Beer Blogging & Social Networking: The Many Paths ~Part One~

[Okay, while we are waiting for Friday, I wanted to write about social networking and the various ways to do it. I may be new to home brewing beer, but not to blogging, social networking, or web design. Many people hear (or read) the words "social networking" and they automatically think Facebook, Twitter, Google+ etc. these days. Remember web-rings & alliances? Well before mainstream social media platforms; interlinking, badges and cross-promotion worked like a charm, and still does. That is not to say social media does not help, on the flip side, it helps immensely too. (It seems like many people forgot about the old ways of doing things though...) So I am writing a series of posts: Beer Blogging & Social Networking: The Many Paths ]

• Social Networking - The #Trifecta: Twitter, Facebook, & Google+

Now, for example, I could make a Facebook page for Ohio Brew Crew and a Twitter. Then use Twitter Feed to automatic post my blog posts to the Facebook. Then I can use the Facebook App RSS Graffiti to post from that Facebook page to the Twitter account. That works great if you want full automation outside of the blog. There are of course downsides to full automation:

 #Hashtags, they are great to use in certain social media outlets, but can make your blog look like it is screaming for attention, if found within the blog posts too much. They are good to get yourself discovered, tacky if found within your main body of text you are publishing. Especially if they must be used in the very beginning of your posts, in order to be picked up on the other outlets. They are used on Twitter, Facebook and Google+ . So if you auto-post and don't use #hashtags right at the beginning of your post, they wont show up on Facebook or Twitter, Google+ auto-hashtags your posts. If you have a BlogSpot, the Google+ page is auto-posted once verified. So that leaves the problem of specific hashtags on Google+ and no hashtags on Twitter or Facebook, unless you go in and edit the posts. Of course if your "automation tool" posts from Facebook before you can add hashtags to the page post, and it auto-posts to Twitter, now you have 0 hashtags in two social media outlets. Unless of course you put hashtags right in the beginning of the blog post.

So, you could just Tweet a link to your post, using your hashtags, use Twitter Feed to auto-post to your Facebook, and the hashtags will carry over, without cluttering the beginning of your actual blog post, and it is still almost fully automatic. If you are not using Blogger, it will be simply a matter of copy/paste the link on the Google+ page/account (adding a dash of personal hashtags) and post. Remember for both Facebook and Google+: Delete your pasted URL letters, it will still keep the link badge and it will look more professional (that is why the badges are there). I see so many people who don't, and they usually have a lower interaction with their selected audiences, simply because the post looked messy with the actual URL you have to paste, and the badge created for you in the post.

Note on #YouTube: Since YouTube is owned by Google and connected to Google+, use hashtags in your video tags.

< #Comedy #Relief

 

 

Another idea you may want to consider: Use a social media website to exclusively share your beer blogging photos. If you don't necessarily want pictures in your posts, or if you only want a couple per post, but you want to share more photos with your audience. I recommend Twitter if you plan on using it, if not, #Instagram works just as well. Just remember to let your blog readers know! Tell them it is exclusive to that social media outlet... the only way they get the "whole package", is to follow you on Twitter/Instagram. Mention it at the bottom of an occasional post, put a link on your blog called "pictures" or "Twitter: Pictures" etc. just like I have my social networking links on my right sidebar. Also remember to post links back to your blog in your tweets. Don't forget to use your hashtags! Sometimes less is more, though.

 

A Few Suggested Hashtags: #Beer, #Homebrew, #Blog, #BeerBlog, #CraftBeer, (types of brew like #Ale, #Lager, #Stout, etc.) #BeerGeek, #BrewYourOwn,

 

 

Try to think of a specific hashtag(s) for your social networking, so that you are easily recognized across dissemination, by the hashtag(s )you use. So I could use one or all of the following: #OhioBrewCrew #ohiobrewcrew #OBC if your one of my readers searching Facebook or Twitter, and you seen #OhioBrewCrew you would know, it's me. Just make sure to search any specific hashtags, because you never know what #OBC could be connected to before you pick it up and use it. Obviously #Beer is a safe bet. A uniform combination of three or more hashtags in a row, used over and over could be a good calling card as well.