One of the things we consider when creating online content is it’s ‘shareability’ factor. Meaning how eager readers are to share it with their online connections after reading it. While the content itself is directly responsible for the desire to make people want to post it on their social pages or send it via email, it is not enough. To increase the ‘shareability’ factor, we often add little tools or plugins – google + buttons, Facebook like buttons, retweet buttons, Stumble Upon buttons. We attempt to make it easy for the reader to share that content.

But in the process of website updates and management, we sometimes forget that sharing is supposed to be easy and take as little time as possible. That is why we forget to check the buttons and the plugins and see if they work. When these tools don’t work properly, most readers will give up. They don’t have time to edit the tweet or Facebook update! It should all run smoothly. Others might choose to take the time and do the work, if the story is really worthwhile. But if they are in a hurry, they might postpone it for a bit – which can turn to quite a long time if they forget about it in the craziness of their own day.

So when you’re done nailing down that ultimate headline, when the post and the subheadings and the joke and the questions are done, please remember to check your plugins! If they work properly, you have better chances to have your post spread like wildfire!

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When it comes to social media, a lot of things don’t happen simply because people are afraid to ask for them. You don’t get enough stumbles or tweets or shares on Facebook, your questions go unanswered, and you think it is because people don’t like you or your content enough. The truth is that people might just not see a certain tweet or blog post from you. Most of us follow several blogs and accounts and have our own work to worry about. As much as we try, we miss out on a lot of important things in this information overloaded virtual world of ours.

If it’s something important that you would like to share with the world, why not ask your community for help? If they follow you, that’s because they find what you have to say interesting. They have retweeted and shared your thoughts before, so why not ask them to do it again?  Continue reading

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I will be in Sardinia, enjoying Joana Young‘s and Emma Bird‘s company and meeting interesting new people. The place is perfect to get inspired, relaxed and in the right mood to learn. It’s easy to find out how excited I am about this Writing Retreat: just ask my family, my friends and my colleagues, they all know of every little detail in my trip plan.

I got the plane tickets, arranged for rides to and from Bucharest’s Otopeni Airport, I’ve let my clients know I’ll be emailing them from Sardinia. I’m ready for my share of confident and absorbing writing.

Where will you be in May? Will you join us this time? Will you be coming next time? I’m making it my mission to tell you everything about the retreat. I know I’ll love it and that my experience will be contagious! Keep an eye on this blog for details!

I’m planning to cover the trip there, details on the region, my efforts to write better, the progress on my vampire novel (which I’ve already completely restarted 3 times already), profiles of the wonderful people I’ll share the retreat with, writing tips and tricks and more. If there is something in particular you’d like me to know, if you’d like to get a postcard from Sardinia, just let me know. I’ll do my best to get your questions asnwered!

Photo credit Wikipedia

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Joanna Young has tagged me with this cool meme that I’ve been following around the blogosphere and secretelly wished to take part in. So lucky me, I got officially tagged!

1. My dog, Kayla, gets anything she wants from me if she gives me a certain sad look. Having her in our house changed everything I thought about me as a parent. It will take a lot of work for me not to spoil my children and not to cry like crazy everytime they fall or hurt.

2. When I think I need to start planning my wedding in February 2009, I get really, really scared. Not of the wedding, but of the whole planning thing. I sometimes feel my friend Oana’s idea to get married in Vegas would be a lot easier. And I’d have everything at once: wedding + honeymoon trip. Continue reading

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