The Power of Social Linking - Illustrated by Britney Spears

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)

A Day in the Life of a Social Media Marketer

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.

Revolutionary New WordPress Plug-in: wp-easybutton

Every blogger is looking for the easy button.

Building an authority site can be time-consuming, technically challenging, and at times rip-your-hair-out frustrating.

Fellow marketers, let me introduce you to a brand new, revolutionary WP plug-in that will be sure to change your life as a blogger. It is called wp-easybutton and you need it bad!

Once you install this plug-in into your WordPress blog, simply activate it and watch your blog shoot to the top of Google for any selected keyword phrase!

What wp-easybutton Can Do For You

Phase one: Once you have your WordPress blog installed the first plug-in you want to activate is wp-easybutton. You simply tell it which keyword phrase, which niche, which idea, or heck which inkling your having and it takes it from there. It immediately sends its research tentacles out into the Internet and carefully sizes up the market you want to dominate.

Once all of this data is returned to you wp-easybutton subservantly waits for you to approve its humble suggestions. Upon approval, this fantastic little plug-in goes into phase 2.

Phase 2: In order to maximize visitor retention and product conversions, the look and feel of your blog or website is extremely important. Fortunately, wp-easybutton has you covered here as well. Based on sophisticated algorithic-like calculations and artificial-style intelligence programming, wp-easybutton will provide you with a list of plug-ins, themes and custom pHp scripts that will maximize the effectiveness of your blog or website.

Again, once this data is returned it simply waits for your approval. You glance over the list, grin as you relish the fact that you’ve done nothing and click to approve the next step. Next, wp-easybutton methodically executes each item on the list… installing plug-ins, configuring the theme and optimizing the SEO power of your blog. Shortly thereafter send you notice that you are ready to “go live”.

Time for phase 3.

Phase 3: This is where wp-easybutton really shows off . Your blog has been set up perfectly, your content is waiting in the wings, and now it’s time to establish your presence on the web and begin selling your product and/or services to the thousands of web site visitors.

With wp-easybutton installed you simply take 5 to 10 minutes each day to make sure that content is getting posted to your blog, that the blog post are being submitted to the selected social media sites, that relevant comments are being added to blogs related to your niche, and that your traffic and sales are increasing exponentially each and every month.

This part is so easy you could do it from anywhere with a laptop, even an iPhone.

Installing wp-easybutton

Of course this all sounds too good to be true but, I assure you, I am dead serious.

wp-easybutton is for real and it is a plug-in that will totally revolutionize blogging, especially business blogging, as we know it.

The bad news is… there’s no way that this plug-in can be offered for free. There is a significant investment.

How much do you think a plug-in that essentially masters your blog and dominates your niche would be worth?

And… no you will not find this plug-in at the WP-Plugins.net or the Wordpress.org site. In fact, you cannot install this plug-in using any FTP client on the market. This plug-in operates totally remotely.

As you may have imagined, wp-easybutton is a living, breathing, social media, authority and blogging, traffic building, marketing expert. (a human)

You plug this person in to your blog and… your headaches are over, your traffic goals are guaranteed and a fat bottom line is assured.

The real question is not the cost. What you would pay should be determeined by your market and your lifestyle requirements (some people actually like tinkering for hours on business blogs).

The hard part is actually finding a genuine wp-easybutton to plug into your blog. These folks are few and far between. There are many imposters -so-called experts- who talk a mile a minute but produce about an inch per month.

So, most people choose to go it alone and learn as they go, and that’s OK.

But, if you truly have an excellent product or service, one that the market is demanding but lacks the presence necessary to drive sales, you should seriously think about “installing” wp-easybutton on your website and put your success into overdrive.

5 “Quickies” From Rich Shefren’s Attention Age Doctrine

Now that the dust has settled a bit, here are 5 quick tips from Rich Shefren’s offering “The Attention Age Doctrine” for those of you that haven’t had time to read it. (No affiliate link included…)

While Rich’s report is great for “social media motivation”, there were a few golden tips that could be put to practical use. By the way, I have nothing against motivational stuff… when I get a bit behind in my SMM work or when I am disappointed by a specific social media marketing campaign, I reach for reports like Rich’s.

However, this post, and for that matter, Web2Center.com, is here to give you practical social media marketing strategies and tactics. We assume you are already motivated when you get here.

Attention Age Doctrine 2 - Practical Tips

1. Tread carefully when joining your prospective customers in the social media space: As we said in our post about “fitting-in” to social media sites, don’t just barge into a social media site and start blasting comments or forums with calls to action and product benefits. Your entrance into each social media site needs to be planned and executed with style and sincerity. Start well and strive to be a REAL part of the community. Otherwise you will be sunk before you start.

2. Check your facts: Everything you say and do on your blog will be permanent public record and easily researched by people who have nothing better to do but scrutinize your success. Don’t jeapordize your long term success by inventing or embellishing “facts” in an effort to make a quick buck. It will catch up to you. This may seem obvious but I have seen a couple product offers (in the internet marketing niche) from self-proclaimed “experts” who I know have about 1 month’s worth of experience. This was quickly sniffed out by the marketplace, their products flopped and their former customers turned in to cautionary evangelists. (To be nice, I won’t name names here…)

3. Let your customers market for you: If you get your social media marketing strategy right, your customers will spread the word about you, your product or your services for you, virally. Your job is to offer so much value that they are compelled to share. Simple, right? Of course not! it is actually frustratingly difficult to come up with a campaign that is so valuable and appealing that a stranger wants to share it with a friend. But, if you can crack the nut on this one you are in for a wild, and potentially profitable, ride.

4. Bookmarking, tagging and commenting are only the first step: Many online marketers new to social media have quite a shallow view. They assume that all they need to do is bookmark their content at a few social bookmarking services, offer up some carefully researched tags on their posts and then do some selective commenting on related blogs. But, actually, there a lot more to a successful social media campaign. Instead of focusing on creating backlinks, the focus must be on “engaging” your readers (and potential customers). In other words, putting more emphasis on your content and your community than you do on generating backlinks will get you further.

5. Pay-per-Click (PPC) and Press Releases (PR) are over-reated: Of course both PPC campaigns and PR have their place but many online marketers rely way too much on just these two strategies. They are missing out on the massive amount of traffic that is swelling around true social media and viral marketing campaigns. Don’t “pause” your AdWords campaign but, if you haven’t joined a social media site and browsed communities related to your niche, you are way behind and are in danger of being leapfrogged by the new social internet.

So, in summary, Rich says that it is harder than ever to get the attention of prospective customers and using social media is the way to do it. Focus on the practical tips above and you’ll be putting the latest “guru” wisdom into practice.

Leveraging the Power of Feedburner

Feedburner is something of a mystery to many would-be social media marketers. This RSS tool, which was purchased by Google earlier this year (2007), is feature rich and a bit steep on the learning curve.

Would you like a simple primer and a couple real-world tips on leveraging the brilliant features of Feedburner?

Of course you would… I’ll try to keep it simple… Here goes…

What Does Feedburner Do and Why Do I Care?

Assuming you know what an RSS feed is and that, if you are blogging, you have at least one…

Feedburner allows you to customize, publish and track your feed(s) without having to read a single RSS for Dummies book. Really, it does and that’s all you need to know!

You should care about this because those who leverage Feedburner get MUCH more exposure, especially since RSS is finally reaching the internet masses.

Leveraging Feedburner’s Special Features

Feature #1: Headline Animator
What is it? The headline animator looks like a banner ad which contains your blog’s title and a rotating display of your latest blog titles.

Google calls it:

“A dynamically generated widget-like graphic that displays the five most recent items in your feed. Think of it as your own personal container that you can size, color, and brand however you see fit.”

How does a savvy social media marketer (like you) leverage it?

Use the animated headline everywhere.

Attach it to your email signature, post it to your profile on social media sites that allow html and Web 2 services like Hubpages and Squidoo, paste it into the What Would Seth Godin Do plugin and let it entice potential RSS subscribers.

Then, consider designing a custom Headline Animator with your logo or picture. You just don’t see these anywhere yet. Imagine the attention this would get. Feedburner makes it easy, here’s what they say about customizing:

“Simply provide us with any background image URL (you can even use our default), and this background image becomes a canvas on which you can paint your own headline animator. By “paint”, we mean pick some colors and fonts and then drag and drop some stuff around on your background image wherever you want.”

With a custom Headline Animation in place considering running it as an ad. No, not through AdWords. Feedburner (aka Google) has created what they call “Headline Animator Ads”.

How is this service different from AdWords? Again, here’s what Feedburner says:

“By placing your ad in the feed ad network, you reach an audience that is complementary to AdWords. Feed advertising is a great way to supplement existing marketing efforts and helps you reach the widest possible audience, particularly in content viewed away from traditional websites.”

If you are in a niche popular with RSS subscribers, I think your social media marketing budget might be wise to try this $25 for 20,000+ weekly impressions service.

Feature #2: Cool Custom Count Label

This is one of those cool little tricks that is super simple and will personalize your blog in a small but meaningful way. If you are displaying the Feedburner FeedCount graphic, it is possible to change the label from “subscribers” to anything you want. Here’s how:

Simply change the last word on your Feedburner FeedCount script to whatever you want that label to say. For, example, in the following script, the label would read “Listeners”.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~fc/burnthisrss2?bg=FF6633&fg=333333&anim=1&label=listeners

We have ours set to “W2C Fans”. See…

Enjoy your Feedburning and let us know if you have found other ways to leverage this great service.