May
13
The Long Tail and Social Media
Filed Under Blogging, Networking and Marketing Strategy, Search Engines, Web Analytics | 10 Comments
The long tail has recently become a major buzzword both in business and online.
The long tail concept is rather abstract, so it can help to look at concrete examples. Let’s look at examples from my blogging experience.
The Long Tail of the Search
I started publishing Online Social Networking in November 2007, and I installed Google Analytics to monitor, analyze and track traffic to my website.
My blog, as you can probably guess, has been search optimized for the keyword online social networking.
Out of 25,515 visits that were due to search engines, only 1,469 were searches for online social networking. The remaining 24,056 visits were based on 10,769 other search terms. 3,658 of those 10,769 were variants of online networking.
Fewer than 500 of the 3,658 search terms were used to find my site more than one time. These search terms each occurred very infrequently, yet in aggregate they accounted for a great proportion of my visits.
The long tail of the search refers precisely to this phenomenon.
Most searches are based on all sorts of low frequency keywords. See the diagram to the left in which the yellow region under the curve corresponds to the long tail.
The Long Tail of ROI
I spend several hours writing each post on my blog and another hour or so bookmarking and promoting it. My hope is that people will come read the article and subscribe. Just to keep things simple, consider subscribing to be my return-on-investment.
A couple of hundred people, more or less, will visit within a couple of days to read my piece. Some will comment, and some will subscribe.
As I mentioned above, my blog is search engine optimized. I receive more than 100 visitors daily just from search engines. Over time each individual article on the blog will be read by a handful of search visitors per day. That’s not a large number, but it eventually adds up.
That’s the long tail of ROI: The small number of residual daily visits and subscriptions eventually match or surpass the initial surge of visits and subscriptions when the article is first written and posted.
The Allure of Social Media for Marketing
There are many aspects of social media that are appealing. It’s free. It’s social. It’s far reaching. However, the long tail aspect of social media I’ve described makes it especially attractive to savvy marketers.
Well written and keyword researched content remains online indefinitely and attracts an enormous number of search engine visits over time, a benefit not enjoyed using other media.
Don’t miss any future articles! Subscribe to my RSS feed or by e-mail. Let’s get acquainted too at my About and Connect pages.
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Feb
15
The 80/20 Rule and Social Media
Filed Under Blogging, Networking and Marketing Strategy, Ning Sites, Outside the Box, Social Media and Social Networking Sites, Twitter | 29 Comments
I revisit the 80/20 Rule about which I wrote last September because of something that I alluded to in my recent interview with Stacey Chadwell.
Web 2.0 is a virtual candy store, and our eyes, so to speak, are bigger than our stomachs.
Every day new social media sites crop up. We’d love to try them all, yet we can only hope to master and stay on top of a very small fraction of the myriad sites that are already available to us.
The 80/20 Rule to Our Rescue
The 80/20 Rule applied to social media sites would state that 80% of all results can be achieved with 20% of all sites.
However, the 80 to 20 ratio is no more than a concept or a rule of thumb. The actual ratio is quite often greater than 80 to 20. With respect to social media sites the ratio could be as high as 99 to 1.
The 80/20 Rule applied to social media sites might be called a 99/1 Rule. We can accomplish almost everything we might want to accomplish with only 1% of all the social sites in operation — and almost everything is really enough!
I regularly use only a modest number of social media sites: my Online Social Networking blog, Twitter, the Ning family of social networking sites (especially Outside the Box), Entrecard, Facebook, LinkedIn, Digg, del.icio.us and a few other social bookmarking sites.
You’d hardly call me an expert on social media sites, but the few sites I do use, complement each other in my social media model, and I use them effectively.
Could I use more sites?
Of course I could. However, the point is that I don’t need to use more sites, at least not right now.
Other Aspects of the 80/20 Rule
The 80/20 Rule also applies to you as a person, to the people who follow you and to how you approach learning.
Rather than re-hash what I’ve written in the past, I refer you to my previous article, The 80/20 Rule, which elaborates on these issues in some detail.
In Conclusion
My advice to you is to:
- determine what you’d like to accomplish
- devise a plan that uses a modest number of resources
- learn to use those resources reasonably well
- and apply yourself with great determination and enthusiasm
People will look to you as a leader and a source of inspiration.
I’m @larrybrauner on Twitter. I look forward to your tweets.
Like this article? Please subscribe to my RSS feed or by e-mail. Let’s get acquainted too at my About and Connect pages.
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Feb
8
Top Reasons for Using Twitter
Filed Under Blogging, Communication, List Building, Networking and Marketing Strategy, Social Media and Social Networking Sites, Twitter | 22 Comments
Nearly a year ago I presented the Top Reasons Why I Blog. I’m a big fan of blogging, and I enjoy writing for you.
Now it’s time to list my top reasons for using Twitter. If you use Twitter, please feel free to comment and share your experiences. If not, this list may encourage you to begin.
These are the top reasons why I use Twitter:
- Simplicity - Twitter is easier for people to understand than many other social media sites. There are only a few Twitter concepts to learn: how to create a profile, follow, update, reply, search, retweet, send direct messages and use hashtags. See Brand Yourself and Market on Twitter.
- Networking - With hundreds of thousand of people using Twitter, you’re bound to find, as I have, people with common interests to connect with. Advice I gave in Get More Personal applies here to networking on Twitter. Speak on the phone or meet in person, but don’t hide behind your computer.
- Traffic - Twitter is a blogger’s dream. Last week 328 people from Twitter visited my blog a total of 390 times and viewed a total of 651 pages. In case you’re wondering whether all this traffic was targeted, 6.4% of the visitors from Twitter subscribed to my my RSS feed or blogcast.
- List Building - Twitter is a great tool to cultivate a following in your niche. I presently have more than 5,000 followers on Twitter. What will I do with these followers?
- Branding - I use Twitter to brand and market myself to my followers. Through Twitter many people are getting to know me who would otherwise not have had this opportunity. Even people who choose not to follow me can still learn about me. Keep this in mind: It’s not what you know or whom you know, but who knows, likes, trusts and respects you.
- Communicating - I can send direct messages or use hashtags to communicate with my friends.
- Research - Twitter is an excellent tool for research and keeping up with world developments. You don’t necessarily need to follow people or for them to follow you to read their tweets and click on their links.
- Discovery - We can learn new things on Twitter, even when we’re not looking per se.
- Mobility - Wherever you are or wherever I am, we’re only a tweet away. As more and more people use cell phones and text messaging, the compact 140 character format makes Twitter easy to access.
- Fun - Twitter is a blast! It’s a giant party, and the black tie is definitely optional.
As a side note, there are times when I simply don’t feel like writing a complete article. Fortunately, even at those times I can usually cope with a modest 140 character tweet.
I’m @larrybrauner on Twitter. I look forward to reading your tweets.
Like this article? Please subscribe to my RSS feed or by e-mail. Let’s get acquainted too at my About and Connect pages.
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Nov
9
On my Critical Thinking Outside the Box social networking site, Stacey Chadwell posed the question, How do you maintain focus?
On this first anniversary of my Online Social Networking blog, Stacey’s question caused me to think and take stock.
I imagine that many blogs launched last year have long since been abandoned. How is it that I maintained my focus over the past year while many other new bloggers did not?
It has been suggested that FOCUS stands for “follow one course until successful”.
While this representation is simplistic, it is nevertheless more true than not. To accomplish something substantial, some degree of obsession and narrow focus is a prerequisite for success.
Revisiting the Ultimate Success Secret
As I indicated in Critical Success Factors, I take my cue from The Ultimate Secret to Getting Absolutely Everything You Want by Mike Hernacki in which he wrote:
“In order to accomplish something, you must know what you want and be willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish it.”
In other words, focus arises from intention and is maintained through commitment.
This principle is the key to sustaining focus and achieving eventual success.
To demonstrate my commitment, I was willing to:
- blog for months before seeing tangible results
- ignore doubts expressed by friends and family
- read books about blogging and search engine optimization
- mastermind with other bloggers to get their opinions
- experiment, learn from my mistakes and backtrack as needed
- put some of my other objectives on hold
Today I have more than 100 regular readers and receive thousands of visitors to my blog each month. My articles have been featured on top news sites.
I have a Google PageRank of 3 and high search engine rankings for lots of keywords that I researched and targeted.
I was willing to do what many others were not and was able to maintain my focus throughout the year.
Planning the Next Year
During the next twelve months I would like to take my blog to the next level, for sure.
However, I plan to apply the same kind of commitment and narrow focus to new projects such as developing my new Ning social networking site and mastering the intricacies of web analytics.
Like this article? Please subscribe to my RSS feed or by e-mail. Let’s get acquainted too at my About and Connect pages.
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Oct
26
Google Bounce Rate Misleads Bloggers
Filed Under Best of 2008, Blogging, Networking and Marketing Strategy, Outside the Box, Search Engines, Web Analytics | 20 Comments
Defining Bounce Rate
Web metrics help bloggers and other website owners to analyze and track their site visitors. One of the most popular web metrics is bounce rate.
Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors viewing only a single page before leaving your site or closing their browser window.
Bounce is thought to be bad and to indicate low interest on the part of your visitors.
According to Google, “a high bounce rate generally indicates that site entrance pages aren’t relevant to your visitors.”
Using Bounce Rate
Bounce rate can measure a site’s relevance, the desire of your visitors to place an order or to obtain additional information.
If you buy Pay Per Click advertising, your bounce rate may be one of the factors that determines the position of your ad relative to other ads.
Bloggers Baffled
Common wisdom dictates that bounce rate should be no more than 40 to 60 percent. Most blogs miss this range.
70 to 85 percent is typical, and bloggers are baffled.
Experts would probably agree that either the blog or the traffic was too unfocused. You will probably not be surprised to learn that I do not concur with the experts.
Blogs Are Different
Blog posts aren’t merely landing pages. Each and every one is a main attraction.
The following examples demonstrate that bounce rate cannot effectively measure your blog’s relevance to visitors.
Consider first your blog’s most loyal subscribers. They come and read your every post.
Let’s suppose that:
- 10% leave a comment
- A different 10% click through to a related post
This appears quite healthy to me, yet your bounce rate is 80%.
Now consider your blog’s best search engine visitors. They land on your post and read it with interest.
Let’s suppose that:
- 5% leave a comment
- A different 5% subscribe
- A completely different 10% visit a related post
This seems quite good to me, yet your bounce rate is again 80%.
Visiting a single page, i.e. your post, reading it and moving on is reasonable behavior for a blog visitor. How can we expect the bounce rate to be much lower?
Bounce rate is clearly not as useful a metric for blogs as it is for landing pages.
Gauging Blog Readership
If we cannot adequately assess our readership using bounce rate, what are alternative metrics?
We might instead look at our trend in:
- Quantity of good comments
- Size of our subscriber base
- Amount of direct traffic
- Number of quality backlinks
- Google PageRank
- Yes, even our bounce rate (smile)
Incidentally, the Google Analytics metric “Avg. Time on Site” is equally problematic, since it doesn’t factor into the average visitors who view only a single page.
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Oct
12
How to Get Featured on Top News Sites
Filed Under Best of 2008, Blogging, Networking and Marketing Strategy, News | 29 Comments
When I set up my Online Social Networking blog in November 2007, I had essentially neither blogging nor search engine optimization experience.
I did have excellent reasons for starting a blog, and I was very determined to succeed. I was ready to learn and prepared to overcome any obstacles that might come my way.
Not wanting to write without readers, I reached out to my e-mail list and to my friends at social networking sites promoting my blog.
As time went on, the quality of my articles improved, I found new ways to connect with potential readers, and I received more and more visitors from search engines.
I must admit to you I’m not a natural writer. Each post to my blog takes hours of writing and editing. Nevertheless, I reached a point this summer when I felt ready to go in a new direction.
Syndicated by BlogBurst
I submitted my blog to BlogBurst and they accepted it for national syndication once they confirmed that it conformed to their editorial standards. The whole application process was really very simple.
BlogBurst refers member articles to top news agencies including Reuters and to a variety of other online publications.
When BlogBurst accepted me for membership they advised me to post at least one well written and carefully edited article of medium-length per week, something that I was already doing as part of my blogging strategy.
Picked Up by Reuters
Reuters has picked up four of my articles so far:
- Ning Social Networking Sites
- Ning Social Networking Sites Update
- Home Based Businesses Don’t Work
- How to Get Featured on Top News Sites (this post!)
I encourage you to read them on the Reuters site and then to click through to my blog in order to view the original posts and their comments. You can also subscribe to my RSS Feed or e-mail blogcast if you haven’t already done so.
I’m hoping that my recent post, Google Reverses Recent PageRank Update, will also make its way onto Reuters.
Also Featured by Chicago Sun Times
The Chicago Sun Times has picked up three of my articles so far:
Strategic Implication
What I’m looking for more than anything else through syndication is third party validation of my work. This validation enhances my credibility with my readers, i.e. you.
Since the Internet, especially the blogosphere, is cluttered with conflicting information and advice, you need to decide for yourself what you want to believe. Hence I appreciate this opportunity to enhance my credibility with you.
Don’t miss any posts. Subscribe to my RSS feed! You can even subscribe by e-mail.
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Sep
3
My Private Classroom Opens to Public
Filed Under Announcements, Blogging, Home Based Business, News, Personal Development and Success, Social Media and Social Networking Sites | 22 Comments
I’m working on an in-depth business article, but I decided to take a breather to make an important announcement.
Free Social Media Marketing Training
Until now access to the leading edge Web 2.0 social media training at My Private Classroom for Marketers has been restricted to private membership. Today that has changed. My Private Classroom is now open to all absolutely free.
My Private Classroom is a regular Ning social networking site, and you can add me there as a friend just as you would at other social networking sites.You will learn online social networking strategy, video marketing, social bookmarking, personal development and much more.
A Word of Caution
Before you head over to My Private Classroom, I recommend that you carefully read The Darker Side of Funded Proposals.A word to the wise is sufficient.Don’t miss any posts. Subscribe to my RSS feed! You can also subscribe by e-mail.
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Aug
15
Ning Social Networking Sites
Filed Under Best of 2008, Blogging, Communication, Networking and Marketing Strategy, News, Ning Sites, Social Media and Social Networking Sites | 32 Comments
When Marc Andreessen and Gina Bianchini started their work on the Ning social network back in 2004, online social networking was still pretty much a teen thing. True there were marketers like yours truly making a home on Ryze and other business networking sites, but we were the exception rather than the rule.
Ning once completed would allow people to create and manage their own miniature MySpace-like social networking sites.
Ning’s founders probably envisioned a platform on which families and circles of friends would stay in close contact through their very own private social networking site. However, since launching 18 months ago, Ning has found its way into the business world as well as many other sectors of society.
You can start your own plain vanilla Ning social network for free, or for a fee you can exercise greater control over your site and add lots of bells and whistles.
Examples of Ning Social Networking Sites
In Web lifeline for the troops, the Naperville Sun writes that two local men, Ed Domain and Josh Lowe, launched Troop Space, a Ning-based networking site for the brave men and women of the United States Military. Troop Space “is geared toward US troops, their families and anyone who wants to become more personally connected to the military”.
Jim at medXcentral started his Ning community to network “the medical and health care universe” and to “stimulate great achievements and forward motion towards resolving many issues faced by the medical industry today”.
Diane Hochman built the online headquarters for My Private Classroom on the Ning foundation. I joined My Private Classroom several months ago to learn more about social media and to introduce free and low-cost marketing methods to network and direct marketers.
You can now participate in Diane’s social marketing training program for free. Read My Private Classroom Opens to Public for details.
I created the Ning social network Critical Thinking Outside the Box as a companion to this blog, and you are welcome to join me there.
What I Like About Ning Sites
From a user’s point of view here are some of my favorite Ning features:
- When you make a friend at one Ning site and you each belong to another Ning site, you’re connected at the other site too.
- You can browse friends and friends-of-friends and so forth to see what other Ning networks people belong to. In this way you can discover new and relevant places to network. While many Ning sites are private, there seem to be just as many sites that are open to the public. You can also browse Ning’s list of popular social networks.
- You can broadcast a message to all of your friends at any given Ning site. Be careful not to abuse this privelege. Spamming is not effective, and network administrators will typically not tolerate it. This broadcasting feature has allowed me to attract readers to my blog and gain new subscribers.
- In some Ning social networks you can also broadcast messages to fellow members of groups you join. This feature encourages spam and is therefore disabled on many Ning sites.
- You can customize your page’s theme and embed videos and widgets just as you might on MySpace and many other social networking sites.
- Much of your profile content can be taken from an existing site and easily reused when joining a new site.
And What I Don’t Like
Here are some of my least favorite Ning features:
- Most Ning sites have very small memberships that are just a little too cozy for marketers like me building their lists.
- A very high percentage of profiles are abandoned, so you can end up with lots of unaccepted friend requests. At some point you may need to delete some friend requests in order to remain eligible to make new requests.
- Very many Ning sites are not much more than recruiting pipelines and sales funnels for the sites’ owners. I find this aspect of Ning annoying, but I tolerate it. For this reason I’m slow to invite friends and business connections to join me on new Ning sites. I want to wait and see if the site is a safe enough place to bring them.
Show and Tell Opportuinity
You can find some of the many social networking sites to which I belong featured on my blog’s sidebar.
Do you have favorite Ning social networking sites? Have you started your own Ning social network? Do you have an interesting story to tell?
Feel free to comment and share with us.
Keep in mind that I’m responsible for the quality of my blog and legally responsible for its content. I therefore reserve the right to edit any comment as I see fit.
Don’t miss any posts. Register, it’s easy, or subscribe to my RSS feed! You can also subscribe by e-mail using the form at the top of the home page sidebar.
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Aug
7
Top 10 Blogging Success Factors
Filed Under Best of 2008, Blogging, Outside the Box, Search Engines, Social Media and Social Networking Sites | 12 Comments
Nearly every day I hear from people who want to know how to start a blog or how to have a more successful blog.
I admit that I’m still learning myself, but I’ve made great progress in the nine months since I started blogging.
This past month alone my Online Social Networking blog received 5,202 visits including 1,993 visits from search engines.
My Google PageRank is up to 3, and my Alexa traffic rank is 181,032. These stats put my blog in the top 1% of all websites.
What are the critical success factors contributing to my rapid progress?
My Personal Blog Philosophy
There are ten success strategies that shape my blog philosophy.
- Blogging Mindset - Writing and publishing a successful blog is a major project that requires very big commitment. Blogging requires that you move forward at all times. So often people start blogging and give up. They didn’t have the blogging mindset, and they weren’t willing to do what successful bloggers do.
- Research and Planning - Before I wrote one word on my blog, before I decided what to call my blog, before I purchased a domain name for my blog, I did plenty of research. Where should my blog be hosted? What platform should it run on? What will I write about, and which keywords will I optimize for? These questions and more were addressed up front and their answers formed my initial plan of action.
- Bias for Action - Getting started and keeping your momentum going is essential if you want to have a successful blog. While adequate preparation is important, a time comes when you must “draw a line in the sand”, stop preparing and begin writing. Your ongoing research and writing need to become routine. Don’t worry if your articles aren’t perfect. You can edit your posts after publishing them, and it could even help with the search engines to do so.
- Experimentation and Tracking - Every blogging enterprise is different, and you’ll need to find the mix of strategies and tactics that are right for your blog. If you install Google Analytics, you’ll be able to track your blog’s traffic. You’ll know what is working and what’s not. Materminding with friends and mentors is another way to gain valuable insights.
- Correction as Needed - When you discover something that’s not working, you’ll look to refine it or replace it. Ongoing tracking will provide you with the feedback you need to make the necessary correction in your direction to stay on course.
- High Quality Content - Quality content to me means writing with both the reader and the search engines in mind. It means writing well, revising the text many times, proofreading, etc. It also means choosing topics that will make readers want to return to your blog. Please don’t write long run-on paragraphs. Make it easy for your reader to go through your article on the screen without having to print it out… Because they won’t. And one more thing, until you have tons of visitors reading your blog every day, don’t even consider cluttering it up with cheesy ads.
- Online Social Networking - The best way to find readers and subscribers for your blog is at social networking sites. For this purpose you can use most business networking sites or networking sites that cater to bloggers such as Entrecard and MyBlogLog. I happen to prefer Twitter and the Ning family of social networking sites. Carefully inviting site members to visit your blog is a nice way to reach out to them — not at all spammy. Make it easy for your readers to subscribe. My readers have two ways to opt in RSS Feed and autoresponder.
- Search Engine Optimization - Treat every blog post as a website that will one day stand on its own, because it will. It will eventually works it’s way down and off your blog’s cover page. Use keyword research to find the best words and phrases to use in your articles. Make sure that your main search terms are neither too general nor too competitive to earn you good placement in the search engines. Don’t limit yourself to using only your primary keywords in your text. Using all relevant search terms, even the ones that are hard to compete for, will turn you article into a search engine magnet.
- Social Bookmarking - Using social media sites such as Digg and del.icio.us to anchor and promote your blog posts is very important. Social Marker will help you find more bookmarking sites and facilitate the bookmarking process. Be sure to familiarize yourself with the terms of service of each of the social media sites you use, so that you don’t get banned. Bookmark articles using their individual URL, not your blog’s URL, since each article is its own website, not just a part of the blog.
- Patience and Time - Over time your traffic will increase, so will your credibility, and you’ll gain subscribers. Don’t expect much before three months, and give yourself a full year to become a blogging superstar.
For more articles on blogging, blog marketing and SEO see Blog Marketing and SEO Training.
Don’t miss any posts. Register, it’s easy, or subscribe to my RSS feed! You can also subscribe by e-mail using the form at the top of the home page sidebar.
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Aug
3
Social Media Learning Curve
Filed Under Blogging, Communication, Networking and Marketing Strategy, Search Engines, Social Media and Social Networking Sites | 13 Comments
The Case for Social Media Marketing
It is becoming increasingly more difficult and more expensive to reach potential customers using mass media. That’s one reason why so many marketers are turning to Web 2.0 social media marketing.
Not only do marketers want to reduce their advertising expense, they also want to connect more directly with people and learn how to better serve their target market.
Social media marketing is especially attractive to small business owners operating on modest budgets, since most social networking sites and other social media sites are generally free to use.
Steep Learning Curve
They read a story such as Beyond Blogs in the June 2nd issue of Business Week, and they rush off to embrace Web 2.0 social media unprepared for the steep learning curve that lies ahead.
The social media landscape is uncharted and sprawling. Social media sites are vying for your attention, and searching the Internet for advice turns up sharply conflicting recommendations.
Need for Mentor
Clearly you need a mentor, somebody smart and knowledgeable with especially strong communication skills. You should find somebody with whom you feel comfortable, because you’ll definitely be getting to know each other. Picking a mentor is difficult.
Effective Communication #1 Challenge
Once you find your mentor mastering essential social media marketing skills will be difficult. To get fully up to speed might take a year or even longer.
That is the bad news.
In my opinion, the hardest part of social media marketing training is learning effective communication, i.e., to write, speak, listen and persuade well and in a professional manner.
There are certainly plenty of technical challenges to overcome, but by far communication is the chief obstacle new social media marketers face. If you happen to have the right mix of communication skills, you’re way ahead of most newcomers.
Your mentor can teach you personal and business branding, online social networking, blogging, video marketing, social bookmarking, SEO and other important skills. He or she can also critique your communication style, but it will be you who will connect directly with your target market and build vital business relationships.
Get Started Now and Learn as You Go
Now the good news.
You don’t have to master every skill, dot every “i” and cross every “t” before getting started.
Find a good mentor to guide you, jump in and get your feet wet. Learn by doing.
As Mike Litman always says: “You don’t have to get it right, you just have to get it going.”
Your results will serve as feedback to help you to make the necessary corrections along the way… and that is good news.
Don’t miss any posts. Register, it’s easy, or subscribe to my RSS feed! You can also subscribe by e-mail using the form at the top of the home page sidebar.
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Jul
20
Business Week Regrets Missing Web 2.0 Social Media Trend
Filed Under Blogging, News, Social Media and Social Networking Sites | 2 Comments
Business Week in their June 2, 2008 cover story, Beyond Blogs, confessed that three years earlier when they wrote, Blogs Will Change Your Business, they completely missed the larger Web 2.0 social media trend that was emerging.
Business Networking Sites
While blogs have indeed transformed business, politics and publishing, online social networking at social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook, and Linked In have impacted an even greater cross-section of businesses and people.
Many businesses have created their own in-house social networking sites to encourage and support staff collaboration.
Social Media Sites
YouTube, a site where regular people post their videos, has challenged the dominance of television in the entertainment and news industries.
Wikipedia, an encyclopedia developed and maintained by users, and wikis in general, have revolutionized the way people work together and share information.
Twitter, a micro-blogging site, lets people and businesses communicate in 140-character chunks called “tweets”.
Read the full article to better understand social media’s impact on marketing, management and collaboration in business today.
Time’s 2006 Person of the Year
One footnote: Time Magazine in their December 2006 cover story, Time’s Person of the Year: You, communicates the full impact and significance of our collective online collaboration called Web 2.0.
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Jul
8
My Personal Branding Strategy
Filed Under Best of 2008, Blogging, Career Choices, Networking and Marketing Strategy | 15 Comments
I cannot be everything to everybody.
I know I can’t.
I realized that a long time ago. I’ve learned to choose who I want to be to the people who matter most to me.
Business Analysis Example
I’m a business analyst. There are lots of business analysts in the world, but how many of them specialize in marketing and customer analysis like I do? Very few indeed.
And how many rely as heavily on intuition and instinct as I do? Even fewer.
Looking for somebody to do your P&L analyses? Not me. Go talk to a finance type. There are tons of them with MBA degrees waiting to hear from you.
Want to assess a takeover target? Again, not me. Go find somebody who’s into merger and acquisitions to help.
Need to track your marketing or determine how much your customers are worth? Now that is me. Give me a call, and I’ll talk your head off for hours about customer acquisition and customer retention, because that’s definitely my thing.
Network Marketing Example
I admit it. I’m also a network marketer.
I have lots of expertise in online social networking at social networking sites, blog marketing and search engine optimization. I was networking online way before it was cool, and I’m continuously sharpening my blogging and SEO skills.
Do I know the three foot rule? Of course I do, but so does everybody else in the network marketing business.
Can I make a list of family, friends and acquaintances? You bet I can — I’ve done it more than once — but is there one successful networker who can’t?
On the other hand, how many network marketers are Internet savvy? How many of them prospect and network online and enjoy it as I do?
Breaking Away from the Pack
I like to learn from teachers such as Diane Hochman and Mike Dillard, because they too have broken away from the pack. As Diane often says, “When people are zigging, you have to zag.” She’s a lady I want to get to know much better. That’s a big reason why I joined My Private Classroom.
By the way, if you would like to develop strong social networking, social marketing and personal branding skills, read My Private Classroom Opens to Public.
Blogging Example
A reader recently complained that my articles were neither timely nor did they provide information she couldn’t have found elsewhere online.
I basically told her that intelligent and thought-provoking were more important to me than timely. Here too I’ve chosen a focus that works for me.
My Personal Brand Management Approach
The point of this post is that I’ve narrowed my focus, so that I could escape the crowds and stand out more readily. I’ve defined my market, so that I can dominate it.
I prefer to be a leader in my carefully selected fields rather than an also-ran in larger more broadly defined competitive categories.
Avis might have been #2 in the car rental industry, but when they said, “we try harder”, they re-positioned themselves as #1 in car rental customer service.
Redefine Your Market
Do you sell mortgages? Travel? Nutritional products?
Here’s some food for thought. How can you position yourself so that people will see you and think of you as a leader in your market and remember you when they are ready to buy?
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