Archive | December, 2007
No, this is not a post-modern celebrity childrens book, nor is this a lame Britney Spears linkbait article. The fact is, Britney Spears fame illustrates the power of social networks and social linking perfectly. (Note to Britney: Please pardon the misspelling in the title.)
Social Linking Defined
Understanding social linking is simple: It’s all about your “presence” in someone else’s mind (and heart). So, on a raw emotional level, it’s about how many people you’ve… distracted, connected with, touched, moved, angered, irritated, teased, humored, etc…
The more emotions you have evoked, the more powerful you’re presence.
Social Linking Illustrated by Britney Spears
I don’t think many of you will argue that Britney Spears has tremendous media presence. I also doubt if many reading this post will argue that her notoriety has anything to do with her music - it’s just not that –well, musical. So, why do we see or hear about her every friggin’ day?
Because, Britney, or more specifically, Britney’s “people” have employed the power of social links to put and keep her on top of the media. Initially, they “linked” to the folks in charge of what we see on the web, what we hear on the radio and what we watch on TV - probably using the oldest and most powerful link builder — CASH.
Then, the real social power linking kicked in…
Go back to the list of ways to establish a “presence” in people’s minds and notice that the stories surrounding the famous B.S. evoke each of these emotions. So, all that her people need to do is make sure there is always a fresh story for the media to chew on. Then, despite her mediocre music, she keeps her presence and continues to make the bucks.
When Great Content (music) Meets Powerful Social Linking
So, we need to relate this back to you as a webpreneur.
How can you create a powerful “presence” on the web and drive the kind of traffic that lets you quit your day job?
Well, you could follow the example of Mrs. (or is it Ms.?) Spears and use controversy, shock and shame as your primary social link or you could focus on offering amazing value -content, tools or services- and then promoting emotion-evoking stories related to these.
No judgements here on which path to chose… When it comes to business, there is no ethical dilema in my opinion. If controversy is the best way to sell your product or service, leverage it. In Brittany’s case, her music doesn’t compare to talented singer-songwriters like John Mayer or Corrine Bailey Ray. These people create music that evokes the emotion necessary to create presence and gets the social linking established.
Ultimately, your product or service will determine which path you need to take… it may be a combination of both.
The important thing to remember… It is your job to evoke emotion and establish a “presence” in the mind of your visitors. You must distract, connect with, touch, move, anger, irritate, tease, humor or otherwise affect anyone you link to.
You do this with the words you write, the images you present and the offers you make to them.
Social Linking: Where to Start
Whatever path you choose, social linking has to start somewhere. Fortunately, there are tons of social media outlets on the net which give internet marketers a venue to evoke emotion and establish presence.
At this point, some may argue that social linking is really just about creating “backlinks”, but I disagree.
(Newbie definition - Backlinks: this refers to hyperlinks on someone else’s site that link back to your site increasing your site’s value.)
Yes, backlinks alone will get you some Pagerank and perhaps some pretty good SERP listings but they will NEVER get you the kind of qualified traffic and passionate customers that a carefully established web “presence” campaign can get.
Web2Center partner Jack Humphrey can take it from here. He is the acknowledged king of social power linking. I don’t know if Britney Spears people consulted with him or not, but he knows how to create massive web presence.
He also knows how to evoke the kind of business-savvy emotion that gets noticed and turns experienced marketers into fans, JV partners and proponents.
Check out his Social Power Linking membership site for proof. (NOTE: this is not an affiliate link, just a solid recommendation)
When I first started blogging, I kept hearing the term “trackback” and was puzzled by what it really meant.
I had managed to figure out some of the other blog lingo like permalink, tag, ping, post, etc… but this “trackback” concept alluded me for a while. It was always referred to as a task or action” –”doing a trackback”– and I kept thinking that if I want to be a great blogger, I need to be “doing trackbacks” -whatever the heck they are…
I remember being determined to figure this out one day and spent a ridiculous amount of time on codex.wordpress.org getting the definition of “trackback” and then understanding how to “do” one.
If only I would have met Jack humphrey at The Friday Traffic Report before that day, it would have saved me a few hours.
So, blogging beginners, don’t waste another minute wondering how to do a trackback. Jack has a great screen capture video with the full explanation on doing a trackback the easy way.
Check it out:
Link Building With Tackbacks
For the past five years (until recently) I worked for a Fortune 500 company, a medical diagnostic company to be specific. I witnessed a ridiculous level of marketing hypocrisy within this company. Yes, everyone talked the talk- “customer centric”, “customer focus”, “servant leader”, etc.. but rarely, did I ever see a legitimate effort to LISTEN to the customer. As I spoke to my colleageus at other large corporations (who were also part-time bloggers), they echoed my observations.
As I’ve transitioned into a full-time business blogger, far removed from the corporate world, I see a stark contrast and can’t help but reflect on the huge blind spot that large corporations have allowed to persist.
The company I worked for had an entire building of marketers but — the problem — these guys couldn’t even put a simple post-market label on a device without a two-week “blue folder” process.
I imagine the thought of publishing a highly personal corporate or business blog, which allows customers to interact, –praise, question, criticize, etc… would send an entire flock of corporate lawyers into a red-faced rant.
So, the company I worked for and many other large corporations remain stuck in old corporate ignorance while younger smarter companies gain market share.
The Red Carpet
A business blog which is truly dedicated to your customer or potential customer can be likened to a red carpet.
A blog, by nature, is not salesy. If it’s done right, a business blog is fun, personal, informative, controversial, compelling, but never pushy or salesy.
It welcomes interaction… it welcomes praise, questions, criticism and suggestions…
It speaks directly to individuals rather than the masses. For example, a good business blog vigilantly replies to blog comments and questions — directly to the individual.
A good business blog creates relationships with customers in a way that was absolutely not possible before.
A well-run business blog says to a customer or potential customer… “Hey, you are important enough for us to change.” “We want you to be a part of our community our mission and we are willing to take the first step.”
In doing so you’ve made your customer feel like a celebrity and have welcomed them into your checkout aisle with open arms.
The Future of Business Blogs
I’m confident that eventually most corporations will realize the opportunity they are missing. The groundswell of popularity with social media and business blogging will force reluctant experimentation by large corporations.
Yes, there are a few corporations that already “get it” when it comes to business blogging but the vast majority are buried in status quo so deep that it will take a fw years to even consider a business blog.
However, and this may be the pessimest in me… when they do get around to developing a corporate or business blog, I fear they will approach their market with the standard conservativeness and uninspired (read: LAME) marketing that will sink their social media ship before it has a chance to sail. Completely missing out on the real power a blog has in effecting new social media connections and casting their brand in a new perspective to millions of people who would’ve never heard of them otherwise.
In other words, when these corporations decide that it’s time to get personal — start a blog and “roll out the red carpet” — they will use the cheapest red carpet available, put yellow caution tape on both sides, flash a fake smile and glibly throw confetti as the startled visitors enter, recognize the charade, and then quickly exit, never to return again. At the susequent boardroom meeting, the VPs and Directors will look to the “old-guard” marketing staff for excuses and invent reasons why this corporate blogging thing isn’t panning out.
Then, ironically, after much debate and blame-storming, they will hire a small, savvy, smart 3rd party media group to come in and do it right for 3x the cost.
The Bottom Line
Blogs are about freedom — large corporations are about control.
Bloggers have trouble with boundaries of expression — corporations pay people six figures to control expression.
Thus, a business blog or corporate blog is somewhat of a paradox.
In the end, only companies with a genuine interest in their customer will get personal, roll out the red carpet and prosper.
I just watched the Yahoo! Shortcuts demo and it looks like something that could really improve the quality level of content on blogs.
This Wordpress plugin doesn’t do anything new; but it makes creating posts with rich content -maps, pictures, relavant links, etc- so much easier that more bloggers will be reminded to add “goodies” to each post.
Maybe the days of long pages of text are finally over!?
Now, excuse me, I’m off to install the shiny new plugin and give it a whirl.
I assume you subscribe to Web2Center because you are either learning how to include social media marketing tactics intoyour established marketing efforts or you are already a seasoned SMMer and are keen on seeing the madness, I mean methods, of your colleagues.
I am the latter and frequent a good many blogs that share social media marketing tips and tactics.
For the beginners out there however, social media marketing is truly an amorphous concept that is difficult to define. I remember how confused I was in the beginning.
While the “landscape” changes on a daily basis, there are a few standard social media venues that will prove to be fertile ground for basic social media marketing. These tasks will always push you a little farther ahead in your site branding, link building and traffic generating efforts.
The Power of 3
1. Social Networks: Visit 3 Social Networks (i.e. Digg, Sphinn, Propeller, etc…) at least 3 times a week and interact 3 times. Most people read and read and then read some more (or should I say browse and browse - I only think about 5% read anymore) when they visit social networks. But remember, you are “working”, you need to interact and build authority in your selected social networks. Only then will the pure readers/browsers be inclined to visit your posts or read your profile.
2. Blog Commenting: Visit 3 blogs related directly or indirectly to your niche and leave a valuable comment. The comment need not be long and wordy. Short, but to the point works fine. But, make sure the point is really sharp! Of course, do not forget to either link back to your blog or provide some sort of branding message so your comment is not just a comment but also a perfectly good bit of social media marketing.
3. Bookmarking and Clipping: As you read related blogs in an effort to leave valuable comments, you will inevitably come across truly insightful or interesting stuff (or perhaps something you vehemently disagree with). Each time this little trigger goes off in your head, open Clipmarks or eSnips and clip that content. Again, aim for 3 clips on each of the days that you go through this “power of three” cycle. Likewise, bookmark the 3 sites where you found the great content and use your comment as the description in your bookmark.
The number 3 has no significance and is not some sort of wierd exponential SEO trick. This is meant to keep you moving and make you get involved. In other words,
“It is easier to hit the target when there is something to aim at.”
In review:
Your Targets
3 Social Networks
3 Blog Comments
3 Clips and Bookmarks
Why Bother?
Now I can hear some of you saying, “Why should I do all of this selfless social media interaction?”
Well, as many of your more experienced colleagues will tell you, don’t be an antisocial social media marketer.
Don’t do “drive-by” submission of only your own content to the social networks and then expect the community tobeat the door down rushing to see your site.
Don’t slap crappy one-liners up as blog comments and think you are helping anyone, including yourself.
And don’t waste you time building a bookmark list or clip folders full of your own stuff, that’s what your blog’s for.
You have to give to get, that is what social media marketing is all about.
The good news is, when social media marketing is done right, you get tons of traffic and subscribers in exchange for a few hours of consistent generosity.
So, hang in there beginners, in time your daily SMM efforts will accumulate quickly and soon you will see your posts on the first page of Google and your RSS count pop.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
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