First, a caveat. Not all affiliate marketers piss me off. I’m not against anyone making money through products they endorse. Heck, I promote the Headway theme and BlogOnCloud9 web hosting services (both affiliate links) because I believe they offer the best combination for WordPress bloggers. But you’ll notice there’s an affiliate disclosure there, and that’s the part that pisses me off about certain affiliate marketers. I’m seeing a lot of blog posts where affiliation isn’t disclosed. That’s bad enough, but…

There’s a fair few blog posts doing the rounds about social media. How its practitioners are snake-oil salesmen. Why everyone’s just out to make a quick buck. How businesses are being ripped off by consultants who charge an arm and a leg for their time and deliver very little back in return. One of the better headlines I spotted was Why Social Media Gurus Should Be Trampled by Elephants (check out the edited URL as well for extra emphasis). To…

For someone who’s written about guest posting a few times, as well as recommended the benefits of it to clients when talking about Blog 101, I haven’t really done a lot of guest posting myself. I’ve had brilliant guest authors here, but not really written too many myself. Maybe I should revisit my own post… Having said that, I have been fortunate enough to appear on three blogs recently. Each one offers something different, while still within the realms of…

You’re a customer that does all your food shopping at your favourite grocery or deli store. When you get there, you see the normal weekly flyer that has the current offers. Some you might be interested; others, not so much. So you flick through the flyer, then leave it at the bottom of the shopping cart. You wander around the store, grab the things you need, then go to pay at the checkout. You might have a loyalty card for…

Instead of blowing $50,000 on the staff Christmas party, companies offered employees the option of a smaller bash and donated the rest to a local charity. Instead of sending employees on a team-building exercise to the woods, companies sent them on a team-building exercise to renovate a playground in a run-down area. Instead of always using interns from the local college, companies mixed it up a little and gave a business education to kids from lower income schools. Instead of…

How are you sharing your blog? How are you making sure your content is found and then shared? Are you promoting yourself via social networks, or are you leaving that to your readers? Do you make sure potential clients know about your blog, if you’re using it as a business platform? Are you simply using the standard sharing options - Twitter, Facebook, etc – or are you thinking of ways you can be a little creative when it comes to sharing your…

How much information is free information? How much should be guarded and how much should be shared? If you’re asked by someone, “How do you do this?” or “What methods work for you?”, should there always be an answer? Say you receive a request from someone asking about some of your business practices or approaches. Do you always offer an answer, or do you feel uncomfortable giving them one? Is there a limit on help or is it part of…

Back in December 2008, I launched the 12for12k Challenge with the help of some great friends. A social media-led charity initiative, it was a project that I always had belief in, but you never know how something like that will go. Thankfully, because of you, it went better than I could have ever hoped for. It’s been quiet the last few months, as other commitments have eaten into time and resources (everyone involved in 12for12k gives their time for free)….

You like Seth Godin. You hear he’s speaking at an event in NYC so you sign-up for your ticket. Others have signed up too because, well, Seth Godin always offers excellent knowledge and you want to catch up with the latest news from him. There’s you and 200 other folks in the audience. Seth’s talking, and it’s awesome. You learn so much that you can take away and use for your own business. That’s the gold; that’s why you came….

This is a guest post by Kapil Apshankar, an innovative social media strategist. He writes about tips, tricks and techniques that help his readers score higher in social media at Social Media Notebook. Kapil also maintains a personal blog, Spring Rainbow, which captures his life away from social media. He can be reached via Twitter @KapilApshankar – or by email from his blogs’ contact pages. Social media is one of the most misunderstood – and underused/abused – concepts of our…