Mahalo page managers, how do you get fresh ideas, links, etc to keep your pages new and interesting?
Please share examples of new idea sources you have tapped into and the pages you are updating or creating with those ideas. If you are not having much luck, try the following and see if it helps.
Where do you begin? With your actual page(s).
1. Read the pages you link to for ideas not represented on you page and follow some of their links, you never know where you will end up.
2. Review the recent content of the blogs.
3. Review the news articles.
4. Review and the Mahalo Answers/Questions.
5. Review the Tweets.
Not finding enough information? The next step is to start subscribing to RSS feeds for topics related to your pages. This will be easier if you have pages that are closely related in subject matter. The more topics you cover, the more daunting this task becomes.
1. Set up an RSS Reader account. I use: http://www.google.com/reader
a. Subscribe to the best blogs 1-3 blogs about your topic
b. Subscribe to key words on Delicious or Twine or other social bookmarking site.
c. Subscribe to newsletters
2. Follow the best Tweeters on Twitter.
3. Read lots of magazines and newspapers
4. Read a book
5. Goolge Search - Site:Mahalo.com 'your page keyword' To see if new How To's or related pages have been created on Mahalo.
If you make a habit of reviewing new information in your topic areas each day, I have no doubt that you will not only have ideas for updating your current pages, but also have ideas for new pages and How To's you want to develop.
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M$6 Answers
And of course I wade through all the links and pictures on my pages, and delete the ones that are not interesting.
Plus, I try to add something special, if I can. For my avatar page, I went to the 15 minute preview of the movie, and wrote an impression on it. I try to add questions through twittersearch, and answer those questions, sometimes with a link to my page.
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M$1. Add news. If there's a big news story (as determined by the "News" section on the page), I usually add a second paragraph to the guide note about it. Whether or not there's a new breaking story, I remove the second paragraph if there's already one there, after a few weeks.
2. Moderate. If an image is irrelevant, I delete it. The same goes for videos and links.
3. Clean up the Mahalo Top 7 (if there is one). Usually I put a news story as at least one of the links in the top 7 (although, it's usually lower unless it's a really popular story).
4. Add a featured object, or change the featured object.
5. I add a section to the sidebar. On some of the software pages I manage, I've added a "Timeline" section, to keep track of major releases.
That's usually how I update the pages I manage. If they're how to pages, I usually find myself just editing them (checking for spelling/grammar issues), or adding a featured object.
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M$
Do you have any favorite blogs or newsletters that you subscribe to feed you with news and ideas outside of Mahalo?
For the most part, yes. Alltop is a great place to find blogs & other feeds to subscribe to which could be relevant.
very important to keep that guide note fresh.. but i usually move that second paragraph down lower on the page as a section...
for an example see Cash for Clunkers Extended. all the old news was still relevant and showed the progression, but no longer needed to be in the guide note.
Great answer! I nominated you for Answer of the Day. Help win by voting for your nomination here http://www.mahalo.com/answers/mahalo-contests/august-26-answer-of-the-day-contest
http://www.mahalo.com/michael-jackson-movie
I was also searching the Internet using the browser search engine when I came across a relevant blog http://www.jhoard.com/ from our own Jeff Hoard!
in this blog post http://www.jhoard.com/2009/07/mahalo-next-wikipedia.html
There may be more blog posts in there that can give you insights into how Mahalo works to give you more perspective on your own pages.
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
Have you thought of subscribing to topics through an RSS reader? Then you get a a nice list at the frequency you select. If you see interesting things, you can proceed with reading and then possible subscribing to them also.
Thanks @emailuser42. Glad to hear you get information from Twitter. One of the ideas I was hopping would take hold is the idea of having the internet serve page managers with information, rather than page managers feeling the need to check in at so many sites. Most every site with lots of new posts has ways to subscribed to RSS feeds for posts on any topic you want to follow.
I see your most successful page is How to start a small business. You must have more than enough information to build on that page or create lots of new regular and How To pages that relate to starting and managing a small business. A dozen or so excellent small business pages linked to your 'How to..' page could really get you some cash flow.
Thank you for the suggestion. It is now linked to my pages and I will refer to it if I ever run out of ideas. So far, since I have started the pages there has been so much information available to put in the pages, that I have had no need to look for more ideas because I already do not have time to post all of the ideas that I do find. Your question certainly should fill the gap for those who are looking for more ideas though. I already have automatic electronic sources set up with Twitter and I find that gives me plenty in addition to the other news and web search sources I am using but thanks anyway. If I read even more sources of information I would not have time to post as much as I do on the pages and that would be heading backwards I think.
Thanks for the great ideas! :)
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M$
i decided to do burlington massachussetes because thats where im from and where i live
How did you decide to manage the Burlington Massachusetts page? I grew up in Massachusetts. I've done my share of shopping at the Burlington Mall. Are you considering creating or claiming more Massachusetts pages?
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M$1. look at the news links on your page for news you didn't include as a text paragraph yet
2. google your term then look in the results for the little news section... it will hopefully have relevant news for your page (i'm often surprised by what i find... even the term "batteries" had a breaking news story)
3. then look at the rest of the google search results on the first page of SERPs for other sites that can either be linked to or give you more sources for information
4. if videos came up in the SERPs, go check them out and see if they are relevant
5. go to you tube and search for your keywords... not just the main page subject. i'm often surprised with the results i get here. (even business class airline tickets had an appropriate video)
6. look at related Mahalo pages and click through some of their links to see if you can find more content
7. go to wikipedia and look up your topic... browse the information to see if anything could be added to your page, then go to the bottom and look at their sources. they are a goldmine for you in many cases.
8. use a keyword tool to look for popular related keywords and do all the things mentioned above for your related keywords...
personal experience
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M$
You manage so many pages, jhave you thought of subscribing via RSS to some of the top blogs, newsletters, bookmark tags and such? I'm starting to see some good stuff for my pages off of Twine and Blog feeds. Then you just bookmark them with an appropriate tag and you have a scrubbed list of new items for your page.
thanks for the additional info. it is definitely something i will be looking in to.
i have plans for blogs... not ready for that yet. but the feeds are something i can do much sooner and will help build out the pages.
when i'm ready to promote them i'll look into the blogs more. no time to participate there now. and i agree that you should become a part then give valid input. =)
thanks again for the specific info. i'm making a note of those feeds.
I appreciate your interest. I use Google Reader on-online to keep it simple. I've been subscribing to Newsletters for Semantic web, blogs for sewing and fabric, Google Alerts for my page topics(not as fruitful as I'd like), Wolfram Alpha, and lots of other stuff.
By using the reader, you determine the folder your feeds will be listed in so you don't end up with a giant inbox of stuff. I did find when I first ventured into Subscribing to RSS feeds, I over did it. Pressing the little RSS icon is way to easy. I learned quickly which feeds were good and put the rest into my trash can.
Managing feeds is very easy, you just delete feeds you don't want to subscribe to anymore. No need to go back to originating web site. Once you start subscribing, you will constantly find more stuff to subscribe to. Test something new for a couple of weeks, if its too much noise, delete it.
I have also been finding some interesting links by being on Twine. It is semantic web driven social bookmarking. I have promoted my initial Mahalo pages there and in turn, the updates from Twine have given me new ideas for my pages.
When @lon says to be 'authentic', I take that is belonging to a community to serve it and allowing it to occasionally serve you. Subscribing to blogs and other feeds allows me to participate in the natural flow, so when I post a link to a Mahalo page that may be helpful, it is not out of the blue.
From the wonderful folks at Commoncraft, RSS in plain English:
i really haven't looked at feeds yet, i do use google alerts. i'd be interested in more information on how you are using them, what aggregator you use, etc.
i've taken over a lot of pages that need work, so i'll be very busy in the next few weeks... every tool i can use to streamline is appreciated. =)
google alerts can be very helpful. be prepared to spend some time going through the results you get. well worth it for hard to find subjects.
Have you considered to subscribing to more feeds?
Do you have your feeds come to e-mail or to an RSS reader like Google Reader?