Ektor.io is an Instagram growth software, but it takes a different approach compared to much of its competition. It’s the latest, stable automation tool available for Instagram. EKtor.io allows you to automate tasks such as liking, commenting, following and story viewing in a safe manner. Using Ektor.io won’t hurt your account’s trust score.

In this review article, we’re going to consider the pros and the cons of Ektor.io.

It allows you to run an automation tool that will grow your Instagram account safely and securely from the comfort of your desktop or laptop.

What is Ektor.io?

Ektor.io is an Instagram growth desktop software that helps you grow your Instagram profile. It takes a very different approach as it’s not subscription-based; it’s a one-time-payment download. 

The company doesn’t store any of your data on their servers. You run the program by yourself. At the end of the day, it is 100% yours; because it runs entirely on your end.

Ektor.io promises organic growth that’s powered by artificial intelligence. Most Instagram bots are rocket launchers; they bulk-interact with worthless profiles (SPOILER: it screws up your growth). But Ektor.io is different, it’s like a sniper. It has the proper filters and settings to get the ‘ideal profile’ to join your audience.

How does Ektor.io works?

It’s quite simple actually, after downloading and installing the program – that can be installed on both MacOS and Windows – you just need to launch the software to land on the dashboard. There, you can log yourself in with your Instagram credentials. It seems like you can login with different accounts very easily.

Then you just need to choose an action you want to automate, between Liking, Commenting, Following, Story Viewing. They’re all effective and not spammy. We just said earlier that Ektor.io was like a sniper; it’s because the filters and settings are built in a manner that allows you to target the right audience.

Also, Ektor.io is feature-rich. All automation tasks are AI-Based, the software allows you to set up a proxy. Ektor.io customer support was quite fast, which is always a good point. But most important, Ektor.io allows you to achieve results that cannot be done by any other alternative. It’s possible to perform more than 1000 likes per day, it was hard to believe at first but it seems like they finally bypass Instagram’s algorithm in order to deliver an undetectable solution. 

Did Ektor.io stole Instabotai’s code?

No! Unlike what you may have read on some forums this is not the case. Ektor.io was entirely hand-coded by the development team. The owner of Instabotai has suffered a lot of controversies due to license violations on GitHub. But Ektor.io never stole anything to anyone.

At one time, it is true that both Instabotai and Ektor.io used facial recognition, but the two codes are totally different. To silence the haters and get out of this slanderous story, Ektor.io has decided to stop facial recognition in order to avoid any further link with Instabotai repository.

Is Ektor.io safe?

Yes! Even in 2020! Widely considered as the safest Instagram growth solution, Ektor.io is definitely secure to use. Your account doesn’t risk anything using this tool. Ektor.io dev team has created an algorithm, that adheres to Instagram rules and limits.

You won’t get banned or hurt your trust-score using this software. It purely imitates the behavior of a human using machine learning. Finally, it emulates the latest version of the Instagram mobile app and automatically generates a dedicated cookie session ID during login.

Ektor.io Pros & Cons

Pros:

14-day money-back guarantee

No subscription

You own the software

It is completely safe and free of any type of risk

You can trust them

Cons:

No free trial

Final thoughts on Ektor.io Review

It’s clear at this point that Ektor.io is pretty effective. It will boost your Instagram following safely. Instagram bots like Ektor.io allow you to stop putting all of your time and money into worthless Instagram ads, and let you build up your Instagram audience organically.

It uses AI to detect real profiles, so you get engagement from real users from your niche. Downloading this software is certainly the best thing to do right now. The one-time-payment is a major bonus, since thousands of users participate in the improvement of the bot and receive updates at the same time.

The post Ektor.io Review – Is it still working in 2020? appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

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Web Hosting:

Web hosting is an important and most expensive part of building a website that you should give priority while calculating your website maintenance costs. It is a service that lets individuals an organization post their website or webpage on the internet. It provides all the services, technologies a website is required to be viewed on the World Wide Web.

Remember that, a web hosting is an important component of a successful website that you can’t ignore at any cost. There is a wide range of web hosting options available in the market that you can choose according to your budget and requirement. In case, your site doesn’t need a ton of disk space and servers, cheap hosting options such as 1&1 Hosting, WordPress.com, Hostinger, 000webhost can be good options for you. Their basic shared web hosting plan should not cost you more than $2 to $5 for a month.

On the other hand, if you are a running eCommerce or any heavy-resource website, you will need more advanced infrastructure to support them. VPS and Dedicated hosting would be ideal options for such websites that would cost you around between $10 to $20/mo.

Website Architecture:

By architecture we mean the platform your site is built on. It plays an important role in the overall success of your site. So, do consider it while determining your website maintenance cost.

Nowadays, most of the sites are being built on content management systems (CMS) as it is easier to make changes on them and keep the website up to date.

WordPress, Magento, Drupal are some popular CMS platforms that are popular as well as free to use. However, you will need to pay for their premium themes and plugins. Speaking of WordPress, a typical custom theme should cost you between $100 to $500. If you are simply a hobbyist blogger a free WP theme and plugins will be sufficient for you.

The best thing about CMSs is they are user-friendly. A person with basic technical knowledge can be built a professional-looking website without hiring a web designer. However, If you want your business to appear reliable to your potential audience, we would recommend, don’t compromise on making it aesthetic and user-friendly.

A study reveals that the crowded web design is the biggest mistake that most newbies make when a designing a website. As it leads to confusion in visitors. So, if you are not sure about the designing part, it is better you hire a professional. If you want a logo and graphic design work, the expected cost would be between $400 to $1600.

Domain Names:

Domains are the least expensive part of building a website but it doesn’t mean you have to neglect it while calculating the maintenance cost for your website.

Nowadays, getting a particular name is quite challenging. Sometimes, you may have to alter your preferred domain name and pay a premium price for that.

To keep the domain name cost at a minimum we advise you try different combinations for your preferred domain name depending on your budget.  

Look for a hosting company offering a free domain name for the first year.  On an average, a top-level domain (TLD) name should cost between $10 to $15 annually.

Website Complexity:

It is another major factor on which your website’s maintenance cost depends. For example, if you are running an eCommerce website your cost will be higher than if you have a basic blog site as it is more complex.

Usually, when you bring any sort of payment option on your site and use some special features such as contact us page, discount code tools, email marketing tools, etc. , it costs you more.

Security on Website:

Security is a primary concern everywhere nowadays. Today, every business whether it is a small business or big do not want to compromise on web security.

Although security will contribute to your site maintenance costs you can’t ignore it. If your site receives customer information and online payments, obviously your security requirements are going to be higher.

Final Words

Every website needs maintenance time to time. If you don’t maintain your site it can be vulnerable to viruses and other possible attacks.

In this post, we talked about different factors your website maintenance cost depends on. We hope it will help you do a better calculation.  

The post Website Maintenance Cost: How to Estimate It appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

Wikipedia says that it is a behavior, style, and idea that gets spread from person to person. But as memes are all about fun, I would also classify them, quite seriously of course, as packet of bytes to balance mood swings. The major purpose of a meme is just to spread laughter.

Benefits of posting memes on your blog:

There is no doubt memes can go viral in a few minutes; most of the die-hard meme fans can’t wait for the next, newest, freshest meme to share and blab about. This type of meme below is used to share an opinion but with a touch of sarcasm.

Free Online Meme Makers for Your Blog:

1. Filmora FREE Online Meme Maker

This free online meme generator was just released on the market. Just as the title says, this is a free online meme maker which you can use on both Windows PC and Mac. Although you can also create video memes with the Filmora Video Editor  this meme creator is totally free to make images, gif and video memes,with no watermark in the output.

Just upload your file and paste the media URL to the editor, and then you can add meme quote texts in the image or outside of the image, and adjust its color, size and font as desired. If you are making memes from a video, you can trim the unwanted parts first and then add text. After the meme is created, you can download it to your computer directly.

2. Imgur

Here is one of the top-rated meme generator websites, also recognized as the world’s best image hosting platforms. This meme generator tool is quite effective and interactive; even beginners will find it easy to use. You can simply pick any default background from the grid to create the desired meme or upload your own image to create something unique. Once the image is added to the tool, simply type your text on it, and Imgur allows you to share the created meme directly on a website.

You can also find hundreds of pre-made memes as well in the Imgur library.

3. Make a Meme:

Make a Meme is a super quick and simple to use platform for creating interesting memes that work well with your blog posts. All that you need to do is browse through the variety of thumbnails and pick the best one for your
meme background. Next customize your text to add the caption for the meme and then hit the preview button on the screen. If you find your meme good, simply share it on the desired platform. Marketing professionals rate this
tool high due to its easy to use a terminal and wide collection of thumbnails. You can every time find something unique to design a meme.

4. Imgflip:

Using Img Flip, you can drag and resize text boxes anywhere on the image; editing can be done on mobile handsets as well. This tool also allows users to customize fonts and create additional text boxes to add a new touch of
sarcasm to the meme. ImgFlip extends support to almost all website fonts, Mac fonts, and Window fonts while handling italic and bold text as well.

Users can easily rotate these memes, add custom images, scumbag hats, or develop meme chain by simply stalking multiple images together. The only sad fact about this tool is that it puts a watermark on all memes; however,
you can avoid that by switching to the professional version of the tool.

5. Meme Generator:

This website has achieved a higher rank on the list of best meme makers due to its cool tools that help to create memes instantly. It allows users to browse some of the best memes online and edit them to create something new.
Many bloggers prefer to use this app to create original content for their posts.

One of the major drawbacks of this tool is that it carries lots of advertisements that may annoy you during the meme creation process. Also, like most other meme creator websites, meme generator also puts a watermark on all memes that may appear little off-putting for blog posts.

Conclusion:

If you are interested in making your blog posts more interesting, creating interesting and relevant memes is a pretty easy way to go. By using any of the above mentioned meme generator tools, you can share lots of funny but meaningful messages within your content. It can help you to generate higher engagement while diverting more traffic to your website.

The post How to Create Viral Memes with Some of the Best Meme Makers for Your Blog appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

The right software and tools can make it not only more effective, but easier as well. We spoke to several business owners to see what they were using for software and tools. Here are their favorite resources that they use to help market their businesses across social media and take advantage of the available attention these platforms give you access to.

Canva

“We like to use Canva to create our social media content. It’s a free piece of software that has all of the popular social media image sizes and templates to use as a base. This helps to create perfectly formatted posts, which we can then pre-load into our management software.” — Andrew Tran, Founder of Therapy

BuzzSumo

“BuzzSumo is a great tool for finding content that has been shared the most. If you are looking for topics that seem to have a great chance of going viral, it’s a great way to ‘test the waters’ and look for content around that topic — and how it performed in terms of social interactions.” — Shawn Schulze of HomeArea.com

Social Report

“Social Report allows us to connect to all our social profiles, get detailed reporting of our content and even set up automation rules for people who respond and interact with our posts, which helps manage our reputation.” — Joseph W. Belluck of Belluck & Fox, LLP

Rocketium

“Rocketium is my favorite social media marketing tool at the moment. It makes creating short videos a snap, which are generally more engaging and effective than static images, leading to more profitable campaigns across multiple platforms.“ — Sean Christman, Founder of Slamdot

SEMRush

“SEMRush. You can track your campaigns and the growth of your social accounts of your business.  You can see competitors as well and use the data to see where value may reside and make the needed changes to improve your business.” — Marc Webb, Founder of Real PDL Help

HubSpot

“I love the functionality of the one stop shop experience form the sale modules in HubSpot. We are able to post on multiple medias using a single platform. It is user friendly, fast, efficient and clean.” — Shawn Freeman, Founder and CEO of TWT Group

Analytics

“The analytics that each platform provide (Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook) are some of the best tools available and they are free to access. This data tells you what works and what doesn’t, allowing you to adjust your social media efforts to better connect with your followers.” — Ari Evans of AAA Handbags

Facebook Advertising Platform

“Facebook ads are our favorite tool for social media marketing. They’re ads can reach a very large user base that can be appropriately targeted so that our ads are being viewed by those people most interested in our ads.” — Matthew Kolb of All High Schools

Manual

“We do everything manually and don’t use any automation or scheduling software. Our approach works for us and I think that is something everyone needs to understand. There is no software that will handle your social media without a little human interaction, and we prefer to handle the entire process.” — Christopher Dziak, CEO of Pure Nootropics

MeetEdgar

“MeetEdgar is a good tool that helps to manage and deploy social media content. The nice feature with this tool is its ability to repurpose posts multiple times. You will want to share content several times, as your followers will never all see it if you post once. It’s also very easy to use.” — Jim Epton of Dom Huga Ltd

VidLab

“VidLab is a great app to use for video collages, which do very well on Instagram. It allows you to make really nice clips with no editing skills or even expensive software. It’s a free app and a great addition for anyone making content for Instagram.” — Tom Munroe, CEO of RugStudio

Buffer

“Like many businesses, Buffer is the favorite just because it has a lot of features and works with all social media platforms, and the free version is good for most small businesses. They also now do automated Instagram posting which is a good new feature.” — April Gillmore, CEO of ClickFirst Marketing

Hootsuite

“We use and love Hootsuite. It’s been great for what we do and for staying in front of our prospects and clients. If we didn’t use Hootsuite it would take us at least 90 minutes per day to do what we do on our social channels, and that’s not time we have.” — Ben Walker, Founder of Transcription Outsourcing, LLC

The post Here Are the Best Tools & Software for Social Media Marketing appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

Interviews are a very powerful tool for any content marketer. Why?

• The personal tone makes interviews compelling.
  They give the reader or listener the feeling of being an insider, as if they’re witnessing the interaction. And the opportunity for point/counterpoint tension keeps them interesting.
• The dialog format makes interviews as accessible.
  As audio, listening to a conversation is the most natural thing in the world. And as text, an interview as scan-able as a list post.
• The networking opportunities are excellent.
  Very few people declined to be interviewed, especially if you make the process easy for them. So it gives the marketer a creative, collaborative reason to approach all kinds of people.

So interviews should be in the mix of any pro content marketer. But let’s do it right. In this post, we’ll turn the tables and interview some of the great interviewers. Let’s see what we can learn from these pros…

Kerry Gorgone

Kerry interviews C-level executives, authors, entrepreneurs, and social media stars each week for Marketing Smarts, the MarketingProfs podcast.

Bill Moller

Bill hosts his own show on WGN Radio, where for many years he interviews at least 15 people every week. Bill also provides presentation training through his consultancy, Bill Moller Communications.

Pamela Muldoon

As the host of the weekly podcast Content Marketing 260 Radio Show, Pamela interviewed more than 200 thought leaders. She is also the Principal of Next Stage Media Group, a consultancy focused on developing audio content.

Srinivas Rao

As the host and co-founder of BlogcastFM, Srini has interviewed more than 400 bloggers, authors and entrepreneurs.

Ben Calhoun

Ben is a radio journalist and a producer for the public radio program This American Life.

Mark Bazer

Mark hosts The Interview Show, a live talk show held the first Friday each month at The Hideout in Chicago and twice a year at Union Hall in Brooklyn.

Question 1

How do you prepare for interviews?

KERRY: Depends on the guest. If I’m talking with an author about his or her book, I read the book, highlight points of interest, and look at other interviews they’ve done so I don’t cover too much of the same ground.

If the guest is a CEO, CMO, or other professional, I focus on the topic we’ll be discussing. For instance, I spoke with Amy Maniatis of National Geographic, and asked her about how publishing is changing, as well as how they use emerging platforms like Instagram. I try to find an area in which the guest (or their organization) is really exceptional, and get some applied insights that would most help the MarketingProfs audience.

Sometimes, I choose a guest especially for a particular topic, like when I had Jason Falls of CafePress talk about cause marketing, and what CafePress does for Autism Awareness month. In each case, preparation varies in terms of what sources I consult, and whether I focus on the person, the organization, or a book, but the constant is that I always prepare!

BILL: Research is paramount. It’s important to read the website, the articles, the book (or scan it mostly). I don’t write out questions but have a sense as to what I’m going to ask. It’s important to let your curiosity direct you as well as listening to the conversation for new and interesting paths to follow. Each question should try to answer something interesting to me.

PAMELA: My current show, Content Marketing 360, allows me to interview the best and brightest in the content marketing industry. I research the guest (books, blog, presentations) and work with them to choose the topic that works best for their expertise. I use Formstack to gather pertinent details from my guest such as contact information, photo, logo, bio, and social information for promotion. I use an outline format vs. a strict list of questions. I frame my interviews in three segments and send the outline to my guest a few days prior to recording our interview. The outline format allows me to actively engage with my guest and create more of a “fireside chat” format. I then use the first few minutes of my call with the guest to let them know what to expect, answer any questions they have and add any last minute details they want to share.

SRINIVAS: I  will usually just read somebody’s about page and I might dig through their  a few of their latest blog posts. If they have a book out or something big that’s just been released I’ll do a quick glance at it. I try not to do much research because I find that it kills my curiosity and creativity. I don’t recommend this for everybody, but it works for me.

BEN: If time permits, I try to do quite a bit of reporting before most of my interviews. I try do thorough background reporting so that I understand the bigger ideas and tensions at work. I like to understand my interviewees role in whatever it is I’m reporting on  — but also have a sense of their feelings about it, and their angle. I find that helps me steer our taped interview towards moments and interactions that are interesting. I also, if at all possible, pre-interview people. In radio, it matter so much more if people are what we call “good talkers” — just meaning that they’re fun to listen to. It could be that they tell good stories, or are funny, or have a nice accent — but there are people you want to listen to, and people who are hard to listen to. If someone’s hard to listen to, they can be in your story, but their tape will be working against you.

MARK: Research, as others here have said. That mostly involves reading a lot, but I also like talking to people who know the interviewee well. I do write out a bunch of questions, but I never look at them once the interview starts. They’re partly a way for me to prepare and find a loose narrative that I think the interview could follow … and partly a security blanket. I also think it’s important to have an interesting “way in” to the interview. Maybe you begin with something topical, maybe you begin with an intriguing but incomplete thought your interviewee voiced in another context, or maybe it’s something you learned about the interviewee that you’re pretty sure not many people know. In general, the more knowledge of the interviewee you come in with, the more likely chance that two things will happen: 1) you can have an intelligent, respectful conversation and 2) you’ll gain the interviewee’s trust or respect and he or she will feel freer to open up to you.

Question 2

What is the best question you can ask as an interviewer?

KERRY: A question that the guest isn’t expecting. The questions that get an author or a practiced speaker “off book” bring out the answers that the audience will enjoy most.

BILL: A question that answers why-should-I-care as to what you’re talking about. It’s also critical to ask questions that elicit stories from guests.

PAMELA: One of the value propositions for my show is that I want to ensure my audience gets a solid action item or two that they can use in their business right away.  So I do ask each of my guests that final question: What is one or two items that the audience can use in the next 24 hours to improve their marketing or business?

SRINIVAS: I don’t think there’s one magic question that stands out above the rest. The best questions are actually built based on the person’s answers. I don’t script any  of my interviews.  The formula for me is as follows:

Question =>Answer => Question about the Answer

The key to doing this however is to be a good listener. I recommend shutting everything down other than Skype or your phone.  You can’t do this effectively if you’re distracted by tweets and status updates.

BEN: Gosh. I think this depends so much on the story and the person. In a general way, I think, “How did you feel, or do you feel, about that?” — that’s pretty good. I know it’s generic. But we’re emotional beings. I think whether we’re hearing a business story, or a human interest story, emotion and reflection are the things that allow us to engage with what’s in front of us. So maybe my answer is whatever question helps to get at the feelings of the interviewee, or allows the interviewer to interact with them in a way that reveals emotion and feeling. If I can add one more, “Really?” is a close second. So often I think, in news and otherwise, interviewees say things that are confusing, or weird, or outright lies — and the interviewer doesn’t touch it — it just flies by. I think there’s always a totally polite way to ask, “Really? What do you mean by that?” or, “Do you really feel that way?” and often that serves the story and the audience.

MARK: The main key is that the interview is a conversation, so the best questions continue/further the conversation. That comes, as Srinivas said, from listening. It’s also obviously good if, whatever you ask, it’s clear you are genuinely curious about the answer.

Question 3

What do you do to keep control over the time and topics?

KERRY: Topics tend to take care of themselves. If a guest has pitched MarketingProfs to do the podcast, the topics are set in advance. For authors, it’s a given that what we discuss will somehow relate to the book (at least tangentially). If I pitch the guest, I pitch the topic, as well.

In terms of time, I have a digital clock on the shelf next to me. As soon as I ask the first “real” question, I know I have 30 minutes maximum to wrap up the conversation. Once I hit the 27-minute mark, I choose a question I think will end the interview on a high note, then hope for a great response!

BILL: Whether it’s a 180 second television interview or a 2-hour single topic/single guest radio conversation you have to frame questions that follow a narrative flow within the necessary time limits. The conversation is a story too that must have a beginning, middle and end. The more time you have, the more latitude you have to range from the essential questions and to knock on doors to pursue smaller nuggets of truth.

PAMELA: I actually record each of my interviews separately from the running of the full podcast episode.  This allows me to work with my guest in scheduling the time that works great for both of us. I frame the recording of the interview to take about 30-40 minutes, but ask my guest to set aside a full hour so we are not rushed.  This allows me to ensure that my full episode stays within the 50-60 minute timeframe that I shoot for on each of them.

SRINIVAS: I set an hour time limit. I also don’t have any guests on my show won’t give me an hour. I will actually pass on a really high profile guest if they’re unwilling to give me an hour.  Sometimes I’ll let people keep speaking if they’re over because what they’re saying is so good.  In terms of topics, I kind of have a start and end and then I just draw the map as I go. I build bridge between one topic to another. Or as many people have heard me say “let’s shift gears”  is the catchphrase for transitions.

BEN: As people might imagine, we do long interviews. It’s a luxury — one I appreciate, respect and love. That said, I think really aggressively in interviews about the different levels at work. I’m thinking about what the person is saying in the moment — but I’m constantly triaging the other things I’m hoping to get them to do during the time we have. What anecdotes are the most important? What’s worth lingering on? When do I need to ask them what they were feeling? What should I note and come back to if I have time? I believe It’s kind of thinking both as a reporter and a producer all at once. Gathering information and answers but also thinking about what role that person is playing in the larger structure of the story I’m trying to build.

MARK: Our interviews are all about 20 minutes. I try to make sure we leave enough to cover both what an interviewee is promoting (a book, a film, etc.) and their larger story (their career, their life). That said, an interview should take unexpected turns, and if something is working, you shouldn’t feel bad about sticking with it. The Interview Show, ultimately, is an entertainment show, so if we, say, don’t cover every last aspect I wanted to about an interviewee’s latest project but we do spend 10 minutes on a funny anecdote, well … that’s great.

Question 4

Is there something that all great interviews have in common?

KERRY: I love when an interview sounds like the kind of conversation you eavesdrop on in a coffee shop. You know the one where two friends are talking at the next table, and you don’t want to listen, but you just can’t stop yourself? Great interviews are like that: compelling stories, valuable information, pure fun! I strive for that, although it’s not possible to strike gold every time.

BILL: Something that all humans can connect to…that triggers an emotional response. This usually involves a guest’s personal journey in the pursuit of the ordinary or the sublime in the research lab, the African village or while scaling a mountain peak. I like surprises, new ideas, emotional connection points…anything that makes me feel something.

PAMELA: A great interviewer remembers that it’s not about them, it’s first, all about the audience and the close second is that it’s all about your guest.  Ask great open-ended questions and then let your guest share.  A great interview tends to have more of the guest talking then the person hosting the interview.

I also try to frame my introduction of the guest in a conversational tone and don’t “read” their bio.  I keep it short and interject something personal about the guest if I can.  I then ask the guest to share how they got to where they are today so that they can ease into the interview from a familiar place.

SRINIVAS: Great interviews sound like conversations, not interrogations.  At the end of the day it’s not about the interviewer or the guest. It’s about the listener. That’s the person who needs to get the most value of the conversation.

BEN: Humanity. Is that too cheesy? I think an interview is a hyper-formalized version of the most basic social experience… two people talking and interacting. And I think that second part has a tendency to get lost in the first most of the time. When I think of the interviewers I admire the most, and the interviews that really work, often its the energy of real genuine interaction that’s giving the thing its power. It could take the form of one person drawing an emotional experience out of another and sharing it, or one person challenging another, or people just having fun with each other joking around.

News, of course, is a different animal because you’re working in the currency of information — what happened, what do you know, what are the fact. But not always. There’s a lot of interviews on CNN or the Today Show where I wish someone would just tease someone or remark on what the person is saying in some genuine way… like, “Come on, you don’t believe that,” or, “That’s crazy!” Essentially, I think the construct of the interview often works against genuine interaction, and often that’s bad. It makes a lot of interviews worse than they should be.

MARK: I’ll repeat a few things from the other interviewers here, but I’d say: 1) it’s a conversation 2) that the interview listens 3) that the interviewee is the star (that doesn’t mean the interviewer can’t have a personality) and 4) that the interviewee wants to be interviewed and is into it.

Question 5

Have you ever crashed and burned during an interview? What happened?

KERRY: I wouldn’t say I’ve completely crashed and burned, but I’ve definitely found some interviews more difficult than others. My first podcast interview for MarketingProfs was recorded the day after the Boston Marathon bombing. I’m from Boston, and like everyone else, was just feeling incredibly sad and generally unfocused. Listening to that interview is difficult for me, because I know it could have been better. Fantastic guest, really excellent topic, but bad timing for me.

BILL: I’ve had boring and distracted guests who, no matter how artfully a question is posed, can’t seem to muster a decent response. If, on the radio, I just end the interview early and go to a break. Such interviews when recorded for television just never make it to air.

PAMELA: When I first started doing interviews, I did so on a 2-hour weekend radio show on a local radio station.  The show was broadcast live, so all the guests were either live in studio or via phone.  I would often interview guests that were not necessarily professionally media trained.  I once had a guest who would only answer in short bites of “yes” or “no”; maybe a sentence or two.  This forced me to take the brunt of the interview and keep the flow moving.  This is also when 5 minutes will feel like a lifetime!  I cannot stress the use of open ended questions enough and to also prep your guest in some way.  Also, doing your research on your guest will also better prepare you for the type of personality your guest will bring to the show.

SRINIVAS: Recently, I had a guest who I didn’t feel was delivering what I needed.  I scrapped it in the middle of the interview because I didn’t want to waste my time or his. This isn’t easy to do. But I think you have to set a standard for your art. And I think you should never compromise on that standard. It doesn’t matter who the guest is. Compromising on the standards you set for your art is a slippery slope.

BEN: There’s lots of interviews where I don’t get what I want or need for my story. The stories I like to do, and what our show is about, I think, is ideas and emotions. If you can’t get people to reflect, to be genuine, to talk about their feelings, to react and have ideas — or at the very least, talk about something in a way that allows you, the reporter, to have a thought about it… you don’t really have what you need to build something bigger.

I think sometimes the interview going “wrong” in a traditional sense, can be pretty rewarding. I was covering the political civil war Wisconsin just went through, where they recalled the governor a bunch of legislators. A really nice Tea Party activist was letting me read her hate mail, which I read into my recorder. It seemed like it would be very exciting tape, but when I went to read it, it was so dirty and profane. And here I am reading this to like a mother of six. I mean, the worst words you can conjure right now — those were probably in there. I was so embarrassed. I was embarrassed for me, and for her, and for whoever wrote the letter. You can hear it in the tape — it’s like my voice is running away… turning into a whisper, and I’m trying to get through these streams of profanities so fast. But I admitted that in the actual story. So instead of being bad tape, you understand the human dynamic of what’s going on — and it’s funny — as funny as hate mail can be anyway.

MARK: I’ve said dumb things, I’ve had guests who I wish were more forthcoming, I’ve had moments where I thought I wouldn’t find my next question. But so far no crash and burning. I’m sure it will happen at the next show now.

Question 6

Do you do your own editing? What tools do you use?

KERRY: I do post-production on every episode, and I think it makes me a better interviewer. Doing the editing forces me to listen to myself stumble over questions, and I learn my “filler words,” which I then make an effort to eliminate.

I use Camtasia: it’s very easy to use, captures system audio from Skype, and can handle the occasional video episode, as well. My mic of choice is the Samson Meteor USB. Great sound quality, portable, and cute, with a retro look.

BILL: I do not mechanically or electronically edit any longer. Everything on radio is live and for television the interviews are all done in one take. So…I crank up the bio editor of the brain to edit on the fly in redirecting conversations, helping guests form & finish answers and adjusting to a mode more comfortable for them.

PAMELA: We do our own editing for all of the shows.  I have a marketing assistant who helps and we use GarageBand and Sonar currently.  We are looking to move to Adobe Audition in the near future.

SRINIVAS: I do all my own editing. I think it’s worth mentioning that doing your own editing is a great way to improve your craft. It gives you an opportunity to go back and listen to each interview you do.

• I use Garageband for editing.
• I use Dropbox to store recordings.
• I also use a USB headset to record each interview

BEN: Yes. We edit on Protools at This American Life. Producers edit and mix our own pieces, as well as the host and contributor pieces that we work on. But even when I was a news reporter, I always cut my own tape and did my own production. And I’ll say — I think it’s made me a better interviewer. The reason, I believe that, is that it helps me cut tape in my head. In an interview, when someone starts to answer, I’m actively cutting their responses. If an answer is good, I try, as best I can, to hear where their answer would get cut off — and then I try to get the things that could be cut onto that point to make a bigger moment or interaction happen on tape. That might be getting them to complete a thought or a story. It could be challenging them on something they said — but I wait until they finish — even though I know the latter part of their answer won’t be included.

MARK: I don’t. I have some great people who work on the show with me, and one of them, Ben Chandler, shoots and edits the show. Check him out here. The longer we’ve done the show, the less I want to edit interviews. For my purposes, interviews are best when they just flow from beginning to end.

The post The Secret to Great Podcast Interviews appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

• They engage, sparking conversation to get things going.
• They moderate, fighting fires if things go too far.
• They monitor, with a finger on the pulse and an eye on the streams.
• They promote. This is patient zero in a viral campaign.

So let’s get to know our community managers. We picked some industry pros and emailed these community managers a few questions. Here’s the lineup:

Meghan Peters

Community Director for @Mashable, focused on social media strategy and reader engagement. Co-organizer of Community Managers Meetup in NYC.

Andrea Vahl

Community Manager at Social Media Examiner, author, comic, and wine drinker. @andreavahl

Yvette Pistorio

Community Manager and Account Executive for Spin Sucks and Arment Dietrich. @eveypistorio

Michelle Liang

Community Manager with Lightspan Digital, a social media marketing company in Chicago. She specializes in sports marketing and is known as the master of “follow-up and follow-through.” @m_laing

Tim McDonald

Community Manager for Huffington Post Live and Founder of My Community Manager.  @tamcdonald

Amanda Gant

Community Manager at Orbit Media Studios. She specializes in web marketing and is Google Analytics certified. @orbiteers

Question 1

How do you spend most of your time?

MEGHAN: Every day in my job is different — which is what’s so exciting about it. Some days are spent talking to people, both internally and externally, to generate ideas and collaborate on new projects. Others, I’m analyzing performance of our community initiatives and making data-driven strategy decisions. I also manage a team of community producers, so I spend a lot of time making sure they have the tools they need to do the amazing work they do.

ANDREA: For Social Media Examiner, I spend a lot of time answering questions.  We have several different places for people to participate – on Facebook, in LinkedIn Groups for our Summits and the recent Social Media Marketing World, and one of our most active areas, the Networking Clubs:  www.socialmediaexaminer.com/clubs. I get a lot of social media questions about how things work, and sometimes the answer takes some time to research to make sure I’m giving the right information.

I also spend time creating content and looking for good content to share. It’s hard not to go off into the weeds and get distracted when you spend 1/2 your day on social sites.

YVETTE: As far as the community management part of my job (for Arment Dietrich), I spend the most time finding enough content to share that is relevant to our community. Then measuring what’s working and what isn’t. If it’s not working, it’s back to the drawing board. And like Michelle, I spend the rest of my time with clients.

MICHELLE: Of the major social networks I manage, Twitter is the biggest time commitment. I also spend quite a bit of time staying in touch with clients so I can continually know what is going on in their worlds and best tell their story.

TIM: Everyday is different. Two things remain the same: my first cup of coffee in the morning and responding to our feedback. On most days I will be welcoming our commenters when our production starts, doing outreach for new guests to be on future segments of HuffPost Live and giving tours of the studio to past guests, community members, and groups.

AMANDA: It really depends on the day. Some days I spend most of my time on client work; reviewing their analytics, offering suggestions, and teaching them about web marketing. Other days, I spend most of my time doing social media outreach, organizing events, getting the team involved in contributing to the Orbit blog, editing articles, working with guest bloggers, collaborating with partners, and doing research. That’s one of the perks of this job. No two days are the same!

Question 2

What really pisses you off about your job?

MEGHAN: One of the toughest aspects of community management is that communities never sleep. That said, community managers need sleep. For awhile, I felt obligated to be there for my community at all times — but I quickly learned that was a surefire path to burnout. Now I make sure I give myself enough time to decompress and reenergize.

ANDREA: Spam. I really am amazed that people think putting link after link on your Page will get them anywhere.

YVETTE: Trolls and stupid people. Some of the things people do in social baffles me. It could be because I’m in the middle of it all, but some of it just seems like common sense.

MICHELLE: Facebook. Everything Facebook.

TIM: People who always ask and are never willing to give. Fortunately, I don’t encounter many, but when I do, I need to take a deep breath before responding.

AMANDA: Facebook (period) and those days you can’t look at Twitter, G+, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc, etc, etc,…anymore. It’s just like taking a regular vacation. Sometimes you need to unplug for a minute, let your eyes readjust, and reboot.

Question 3

What’s your top tip for growing your community?

MEGHAN: Be relevant. Understand what people are talking about, when they’re talking about and how you can make your brand or organization a part of that conversation in way that feels natural.

ANDREA: Respond and be active. People come to Social Media Examiner because they know they will get their questions answered. We provide a lot of in-depth content every day but also do things to facilitate conversation.

YVETTE: Participation. If you don’t participate, then how do you expect to grow a community?

MICHELLE: Know the lingo your audience uses, and use it. If you can’t talk like them, your content will bore them.

TIM: Let your community know they matter.

AMANDA: Be yourself. Be friendly. Be helpful. That shouldn’t be too hard! Have conversations and interact with people like you normally would (but keep them under 140 characters!). Just because it’s communication over the interwebs, you shouldn’t act like a robot.

Question 4

How do you deal with trolls?

MEGHAN: Kill them with kindness.

ANDREA: If it’s someone with a complaint, we actively respond and find out how we can rectify the situation. But if it’s someone who continually insults us or members of the community without responding to our attempts to talk about the situation, then we will ban them. Thankfully that happens extremely rarely. We have a great community at Social Media Examiner.

YVETTE: It depends on the situation. In general, I try to respond quickly. If they keep on behaving like a troll, I ignore them, and, if necessary, I’ll block them. You can only do so much to appease people.

MICHELLE: I rely pretty heavily on the admin controls that let me hide comments. I’ve also gotten quick at identifying bots and not wasting my time responding to their crap.

TIM: Some require a quick chat in the comments, others via email and for some a phone call works best. If none of these work, you ban and ignore. Always stay positive and never make it personal.

AMANDA: I’m with Meghan, kill them with kindness. People aren’t idiots. They can see who the trolls are. It’s how you respond that matters and is seen by your community.

Question 5

What challenges do you have staying connected with other departments or with your clients?

MEGHAN: At Mashable, community touches everything. I take a lot of pride in ensuring our reader voices are heard by each department within the company and, ultimately, incorporated into our overall goals. The biggest challenge is keeping up with all the moving parts of not only a quickly-growing company but also a fast-paced industry.

ANDREA: We have weekly meetings to check in. We also have a Secret Facebook Group where we can post things to discuss or talk about good things happening. We share a lot of positive feedback there that we get from our readers and community members.

YVETTE: Since we’re virtual, we have to make an effort to stay connected. We have weekly team and individual meetings for brainstorming and catching up. It’s easy to fall off the face of the earth, especially in today’s digital world, but I want to make sure I’m available when my team or clients needs me.

MICHELLE: Staying on top of the news for multiple different industries and getting quick feedback from clients can be a challenge. Not everyone moves as quickly as my Twitter feed!

TIM: The challenge is more often who you need to stay connected with, more than how. Once you find out who, make it happen. Nobody will do it until you ask.

AMANDA: Since Orbit is a web design and development company most of the other team members (Designers, Project Managers, and Developers) are working on projects almost non-stop. They aren’t really involved in the marketing efforts. To keep them in the loop, I send out biweekly “Orbit Happenings” emails. It’s just an overview of what the marketing team is working on, speaking engagements that we have coming up, events that we’re hosting or attending, press, new clients that we’ve gotten, etc. I won’t lie, there are a few cat videos that go along with it. The team loves it.

Question 6

How did you get that awesome job?

MEGHAN: I was working as a digital journalist in Seattle and realized I wanted to focus more on the social media aspects of my job. I heard about the Mashable opportunity from a friend of a friend and came in for an interview while I was visiting family in NYC. Three weeks later I had packed up my apartment and moved across the country!

ANDREA: I have to thank Amy Porterfield for that. We were working on the book together, and she recommended me to fill her shoes at SME when she left. I’ve been working for SME for 2 years, and it’s been great. I also do my own programs and consulting at www.andreavahl.com.

YVETTE: Through blogger relations. At my previous position, part of my job was building relationships with bloggers, and that’s how I met Gini. We became friends, and the rest is history. But I do have to thank Heidi Sullivan (SVP at Cision) for pushing me into social media and marketing in the first place!

MICHELLE: I met Lightspan’s founder, Mana Ionescu, at a networking event and followed up with her over and over and over until I finally wiggled my way into an internship. That internship has since turned into two years of quick learning and a challenging job I love!

TIM: I got my job from a Facebook post. It’s true.

AMANDA: I’ll have to give this one to one of my best buddies, John Cooney. He and I worked together at a real estate company before he came to Orbit and recommended me for the job. I met Andy Crestodina, Orbit’s Strategic Director, at John’s birthday party and shortly thereafter I was an Orbiteer. I started in more of a client support position that has slowly evolved into what I’m doing now. It’s been a learn-as-you-go type of role, and I love it. Like I said, no day is the same.

The post 6 Questions for 6 Community Managers appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

They’re often behind the scenes, in the shadow of a more famous celebrity blogger. They rarely get (or take) much credit. But these people make it happen. They’re the keepers of calendars and the champions of quality.

So let’s get to know our local blog editors. We picked our favorite marketing blogs and emailed a few questions to the current and recent editors. Here’s the lineup…

Sonia Simone

Chief Marketing Officer (and co-founder) of Copyblogger Media and publisher of the Copyblogger blog.

Sean Work

Editor of the KISSmetrics blog.

Georgina Laidlaw

Until recently, Georgina was an editor for ProBlogger. She is also a freelance writer.

Russ Henneberry

Until recently, Russ was the editor of Daily Egg, the Crazy Egg blog.

Jess Ostroff

Editor of Convince & Convert. Also (among many other things) Jess is the Director of Calm at Don’t Panic Management.

Jay Kelly

VP – Operations of SME Digital and Editor of Social Media Explorer

Question 1.

As the editor of a blog, how do you spend most of your time?

SONIA: Planning out content — getting the balance right, working with writers to develop ideas, and keeping an ear to the ground to find out what readers are most interested in. That and cutting extra words.

SEAN: Emailing

GEORGINA: When I was editor atProBlogger, my time was divided between fielding submissions and editing those we’d accepted. We published about 15 pieces a week then, so there was a lot of editing, but also a lot of submission review.

JESS: Vetting guest post ideas, scheduling new content, and editing, editing, editing! You’d be surprised at how unpolished some of our posts are before they get through the system.

RUSS: I used to spend most of my time working with articles that came in and heavily editing them to ensure their success.  I have realized that it is a far better use of my time to find good people and work directly with them to understand the audience, generate article topics and train them on the style and formatting that works well on the blog.

JAY: I am fortunate in that most of our contributors do not require heavy edits, however I do spend a lot of time formatting posts and selecting pull quotes for aesthetic purposes. I also spend a good bit of time researching and reaching out to potential new authors.

Question 2.

What really pisses you off about your job? Anything?

SONIA: Comment spam. If I say one more word about it, I’m going to start to curse.

SEAN: Unnecessarily long emails. I really value “straight to the point” emails because it helps me get through my day faster.

GEORGINA: The thing that always gets to me about editing is that I’m a writer, so while there’s a level of satisfaction involved in editing, it always ended up being outweighed by frustration. This is why I left a regular editing job to be a freelance writer, and why I stopped working on ProBlogger as a freelance editor this year: because ultimately I wanted to focus on writing.

JESS: Dealing with Jay Baer all the time. Just kidding! It pisses me off when people ask to contribute to the site but then ask ME what I want them to post about. I also hate when people don’t read the directions in our guest blogging guidelines and contact forms. Reading directions is a really important skill, and we often ignore submissions that don’t follow our instructions.

RUSS: One word: trolls.

JAY: My biggest pet peeve is when a guest blogger takes the time to prepare a compelling post, then does not monitor or respond to comments.

Question 3.

Guest posting has become super popular.  Any suggestions for guest bloggers on how to pitch a post?

SONIA: Know the blog! *Really* know it. Write for the blogs you love, not the ones you think will be most “strategic.” Because the ones you love are also the ones you’ll get the greatest value from in the long run.

SEAN: Don’t just pitch posts for backlinks. Show that you’re an authority on a particular topic – it will go a long way…

GEORGINA: My main piece of advice would be to get to know the blog before you pitch. So many people wasted so much time (theirs and mine) by pitching inappropriate posts to ProBlogger. Also, provide detail in your pitch, so the editor knows exactly what you’ll cover. The more work you put into your pitch, the easier it’ll be to write the post—and make it relevant to the host site’s readership.

JESS: Show me that you’ve actually read the blog and know our audience. If you offer an idea that we JUST wrote about, that is too basic for our readers, or has nothing to do with our preferred topics, you’re doing it wrong. On the other hand, pitching an idea on how you can enhance a specific topic that we frequently write about or offer a creative take on something we haven’t touched upon is always a good way to go.

RUSS: Firstly, understand that most blog editors LOVE guest bloggers… if they are good.  Here’s how to be good at the pitch:

The first thing I am looking for is ANY indication that you have ANY idea what this blog is about.  If the pitch looks like a canned email — I don’t even respond.  Start with something like “I read the article ‘XYZ Article Title’ and really enjoyed it. I think I have an idea for an article that your readers will really love.  Would you be interested in that?”

Also, in the initial email provide links to articles on your own blog or other blogs that you have written that are comparable to what you aim to write for the target blog.

That’s it.  Keep it short and personalized to each individual blog.  If the editor is interested they will reply back that they would like to discuss your article idea. These are the kind of pitches that make blog editors smile.

JAY: Guest bloggers are a great way to get additional perspective on issues.  What I am typically looking for is something that pushes the envelope on thinking.  If you are pitching something like “5 Tips on Using Twitter” or a basic how-to idea, chances are good that I won’t publish it.

Question 4.

Have you ever published something you didn’t agree with?

SONIA: I try hard not to do that. I will say that I’m still not 100% convinced by Sean’s position in this post: There is No ROI in Social Media Marketing.

SEAN: Maybe? Can’t really remember off the top of my head. We do A LOT of publishing over at KISS. Usually, if I think someone is giving incorrect information I will make it correct or I will ask someone who knows more about the topic.

GEORGINA: Yes! As a non-technical editor of brand blogs, I’ve frequently published content I don’t personally agree with, but which represents common or popular practice. I’m not a specialist in all areas of blogging, so at some points you need to trust your writers.

JESS: Honestly, not really. I really believe in the stance that Convince & Convert takes when it comes to no hype marketing and that vision holds true when we’re publishing content from other people as well.

RUSS: I certainly don’t publish articles that I don’t agree with because they are factually inaccurate but I will absolutely publish something I disagree with that is debatable.  I have published marketing advice that I disagree with philosophically, strategically and tactically but there must be proof.  As Edward Deming said “In God we trust; all others must bring data.”

JAY: Fortunately, I have never been in the position where I’ve been faced with publishing something that I have flat out disagreed with.  The beauty of being an editor is that through our contributors, I have the opportunity to expand my knowledge base and see issues from different points of view.

Question 5.

How far in advance to you schedule your content?

SONIA: Typically 2-3 weeks, but there’s always a certain amount of last-minute juggling.

SEAN: Usually a couple of weeks. However there is a constant game of musical chairs being played every week :)

GEORGINA: At ProBlogger I scheduled between 2 and 4 weeks in advance. That sounds like a lot, but we received a stack of submissions on a constant basis, and my years editing other sites before that one proved to me that a big buffer is a good buffer—especially when you’re the only one working on content. It’s important to have the flexibility to drop things in as you need to, and to remain current, but it’s also important from a professionalism and consistency standpoint to maintain a regular schedule of high quality posts.

JESS: I usually try to have things scheduled the week before they publish, but sometimes it doesn’t happen until the day before depending on when the content is received. For guest posts, we’re often scheduled out anywhere from 3 weeks to 6 weeks in advance, although final formatting doesn’t usually happen until the week before. If I have the time, I’ll get a bunch of them edited and scheduled weeks in advance, but finding that kind of time is a luxury :)

RUSS: My writers often have ideas in the queue as much as 3 months ahead.  Our blog does not attempt to cover things that are necessarily timely or news oriented (a la Mashable) so we are able to stay away from having to be responsive to the latest newsflash.  Finished (or close to it) content is usually scheduled two weeks ahead.

JAY: I schedule out three months as far as who is responsible for posts on particular days, and begin reviewing ideas.  I request their final drafts the Sunday before the post is scheduled to run.  Typically Sunday evening and Monday morning are spent scheduling posts for the week.

Bonus Question:

How did you land that awesome job?

SONIA: I was incredibly tenacious and I made myself incredibly useful. I’ve found that’s a good combination.

SEAN: Being a henchman for Neil Patel back in the day. I managed his SEO agency while he flew around the world doing deals. I went on to start O.C. Search Consulting  and he came back at me with an “offer I couldn’t refuse”.

GEORGINA: I landed the job through a referral. The Blogging Ninja (Shayne Tilley) was a friend of Darren’s, and when Darren needed an editor, Shayne very kindly recommended me! Darren and I met and discussed the site and his plans, and the rest is history.

JESS: I interned for one of Jay’s interactive agencies back in 2007 when I was still in college. He graciously allowed me to be his virtual assistant at the end of 2009, and my responsibilities have grown ever since! I think proving that I was extremely detail-oriented and somewhat of a grammar snob has served me well.

RUSS: I got this wonderful job by writing and being in the trenches.  I think it’s hard to gain the expertise need to be a true teacher (which is what a lot of bloggers are) without both honing your skills as a writer and doing the grunt work of your industry.  In my case this meant developing, executing and measuring the marketing for real businesses.

JAY: I run the operations side of SME Digital (the agency division of Social Media Explorer) and I fell into this position when Jason accepted a new role with Café Press.  It has been trial by fire for me, but he had established a pretty well-oiled machine that I was able to jump right into.

Wrap It Up

Let’s wrap up this round up with a few observations.

• These people are busy. Don’t waste their time. If you’d like to partner with them, do your homework first.
• They know what they’re doing. They’ve seen it all before. They’re job is to keep quality high. Of course, spammers make them cranky.

Huge thanks to the blog editors who participated. You guys deserve more credit. I really believe that. And by the way, the answers you provided required no editing at all. Not a comma out of place, naturally…

The post 6 Questions for 6 Blog Editors appeared first on Social Media Explorer.