Before there was MySpace or Facebook there was social media. It wasn’t exactly called social media, but the concept was there.
Blogging.
Blogging can be called social media, or social networking, because it enables the owner of the blog to do a few things. Connect with readers in a more personal way, socialize through blog networks, and even meet other bloggers at blogging type events. Blogging was social media before social media became cool.
Social media networking is usually connected with websites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or MySpace. Websites, like blogs, are not usually counted among the social aspect. However, as I just said there are some social networking aspects to blogs.
Community. I feel the biggest idea, or principle, that has come out of all the new social media marketing stuff is the idea that community is powerful. When you can align yourself with a wide circle of “friends”, and engage in meaningful, and beneficial, conversations with them you are building a community. This community helps you in several ways.
Marketing your products and services through word of mouth by your blogs readers. Link back to your website, blog, or landing pages from your communities blogs. Free traffic by leaving comments on blogs you frequent. Added income by selling your services and products from other bloggers recommendations. Priceless exposure of your brand. Friendships that transcend distance.
Mutual Help. It’s amazing the people you can come into contact with through websites like Facebook or Twitter. I’ve met literally hundreds of people who do the type of things that I need help with. When I have a question, need work done, or have a client who needs help… I know who to go to.
Blogging does the same thing. Through comments left on your blog you can begin visiting other websites and, as an added benefit, begin building your online rolodex of other service providers. Through comments left on my blogs I have also met up with people who I can recommend or use myself for other projects. Likewise, once a relationship is started and you are connecting, they will also come to you when they need something or need a product to recommend.
People Contact. One of the things about online marketing is that it can become a very solitary, lonely existence. You get up in the morning (or afternoon depending on what time you got to bed the night before) and sit at the computer for a day of keeping up with newsworthy items to blog about. The comments that are left, and the interaction that develops from it, creates a way for human (kind of) contact. While it may be through email, IM, or Skype at first, it can turn into great relationships with meetups at events and other gatherings.
Wide Variety For Stimulation. Blogs bring stimulation of the mind. And the immense variety of blogs contributes a great deal to that stimulation. My Google Reader is full of blogs that cover everything from sports, news, homeschooling, movies, bodybuilding, blogging, and social media. There are currently over 800 RSS feeds that I keep track of and I am adding new ones all the time. I don’t necessarily read each entry ( I hit the “Mark All As Read” button a lot), but I do try to spend time through the day skimming headlines. This helps kick the brain cells in gear and helps me with topics and newsworthy items.
The two go hand in hand.
Social media needs a central hub. A base of operations so to speak. A place where everything comes together for an ends to the time spent with social networking. A blog, or blogs, is the perfect place.
Perfect place for people to know who the heck you are. Your About Me page is a great place where people who want to know more about you can do so with a little more information than a little blurb in a bio or profile.
Use that page as the basis for entry into your social media activities.
Perfect place to establish reputation. When people “friend” or “follow” you they will want to know more about what you do, or what you can do. Where can they find that out? Your blog.
What will usually happen is that the new friend will read through your posts, get to know who you are, and feel comfortable with you and your networking.
Perfect place for listing all your social networks. You can pretty much list a lot of your social networks in several places. Sites like FriendFeed, SocialMedian, and SecondBrain allow you to do that. But, a blog allows you to be able to put all your social networking activity in once place where people can see every place they can connect with you without having to search several different sites.
What do you think? How does your blog fit into your social media activities? How do you use the two in your marketing efforts? Leave a comment below and lets get the conversation started.
It was only a matter of time before it had to happen.
A way to monetize with Twitter has been developed by a European company called Magpie. The idea is much like that of ads showing up in blog posts. You give permission to Magpie to gain access to your Twitter account and they in turn pay you when they tweet an ad that advertisers pay them for.
At first thought I was a little, no… make that very skeptical of such a thing. But, the more I think about it and check out in my own Twitter timeline just how intrusive it is, I have decided to give it a try. The set up is painless and incredibly quick.
The first thing is to get a quick estimate of how much you could possible earn with Magpie. From there you give Magpie your Twitter password and you’re rockin’.
Once Magpie has access you can then set up what intervals you would like the Magpie adds to show. You can choose to have them sent out every other tweet or in between every twenty tweets. There are also other options like after every five, or ten, tweets. I think this will really help with the number of Magpie tweetads that show up.
It’s easy to distinguish the Magpie tweets from the regular tweets also as each one will begin with #magpie . From the estimates that Magpie gave me, it seems that you can probably make $400 to $500 (USD) a month if you are a heavy user and have a good sized following.
Only time will tell. I am trying it out right now on a trial basis to see if I begin to lose followers because of it. I’m a little worried that people (spammers) will crawl all over this and inundate Twitter with a bunch of useless tweets just to get to the #magpie. Or, regular Twitter users will begin to drastically increase their own Twitter use for the same reason, thus causing Magpie to go bankrupt or out of business.
I’m sure that there are going to be people who will be pretty upset about this and will unfollow those who sign up for this revenue stream. I even thought that too when I first found out about it. However, if things are kept to a 20 tweet per 1 ad ratio I don’t see how that could be all that intrusive.
But, like I said… time will tell.
In the realm of social media marketing there are certain things you absolutely must do. You can’t get away with cutting corners and leaving anything out. Kind of like breathing… you have to do it. If you don’t, you die.
Social media marketing is, of course, more important than breathing.
Seriously, in today’s online marketing world, if you are not utilizing the powerful medium that is social media you are on life support until someone decides to pull the plug. With that in mind, there are a few things, well… ten things, that you absolutely, positively must do.
1.) Be real. You don’t have to try and be someone that you’re not. You are into social media to grow your network, meet interesting people, and be involved. So, you don’t have to try and hide behind a great than life persona. Whatever you share make sure it’s you and from your heart.
2.) Be involved. It really doesn’t do any good to market your website if you just create an account and put up a quick profile at each social marketing website. You must be actively engaged with the people you are following or friending. This is something I have learned the hard way.
I made the mistake of believing that an account at Ping.fm would help me update all my social media websites. What it did was actually alienate me and put up a wall. I have been working to tear down that wall and become more active on each of the websites. You should learn from my mistake. Don’t try to automate everything. Be involved and active with each of the sites, and each of your friends.
3.) Have a plan for your social activity. There is no way you will be able to keep track of all your social networking and activity if you do not have a social plan. Let me repeat that…. there is no way you will EVER be able to keep track of all your social networking and activity if you do not have a social plan. I can not emphasize that enough.
4.) Have fun with it! I love social media. I think it’s absolutely amazing. However, I don’t think I would like it so much if it felt too much like work. Yes, I have a schedule to make sure that tasks get completed, but I have fun doing it. It’s fun to reply on Twitter. It’s fun to write on someone’s wall and encourage them. It’s fun to update with funny little posts. I don’t want social media to begin feeling like a job.
A lot of people are just plain boring. They don’t add any applications to their Facebook account, only have an account at Twitter disregarding any other micro blog sites, and unfollow people at the drop of a hat. That’s too restricting. Open up a little and have some fun.
5.) Interlink as much as possible. Great you have a Facebook account. Now you can add the Twitter application which connects the two and updates Facebook automatically when you post to Twitter. That’s what I call interlinking. Think of it as a wheel with a bunch of different spokes. Each one is connected to the middle hub, but are a little different in their own right. Choose a main hub. Could be our blog or a social network like Facebook. Then start interlinking… connecting each one together with the main hub, and each other, as much as you can.
6.) Take advantage of third party applications to help you save time. Yes, it takes a lot of time to keep up with each social network and update consistently. Even monitoring each one, even with a FriendFeed account, can take up time. That’s where the abundance of third party applications come in handy. Most are built using Adobe AIR and can be used right from your desktop.
Applications like Twhirl, Tweetdeck, and Facedesk are great ways to keep things updated without actually visiting each site.
7.) Remember that you’re dealing with people and not robots. When writing articles and website content you can get away with using a keyword a few times at the beginning, middle, and end to help with search engine rankings. People know that and when they read and article, or visit your website, they tend to accept it. However, don’t think that will work on your social networks. Treat people like what they are…. real people. They are not robots, but actual people who could be interested in what you have to offer.
8.) Give More Than You Receive. One of the biggest temptations of social networking is to put things on autopilot and just update with blog posts, new ezine issues, latest affiliate product, or newest service. Really, we’re only doing what we’ve been trained to do. For years the cry has been “automation, automation, automation!”, while you go about doing other things. Social media should never be automatic.
With that in mind, one of the things to remember is to always be looking for ways that you can *give* as opposed to receiving. Try to give answers to questions, links to relevant websites (not your own), solutions to problems, encouragement and praise, and perhaps even mentions of what other people are doing, and connecting others together. Doing this shows that you’re not just there to “get”. You’re there to be a functional part of the community.
9.) Do unto others as you would have done unto you. I have a personal policy that when someone follows me at any of the different social networking websites I will also follow them. It really doesn’t matter if I know them or not. I still follow.
This is a personal preference, but I do feel it’s very important to your overall marketing efforts. There are those that don’t feel its necessary to follow everyone and attribute it to some reason or another. However, I think they are missing out. The opportunities that are lost by not following people is tremendous. Each new person means a new idea, a possible partner, a possible new client.
Now, there is another side to this also. When you follow, or friend, someone you would like them to also respond in kind. After all, how can you build a community if everything is all one sided?
10.) Be consistent. I have to admit that this one has been my problem as of late. Life has a way of getting in the way and, even though we have the best intentions, some things have to give way. However, it doesn’t make being consistent any less important.
Staying consistent is the only way that you will be able to keep your name, your brand, your website in front of the people who decided to follow you, or friend you, in the first place. Staying consistent isn’t one dimensional either. There are many facets to consistency in your social marketing.
What I hope you’ve been able to see through this list of “Do’s” is that marketing with social media is more than just a long list of to-do items. It’s about your interaction within your social media circles.
When you enter into social marketing with the mindset that if you do this and that then you’re going to see amazing results, you’ll see a much different picture unfold. However, when you are a real person, who gives more, and interacts on a consistent basis you’ll see increased traffic and loyal customers.
Give these “do’s” a try. Let me know how things are progressing.
I’ve been told recently that there are in the area of around 3,000 social networking websites on the internet now. Probably by next week there will be countless more. That’s a crazy number. It’s a little overwhelming and can scare someone away from engaging in social media and might even discourage those who already are.
Are you suppose to join every one? Do you have to set up a new profile in over 3,000 websites? When can you ever find the time to keep up each network?
The good news is that a lot of those 3,000 are focused niche networking sites. For example, if you’re not into real estate you probably wouldn’t want to join a real estate agent networking website. By focusing on your niche you can really narrow the scope of the social networks you might be interested in.
However, that could still be quite a large number. Should you join each one in your niche? You could possibly be looking at hundreds of websites where you feel obligated to set up an account and post regularly to. Way too much. You’d never have the time to keep up with each one. And you’d definitely never have a life. I’m sure your family would love you.
So what do you do? You start out small and work your way up.
Social media can be extremely broad in scope and it can be very focused. You can join websites that cater to everything under the sun, and/or you could join networks that only deal with very focused niches. Either way you’re plugged in. But, for maximum effectiveness I would have to go with a little bit of both. But, where do you start? What networks should you be a part of?
Here’s ten that I think are essential no matter what your niche is.
1. Facebook. Probably the most important of all of the social networking websites. At least in my humble opinion. There is just too much you can do here to establish your identity, brand, and expertise.
2. Twitter. Without a doubt, Twitter has revolutionized the way that social networking is done. It’s quick, clean, and immediate. In fact, the power of Twitter is so powerful that some have been wanting to ban the use of it. In a networking sense, Twitter is only surpassed by Facebook in effectiveness.
3. LinkedIn. The last of what I call the ‘Big Three’, LinkedIn is a great way to connect with people in the same niche as well as find others who do work you might need.
4. FriendFeed. I really like what is going on over at the social media aggregator Friendfeed. It’s a great concept that enables you to keep track of what’s going on at a bunch of other networks without actually visiting them. I follow people who have their Twitter updates, Plurk updates, blog posts, things they’ve shared on Google, Tumblr, YouTube and other social feeds and I don’t have to visit them. It’s all in once place. It’s also integrated into Facebook which keeps your Facebook friends tapped into what you’re doing.
5. YouTube. Not your typical social media website, but a very powerful one. I haven’t really dabbled into video yet (although there really isn’t any excuse anymore with the cost of cameras like the Flip Video Mino Series Camcorder
6. StumbleUpon. This social bookmarking site is a great way to get to know people who are interested in the same things that you are. It’s also a great way to get people to see your website and even “stumble” your pages. If you’re not spending at least an hour a week working with StumbleUpon you’re missing out on a lot of traffic and social networking.
7. Google Reader. At first glance you would not think that Google Reader is much of a social networking site. However, you can share items from your reader with friends and they, in turn, can share items with you. This is powerful in the fact that you are now able to get more information without actually subscribing to more feeds.
8. SocialMedian. Another website that is a little like StumbleUpon as far as bookmarking goes. Instead of stumbling a site, you “clip” articles that you like so that your followers will see them and be able to clip them also or just read them.
9. Digg. The last couple of social media sites have been those where you share information in the form of sharing, stumbling or clipping. Digg is not that much different, but is still essential. Digg users are fanatic about digging websites and if you digg for them, they will digg for you. A front page listing on Digg can mean thousands of hits to your website.
10. MyBlogLog. Let’s face it. Everyone is blogging. Social media actually got started because of blogging. If you really want to be technical about things, blogging is actually social media networking. You leave comments, you visit other sites, you interlink to other blogs… it’s all a big community. MyBlogLog helps you to be in contact with other bloggers, join their communities, be seen by others, get more traffic. It operates on the same basis as any other site. You find people you want to follow, they follow you back, see your updates, and visit your blog. MyBlogLog is a great way to market your blog and find new ones to follow.
I only listed ten sites that I feel are essential to getting a start in social media marketing. These will help you get your feet wet, try it out, and learn a few things. But, there is so much more out there. I never mentioned Plurk, Disqus, Brightkite, Bloghology, Rejaw, or even MySpace.
You can take a look at those as well, but if you are new to social media, stick to these ten.
Social Media Marketing is the flavor of the year. Since the beginning of ‘08, social networking has taken off and provided marketers, affiliates, service providers, and consultants another avenue for getting the word out about themselves and their websites.
With each new day there are thousands of new people, and businesses, wanting to know how they can get their own social networking presence. Some seek out consultants and experts in this area and some decide to try it on their own. Regardless of the direction that you take, there are some ways to make integrating your marketing into social networking that everyone should put into practice.
Marketing is all about leveraging your exposure with the return on your investment. In social media the investment isn’t an issue of money, but of time. The question you have to ask yourself is not how much money do you want to spend, but how much time do you want to spend.
In social media circles that means setting up active accounts in what I like to call the ‘Big Three‘. Those being Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Facebook is a social networking site where you can get a lot of exposure by sending, and accepting, friend requests with people within your own topic or industry. There are a lot of options, applications, and ways to stay connected (messages, writing on walls, joining groups, blog networks, etc.).
Twitter is the micro-blog that has completely changed the rules of social networking forever. With Twitter you hold conversations with people through 140 character updates. Not only that, but there is a personal side to Twitter. You get to know people, what they do, what they like, and even what they have for dinner every night. By following people, joining in the conversations with replies and consistent updates, you are building a strong image for yourself and your business. The only way to get started with Twitter is to just jump in and start updating and following.
LinkedIn is an incredible website that I believe (because I am one of them) is very underused. It’s basically a website where you can post who you are and what you do and from there begin interacting with others who are in the same field or need someone of your expertise.
Integrate your marketing into social media by setting up accounts in these three websites. They are all connected and work very well together.
If you are looking into social networking for marketing purposes then of course the bottom line is to generate traffic to your website. That doesn’t mean that you flood each of the social websites with a ton of advertisements, group messages, and updates on your newest blog posts. That will get you unfollowed, unfriended, and unconnected in a hurry.
The big attraction of social networking is the social aspect of it. You have people who work at their computers day in and day out with very little outside contact, or at least contact with people who understand what you do for a living, and the social contact is a huge jolt of “I’m not alone!”
Email is one thing, but instant communication is essential on the online world. With email you are expected to send your announcements and ads, but with social media there is a different rule. For example, Facebook has a messaging feature. It’s much like email and you can send a message a few different ways. There is one on one messaging, blast to all friends, and even group messaging. If you were only to contact someone with an impersonal advertising announcement all the time, why would they want to be friends with you? Obviously you’re just taking advantage of the network as another mass broadcast system.
But…. if you were to update regularly with what you’re doing, were sending out personal messages on a one on one basis, actively participating in a few applications, and writing on walls then the occassional advertising messages wouldn’t be so bad. In fact, I might want to see them.
Add a mixture of personality in with the marketing. Be a person not a robot.
Before social media marketing articles were the powerhouse of internet marketing. They still have their place and can bring a tremendous amount of traffic to a website, but the power lies in what the article is all about. Information. Or more to the point… relevant content.
When piecing together your online marketing with social networking it is a big mistake to overlook the power of providing relevant content. Sites like Facebook and Twitter are integral to this and provide great ways to do it.
Facebook is probably the most effective way to do this because you can configure it to work with the other social sites and has several great applications for you to add content.
These are just a few of the ways you can use Facebook to provide information. Get started with these and then spend some time searching for others.
Twitter is just twitter. You have 140 characters to use. You wouldn’t think that would be enough to add relevant content, but it is. The thing I like is that there isn’t any room for fluff. You say what you have to say and no more. You can provide content to Twitter by;
Relevant content can be done in Twitter.
If you have been using social media, or are just beginning to think about it, you can get a good start by using these three little tips. Sign up for Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Be personable as well as marketable. And provide relevant content on a consistent basis.
If you just do those you will be well on your way to the beginnings of a successful social networking marketing campaign.