Today’s Coup de Blog is written by Michael Schechter .

Every day, Gini Dietrich leads you to believe that she is kind enough to provide others an opportunity to give their voice on this blog; to share in her audience.

This is a flat out lie. Having been a long time reader of Spin Sucks, there is one clear and, frankly, sinister intent for Gini’s so-called generosity… she gets to trounce us all in sheer volume of comments.

I know what you are thinking…“You don’t understand, she gives me something to think about every day” or even “I can’t tell you how many amazing people I’ve met through this blog.”

If you want to believe that, it’s fine, but you are playing the fool. Continue Reading »

I think you know we are pretty passionate about blogging. We blog because we get to meet people like you, develop close friendships, have fun, debate, and learn from each other.

But that is not the primary reason.

We are blogging to grow our business. Continue Reading »

This afternoon’s post is a slight diversion from our typical schedule. We wanted to share with you the importance of blog styling and how you can learn more about it this week.

How many times have you landed on a blog post that was made up of nothing but large blocks of text on your screen? What happened? Did you read on or simply glance and then click away? Each and every one of us has very short attention spans. Right? Yes, I’m talking to you.

With volumes of new content being published online every minute, our attention spans will only begin to grow shorter as times passes.

Because of that, we’ve invited Nate Riggs to share his knowledge and help us all get some style in our lives blogs. Continue Reading »

Today’s guest post is written by Michael Schechter.

Hey! You! Over there!

Dear blogger, we need to talk. Sit down for a second, ’cause I really want you to hear what I am saying.

You are taking yourself too seriously. No, don’t argue. Take a moment. Think about what I’m saying here.

Sure you take the work seriously, and that’s great. Sure, you have a blog that gets people’s attention and you’ve earned it. But at a certain point, a switch flipped (or a bit, for you geeks out there). You pushed yourself ahead of the work. What you were trying to say took a backseat to who you are trying to be. Continue Reading »

Andrew Hanelly creates and executes digital strategies for clients at TMG Custom Media.

Your intern has more Twitter followers than you do.

That is great. But what happens when she gets offered that gig with the agency across town?

Will your corporate blog survive? How about that snarky Twitter account or well-maintained Facebook page?

Though much of management is wearing the “social media strategy” hat in the board room, the work gloves of “implementation” are being worn by interns more often than you might think.

In other words, the board room is preaching social media, and the interns are the ones practicing.

Don’t believe me? Check the ads for a “social media intern” on your favorite job site. It gets alarming when you read what these companies put in the interns’ job description. Continue Reading »

Marcus Sheridan is the author of  the popular blog The Sales Lion.

Dear Twitter,

Yes, I know I should have written you this note quite a while back but I finally had to come to grips with the gross error of my ways when I misjudged your character many moons ago.

Part I

You see, it all started when I was told by some social media guru that you were the next big thing. Needing whatever help I could find to sell more swimming pools, I figured I would give you a go. That’s when I put your little symbol up on my company’s website and just waited for the followers to pour in. But do you know what? They never did. Continue Reading »

Kimberly Tate-Nuwar is internal communications manager for LexisNexis.

We began internal blogging at LexisNexis last October, which coincided with the launch of our new Intranet. That’s right. Internal blogging.

After going through a large acquisition, we needed to bring the two cultures together, and social media presented a good platform to get people talking to one another.

In less than six months, there are more than 60 bloggers on the site with more than 280 employee comments. Employees are free to post whatever they like, as long as it doesn’t infringe on the company’s Code of Conduct.

Continue Reading »

Tony Hastings is the man behind the Top 10 Blog.

I just noticed I have been running The Top 10 Blog for almost 12 months so what a good time to review, and share, the main lessons I’ve learned.

I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, a technical expert so, while I know that there are many excellent blog advice articles out there, I hope that you may benefit from this simple common sense approach. Continue Reading »

Guest post by Jason Verhoosky, creative director/owner of Old Beauty Design & Media.

As the father of a two-year-old, I am constantly reminded that it is not always necessary to tell the long story to get your point across. In fact, my loving wife reminds me on a daily basis that my daughter tunes me out after the first four to six words.

I share this little look into my life because it runs parallel to the way I think about writing blog posts and online communication in general.

We all know that time is a scarce commodity and that more and more demands are placed on our time every day. With the desire to stay in the loop, receive information in direct, digestible sound bites, and to maintain your readers’ attention, I submit the following five tips to a better blog post. Continue Reading »

Spin Sucks reader Kara Vanskike sent me an email recently saying:

“Our blog has been up and running for about a year and a half.  We know it’s being read through analytics and in person comments, but we really struggle to get people to comment on the posts.”

Despite what many people think, it’s not as easy as starting a blog, publishing a few posts, and waiting for the comments to roll in. Following are some tips for getting more comments on your blog. Continue Reading »