Lisa Rouissi

The newest social media network that could increase traffic to your site is Pinterest. You might already be thinking “another social network?”, well so was I.

I first visited the site last year and immediately wanted an invite, the site looked slick and there were lots of “pins” that appealed to me. The beauty of the site is that registration really only takes a couple of minutes and your ready to start pinning.

Now how does that translate to your site? Easy. While browsing Pinterest for recipes, nail designs and other random subjects that interest me I noticed that the site hasn’t been inundated with a lot of content yet.

I saw a chance for me to attract more visitors to my food blog, and I am sure that there are chances for every kind of website out there. You will need to have a captivating image that can be pinned but most blogs do. I have seen my traffic increase and your could too. Happy pinning!

(my online Pinterest board)

Spend an hour over the weekend watching this Gary Vaynerchuk presentation, the Q&A is where the best info is. What is holding you back from getting online?

Who are you?
I’m LAJ a writer and American expat living in The Hague, Netherlands with my family for almost three years.

Tell us about your WordPress website(s)
My website Adventures in Expat Land uses WordPress software. The tagline is ‘living abroad and sharing the good, the less good and the just plain odd’ since I chronicle building a new life in a new country. While I explore the full range of issues, emotions and developments that come with living in a different culture, I tend to include upbeat observations, personal insights and situational humor.

When did you start using WordPress?
Recently I celebrated my website’s one year anniversary. In that year, I’ve been very pleased with WordPress, so much so that I’ll be launching a second site there as well in the near future! It is called Voices Abroad Project.

What are the 3 best things about WordPress?
It’s hard to limit myself to three best features of WordPress, but I guess I’d go with:

1) easy-to-install plug-ins and widgets with automatic notification whenever updated versions of your plug-ins are available.

2) the ability to not only pre-schedule your posts in advance of publication, but also to get the post URL and shortlink as soon as it’s scheduled (This has been fabulous when swapping guest posts as you can schedule the guest post, give the post URL to the guest blogger, and then use the shortlink to pre-schedule tweets. If I guest on some sites that don’t use WordPress, they can’t provide me the post URL or shortlink.)

3) if you need help, WordPress offers both documentation and support forums to quickly find assistance and answers.

How long do you spend updating and maintaining your website(s)?
I spend only a few minutes a week maintaining my site. If I’m looking for a particular upgrade or plug-in to enhance my site, I may do a little research to see how to do it with WordPress. Occasionally I may need to ask someone for help, but WordPress is so popular that I can usually get an answer very quickly.

What advice would you give to first time WordPress users?
I’d tell first-time bloggers that it’s relatively easy to start a WordPress blog. They have a great series of modules to walk you through the process, and you can work with them to purchase your domain name if that’s what you want to do (via WordPress.com). After you’ve begun blogging, you can start to learn more about various features and enhancements to make running your site easier and to upgrade it.

More LAJ: Adventures in  Expatland / Twitter / Facebook Page

Online networking is the buzz, the thing all small business owners need to do, and if you are not doing it then start today. But here’s the deal, the real secret to online networking is taking it offline.

Sure online networking is a time saver but it is not a replacement for meeting people face to face. Potential customers want to like you before trusting you with their business.

Networking offline is old school and there is nothing wrong with that! Meeting in real life reinforces who you say you are, it completes the picture. You might even be surprised how different people are in real life compared to their avatar (trust me on this one)!

The social media era just makes it easier to (re)connect before and after events. Offline is where you complete the picture, that’s why it’s so important to stay true to yourself online, be transparent.

S – Simple
U – Useful
P – Personalized
E - Enthusiasm
R - Relevant

Super, it is that simple bloggers!

Are you wondering what colour you should use on your blog? Looking for inspiration for your new logo or site? Why not take a look at the PANTONE Fashion colour report Spring 2012 !

My favourite, of course, is Tangerine Tango!

Orange Buzz has joined forces with Lemonberry (Lisa Hall) and a hand in The Hague (Deborah Valentine) to offer a complete web package: Buzzberry Connection. The collaboration is an exciting new step. We are happy to discuss any projects that you are looking to launch.

Buzzberry Connection also welcomes the support of its network and rewards successful referrals with a 10% affiliate fee. Contact us for more information. info@buzzberryconnection.com

CRAVE The Hague has arrived and the book was launched last Thursday at the Carlton Ambassador Hotel in The Hague. I worked on the project along with Suzy Ogé and over the past months we have met so many interesting and amazing women doing different things in and around The Hague.

Orange Buzz is featured as well in the 1st CRAVE The Hague. If you would like to order a copy please contact me, the retail price is € 19,95.

CRAVE The Hague innovatively connects urban gals to the sassiest, gutsiest, most inspiring people they need to know. Our modern marketplace of soirees, gatherings and online networking serves as your ambassador to everything there is to CRAVE about The Hague.

Guest post by Jo Parfitt

This is the official launch week of my book, Sunshine Soup. It is my first novel. It is also my 28th book in almost as many years. Much has changed since my first book, a cookbook, was published by Octopus in 1985. Back then, the publisher did all the work and all the promotion and I just let them get on with it while they sold my books to bookshops all over the world. They wrote and mailed their press releases. I did nothing. Not a jot. French Tarts is no longer on sale. But you can buy second hand copies on Amazon for £1. So I do.

Today things are different. Sunshine Soup is available online from bookstores such as Amazon. It is published print on demand and will be available in print and Kindle formats. I am responsible for 100% of the promotion. I wrote my own press release and my global book tour is taking place online. This is all thanks to social media and the power of blogging. Before my book was officially launched I could sit back and watch the sales rank of my book climb on Amazon as people-who-know-about-me buy it.

Here’s how:

1. I have a blog under my own name, joparfitt.com and a Facebook page for my publishing company facebook.com/summertimepublishing. Each has over 100 followers. My blog gets over 3000 hits a month. (more…)

I appreciate the ‘thank you tweets’, I realy do, but sometimes it’s just annoying. The worst are the DM’s saying thank you, as if it has to be a secret.

Yes I spent time and made a conscious descion to retweet your post, link or photo but why not return the favour?

People notice when you RT their content. They are also more likely to retweet your content. It’s a compliment, people like compliments, you are giving them something back.

Think about it next time you are about to send another ‘thank you tweet’!