Using social media to distract me from an incurable addiction to chocolate
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Have you set up Google Authorship on your blog yet?

September 24th, 2012 | Posted by Melany Gallant in social media snack-ons - (2 Comments)
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Google kindly emailed me today to let me know that I’ve established authorship on one of my blogs. Which means my Google profile photo and a link to my Google+ profile can now appear next to my content in search results.

It looks like this:

My example doesn’t use an actual article from Confessions of a Social Media Junkie because I literally just activated Google Authorship on this blog today. However, I’ve had it set up on my work blog for several months now.

Setting up the Google Authorship was pretty easy.

You need a Google+ account (of course) and an email with the same domain as your site or blog. Google gives the full instructions for setting up Google Authorship here.

If you don’t have an email on the same domain as your site there is a more clunky second option where you can embed a link to your Google+ profile on the pages you publish. It’s better than nothing but requires you to randomly embed a link to your Google+ profile somewhere on your blog post.

Which is alright, but not if it seems completely unrelated to the topic you’re writing about. I don’t want to have to think that hard so I went with option 1.

Note: Apparently there are some WordPress plugins you can use but I’ve not tested any of them.

Why should you care about Google Authorship? Because you’re you.

When it comes to being viewed as an expert or authority on a particular topic, authorship matters. And not just for business sites and blogs either. You have a personal blog? Well who knows more about the content you write (be it about motherhood, quilting or how fabulous your hipster kitty is) than you?

Google Authorship ensures that you are are seen as the original source of your content.

And when your article appears in search results, Google anticipates that your friendly face beside your article is more appealing to the searcher than a plain old link is.

Not only that, there is a chance your article could rank higher in organic search results because your mug appears with it (aka you’re seen as a real human). Note, there is some disagreement over this.

This all goes a long way in helping to build your brand presence online. People connect with people and Google Authorship creates a tie between your online identity and the content you’re creating. (Here’s a great article on Author Rank and why it matters.)

So what do you think? Will you give Google Authorship a try?

 

Six Word Fridays: Happy (and a BOLO shout-out)

June 15th, 2012 | Posted by Melany Gallant in six word fridays | social media snack-ons - (17 Comments)
bolo-image

Last night I did something new.

I ditched my comfort zone and

Shared a piece of writing publicly.

Spoken sharing is different from online.

The web gives you some distance; (more…)

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Ottawa social media scene is where it’s at

May 24th, 2012 | Posted by Melany Gallant in social media snack-ons - (2 Comments)
socap_badge

I really like living in Ottawa – it’s such a lovely city. Some say it’s a boring snooze-fest government town but one of the things that makes this city great is its thriving social media scene.

There is always something going on – be it a tweetup, a meetup or some other event that celebrates the awesome community spirit of this city.

If you’re at all tapped into the social media scene here you know how supportive it is.

People genuinely care about whatever cause you are championing, bad luck you are lamenting or foolishery you are pointedly mocking (especially if it’s your own). (more…)

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What men and women want is food

March 25th, 2012 | Posted by Melany Gallant in pop culture | social media snack-ons - (2 Comments)
What Women Want -is-the-same-as-men

Do you have a favourite food? Something you could eat again and again?

For me, it’s chocolate. The darker the better. I don’t need it fancied up with fruit pieces or caramel or sel de mer. Nope. Just give me dark chocolate. Straight. Up.

(Does this mean I forego the fancied up chocolate if presented to me? Ahem. Of course not.)

Anyway, I know a lot of women would agree that dark chocolate is the go-to favourite food for them too. I mean with all the antioxidants and flavinoids dark chocolate contains, and the fact it can help reduce high blood pressure and the risk of strokes and heart attacks – hey, it’s practically a superfood.

Which is why it came as such a surprise to learn that in a recent study (of sorts), online women rated ice cream as the number one thing they want.

(more…)

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When PR unicorns die. OK, slight exaggeration

December 14th, 2011 | Posted by Melany Gallant in musings | social media snack-ons - (2 Comments)
PR unicorn lives in constant fear of the PR blunder

When I attended Blissdom Canada in October, I had the opportunity to participate in something called #MakeYourMark – a special by-appointment-only session about how to speak to media to monetize your reach and influence.

Now, I have  a PR background so it’s not like I don’t know the principles behind engaging the media. The thing is…I don’t have a lot of on-camera experience. I did appear on CTV Ottawa TechNow in 2009 though to promote the launch of Girl Geek Dinners Ottawa, but that’s it.

Check out the interview below. (DD was only about 2 months old when it was filmed. She slept beautifully off-camera through the entire interview!) (more…)

Infographics are sooo 2000-late

November 23rd, 2011 | Posted by Melany Gallant in social media snack-ons - (0 Comments)
whatstrendingonTwitter-infographic

What do you think of videographics? You know…take the idea of an infographic but create it in video.

This one provides stats on Twitter users – what they tweet, when and why.

The video is well done. I like the incorporation of birds tweeting in the audio for added effect.

However, videographics aren’t a new phenomenon. These types of videos are shown at conferences all the time, then circulated via social media. (more…)

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I am…glad I did this

November 2nd, 2011 | Posted by Melany Gallant in social media snack-ons - (8 Comments)

I participated in something last week I think is pretty cool.

It’s The ‘I Am’ Project started by Alli Worthington – a collection of self-portraits taken by women from across the web.

More than just submitting a photo, Alli asked women to finish the sentence, “I am ____” with whatever comes to mind.

The outcome is a photo collection celebrating the unique stories, identities, funny and not-so-funny moments of a phenomenal community of women.

Today, Catherine Connors challenged readers to finish the “I am ___” sentence, something we should all consider doing on a frequent basis.

It’s a nice tie back to what Catherine challenged  attendees of last month’s Blissdom Canada conference to do. To interrogate our knowledge of ourselves. Because self-knowledge and a no-holds scrutiny of our identity helps us to define our voice.

I’ve been working on that self-interrogation. Haven’t finished yet but I’m learning to recognize a few things. Like that I can sometimes be really bossy to my husband. And that while I don’t think my writing style is as funny or pithy as I’d like it to be, it’s my own. That even when I do bad mother things (like getting distracted by Instagram instead of colouring with DD, or giving in to her requests for a second glass of chocolate milk), I’m still a good mother.

Yes, I am a great mother.

Oh another thing I’ve learned? I am a really slow knitter. Like snail slow.

Here’s a confession for you though – while I think the ‘I Am’ Project is super cool, I almost didn’t submit a self-portrait. Why? Because I didn’t think my self-portrait would be of interest. I was letting self-doubt blind me to the whole point of Alli’s project.

Instead of interrogating my self-knowledge, I was questioning my value.

How silly.

So I clamped that thinking down and made a submission. And I’m glad I did.

If this project intrigues you, read Alli’s article to view the full gallery of self-portraits, then leave a comment on the post letting her know you’d like to participate. Help Alli keep this movement going!

My submission for the 'I Am' Project

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Bliss state of mind

October 20th, 2011 | Posted by Melany Gallant in musings | social media snack-ons - (10 Comments)
Mr. Dressup

It’s been almost a full week since the Blissdom Canada conference. As you may know, I was ecstatic about attending – for a second year – Canada’s only social media conference for women.

I had set a few goals for myself, one of them fully realized through the creation of this blog. Yes, indeed! I am finally self-hosted.

But I learned a couple of things about the other goals I set for that conference…

Working with brands and PR

Opening remarks-BlissdomCanada11

@aliworthington, @herbadmother and @barbarajones kicking things off

Excited as I was to learn about work with brands, I realized that it might not be right for me. It comes down to properly understanding the value of my time, something bloggers who want to work with brands need to really think about before cultivating those relationships.

This theme about valuing our time is a theme that ran across several sessions during the conference.

During the opening keynote, @herbadmother said it’s important to interrogate our knowledge of ourselves. Interrogate is a strong word and I never thought about self-knowledge in that way before.

What I value, what I don’t. What I believe in.

I need to really understand myself, and my own motives before thinking about working with brands. That’s going to take some reflection.

I’m not totally shutting it off as a possibility, but I’m parking it for now. In the meantime, I’ll continue to work at becoming a better storyteller and learning more about me. (more…)

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Gearing up for Bliss

October 4th, 2011 | Posted by Melany Gallant in social media snack-ons - (10 Comments)

There are only 9 sleeps until Blissdom Canada! Okay, well ten sleeps if you don’t include the Kick-off Reception Thursday night.

Like many of my fellow attendees, I am soooo looking forward to this conference. Perhaps you’ve seen us tweeting about it for the past year? ;)

For those of you who don’t know, Blissdom Canada is a two-day conference for women who love blogging, social media and other digital media goodness. It’s all about networking and learning. And fun!

Last year’s conference was the first of its kind in Canada, and I was lucky enough to win a ticket. It was an amazing experience. I was all Ooh! Gee! Wow! at every session I attended. (For real…I could gush on and on.)

Light bulb moments galore

I came away with a broader understanding about how to find my voice, my niche, my twist. I learned something else important too. That when it came to writing for my blog, I was letting fear hold me back. Fear of failure, fear of sucking, fear of expressing too much of myself.

I learned that these other women who joined me at the conference all faced the same fear at one point or another. But here they were sharing these amazing personal stories of success and community, and yes, of failure too.

Giddy-up, I’m ready to go!

This year I’ve already planned what I want to get out of the conference.

Here are my goals:

  • talk to other attendees about migrating to a self-hosted blog – how they did it, where to start, etc. (I’ve been sitting on my own domain for months!)
  • figure out how I want to work with brands and PR
  • ditto on monetizing my blog (I don’t think I do but I want to learn more about it before finally deciding)
  • discuss digital media trends with other attendees – video, mobile and more – I love it all!
  • find my tribe(s) and network with women interested in the same topics as me (specifically, lifestyle blogging, social media, technology and writing)
  • see the screening of Missrepresentation!
  • meet and reunite with women i’ve talked to on Twitter who are all looking forward to this conference for different reasons – and learn what those reasons are

For those of you attending Blissdom Canada for the first time, you are going to be amazed at how inclusive the conference is. People are warm, friendly and genuinely interested in getting to know you.

From the speakers to the attendees, there is this openness, this willingness to help you grow. It’s sounds so corny but I guarantee, you will find the experience inspirational.

And if you’re shy, well just read Sara’s post here and Sharon’s post here to realize you’re not alone, and that others will be feeling the same way as you.

For the record, I’d love to chat with you so please say hi. And don’t be surprised if I walk up and say hi first. :)

See you in TO!

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Photo credit to fashioncentral.ca

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Give your iPhone photos some ColorSplash

September 28th, 2011 | Posted by Melany Gallant in social media snack-ons - (4 Comments)

I just downloaded a new app called ColorSplash that converts your images to black and white and then lets you select a certain element to keep in colour.

It’s simple to do and fun.

I took this picture at the Carp Fair last Sunday. A gorgeous day to go to the fair!

A giant gourd makes a great seat! A ‘gourd’ time at the fair…ha!

The app comes with great tutorials too and with a $0.99 price tag, is a sweet deal. Go check it out!

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