May 21

7 Great Reasons to Use Social Media

Social Media, Social Media for Business 9 Comments »

picture credit to Brian Solis

Despite the fact that social media is now an accepted form of marketing, there are still many business people who just don’t see the point of it. That’s a shame, because everyone can benefit from online networking and sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, just to name a few.  Today we’re going to look at a few of the best reasons you should be using social media if you aren’t already.

1. It costs nothing. There aren’t a lot of great marketing opportunities out there that cost nothing but time.  You might say “but time is money” true! then go tell a main stream channel to air your commercial in exchange of your time.  Even if you decide to invest some money, it will cost a fraction of what you usually spend on traditional marketing.

2. You have options. If Facebook doesn’t strike you as a great place to network, you don’t have to use it. If Twitter is too chatty for you, look elsewhere. There are literally hundreds of places to network with others and you can choose the ones that suit your marketing and networking style best.

3. Build links for SEO. One of the best ways to get back links is to simply let people know about your latest post or webpage on any social media site. If you have built up a bit of a following and you are offering quality content, you can bet someone will pass the link along and it will likely be bookmarked and blogged about or added to a list.

4. Social media is here to stay. You can ignore it for as long as you want, but the fact is that people are interactive and love the interactivity of the internet. That’s not going to go away, so if you really want to boost marketing, social networking will have to become part of your campaign.

5. You get instant feedback. Since most social media sites operate in real time, you will be able to connect with others instantly and get results back on your marketing efforts. This can be a great way to test campaigns before you move into paid advertising.

6. Make online and offline business contacts. This goes both ways. You can stay in touch with those you meet offline by contacting them through social media sites and you can meet people from online connections in offline tradehows, conferences and meetings, making your meet-ups much more productive since you already know each other.

7. Boost your brand. Every business needs to focus on branding and the internet allows you to do that very easily. You can ensure that your brand is well-known throughout the internet just by using the various social outlets that exist. Having a website and blog is also helpful, of course, but interacting with others online is a great way to increase public recognition.

Social media is a useful resource for any business and it is certainly not going anywhere. If anything, it is becoming more refined and more valuable, so now is a good time to get into it.

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May 18

10 Bookmarking Sites for News Stories

Beginner's Track, Social Media Classroom 7 Comments »

image credit to relativity corp

Social bookmarking sites are extremely popular, thanks to their ability to zap your site with hundreds of new visitors. The rush that comes from seeing that spike of short-lived traffic can be addictive, but how do you ensure that you get a continuous stream of that kind of traffic? The best method is to submit news stories to social bookmarking sites.  Here are 10 that I think are well worth submitting to.

  1. Slashdot. This site is mainly for bookmarking technical posts and sites, so if you run one, make sure your posts are submitted to this site.
  2. Digg. No news bookmarking list would be complete without Digg. Here you can submit news on many topics and if it’s good and appeals to the users (mostly college age males), you will see a steep increase in traffic.
  3. I am bored. Like the title says, this is for those who are bored and surfing the net. While regular news won’t make it onto the list, if you have something weird and wonderful, it could be the perfect fit.
  4. Propeller. If you have a breaking news story, particularly in the area of tech, you can bookmark it here.
  5. Newsvine. Like the name says, this is a good place to spread the news that you are sharing. Users can set up a blog on the site and this offers even more exposure for your links and business.
  6. Newscloud. This social bookmarking site works in a similar way as Newsvine, with blogs for each user.
  7. Hugg. For those who have a business with an environmental focus, Hugg is a news site that mainly focuses on the environment, though they do have other categories that you can submit stories to.
  8. C2NN. Here is a social bookmarking site that is hopping. The focus here is on business, environment and politics with a healthy doze of bizarre news thrown in.
  9. Now Public. If you’re going to use this site, be sure that you have some real news, since they are looking for journalistic stories by users around the world.
  10. Stirr’dup. This bookmarking site is particularly focused on politics, entertainment, news and technology. Have a story that fits? Send it in.

There are literally hundreds of social bookmarking sites out there. That doesn’t mean that you should be using them all. When you have some news, it’s a good idea to stick to just news sites, as opposed to only your niche sites. News is something that everyone can enjoy and it will help you build links, as well as gain a better reputation.

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Nov 19

7 Questions When Planning Social Media Strategies

Beginner's Track, Social Media Classroom 6 Comments »

Ivan WalshSocial media is such a useful tool for businesses, but many business owners end up doing it wrong. They try very hard to fit social media into their preconceived ideas of business marketing and end up failing miserably. The reason for this? Social media isn’t your normal marketing technique.

Traditionally, marketing was something that was presented to people. However, these days, things are far more interactive. Rather than presenting a corporate front, which no one pays much attention to, you will find that offering the people behind the business is something that far more potential customers will respond to.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself when getting started in social media as a marketing tool.

  1. Who do you want to talk to? Potential clients is a pretty obvious answer, but narrow it down. What are your potential clients interested in? Are they parents? Singles bringing in a six figure income? Get specific and it will be easier to find your target market online.
  2. What are they talking about? You won’t win any friends by jumping into conversations that you don’t understand, so check out what these people are discussing on social media sites first. Then decide if you can talk about the same things.
  3. What can you bring to the conversation? If you leap in and start advertising, no one will follow you. Social media is like talking to your friends at the Christmas party about what you do. You discuss other things and if they ask, you mention what you do. If they have a problem, you might offer a solution that involves your business.
  4. Who is going to be the face of social media? You may have more than one person in your business doing this, but the important thing is to be consistent. You want to make sure that your business is always being presented in a good way, with plenty of interaction.
  5. When can we mention our product? This is particularly important if you have more than one person doing the social media for your site. You want to lay basic groundrules for when you should be able to mention the product and when to avoid it.
  6. How can we encourage participation? Interactivity is key in social media marketing. If you want people to trust your brand, you’ll need to get them interacting with you. This will also encourage people to spread the word about your company, too.
  7. What is success in social media? Define what your success is before you start your social media plan. This helps keep everyone on track and will let you know when you have reached the goals you wanted to meet.

It’s important not to just jump into social media for marketing purposes without taking the time to plan. You should have a strategy in place or it will be very difficult to decide just what you’re doing. Plan ahead and you’ll rapidly meet your goals.

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Oct 12

Networking With Your Social Media Followers

Social Media 6 Comments »

FollowersWhile it’s nice to have a lot of followers or friends on social media . . . what are you doing to leverage the power that comes with that many followers? Are you making the best use of those who are interested enough in what you have to say that they are willing to listen to everything?

For many, social media is a place to make friends and hang out. That’s fine, but if you’re running a business, it’s also the perfect place for a little marketing. That doesn’t mean you have to be pushy, but if you aren’t letting people know what you do for a living and how you can help them, then you’re missing a big opportunity.

What are some ways you can start optimizing all that potential power? Here are a few ideas to get you started.

  • Offer solutions. One of the advantages of social media is that people complain. If they have a problem and you have the solution, not only will you help them out and gain a fan . . . chances are the word of mouth function will work for you, too. Soon, people you don’t know at all will know what you do.
  • Mention your business at least once a day. You don’t have to go all out and say stuff like, “Buy from me NOW!” However, a well placed tweet about what you are up to works just as well and is not so pushy. Something like, “Writing copy for my new motocross website” lets people know what you are up to in a manner that is completely acceptable.
  • Ask others to retweet important info relating to your industry. Not surprisingly, a number of your followers, fans or friends on social media will be members of the same industry, so getting them to retweet information will reach a large number of potential clients. Offering news is also an excellent method of non-pushy marketing.

What are you doing to maximize the potential of your followers?

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Aug 18

How to Increase Your Blog Traffic

Beginner's Track, Social Media Classroom 3 Comments »

It’s rare to find a blogger who doesn’t want more traffic to their blog. However, it’s not always easy to get people to show up on your site and many bloggers get frustrated quickly when they realize that after a month or more of writing, they still only have 30 hits a day.

The thing about blogs is that there are unlimited numbers of them. You need to really stand out to ensure traffic and it is going to take some hard work if you want to be a successful blogger. Are you ready to dig in and work for your traffic? Then here are some steps to follow.

1. Start with a great topic. If you are writing about the mating habits of the Peruvian Giant Centipede, you have a limit as to how many people will read your blog. That’s not to say narrow topics aren’t good, but try to pick one that not only interests you, but plenty of other people, as well.

2. Get into the forums. By going where your readers are, you’ll be able to interact with them. You can respond to other people’s questions and if you are leaving great responses and being helpful, you can bet they will want to read more about you. Just make sure you follow the rules for dropping links to your blog.

3. Yahoo! Answers. This is a fairly underused technique, but it can actually be very effective. If you go to Yahoo! Answers, you’ll be able to offer people some quality solutions to their problems, leaving your URL as the source. Anyone who reads your answer will be able to click through, but the real value lies in getting the status of Best Answer, which means you’ll gain a backlink. The answers are also search engine friendly, so drop in a few keywords as you answer the question.

4. Register with Technorati. It’s worth registering your blog with Technorati since this makes it easily searchable. This is not the biggest search engine for blogs and the rankings there may no longer be of utmost importance, but it can still bring you some pretty decent traffic.

5. Link to others. Many bloggers make the mistake of writing to other bloggers, asking for a link. This works occasionally, but mostly it will just get you branded as a begger. A far better way to go is to link to worthy blog posts . . . you can bet the blogger will notice that you’re talking about him or her. Often, they will reciprocate.

6. Guest blog for others. Even if you just write an extra four blog posts a month and get them onto other people’s blogs, you can gain large amounts of traffic. Pick blogs that are well known, but not extremely popular for the best results. You’ll get a bio line with a link back to your website, which people will click on if you’ve written a great post.

7. Blog about what people want. If you notice that a post on Twitter tactics recieved a big boost in traffic and was bookmarked, then you might want to blog on that topic or a similar one more often.

8. Keep it real. No one wants to read something that sounds like a robot spit it out, so let your real voice shine through. If you are funny, all the better! More people read blogs because of the person behind it than for the information only, so a combination of personality and information will gain you more traffic.

9. Start article marketing. Writing articles and submitting them to top article directories such as EzineArticles can be a very powerful method of bringing in traffic. It takes some time to really start working, but if you keep at it, you’ll see great rewards.

10. Create an online presence. It’s not enough to simply blog away in your own little corner of the web. You need to get out there and be active on social networks, forums and other people’s blogs. Establish your personality online and you will have plenty of people not only reading your blog, but bookmarking it and promoting it for you.

There are many ways to build up your blog traffic, but the key to just about all of them is persistence. It takes time and hard work to build up a quality blog with plenty of readers. If you’re willing to do the time, you’ll see results.

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