Posts Tagged ‘bloggers’

Posted on May 13, 2011 - by Wayne Sutton

Because of you SocialWayne.com was selected as one of the Top20 blogs for Black Enterprise Bloggers Month 2011

Over the years I have never guessed how blogging or having a blog could change or affect my life. Some people blog to share their opinion, some blog because it’s their job and some blog as a hobby and just for fun. I think I’ve all four. Regardless of the reason, I’ve received my share of privileged access to events, established partnerships, launched startups and other opportunities and this blog has been at the core of how I’ve been able to tell my story and share information with the world. Because of that SocialWayne.com has been listed as One of the Top 50 Social Media Blogs Of 2010 via Evan Carmichael, 50 Of The Best Social Media And Technology Blogs In The World via simplyzesty.com and more as you can see on my about page.

Today I’m pleased to announced that SocialWayne.com has been selected as one of the Top20 blogs for Black Enterprise Bloggers Month 2011. I want to say thank you to all of the readers, followers on twitter and others who have stopped by left a comment or share an article you found useful. Thank you Black Enterprise for selecting my blog as well. This is all motivation to continue to provide useful information about technology and more in the future.

For more about the Black Enterprise Bloggers Month check out the video promotion below and you can see the rest of the blogs listed here: http://www.blackenterprise.com/blackbloggermonth/

Thank you!

Posted on July 13, 2010 - by Wayne Sutton

Would you check-in to win free Gas? Whrrl partners with Murphy USA for social loyalty program

As many question the value of using location-based services a lot users are still asking the question, what am I getting out of it for checking in? A few years ago using your favorite geo app was just a cool tech/geek thing to do but now it’s all about value. Fast forward to 2010 and the tech blogging space is dominated by post about Foursquare vs Gowalla and very few mentions of the other 20+ location-based apps that are working on partnerships to add value to their users.

Photo via Clickz.

Enter Whrrl, is a Seattle based app founded by Pelago. Last week Whrrl launched Society Rewards, a social loyalty program designed to close the gap between a brand’s online social media presence and real-world physical presence. Whrrl also launched a partnership with Murphy USA for a chance to win free gas by just checking in. From the press release:

… Whrrl has teamed with Murphy USA to reward the customers who love
them. When customers check in with Whrrl at one of Murphy USA’s 1,100 locations nationwide,
they will be accepted into the “Murphy USA Society” and earn a chance to immediately win free
gas.

Now with a chance to win free gas is it enough to make geo fanboys and others to check-in? In terms of value for check-ins what type of location-based promotion or partnership would you like to be rewarded with?

Disclosure: I have no affiliation with Pelago/Whrrl outside of the fact that I’ve met with the owners/team at various tech events and have visited their Seattle based office once

Posted on June 22, 2010 - by Wayne Sutton

Can the Biltmore Estate use social media to enhance their offline experience? Photos and recap from the blogger outreach trip.

Last week I had the opportunity to be one the invited guest to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC for their Biltmore blogger outreach and social media event. I was joined by my wife @LaToyamsutton along with about 8 other bloggers and their families. The event was organized by Biltmore’s Corporate Communications Manager, Jean Sexton @injeanius and some of the other bloggers who attended were @RealLifeSarah @IlinaP @StacieinAtlanta @pensieverobin @JenniferPerillo @mantripping @ManTripping @connerty. It was great to meet everyone and catch up with a few who I’ve known already.

Jean Sexton @injeanius

The goal of the blogger outreach was to increase exposure to new audiences through the use of social media and build relationships with those invited as the Biltmore estate looks as using new tools and online technology to increase visitation and over all sales. During our visit we had a full schedule and had the opportunity to stay in the Inn on Biltmore hotel that was open in 2001. Outside of the Biltmore House tour itself some of the other scheduled plans for the bloggers were:
Blogger group dinner at Cedric’s (one of their newly open restaurants)
Biltmore House (audio tour) & Gardens
Biltmore House “Friends & Family” Specialty Tour w/Museum Services
Biltmore House Rooftop Specialty Tour for spouse/family members
Dinner at the Bistro restaurant
Land Rover Driving Experience Adventure
Lunch at the Corner Kitchen in Biltmore Village

The overall experience at the Biltmore Estate was wonderful, full of learning, history, walking, relaxation and lots of great food, especially the desserts. I learned a lot about George Vanderbilt who is the mastermind behind the famous Biltmore House, along with his vision for the house as a get away from the fast city life and how the Biltmore Estate continues to be a thriving business today. I won’t go into too much detail as I encourage you to plan a trip to Biltmore Estate if you have the opportunity. Tip, if you visit the house make sure you go on the audio tour as you’ll learn a lot more.

After one of the dinners, I had a chance to talk with Kathleen Mosher, Director of Communications of the Biltmore Estate about how they could use social media with their existing marketing efforts. We discussed the some of the challenges and opportunities the Biltmore has, as the world continues to move to become more digital/gadget friendly but yet socially connected online. Here are some of the “nuggets” from the conversation.

Some of the Challenges and Opportunities of the Biltmore House using social media/new technology for marketing:

• The Biltmore House goal is to get people to drive and visit the Biltmore house along with promote and sell their other services.
• You can not take pictures or videos inside the house
• Connect and build a relationship with the hundreds of visitors they have each day
• Find a way to tell more about the history and experience of the Biltmore House online without feeling as though you could lose sales.
• Training hundreds of employees if you implement more digital interactions and tools
• Measuring/tracking content from visitors online
• Implementing an offline social marketing plan to build a relationship with visitors online for pre and post engagement
• Find a way to connect with visitors while they’re on the property such as twitter followers and/or Facebook fans/likes, flickr friends, etc
• Encourage more user generated content and feature it on Biltmore more online properties
• Create self guided mobile tours via mobile applications and/or QR/Bar-codes

After leaving the Biltmore Estate, we had the opportunity to meet Sherida Buchanan @Foodtopia at the Corner Kitchen @CornerKitchen for lunch. During lunch we were treated to some of the best pork chops and chocolate I’ve ever tasted and learned about the http://www.brewscruise.com/in Asheville (#idontdrink). We were also told about how awesome Asheville is and how they support one another by purchasing food from local vendors.

Regardless of what happens next or the results from the Biltmore blogger outreach I believe they’re on the right track and I’m excited to see what they do next online and offline. To Jean, the entire staff from the communications department to the tour guides, thank you for an awesome experience.

FYI I took over 100 photos during the three day venture and you can see them below via flickr.

The Biltmore Company
828-225-6709
www.biltmore.com
www.facebook.com/biltmore
www.twitter.com/BiltmoreEstate
The Biltmore House on TriOut

*Disclosure: “Biltmore invited me as their guest. My travel, admission and other expenses will be covered.”

How would you like to see the Biltmore Estate use social media?

Posted on October 3, 2009 - by Wayne Sutton

IZEAFest announcement: Sponzai launches as sponsored post platform for bloggers and brands

Whether you agree with it or not, sponsored blog post or tweets which some call sponsored conversations are here and more are on the way. Today at IZEAFest conference organizer Ted Murphy who’s behind sponsored tweets announced Sponzia which works to match bloggers with sponsored content.

The Sponzai pitch
Sponsors write their own guest post including multimedia and links. Sponsors then select the blogs on which they want to distribute their pre-written post. Bloggers earn cash for posting the content.

Monetize Your Blog
Sponzai.com is an online marketplace that allows you to connect directly with sponsors to find sponsored guest posts for you blog. Sponsors compensate you with cash in exchange for you publishing a post they have written. You simply copy and paste a guest post to your blog and submit the URL back to us. Think of it like eBay for sponsored guest posts.

Web: http://Sponzai.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/sponzai

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As Sponzia launches and sponsors content continues to evolve, we’ll see more platforms like Sponzai launch. I personally believe in 100% disclosure which something that Sponzia says it will only support. It will be interesting to see which bloggers and sponsors start to use Sponzia.

This is not a sponsored post, I’m attending IZEAFest as a moderator of a panel but I do wish Ted and IZEA much success with Sponzai. Also congrats to IZEA to continue to push the envelope to create products to help the blogging community and companies to monetize their products and services. Only time will tell how sponsored conversations will evolve and how it will shape the blogosphere as readers trust will be tested with blog authors.

What are your thoughts on sponsored blog post / conversations?

Opt-in: Sidebar: The best thing about blogs, they just keep going

Posted on September 16, 2009 - by Wayne Sutton

See you at IZEAFest – October 01-04

IZEAFest organized by Ted Murphy and company, is an interactive event designed to educate, inform and connect social media enthusiasts at SeaWorld on October 1-4. I’ll be joining an awesome list of speakers by moderating the “Screen Gems” session on growing your community and increasing your reach with Sarah Austin of Pop17.com andJulia Roy JuliaRoy.com. Some of the other topics we’ll cover in our session will be video blogging, content creation and monetization in the social media space.

IZEAFest is marketed to bloggers, podcasters, tweeters, marketers & agency professionals, PR & communications practitioners. Thanks to Ted and others for invitation.

Do you have any questions you want me to ask Sarah and Julia?