Social media marketing | Liz Hover's Diary of a Web Gal

Ocassionally I’ll write a post here that is nothing like the stuff I usually add to this site.

Well, dear reader, this is one of those posts.

Three important things happened this week which I want to tell you about. Each thing is something I’m very proud of and, in two cases, incredibly honoured.

We’ll tackle this chronologically.

Monday marked my first session with a personal trainer.

And now I can’t walk.

I’m told things will get better. I beg to differ.

I’ve never been to the gym. I’m not someone who really thinks too much about my six pack. I enjoy life. I drink. I smoke.

I cycle to work during the summer months. Faithfully. But during winter I tend to hibernate. I’m 36 which is the unhealthy side of 35 for drinkers and smokers. And I might have a little extra padding. More than I really need.

My job as website manager and the way I spend my leisure time means I’m sitting in front of a computer. All the time.

It was time to get a personal trainer.

Circumstance led me to Lindsay Hamel who happens to be someone I’ve known (of) for years. And before you think that my blogging (or my dog’s blogging) has turned me into a millionare, think again.

In Winnipeg the cost of a personal trainer is not out of reach (like some larger cities, and certainly like London, England where I’m from). With a little less drinking and smoking, I should be able to cover it.

Just before heading off to my session with Lindsay yesterday afternoon I spied an incredible blog post in my inbox: Women in blogging: 125 fearless female bloggers by Kristi Hines who runs Kikolani.com.

Please know that I am just a Brit gal fumbling at blogging.

Imagine my total shock when I noticed myself on the list. Yes! Me. What was I doing there? It must be a mistake. Honestly, I felt sick and my heart was beating fast (further confirmation that my impending visit to Lindsay was a decision well made).

You must be familiar with these types of list – sometimes they appear in the weekend sections of the newspaper showing the top employers or entreprenuers in your area. In the blogosphere they’re also usually a fairly good indication of who you should be paying attention to.

I am honoured to be listed.

And the icing on the cake was, today, finding out that my dog’s blog Hi, I’m Sadie Shih Tzu has been shortlisted for a Canadian Weblog Award in the ‘Best Design’ category. This means that she is in the top five blogs being considered for that accolade.

She was originally nominated in three categories. Independent jurors select the top five in 37 different categories.

Admittedly the other four blogs in the ‘Best Design’ category kick arse so I don’t know if Sadie’s will win but to be shortlisted is amazing.

I’m too late for Thanksgiving but I’d like to give a little tip of the hat to all that stuff: thank you for supporting me on Facebook while I moan about aching muscles; thank you to you dear reader for visiting this blog; thank you for inspiring me to produce content and get creative with Sadie’s blog. I have much to be thankful for (but Lindsay, I am NOT thankful for lunges).

I’ve kept this low-key for a while but I feel it’s time to share it with you.

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to attend one of my presentations, check out my most recent which was filmed by the wonderous James Swirsky and Lisanne Pajot of Blink Works -  a Winnipeg boutique production studio.

This video was shot during my presention for PechaKucha Winnipeg.

Note: some strong language.

There was a little rejoicing in the Web Gal household yesterday.

One of my blogs, Hi, I’m Sadie Shih Tzu has been nominated for a Canadian Weblog Award (Life category).

The Canadian Weblog Awards promote blogs from across Canada year-round with interviews, articles, and the nomination, judging, and award process. A jury then decides on a short list and winners are announced in January 2011.

The awards are something of a breath of fresh air: they’re designed to uncover good, but perhaps not mainstream or popular blogs.

Much of the judging criteria focuses on common sense stuff that all web designers would apply when creating a website. The same stuff I use in my job as website manager.

Design

• Usability — Is the website user-friendly and easy to navigate?
• Operability — Do all of its components function properly?
• Interactivity — Are a comments section and author contact information available? Are its interactive components (including comments, audio, video, etc.) effective, appropriate, and accessible?
• Aesthetics — Is the website pleasing to look at? Is its design original?

• Originality — Is the content original and creatively expressed?
• Intelligibility and clarity — Is the content well-written? Are the content’s messages clearly and effectively delivered?
• Currency — Is the content timely? Is the weblog updated on a regular basis?
• Transparency and authenticity — Is the author’s purpose and realness both trusted and apparent?
• Attention to detail — Has the content been edited for spelling and grammatical errors? Is the content arranged for ease of consumption?
• Engagingness — Is the content interesting? Does it contain broad appeal within its genre?

So we’ll have to be patient for a few months before we find out if Sadie’s blog progresses any further.

This is truly an honour to be recognised among my fellow Canadian bloggers. I’ve never envisioned making money from Sadie’s blog. It’s only ever an online space for her personality to come alive for others. Pure entertainment. And with the deluge of blogs available it’s a wonder anyone ever found Sadie’s.

We’ve no idea who nominated Hi, I’m Sadie Shih Tzu. If it was you, thank you.

Last week my blog got hacked.

It got hacked so badly that my host company advised I delete my blog and start over.

So for the last eight days or thereabouts I’ve been literally re-building my blog bit by bit, piece by piece.

Yes. I had a back up file but it refused to upload without errors so I ate a slice of humble pie and decided it was probably best to start from scratch anyway.

I have no idea how the hack happened although I suspect it was via WordPress.

I feel responsible for what happened.

I didn’t protect my blog adequately. And it can happen to anyone at anytime. I’m mad that it happens at all.

Evenings spent republishing posts made me neglect my person duties to my dawg Sadie Shih Tzu.

She got a new hair do on Friday and a Shih Tzu companion for a few days.

But today I decided it was time for some Liz/Sadie portraits to honour the re-publishing of my blog. See the whole portrait series.

I recently wrote about overcoming Twitter-block; how to find things to tweet about when all you can think of is the weather.

As a blogger, there are certain places I always find inspiration. Places I know will get me thinking or provide me with stuff I want to share with you.

So I’ve put together a list of my top 5 sources for blogging inspiration.

Now, these might not appeal to everyone reading this post. My blog focuses on social media and other web-related stuff and so do my top five 5 sources of inspiration. So if you’re looking for inspiration for your gardening blog for example, not every link will apply to you.

1. TWITTER – you’ll see from my own Twitter account that I post lots of links to other places. Many of those links come from folks on Twitter. Check out who I follow (you’ll need to be logged in to Twitter to do that). These are some of the most inspiring and talented people I’ve come across on Twitter. Many of them post links that I learn from each day. And sometimes those links turn into posts on my blog.
2. MY INBOX – A while ago I created a list of over 20 super cool websites to visit and then added to it with a new post featuring 10 super useful websites and Twitter peeps. As I make my way through my inbox each day I find an abundance of inspiration. For the feed reader fans among you, replace ‘inbox’ with ‘feed reader.’ I totally love email and have never learnt to love feed readers in quite the same way.
3. MY WORK – I got promoted to the role of web manager at the National Screen Institute (NSI) almost 18 months ago. During that time I’ve redeveloped NSI’s website taking it from a brochure site to a film and TV industry news hub. Throughout the development process I wrote about our progress, challenges and successes. It was the very thing that inspired me to start blogging.
4. MY BLOGGING PLATFORM – As recently as February this year I moved Diary of a Web Gal from Blogger to self-hosted WordPress. This was and still is a huge learning curve for me. When in doubt, write about it on your blog, right? A lot of the set-up involved in creating a WordPress blog boggled my mind. I don’t think I’ll ever be a WordPress genius but I can get by and when I make a total dick of myself, I get to write about it here.
5. MY DOG – My dog Sadie has had a blog pretty much as long as I have. Shortly after moving Diary of a Web Gal over to WordPress I also moved her from Blogger. Some of you may find this an odd thing for a web manager to be doing – creating a blog for a dog.  But Sadie is a constant source of inspiration. Just read her Twitter updates for starters.

I manage two Twitter accounts, neither of which was in my name.

I was getting cabin fever. I’m a dog and an organisation.

So I got me my very own. You can follow me @lizhover.

Or follow my work Twitter @nsicanada.

Or my dog @sadieshihtzu.