turning out new stars at a staggering rate and the 16th president of the United States.

If you spend a little time on the Harvard Facebook page, you’ll find out that the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics is a joint collaboration of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and the Harvard College Observatory. This information might not mean much to you if you plan to study Economics or Marketing, but, if you think your future will have something to do with what’s out there beyond planet Earth, glancing at the school’s Facebook page might convince you to take a closer look at Harvard.

Along the same lines, you might be impressed to know that in the school’s Houghton Library collection, you’ll find a piece of the earliest surviving work by Abraham Lincoln: math exercises he wrote in 1825, at the age of 16.

If you are considering a future in engineering, you may want to visit the University of Pennsylvania Facebook page. There you’ll find information about the Penn Engineers Without Borders program, complete with a photo of two Penn students working on a project in Cameroon.

Bottom line? Use social media to highlight your assets. Share information that your business has, even if it doesn’t directly rate to making a sale. Use your online presence to make your company a trusted authority.

Sharing Information

Here are some other ways universities across the country are tapping into the social media gold mine:

The job market – Using LinkedIn and other options, universities are putting their students in touch with employers and recruiters.
Sharing knowledge – Colleges and universities are sharing knowledge, experience and information online.
Seeking the best students – Many potential students use social media to connect with one another and learn about the world around them – and find out what specific universities have to offer.
Online learning – Online education gives students the option to learn on their own schedule.

These outreach efforts and opportunities make universities more valuable to students (their “customers”) and more visible to potential students.

Get Their Attention

Whether you are seeking a job or, as an entrepreneur, you’re looking for new business, it’s important to remember that you first must get the attention of your potential customers. Once you do that, here are a few tips to help you use social to keep them interested in the service or product you are offering.

Connect with your customers by posting on your Facebook page once a day, tweeting a few times daily and writing a regular post on LinkedIn.
Don’t use lingo or language that your customers might not understand. You should show them that you are interested in helping them, and you should try to develop a bond between you and the people who will be buying your products and services.
Offer special prices or services that are available only to the people you reach through social media to give your customers and potential customers a reason to follow you regularly on Facebook or Twitter.
Blogging will enhance your presence in the world of social media. You can establish a blog on your website and use it for Facebook and Twitter posts.
Join conversations on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. This will help you establish yourself as an expert in your field.
Don’t ignore your competition. You might be able to copy some of the things they are doing in the world of social media. There’s nothing wrong with investigating what others in your industry have done, and it’s okay to copy* the things they have done right.

If your business depends on your ability to use social media to attract and retain customers, take the time to learn from some of the most prestigious schools in the United States.

(*Editor’s note: we’re talking about “copying” ideas here to make them work for your business, not plagiarism, which is NEVER okay. Be ethical in your business practices when reviewing your competitors.)

Introducing NMX University: An Exclusive Community for Content Creators

Author: elkecarvosso6

Introducing our brand new membership community for bloggers, podcasters, web TV/video producers, and social media professionals who want to take their content to the next level.

Over the past few weeks, you may have seen us talking about NMX University, our new educational community and home to the 2013 Virtual Ticket. Today, I wanted to take a moment to officially introduce it to you!

If you’ve ever been to BlogWorld (now NMX), you know how overwhelmingly exciting and educational the experience can be. With hundreds of speakers like Guy Kawasaki, Jay Baer, and Cliff Ravenscraft presenting sessions and hosting panels, I always leave with a notebook full of ideas for my own content and I look forward to gobbling up the sessions I missed via the Virtual Ticket when I get home.

But I’ve always wanted more.

I’ve wanted to stay connected to the NMX community year-round, feeling that same motivation I’ve always felt at the live event.

I’ve wanted to have a better at-home educational experience with the Virtual Ticket, easily finding out more about speakers and topics that interest me in one central resource.

I’ve wanted a plan, a roadmap to success that gets me on the right track, so that when I watch a session I don’t leave with the feeling of “okay…now what?”

And so, the idea for NMX University was born.

NMX University (or NMXU for short) is our new exclusive community for digital content creators – bloggers, podcasters, web TV/video producers, and social media professionals. Don’t let the “exclusive” part scare you. Basic membership is absolutely free–you just have to register!

So what will you find at NMXU? Your completely free membership gives you access to:

Free Virtual Ticket sessions from past events
Comprehensive show notes, resource links, speaker information, follow-up videos, and more for each session
Our entire library of ebooks and guides
Bonus videos from past events that were previously only available to Virtual Ticket pass holders
Special offers direct from our speakers, including free content you can’t get anywhere else

We also have a few special surprises for basic members hidden up our sleeves–but you have to be a member to get these perks!

We’ll be constantly rotating the educational resources you’ll find at NMXU, giving you access to fresh content on a regular basis. Here’s a snapshot of just some of what you’ll find in the members section right now:

Speaker Michael Stelzner teaching you how he grew the Social Media Examiner audience and how you can replicate this growth on your own blog
One of our best podcasting panels, where you’ll learn how to monetize your podcast by working with sponsors, directly from people who sponsor podcasts themselves
Bonus videos with Derek Halpern, Patti Serrano, and other NMX past speakers
Advice from Tom Martin about turning you iPhone into a full video production tool for high-quality easy-to-create content
Our Ultimate Guide ebook series, on topics like how to use Pinterest to get massive traffic and how to start podcasting from A to Z

Some of our other current featured speakers include Darren Rowse, Erica Douglass, Tim Street, Phil Hollows, Kirsten Wright, Andy Hayes, C.C. Chapman, and Amy Porterfield.

NMXU is currently in beta, and we need YOU to help us test it and give us your feedback. Currently, we’re giving access to a small handful of people and we’d love you to be part of that group. Sign up today to get started as an inaugural member of NMXU!

A Beginner’s Guide to Podcasting Basics

Author: julianeharmon58

You have never produced a podcast. You may have heard or seen an episode or two, but you’re not a regular consumer of podcasts. Those are the two assumptions that this article is going to make, dear reader. This is the absolute, rock bottom “hey, I heard about this thing called podcasting” beginner’s guide to podcasting basics. If you’ve heard the term and are curious about its meaning, you’re in the right place!

If that description fits you and you have any questions after reading this guide, please don’t hesitate to ask in the comments. If you’re a podcasting pro, feel free to jump in with answers or post some tips of your own! Alright then, let’s begin at the beginning. What’s a podcast?

A podcast is a web-based series of audio or video content. Episodes are released chronologically and may be seen or heard in a podcatcher* or on a website. Think of it like web-based television or radio: if your favorite radio show were web-based, it would be a podcast. One advantage that web-based podcasts have over their TV or radio counterparts is the ability to archive. Podcasts are typically archived for weeks, sometimes months, sometimes years. Another advantage is the episode show notes**. The internet is great at blending mediums – text, audio and video.

Podcasts can be produced very inexpensively by anyone with a computer and a microphone.

They are as varied as they are plentiful. Many audio podcasts are live off-the-cuff talk shows; many others are scripted and sound a lot like an audiobook. Stand-up comedians and at least one prominent movie director have made a splash releasing live sets. Video podcasts abound on topics ranging from technology to news to family and raising kids – and much, much more.

* Podcatcher: You are, statistically, probably familiar with iTunes. That’s a podcatcher. Any program or application that facilitates the downloading of episodes (either through a directory or by manually providing an RSS feed) can be called a podcatcher. There are dozens to choose from on every platform.

** Show notes: Podcasters often write a few paragraphs of text and/or provide a list of links about what was talked about on the episode. These show notes look rather like a blog post, and in fact, for podcasters that work with WordPress (or similar), that’s exactly what they are.

History

Serialized audio has been available online almost for as long as there has been a line to be on. Video would come later as storage and bandwidth costs dropped. The roots go back to the 1980’s, but what we think of as modern podcasting really came about in the early 1990’s with things like Internet Talk Radio, and in the early 2000’s with Rob & Dana Greenlee’s WebTalk Radio. In the early 2000’s, enclosures were developed for RSS that allowed for easy distribution of episodes.

The term podcast was coined in 2004, and despite efforts to go with a different word (webcast, netcast), that’s the one that stuck. Apple added support for podcasts in iTunes 4.9 in 2005, and that was the kick that really sent podcasting on the trajectory that it finds itself on today.

A Few Suggestions: As the Audience

Shows live and die by the feedback that you leave in the various directories – especially iTunes. If you’ve got about 90 seconds, that’s all it takes to leave a star rating and a short comment.
Most podcasts are available in iTunes, but that’s not the only place to find great shows. A Google search for “podcast directory” will yield a long list of places to check out.
If a podcaster lists contact information, he or she would like you to contact them. Reach out, say hello, offer comments or opinions about the show.
Name a topic and I’ll bet there’s someone out there doing a podcast about it. Look around, spend some time in the directories and you’re likely to find even the most esoteric subject. If you can’t find a show about a topic you’re really interested in… do it yourself!

Thinking about making the transition from listener to producer? I’ve got you covered.

A Few Suggestions: As a Podcaster

You’re nothing without your audience. Take the time, make the effort to get feedback from them.
It’s not hard, technologically, to look or sound like a pro. Judicious use of music or graphics, checking audio levels, making sure your lighting and camera angles are correct… these things are worth doing right.
I just told your audience to contact you with comments and opinions. Be nice 😉

Podcast Myth Busting

Author: julianeharmon58

Podcasting as a medium has been around for a long time. Podcasting, the term, was coined in 2004. Like any cool thing that’s been acknowledged by more than two people, certain myths and misunderstandings have cropped up around podcasting over the years. I’m here to dispel a few of them. Here are eight podcast myths ready to be busted!

You need an iPod to listen to podcasts. No list about podcasting myths would be complete without the all-time number one. No, you don’t need an iPod. This myth is not extremely widespread anymore in my experience. With the explosion of the iPhone since 2007 and the iPad since 2010 (not to mention the slew of popular Android and Blackberry devices), the “pod” in “podcasts” isn’t quite as linked to the i”Pod” as it used to be.
Podcasting has only been around since 2005 (or 2004 or 2006 or 2003). Depending on who you ask, podcasting has only been around for about six years. Some consultants use this myth as a selling point, telling potential clients that they’ve been podcasting since it was invented in 2005. While the term was coined in 2004 and support for it added to iTunes in 2005, recording and placing audio files on the internet in a serialized or chronological way has been done since at least the late ’90s. The basic ability to distribute recorded audio online has existed since the dawn of the internet (or even earlier if you consider Usenet). Nobody woke up one day in 2005 and said, “hey, I think I’ll invent doing radio-style talk shows on the internet!”
Podcasters are all amateurs. Kevin Smith, Ricky Gervais, Adam Carolla, Joe Rogan, Marc Maron, Kevin Pollack, Greg Proops, ABC, NBC, CBS, Discovery, BBC, ESPN, TMZ, Science Magazine, Vanity Fair, CNN, E!, The Onion, HBO, Showtime, NPR and probably every major radio station where you live. All podcasting.
Audiences expect perfect audio, like on the radio. It seems like if a person isn’t of the opinion that it’s all amateurs, then it must be all about having pefect radio-quality audio. While it’s true that it’s becoming cheaper and easier all the time to sound professional, there are many successful podcasts that are produced using nothing more than a cheap USB headset and the free Audacity recording/editing software. Moving up to pro-level podcasting hardware can improve your sound but it’s not a requirement for success.
It’s expensive to produce quality audio. Let’s talk about a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being your voice recorded through a tin can and 10 being perfection. With a $30 USB headset and free software, you can sound like a seven, maybe an eight. That’s not expensive. True, if you want to sound like a nine or a ten, you’ll need to pony up some cash, but even a budget under $1,000 can get you all the way to the top of the scale.
You can’t make money with a podcast. Leo Laporte. Next?
You need to listen with iTunes. Listeners have always had at least one other option in addition to iTunes: listening on the web. Podcasters have nearly always posted their episodes on their own websites for consumption. These days, it’s even more spread out with Zune, Juice, and Winamp, and phone apps like Downcast and Podceiver to name but a few.
It takes too much time. Do you have an hour a week? A fifteen minute podcast with 45 minutes of pre-production and post-production can be very successful. Once you’ve gotten the hang of it, you can reduce your pre- and post-production time and spend less than half an hour on each episode. My post-production, regardless of the length of the episode, is less than 10 minutes because of the experience I have and the automation I’ve scripted. Does that sound like a lot of time? Not to me!

Those are my top eight podcasting myths. What are some that you’ve heard? Want to bust a few of ’em up with me?

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Choose Your Weapon: Podcasting Tools

Author: julianeharmon58

When it comes to setting up your tools for podcasting, it is entirely possible to spend $35,000! You can choose a $10,000 mixer, two or three microphones at $1000 each and a Mac Pro to tie it all together for the low price of $20,000 (seriously, customize it at apple.com to see what twenty grand gets you). Headphones, cabling, software and accessories… sure, you can easily spend $35,000 or more.

It is also entirely possible to spend $300 on a netbook or small laptop and call it done.

Somewhere in the middle is where you really want to be. Podcasting neither needs to cost more than a college eduction nor be so cheap that overall quality suffers. Fortunately, there are some really great podcasting tools in the middle. In fact, there’s gear in the middle that can make it sound—to your average listener—like you’re talking on a crazy-expensive rig.

The Basics

I won’t assume you have a computer for this exercise. You could very well be reading this in your local library or maybe you’ve just got an iPad. It’s possible. So first, you need a computer. PC or Mac, doesn’t matter. If you’re budget-conscious, stick with PC. Off the shelf, they are far less expensive. If you have a bit of money to invest, consider a Mac. Though pricier, they tend to be more reliable for average users. Let’s not have a giant flame-war here, okay? I said consider, right? Any computer manufactured in the last decade will suffice as far as horsepower and capability, so find your ideal price range and pick a computer.

Your next choice (or your first since you probably have the computer covered) is whether or not you want a hardware or software recording solution. Going with software is cheaper but requires more work with results that can vary wildly. Going with hardware gives professional-level results but is more expensive.

If you choose to go the software route, you’ll need recording and editing software at a minimum, but please throw in a USB headset. Recording into your computer’s built-in microphone nearly always sounds terrible. For the PC, try out Audacity, Adobe Audition, Sony SoundForge or Google for alternatives to these applications. I’m a Mac user so I have no personal recommendation, but I’ve used both Audacity and Audition on the Mac side and am very pleased with both. GarageBand on the Mac is also a solid recommendation. That’s really all there is to the software route. Recording/editing software and a web browser are all you really need to publish.

The list of necessary items grows when you get into hardware. In addition to your computer, you’ll need a mixer, a microphone, headphones and cabling to hook it all up at a minimum. I’ve recently added a boom arm (love it) and I’ll be adding a rack-mounted audio processor (a compressor/limiter/gate) in the near future. A nice 8-channel mixer will support a couple of microphones and other assorted input sources – like a computer, tablet or phone. Your microphone can be dynamic or condenser. Your headphones should be comfortable and produce good sound. Your mixer will output to either your computer for recording (via your computer’s audio input jack or USB) or to a dedicated audio recorder (like the Tascam unit that I use, for example). Podcasting equipment needn’t be super-expensive; you can budget for $1000 and set up your own studio in an hour or two.

So, which will it be? Will you be doing your show with a software solution or will you be trying out a hardware set-up?

Podcasting on a Schedule

Author: julianeharmon58

The last article I wrote for BlogWorld was posted nearly a month ago. I’m supposed to be writing bi-weekly, but with BlogWorld NY happening two weeks ago, during my normally scheduled time, I skipped. I could have sent an article anyway – in fact, I had intended to. I figured I’d send the article and if they had time to post it during the hectic time, they would.

But then…

Life bit me on the butt. We moved into a new house that needed a bit of renovating and we had to get settled. My daughter was ending her Kindergarten school year. I had obligations to… well, let’s just say that I put off writing that article for BlogWorld until my regularly scheduled time had passed. I missed my opportunity to keep to the schedule that readers expect, and that’s a big deal whether you’re blogging, podcasting or producing any other content on a schedule.

I’m new around here, and I’ve rationalized to myself that being late this early in my tenure here probably isn’t a huge deal – it’s not like I have tens of thousands of readers waiting for Tuesdays to roll around so they can read my stuff, right? But it’s still a rationalization. Ten or ten thousand, one of the keys to success as a content producer is regularity: setting up and meeting audience expectations.

We podcasters have, in my opinion, an even tougher situation when it comes to scheduling. A blogger can often use quantity to overcome regularity. Posting five times a week can mean it’s okay to post on five random days each week, but many (most, I suspect) podcasters only do one show per week. We’ve been trained by decades of radio and television to expect audio and video content at a set day and time – look at any TV show that got canceled after being moved to a new time slot. If your show is posted on Fridays, you’ll lose listeners the week you post three days late. Or the week you skip altogether.

Sometimes life will bite you on the butt. Times like that, you need a plan. You can suck it up and record the next show, or you can do something a little more… elaborate. For example, I recently turned unintended downtime of a week or two into a six-week long hiatus for all but one of my shows. I’m building a podcasting studio in my new house, and I’m going to debut that along with a reboot of all my shows all at once. It will be a great jumping-on point for new listeners and hopefully generate some buzz as well.

Whether you go simple and just jump back into your groove or go elaborate and come up with a big plan, you’ve got to stick to the schedule you set for yourself. Your listeners expect nothing less.

P.S. Are you a podcaster? Did you attend BlogWorld Expo? I couldn’t attend this one (for what should be obvious reasons after reading this article!) so I’m curious what your take on it was. I’d love to read your thoughts in the comments!

5 Reasons I’m a Podcaster

Author: julianeharmon58

I’ve done a lot of things online—blogging, forums, Twitter, Facebook and much more—but what I’ve loved the most is podcasting. When I tell people that I meet that I’m a podcaster, I invariably get two questions. The first is usually “what is podcasting?” The second is almost always “why do you do that?”

Podcasting is the most portable form of information dissemination there is. If you’re looking to consume information, nothing beats podcasting for consumption anywhere. With television, you need a screen to look at. Same with websites and books. Try doing any of those three things while driving a car. But you can listen to a podcast anytime, anywhere. With an iPod, a Zune or a similar device, you can consume that content in the car, at the gym, on a train – heck, you can listen to a podcast while skiing down a mountain. Podcasting even beats radio, as anyone who travels through a tunnel on their way to work can attest.
It’s completely unregulated and open. Remember that movie Pump Up the Volume? These days, Harry would be a podcaster. Why bother with pirate radio that only reaches the people in your town when you can podcast and reach nearly everyone on the planet? The government isn’t going to come down on you; you can use any profanities you like, talk about any topics you want, and not worry about getting fined or arrested. The only thing that movie had that’s missing here is Samantha Mathis.
Not everyone is doing it. Unlike blogging, which feels like everyone and their dog is doing, podcasting is undertaken by a relatively small number of people. I’d never suggest that it’s easy to dominate the top spots in the various directories and search engines for your topic, but where there might be 100,000 blogs about marketing and how to make money online, there’s probably only 99,999 podcasts about… wait, that’s a bad example. Don’t let the number of podcast producers fool you into thinking that nobody is listening, though. Billions of episodes are downloaded yearly—and that’s just the stats from one service. Podcasting has fans.
It’s inexpensive to do on your own. For a beginner, a computer and a headset are all that are required for a decent-sounding show. For those that want to make more of an effort, some good equipment can be had for under $200. Want something a little more Pro? You can get into some excellent gear for under $1000. That’s it. Compare that to producing high-quality video: a camera or two, lighting, sound, set elements and editing software can run into the tens of thousands of dollars. Yes, you can do video on the cheap, realtively speaking, but on the whole, DIY podcasting is far easier, financially, to get into.
People don’t expect something from you daily. This is an important one for me, despite my desire to put out four or five shows a week. The common wisdom with blogging is that you should write something every day (or several times a week at least) in order to build an audience. That was always a problem for me; I found that I hated trying to come with something worthy of being read every day. Podcasts though, are expected weekly for the most part. If you’re putting out a new 30 minute episode once a week, you’re doing great! If you’re doing multiple shows, you’re downright prolific.

At the risk of ruining my third point, I do encourage people to podcast! Why not see if you can work it into your existing online efforts? Try producing a 20-30 minute show once a week for six weeks and see what happens; you might be pleasantly surprised at the results.

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The Professional Amateur Podcaster

Author: julianeharmon58

To my mind, podcasting has matured significantly in the past few years. Production values are high. Money is being made. Big name people, companies and networks are producing shows. But… what about the individual? What about people like me, who don’t have a background in professional media like Leo Laporte or aren’t professional stand-ups like Greg Proops? Have you been to the podcast directory in iTunes lately? You’ll find podcasters that have A-list celebrities as hosts and guests, shows published by major universities on a variety of advanced topics, archives of TV and radio talk shows… and… us. The thousands of people that have produced amateur shows over the years.

For me, podcasting is where it’s at, baby. I’ve been doing it since 2008, and this is [briefly] my story, and the reason I’m here on the Blogworld blog to write, bi-weekly, about podcasting.

I’m what you might call a professional amateur podcaster. I started with one show, Geek Dads @ Home, with two partners. We went just over a year, then rebranded the show Geek Dads Weekly (with a few changes in the hosts along the way). I started my second and third shows last year, and my fourth – a Q&A show about podcasting – about a month ago. Those shows are produced under my QAQN banner. I’m a co-host on a fifth podcast, Road to Thin, as well. So, I’ve got chops. All in all, I’ve published a few hundred episodes – not exactly a world record, but nothing to sneeze at, either.

I don’t have $20,000 worth of equipment, but I use high-quality hardware. I don’t have a team of people working for me, but I’ve got co-hosts that I’ve been working with for a couple of years. I don’t have an audience numbering in the millions, but I do get emails when I miss a scheduled recording. I teach podcasting and I’ve made some money as well. Is that the definition of a professional amateur podcaster? To have good equipment, good people to work with, and a good audience with some income?

I’m looking forward to exploring the craft of podcasting with you here at the Blogworld blog. I’ll offer my experience and opinions as well as how-to’s and instructional material. Your feedback would be greatly appreciated; any feedback will help me make future posts better for you.

Overheard on #Blogchat: Mentors (@bobbyrettew)

Author: elkecarvosso6

Do you participate in #blogchat? Every week, this weekly discussion on Twitter focuses on a specific topic and bloggers everywhere are invited to join in. Because I often have more to say than what will fit in 140 characters, every Sunday night (or Monday morning), I post about some of the most interesting #blogchat tweets. Join the conversation by commenting below.

(Still confused? Read more about #blogchat here.)

This week’s theme: Open Mic! (any topic goes)

Something that’s been extremely important to me in my blogging career is getting to know other bloggers. I’ve met some of the smartest people in the world through blogging and social media. So, this tweet during #blogchat really hit home for me, because it’s one of my favorite methods of education:

@bobbyrettew: The one thing that helps me with my blog is find a blogging mentor! One that challenges your writing and delivery!

Let me tell you story: When I first started blogging, I wrote a post that made me really proud. I posted it, the first entry on a shiny new blog, and then excitedly told everyone I knew to go read it. And they did. I guess. They said they did. But after an entire day, I didn’t have a single comment on the post. I thought I had done everything right. Where were my readers? My fans? My gobs of money?

After another day or two, I spoke up, asking one of the other people writing on the same blog network what I was doing wrong. He gave me some interesting advice: “You wrote something you love, and it was wonderful. But next time, try writing something for your readers.” I did, and I had more success. Education from a mentor like him was more valuable than any writing course I ever took or blogging book I’ve ever read.

Of course, I can tell you a million other stories of people giving me awesome advice to help me improve blogging. The point of this story is not that I got awesome advice, but my initial inability to see any problem at all with my own blog. Having mentors is awesome because they give you a brand new perspective.

It’s important to remember that mentors aren’t just experts or long-time bloggers in your niche. Those people can certainly make great mentors, but you can also learn a lot from even those who hae just recently started blogging – or even readers who don’t blog at all. That’s part of the reason I love #blogchat – even though I’ve been a blogger for several years now, I learn a lot from the new bloggers who come to the chat every week. Fresh perspectives are always good!

I think some of the “big bloggers” get that wrong sometime. They have a lot of valuable advice to give people, but when is the last time they asked a question or took something away from a conversation with a new blogger? Maybe that’s our fault, too – even if you’re new, don’t be afraid to speak up. You may not feel comfortable giving advice, but you can speak about your experiences, brainstorm new ideas, or talk about what you want as a reader.

In the blogging world, we should all have AND be mentors. My challenge to you is this: every time you have a conversation about blogging with other bloggers or social media experts, give one piece of advice and take away one piece of advice. In the end, it makes the entire community stronger!

Introducing NMX University: An Exclusive Community for Content Creators