Archive for the ‘social networking’ Category

Targeting Your Niche in Social Networks

Targeted, qualified audience members are what you want.  To make you social marketing efforts even more profitable, you will have to define what who your target audience is and who it is not.  anyone is not a qualified niche audience.  One thing you might consider as well is that a visit to your site does not necessarily qualify this person as “your audience”.  They have to do something on your site – purchase something or participate / interact with you in order to be considered your niche audience. 

There is a lot of refinement that a list has to go through before you develop the people who are your true leads.  You’ll use your social networking approach to fine tune your visitors.  as they download your podcast or embed their video on your site, you’ll refine that lead with added commitment or interaction requests.  The goal of your target audience is to produce loyalty in some form to your business.

You’ll want to use social networking strategies that pre-qualify your audience member.  a general “shout out” probably won’t produce the kind of targeted response you want.  If the range of customers you approach is too broad, you may find yourself frustrated by wasted time and resources. 

Once you get your prospect to respond make sure you can deliver your product.  Your offer should always inspire your prospect to get in touch with you and once they get in touch with you, what happens next?

1. Have a method to handle your social networking audience.
2. Deliver on your promises fast.
3. Start interacting with them.

as you go through this process you will find your true audience.  Sometimes you may find that one of your “seemingly audience” members spend a lot of time on your site.  They’ll make comments but don’t really convert.  The truth is that everyone is an audience member no matter where they are at in your business.  You’ll want to treat them with respect not because they need it but because you never know what can happen down the line.  In social networks, many people are masked behind the computer images and you don’t know what they are really thinking even when they seem to say what they are thinking.  Protect yourself and your business and don’t get caught in the negative audience members.

Take time to review your efforts.  Did you gauge the prospect accurately?  Was there anything that you could have said better?  How can you improve upon your content or outreach activities?  Self assessment will keep you on check to make sure you reach your target audience.

MySpace is Still the King of Social Networking

Facebook has been getting a lot of press these days.  an up and coming star in mainstream social networking, Facebook offers its users many functional applications that MySpace doesn’t, but is it enough to take the lead?  are we witnessing the beginning of our first social network face off?  Now who’s “king of the mountain” – is it MySpace or Facebook? 

MySpace has dominated mainstream social media for years.  alexa page rankings shows MySpace still outranking any other social media site, but Facebook is not far behind.  Having a unique audience of a whopping 61.3 million users annually, the strength of MySpace is preeminent.  Facebook’s annual unique audience tallies at 19.5 million which is nothing to sneeze at as well, but still nothing in comparison to MySpace.

Facebook still has a long way to go to toppling this king, but here are some reasons why we think that MySpace is NOT going down anytime soon.

Money talks and b@?&!*%t walks.  Censored for your reading pleasure.  MySpace has done well with “branding” themselves.  amongst the youth, MySpace is still the place to be when talking about the internet. Granted, more and more often you get rolled eyes from the little social networking $41#$ that make them so charming at that age when you mention MySpace as if to indicate "MySpace?!? That's soooooo March!" They’re also recognized by leading fortune 500 companies (Coca-Cola) as a premier place to advertise. 

When the general public thinks about social media – they immediately think about MySpace.  Sorry Facebook – you’re not quite there just yet.  It’ll be hard to talk about social media without talking about MySpace.  Even people who’ve never been on the internet know about MySpace. 

MySpace has the credibility to host alongside MTV in the presidential elections chat.  That’s a huge accomplishment for any social media site!  No site can boast about working with the likes of MTV or any station for that matter.  Now that’s power.

MySpace has built up their online communities to reach out to a vast number of groups.  These groups can be characterized by age, location, work place, and just about any type of group on the net can be found on MySpace.  In comparison to the newer networking sites, they just haven’t had enough time to build their web reach the way that MySpace has and still only serve a small niche group of people. 

by the way, did we mention money?  He who gets the advertising revenue first laughs first (or should it be last?  Who cares?  They’re getting the money!) Of coourse, with today's Microsoft/Facebook partnership announcement more and more indicators point to Facebook teabagging MySpace sooner rather than later.

Facebook is making a great play for the top, but it still has a long way to go.  However, social media is still a young phenomenon.  On the internet, anything can change in an instant.

Photo credit: Stpiduko

MySpace is Still the King of Social Networking

Facebook has been getting a lot of press these days.  an up and coming star in mainstream social networking, Facebook offers its users many functional applications that MySpace doesn’t, but is it enough to take the lead?  are we witnessing the beginning of our first social network face off?  Now who’s “king of the mountain” – is it MySpace or Facebook? 

MySpace has dominated mainstream social media for years.  alexa page rankings shows MySpace still outranking any other social media site, but Facebook is not far behind.  Having a unique audience of a whopping 61.3 million users annually, the strength of MySpace is preeminent.  Facebook’s annual unique audience tallies at 19.5 million which is nothing to sneeze at as well, but still nothing in comparison to MySpace.

Facebook still has a long way to go to toppling this king, but here are some reasons why we think that MySpace is NOT going down anytime soon.

Money talks and b@?&!*%t walks.  Censored for your reading pleasure.  MySpace has done well with “branding” themselves.  amongst the youth, MySpace is still the place to be when talking about the internet. Granted, more and more often you get rolled eyes from the little social networking $41#$ that make them so charming at that age when you mention MySpace as if to indicate "MySpace?!? That’s soooooo March!" They’re also recognized by leading fortune 500 companies (Coca-Cola) as a premier place to advertise. 

When the general public thinks about social media – they immediately think about MySpace.  Sorry Facebook – you’re not quite there just yet.  It’ll be hard to talk about social media without talking about MySpace.  Even people who’ve never been on the internet know about MySpace. 

MySpace has the credibility to host alongside MTV in the presidential elections chat.  That’s a huge accomplishment for any social media site!  No site can boast about working with the likes of MTV or any station for that matter.  Now that’s power.

MySpace has built up their online communities to reach out to a vast number of groups.  These groups can be characterized by age, location, work place, and just about any type of group on the net can be found on MySpace.  In comparison to the newer networking sites, they just haven’t had enough time to build their web reach the way that MySpace has and still only serve a small niche group of people. 

by the way, did we mention money?  He who gets the advertising revenue first laughs first (or should it be last?  Who cares?  They’re getting the money!) Of coourse, with today’s Microsoft/Facebook partnership announcement more and more indicators point to Facebook teabagging MySpace sooner rather than later.

Facebook is making a great play for the top, but it still has a long way to go.  However, social media is still a young phenomenon.  On the internet, anything can change in an instant.

Photo credit: Stpiduko

What to Do When You Don’t Seem to Connect

Your doing everything that you’ve read or heard about social networking and you don’t have the results.  What are you to do?  One of the first places to check is your communication in your out-reach strategy.

One of the things that makes social networking great is that things can get personal!  Personalizing your podcasts, videos and blogs are needed to establish that connection with your audience.  With that in mind, what does the big picture of your communication look like?  If you were to piece your videos, podcasts and any other media you might use together with your social network strategy, what would that look like?  anything that isn’t personalized needs to change.

The next thing you want to review is the individual messages of the media you use (I.e. – podcasts, blogs, videos).  Is the message compelling or informative and can it relate to your audience?  a more personal tone is sometimes appropriate for a “grass roots” look and feel, but sometimes a more corporate tone is just what is need to establish your authority.  You can use what ever reflects the goals of your communication.

Trying to communicate something to someone who doesn’t want to communicate with you can be like pulling teeth!  are you targeting the right audience for your product or service?  While you don’t want to limit the number of people you reach out to, “everyone” is not a market most people can handle.  Look for and find your target niche market to improve communication.

another problem in communication is that online features might not be as easy to use as you think.  Some people just have a phobia about the computer and as a result, you might consider finding a way to make it easier for them to access your content.  Some programs always think that they are “user-friendly” when in actuality, to the person who has very little experience on the web it can be a down right nightmare.

Sometimes communication can seem tricky.  This is the importance of having a plan for your communication strategy.  If you’ve already started off with a plan, then adjusting your plan is good.  at least you have a plan to work with and your changing to fit the needs of your audience.  as you probably noticed by now, your plan may undergo several revisions before you begin to see the results you want.  That’s totally okay.  Refine, retune and rework your communication process and you will get to where you want to go!

Photo credit: J. Parks of Skum Records

What to Do When You Don’t Seem to Connect

Your doing everything that you’ve read or heard about social networking and you don’t have the results.  What are you to do?  One of the first places to check is your communication in your out-reach strategy.

One of the things that makes social networking great is that things can get personal!  Personalizing your podcasts, videos and blogs are needed to establish that connection with your audience.  With that in mind, what does the big picture of your communication look like?  If you were to piece your videos, podcasts and any other media you might use together with your social network strategy, what would that look like?  anything that isn’t personalized needs to change.

The next thing you want to review is the individual messages of the media you use (I.e. – podcasts, blogs, videos).  Is the message compelling or informative and can it relate to your audience?  a more personal tone is sometimes appropriate for a “grass roots” look and feel, but sometimes a more corporate tone is just what is need to establish your authority.  You can use what ever reflects the goals of your communication.

Trying to communicate something to someone who doesn’t want to communicate with you can be like pulling teeth!  are you targeting the right audience for your product or service?  While you don’t want to limit the number of people you reach out to, “everyone” is not a market most people can handle.  Look for and find your target niche market to improve communication.

another problem in communication is that online features might not be as easy to use as you think.  Some people just have a phobia about the computer and as a result, you might consider finding a way to make it easier for them to access your content.  Some programs always think that they are “user-friendly” when in actuality, to the person who has very little experience on the web it can be a down right nightmare.

Sometimes communication can seem tricky.  This is the importance of having a plan for your communication strategy.  If you’ve already started off with a plan, then adjusting your plan is good.  at least you have a plan to work with and your changing to fit the needs of your audience.  as you probably noticed by now, your plan may undergo several revisions before you begin to see the results you want.  That’s totally okay.  Refine, retune and rework your communication process and you will get to where you want to go!

Photo credit: J. Parks of Skum Records

Get Out of the box of Social Networking – What?

Every once in a while someone in the business has a post that is just off the wall.  a couple of weeks ago, there was this guy who seemed to be promoting the idea that we should make everything we post public information on the web – that social networks are limited in their reach (compared to the web) and that it’s a real problem.  Needless to say, this was probably not the most enlightening post I’ve read, but this idea started a chain of thoughts in my mind about social networking.

The most pressing issue on the table concerning social networking is privacy.  People want to remain “private” and for the most part, it’s very possible, however if it’s on the web, someone can access it.  It may not be the general public, but there will still be someone who can.  My point is that nothing is every really private on the web.

Going back to the post, the author’s concern was that social networking sites limited the concept of the web by closing this type of information off from the “big picture” of the internet – that in order to access this information, you had to have an account with the networking site in order to see this information about people.  I don’t know about you, but signing up for a free account is not necessarily limiting in nature.  It’s about maintaining the integrity of the site and offering some level of protection to its users.

Many site users already post their “out of the network” material in the network for their web page.  The posts are a great way to promote their stuff to people on the internet.  but, there’s more to social networking than just posting information, videos and podcasts.  The networking aspect is the added advantage and along with some cool functional application features they’re what makes social networks fun.  The social network is just an organized way of capturing whatever is already on the web into one neat area and yes that may mean you’ll need a free account with a password on it.

Even if someone were to create a site that “has no walls”, wouldn’t they essentially be creating another walled off social media platform?  Logins will still be required and just where would you be posting to that’s not walled off?  Wouldn’t you run the risk of losing the integrity and security of the site itself as well as the users?  On top of that, isn’t a site with no walls also known as the web and isn’t that the problem with the web?  I think I’m getting dizzy from running in a circle here.  Let’s not get pinned into thinking that social networking is limiting in scope because it’s not.  Social networking sites open up many avenues to reach people that we wouldn’t normally come across during the normal course of the day.

Photo credit: trust no one

Get Out of the box of Social Networking – What?

Every once in a while someone in the business has a post that is just off the wall.  a couple of weeks ago, there was this guy who seemed to be promoting the idea that we should make everything we post public information on the web – that social networks are limited in their reach (compared to the web) and that it’s a real problem.  Needless to say, this was probably not the most enlightening post I’ve read, but this idea started a chain of thoughts in my mind about social networking.

The most pressing issue on the table concerning social networking is privacy.  People want to remain “private” and for the most part, it’s very possible, however if it’s on the web, someone can access it.  It may not be the general public, but there will still be someone who can.  My point is that nothing is every really private on the web.

Going back to the post, the author’s concern was that social networking sites limited the concept of the web by closing this type of information off from the “big picture” of the internet – that in order to access this information, you had to have an account with the networking site in order to see this information about people.  I don’t know about you, but signing up for a free account is not necessarily limiting in nature.  It’s about maintaining the integrity of the site and offering some level of protection to its users.

Many site users already post their “out of the network” material in the network for their web page.  The posts are a great way to promote their stuff to people on the internet.  but, there’s more to social networking than just posting information, videos and podcasts.  The networking aspect is the added advantage and along with some cool functional application features they’re what makes social networks fun.  The social network is just an organized way of capturing whatever is already on the web into one neat area and yes that may mean you’ll need a free account with a password on it.

Even if someone were to create a site that “has no walls”, wouldn’t they essentially be creating another walled off social media platform?  Logins will still be required and just where would you be posting to that’s not walled off?  Wouldn’t you run the risk of losing the integrity and security of the site itself as well as the users?  On top of that, isn’t a site with no walls also known as the web and isn’t that the problem with the web?  I think I’m getting dizzy from running in a circle here.  Let’s not get pinned into thinking that social networking is limiting in scope because it’s not.  Social networking sites open up many avenues to reach people that we wouldn’t normally come across during the normal course of the day.

Photo credit: trust no one

Deepen the Reach of Your brand in Social Networks

Your marketing strategy should strengthen the one-on-one relationship you develop with your audience.  This might seem hard to do at first because you are attempting to reach a large group of people.  The truth is that this is simpler than you think – focus on your appeal.

The appeal of your branding strategy should focus on meeting basic needs that people have.  This is your entry point – your open door to making a solid connection with your audience.  Every person that makes up your audience has the following basic needs.

1. Physiological needs – food, water, clothing, shelter
2. The need for safety and security – physical safety, comfort, economic security
3. Social needs – the need to relate with others
4. Self-esteem needs – the need to realize value in oneself

Can your brand (product or service) present itself as the answer to meet those needs?  One thing you might consider is if your brand presents itself as a valid source to place your audience’s trust and reliance on?  If it doesn’t, go back to the drawing board and revise your strategy to do so.

Social networking opens a prime opportunity to show how you can meet those needs.  Television advertising and publication ads don’t have the capability to connect long term with your audience because the interaction is simply too short.  Social networking, on the other hand, gives you a chance to use an interactive approach so that audience members can see that there is more to your business than just your product.  This is a prime time to display your sincerity in helping consumers and your solid belief that your product or service is the answer.

In social networking, every relationship will go through a refining process until you develop a solid loyal customer.  The first step is employing a “reach” strategy where you attempt to reach a large group of people – the more the merrier.  The ones who respond to your initial out-reach result in a more targeted consumer base.  The next steps are to refine these consumers even further by asking for increasing commitment to your business such as joining an email list for a newsletter or subscribing to a podcast.  The result is a more targeted audience that you can really work with to develop brand loyalty long term.

Developing your online relationships are critical to the success of your social networking strategy.  If you don’t take the time to strengthen these relationships you won’t see the results you want to see – namely, you won’t have the audience you’d like to have.  build those relationships today!

Photo credit: saintpaul jaycees

Deepen the Reach of Your brand in Social Networks

Your marketing strategy should strengthen the one-on-one relationship you develop with your audience.  This might seem hard to do at first because you are attempting to reach a large group of people.  The truth is that this is simpler than you think – focus on your appeal.

The appeal of your branding strategy should focus on meeting basic needs that people have.  This is your entry point – your open door to making a solid connection with your audience.  Every person that makes up your audience has the following basic needs.

1. Physiological needs – food, water, clothing, shelter
2. The need for safety and security – physical safety, comfort, economic security
3. Social needs – the need to relate with others
4. Self-esteem needs – the need to realize value in oneself

Can your brand (product or service) present itself as the answer to meet those needs?  One thing you might consider is if your brand presents itself as a valid source to place your audience’s trust and reliance on?  If it doesn’t, go back to the drawing board and revise your strategy to do so.

Social networking opens a prime opportunity to show how you can meet those needs.  Television advertising and publication ads don’t have the capability to connect long term with your audience because the interaction is simply too short.  Social networking, on the other hand, gives you a chance to use an interactive approach so that audience members can see that there is more to your business than just your product.  This is a prime time to display your sincerity in helping consumers and your solid belief that your product or service is the answer.

In social networking, every relationship will go through a refining process until you develop a solid loyal customer.  The first step is employing a “reach” strategy where you attempt to reach a large group of people – the more the merrier.  The ones who respond to your initial out-reach result in a more targeted consumer base.  The next steps are to refine these consumers even further by asking for increasing commitment to your business such as joining an email list for a newsletter or subscribing to a podcast.  The result is a more targeted audience that you can really work with to develop brand loyalty long term.

Developing your online relationships are critical to the success of your social networking strategy.  If you don’t take the time to strengthen these relationships you won’t see the results you want to see – namely, you won’t have the audience you’d like to have.  build those relationships today!

Photo credit: saintpaul jaycees

Connectivity Issues in Social Media

Why is it that 99% of social media sites aren’t able to monetize themselves beyond $100? as we rant and rave about how great social media and networking is, the truth is that it’s a long process that takes work. Sure there are a lot of benefits, but there are “rules” of the game that everyone who participates must follow. Just one question comes to mind. are you having connectivity issues with your audience?

Social media sites are revamping industries and the way internet marketing is done. With SEO, you can market your way to the top and purchase everything from key word articles to links. With social media marketing (SMM), you really can’t do that – at least not at this time. SMM is about making a sincere connection with your audience. Who can buy or sell sincerity? There was this article the other day where an author of a blog post wanted his audience to know who he was first before making a connection. There’s nothing wrong with wanting that. after all, that’s what SMM is all about. However, the problem was two-fold – that the audience member didn’t know the rules of SMM and that the author didn’t understand that perhaps his audience didn’t know the rules.

Connectivity issues in social media occur because people don’t understand the perceptions of impressions they leave if they leave anything at all. In another post, the woman was vigorously posting as well and had virtually no audience. Isn’t this like the teacher who continues to teach while her class falls asleep? Just what has she really accomplished when class time was over?

If we find that we are not seeing the explosive results that SMM can bring, are we failing to realize what social media is all about? Connectivity issues arise because we fail somehow to make a meaningful connection. You can join all the communities and social networks on the internet, but without any participation or rapport with one other person, it’s all in vain. at the same time, whenever you’re responding, sincerity and genuineness as well as posting something that truly makes sense and benefits others is very much needed.

Social media operates on an entirely different playing field than SEO techniques. That may seem obvious, but it may be also so obvious that we somehow miss the point of it all. SMM is about creating your own audience. We find that what relationship marketing is for salespeople, SMM is for the internet. When we understand that, we understand how we need to handle our interactions on the web and focus our time on making sincere connections with people.

Photo credit: Oinster