Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
This webinar already happened, but if you’d like to be updated for our next one – sign up below and we’ll keep you posted!**
Social media is a godsend for small businesses and independent professionals looking for that edge on the Internet. Not only can you make lots and lots of friends, you can promote your business without spending a dime.
That stuff is all fine and good. In this economy, every small business and freelancer is looking for an edge over their competition. But with every new initiative comes its drawbacks.
In this free webinar, we’re going to be diving deep into the upsides and downsides of social media as a whole. We’ll be talking about things like:
- What kind of time commitment you’ll be looking at if you get into social media
- What bottom line return you can expect from your promotional activities
- What sites you should target depending on your market
- What the best way of monitoring your online activity is
- Which tools you should be using in order to market most effectively
So many companies have the misguided notion that social media is about blatant promotion like TV spots and newspaper ads. It’s not. Social media is about interaction. And with interaction comes best practices :0)
This webinar happened Thursday, May 7th at 2:00PM EST. We plan on doing a lot more though, so make sure you sign up for the updates.
To sign up, fill in the form below. You’ll receive a link in your email which’ll let you register for the free show! You’ll also get a bunch of other free stuff like free online classes and ebook downloads!
If there is something you’re looking for specifically explained and gone over, or if you have some burning question lurking deep in your mind, leave it in the comments. I’ll do my best to answer it during the presentation!
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Over the weekend, I had a lazy day. Alright, I had a lazy weekend. I opted to not cut the grass or do pretty much anything… Usually, weekends are when I get caught up on cleaning or running around – but not this last one!
Between Call of Duty 5 and random channel flipping, I found a reality TV show marathon that immediately got my attention. It was WGC Ultimate Gamer.
It’s a mashup of every other reality show on the planet and video games, which is cool. I like watching the top Xbox players on the planet tear it up.
During the first couple episodes, people start talking about alliances. They’re joining teams to watch each other’s backs and help each other out. Almost instantaneously, I thought of social media.
The thing people and businesses often forget about social media is it’s about conversation. It’s about relationships. Succeeding with social media isn’t about blatantly promoting your brand or your products. It’s extending a warm hand and watching out for one another.
Oftentimes, products and links play a role in that. They extend the web experience.
Here are three tips for helping you build relationships through social media:
- Comment on everything
Just like with blogs, if something catches and holds your attention – it’s worth a comment. Let the poster know that you enjoyed the post. Retweet it. Digg it. Stumble it.
Content is getting better and better as more people jump into the game. When I started 6 years ago, good content was hard to find. Now, it’s everywhere. Make sure the blogger or creator knows you’re into it!
- Don’t be afraid to direct message or email the person
Some of the best relationships I have ever made through social media or blogging were started with a quick email saying, “Hey I love your work. Keep it up.”
Don’t be spammy and repeatedly thank them for doing a great job (cuz that gets annoying when you’re on the receiving end). Just let the person know it’s appreciated.
- Sign up for products and email newsletters
A lot of bloggers and content creators offer email newsletters and courses, much like the free e-classes we have here. Sign up for them. 99% of the time, the person keeps an eye on who signs up and it’s great to know you have a community following you.
Let them know it’s appreciated!
Let me know what else you have found to be effective in social media! I’m sure our readers would love to hear your thoughts..
Friday, April 24th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Social media is an unproven discipline. It’s forever changing. A lot of people are jumping into the mix right now, so I’m sure you’re going to start getting bombarded with marketing offers.
The truth is, there’s no magic bullet. If I was to walk in and start shoving Twitter down your throat BEFORE I even knew what you sold, I should be escorted out. Simple as that. But if I were to come in and start by asking you a couple simple questions like what you do and who’s your target market, chances are I am the right person for the job.
Here are 5 things your social media guy/gal should know from the start, without you having to say anything:
- How to pitch bloggers
Blogging is a conversational medium. If you can win over several influential bloggers, the battle is half over. Being that high powered bloggers are in the Internet spotlight, they get incredible amounts of email.
Pitching bloggers requires more of a relationship than anything else. Over the years, I have made a lot of good friends on here. Unfortunately, I don’t get to talk to all of them as much as I would like.
A good social media guy is going to have a strong network of bloggers and probably be a blogger themselves. It’s not required, but relationships are what matters in pitching the blog world.
- How to monitor social media campaigns
Monitoring social media campaigns isn’t like loading up Google Analytics and printing out a couple reports. Once the campaign goes live, it takes on a life of its own.
Your social media expert shouldn’t be looking at Google Alerts for social media monitoring. If they’re reasonably adept, they’re at least going to be tying into the various API’s of the services. They might be getting TweetLater keyword monitor emails.
The really good ones are going to be using Radian6. Radian6 is social media listening software that does a great job of monitoring and letting you react to conversations. We have used it for some of our client’s campaigns and it rocks.
- Strong personal profiles
Strong social media profiles are like portfolios for web designers. If your expert doesn’t have a strong presence online, they aren’t going to get the job done for you either.
The flip side of that is larger social media profiles are going to come with a larger price. If you’re requesting the best of the best, it’s safe to say your marketing budget is going to be severely drained!
- No Ghostwriting
Your expert shouldn’t be willing to write for you. The point of social media is personality and brand awareness. Unless you are going to employ the social media marketer full time and train them up on your culture, he shouldn’t be writing for you.
No one knows your brand better than you do. Why jeopardize that with a silly ghostwriter?
Social media is about bringing you closer to your clients. If you have a ghostwriter do the work, it’s like having a proxy that filters your Internet traffic – you won’t be receiving all of it.
- Social Media Training
This is perhaps my biggest pet peeve. The social media guy should be able to train you. They should show you where to get the tools you’ll need to integrate social media into your work life. If they can’t, they shouldn’t be doing the job.
Whether the training is online based or in person, their should be education in there. If not, they’re simply creating a job for themselves and when they’re all gone, so are your social media profiles!
If you’re looking for some free social media training, click the link. We also offer a free e-class through t
his site too!
Let me know what additions you would make to this list! I’ll be happy to edit the post and give you a link back to your site!
Monday, April 6th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
The deeper I get into social media the more I love it. Sure, 90% of all new visitors are finicky. They would rather stumble on to the next page than read what you have to say. That’s OK.
I get the same way sometimes. It’s that rush. You get that shot of adrenaline right before you see what Stumbleupon picks for you next!
And if you experience what I just described – there are doctors out there. Good ones. :0)
Unfortunately, a lot of marketers treat social media as a dumping ground much the same way they treat television advertising and radio ads. They produce something, get it out to the masses, and forget about it. Their job is done. Why stick around?
In social media – persistence is everything. I’m not talking about hitting a girl you like over the head so that she comes home with you. I’m talking about joining the conversation.
5 (plus some) Must-Dos In Social Media Marketing
- You Must Give To Get.
If you ever want to see any sort of return from social media, you HAVE to give some to get some. That means trolling Twitter and replying to conversations you like. That also means digging a few stories a day that you particularly enjoyed.
If you want traffic from these sources, start by participating in the community…
- Commit A Block Of Time.
Time is valuable. Both to you and the people who follow you. Set aside an hour a day to build friendships through social media. Help promote someone else’s work. Leave a comment on a blog post. Buy an ebook that someone is promoting.
Don’t be afraid to leave a trail.
- Be Transparent.
Be truthful and honest. People are smarter than you think. When you incessantly promote your own work, people will unsubscribe and unfollow pretty quick. Remember, if something is valuable to you, chances are someone else might appreciate it.
- Understand that the Internet is different.
The web is a living, breathing thing. It isn’t newspaper advertising; nor, is it a TV commercial. You can’t control what your message is going to get morphed into. It’s that simple. So be prepared for foul language and someone saying they don’t like your product or anyone associated with it. It happens.
It sucks, but it happens.
- Social Media isn’t an analytics darling.
Contrary to what a lot of marketers will tell you, the true benefits of social media don’t lie in analytics. They lie in branding and promotion.If you land on the front page of Digg, your site will get 50,000 visitors in an afternoon. How many of those people stick around for more than 2 days? Maybe 200.
Instead, think of it as exposure. 50,000 were exposed to your message. The second time they come across it, they might stay. They might buy.When you walk into Macy’s and see a $350 Ralph Lauren jacket, do you immediately buy it? No, you think about it. You visit it again. You check your bank account. You ask your friends. Then you make the purchase two weeks later.
- Be Relevant (from Laurent via the comments)
Because if you’re not, you’re spam and we hate spam.
- Stay consistent (from Chris Brooks via the comments)
Building your business is all about brand recognition and for that to happen you must stay focused on your message and your audience.There are millions of blogs out there and it is tempting to sign up for hundreds, but it is better just to stay grounded and actively participate in only a few that way you can build a following easier because you’re focusing your efforts instead of spreading yourself out too thin.
Another good idea by Seth Godin is to take into consideration the picture you use on your social media sites and what it says about you both personal and professionally.
- Learn, Unlearn, Re- learn (from Ben Hoster via the comments)
Learn – Spend some time up front to understand the basics. Know the technologies, the principles of communication, and the history of social media. Understand what your customers are using to solve their problems today and how your competitors are using social media to solve their problems.
Un-Learn – Whenever social media makes you uncomfortable, write down what it is you “know” is making you nervous. Based on what you “learned”, consider “un-learning” or releasing this orthodoxy. You are going to have to change some of your long-held beliefs to be successful.
Re-Learn – Now that you’ve identified what’s holding you back and created some holes of knowledge to fill, go out and re-learn what you’re missing. You’re obviously approaching advertising differently now, so now go do some research to see what tools and frameworks you need to apply going forward.
Social media marketing will get better. It’s still too new. As more time goes by, there will be more tools that help you slice up the metrics and more services that will be launched. The fact remains, you need to interact. You need to participate.
And there’s no better time than now to get started.
Help me add to this list. What are some must-dos for social media promotion? You get your suggestion in this post and a link to your site!
JD
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Thursday, April 2nd, 2009 at 3:07 pm
Do you remember the old 7up commercials, ‘Image is Everything.’ I never quite understood them in that context. So the actor is drinking 7up. And so some of my friends like 7up.
Who cares?
In business, image IS everything.
So much so that companies are willing to spend millions of dollars every year on branding alone.
When you’re a small shop or a freelancer, you don’t have the ability to spend huge cash on your image or your brand. It doesn’t work like that. What you can do is sell yourself!
Here are 5 Tips to Selling Yourself whether your in front of a bunch of prospects or an old client:
- Count on your experiences
The reason you are in front of the client in the first place is because you know something they don’t. Make sure that they feel that in how you sound and how you act.
Don’t be cocky. Just be sure of yourself.
- Dress the part
Make sure you are dressing for the person you are meeting with. Have an idea of their dress code or what they will most likely be wearing. Some million dollar firms are jeans and T-shirt sorts of companies. Others are shirt and tie. Don’t be caught underdressed but don’t get too carried away in a suit and tie.
- Follow up after the meeting
Make sure you get a business card or find someway to contact them. Within 24 hours, send them a quick ‘Hi, it was nice meeting you today. I would love to help you out with X.’
99% of people don’t do this.
- Speak in terms they will understand
Don’t get jargon’y on them. Use clear and concise language. Show them you know your stuff, but don’t confuse them. Most of the time they are looking for an end result, not the process.
- Come prepared
Put something down on paper about what your meeting concerns. Oftentimes, this might just be an outline of what you are proposing to them. It doesn’t have to be anything concrete; but more like ‘talking points.’If you can get the other party talking about you taking the project, it will most likely happen. It’s a bit like a salesperson letting you test drive a car. If you get behind the wheel, chances are you’ll be driving it home!
Most importantly, make an impression. Give them enough information that they’ll want to work with you – but don’t let them see all the answers. Sometimes that’s easier said than done, but practice makes perfect!
Do you have anything to add to the list? What has worked for you?
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