Jul
20
My Online Social Networking Strategy
Filed Under Favorite Posts, Networking and Marketing Strategy, Social Media and Social Networking Sites | 12 Comments
How I Use Social Networking Sites
I wouldn’t start a blog called Online Social Networking if I didn’t like social networking sites.
Let’s look at the many ways that I use social networking sites to meet my business networking objectives.
Casting a Wide Net
I join a wide range of social networking sites. I know that even if I will not be active at a particular social site, the profile I set up there will add to my online presence. So if I like the site, I’ll become part of the community. If I don’t, there’s no harm. My profile will remain there as long as the site continues to operate.
Consider the social networking site Yahoo 360°. If you Google me, this networking site will appear in the top search results. Sometimes it will even show up in the top position on the first page of results. Yet, this is a social networking site I rarely visit. It’s not my cup of tea.
When you Google me, you’ll find page after page of results that are me. What happens when people Google you?
Joining a bunch of social networking sites should jump start your web presence. It’ll give you some Google juice. Why not join some of my favorite social networking sites featured on my blog’s sidebar? As a plus, in most cases we’ll automatically be connected as “friends”.
Building Large Targeted Lists
When I like a social networking site, I settle in and become part of the community.
A winning strategy on nearly every social networking site is to build a large targeted list of friends or contacts, generally the larger the better. Thousands are better than hundreds.
For some sites such as MySpace, Facebook and Yuwie there are friend adders, but I don’t like to use them. I prefer the personal touch, and I don’t want to risk losing my profile for suspected spamming. I spend a modest amount of time each day requesting new friends on each of my favorite social networking sites.
There are two ways that I target my requests.
On sites that allow profile browsing by specific demographics such as age, gender, geographic location, marital status, and parental status, I browse to find people to add.
On sites that have groups or clubs I browse the groups that are likely to attract the people I’m looking for.
I tend to accept nearly all add requests from others. I reject blatant spammers, men masquerading as women in order to attract favorable attention, and crazies.
Networking and Attraction Marketing
Social networking sites are meant for online social networking and not for advertising or spamming. They’re a great place to get to know people. You get to know people by asking them questions.
Please visit or revisit my earlier post, Social Networking vs. Advertising, for a full explanation of this absolutely crucial concept.
Social networking sites are also great from attraction marketing. Be the type of person you want to attract, and that person will be attracted to you.
Videos of you presenting useful information or explaining an important idea, not making a sales pitch, can showcase you as the knowledgeable leader you are.
Blogging is a big part of my branding strategy, so when I network online, I invite people to visit my blog, read, comment and register or subscribe. And many do.
I invite people I like on one social networking site to connect with me on another site. I don’t want to lose track of them if the first site closes down or if one of us happens to have his or her profile deleted. And yes, many do… connect that is.
At Direct Matches, I invite people to visit my profile page where I have a subscription form, and people can sign up for my training newsletter. And again, many do.
Every time people go along with my request, they’re opting in another time to our relationship. It’s sort of like dating.
Branding Yourself
Social networking sites, video sites and blogs are great for personal branding. In fact, your whole online presence can serve as a branding mechanism.
Craft your personal branding strategy and develop a web presence that is consistent with your strategy.
Being Consistent and Following Through
Possibly the most important online social networking strategy is to be consistent and follow through, not to expect instant results.
First you need to build your list, and then you need to gain credibility with the people on it.
When I’ve tried to push things, people sensed it. When I’ve been patient, people have often come to me, and what could be better than that?
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Jun
8
Website or Online Presence?
Filed Under Networking and Marketing Strategy, Search Engines | 6 Comments
I’m taking a couple of days off from work, and I’m leaving you with the following thought:
A website is not necessarily an Internet presence.
Some websites are no more than online business cards. They display the owner’s contact information along with some eye catching graphics, but provide little or no information about the business or organization.
I admit that such a site is not very common, but they do exist.
Here’s one that actually belongs to a web designer who is selling “Engine Optimized Web Solutions”:
Pretty amazing isn’t it?
Seeing is believing!
If there is information, but it’s contained in a flash presentation, then from a search engine’s point of view the site is devoid of content. Search engines are unable to decipher flash or pictures.
When pictures are part of a website, it’s important to tell the search engine what the picture is by using an “alt” description atrribute in the HTML “img” tag. Then the picture adds search value to the site. Also, if for some reason the picture doesn’t load, the description will appear instead.
If there is a lot of good information on the site, but there’s no way to capture a visitor’s contact details, or there isn’t an effective search engine optimization strategy, then the website is merely an Internet-based brochure.
Mosts websites are online brochures and no more. They lack an effective lead capture mechanism, or they lack an effective keyword strategy, or all too often they lack both.
Blogs are naturally full of rich content. Add to the mix a choice of subscription methods for lead capture and good keyword research, and you have the makings of a blog marketing strategy.
In my Blog Marketing and SEO Training series, I hope to provide you with lots of creative input as you develop your online presence.
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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Jun
1
Keyword Research Paying Off Big
Filed Under Search Engines, blogging | 7 Comments
Surging Ahead in the Search Engines
Extensive keyword research and long-term persistence are starting to pay off in a very big way.
Last month, in Blogging and Search Engine Marketing, I patted myself on the back for my SEO progress during my first six months publishing this blog.
I didn’t at all expect that in May I would receive more visitors from search engines than in all previous months since my introduction to the world of blogs.
These visits were above and beyond the 2,000+ visits that I received from my subscriber lists and from online social networking at Entrecard, MyBlogLog and social networking sites.
Furthermore, slightly more than 30% of those search engine visitors stayed on my site long enough to read something.
Of the 787 search engine visits to my blog in May, 239 “stuck”.
Why so much growth in one month?
My keyword research helped me choose search terms that were ambitious yet realistic. And my persistence helped me to establish PageRank and credibility with Google and the other search engines.
I continue to add lots of content to my blog and bookmark all my content on major social media sites.
Do you think I might top 1,000 visitors from SEO in June?
SEO Training
The good news is that what I’m doing here with search engine optimization is duplicable, and I hope to empower you through our Blog Marketing and SEO Training series to develop a massive web presence and achieve great success in your particular niche.
Whether you’re starting a small business, growing an established business, or building a network marketing business, I can’t think of a better way to increase website traffic.
Are you ready to receive thousands of search engine visitors to your site?
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May
25
Creating a Home for Your Blog
Filed Under Networking and Marketing Strategy, Search Engines, blogging | 4 Comments
Your web presence is an asset not unlike real estate.
You’ve probably heard about the three most important factors in real estate.
They are:
- Location
- Location
- Location
A little exaggerated, perhaps, but not much. Properties can always be fixed up, but they can never be moved. If you buy a lovely house in a bad location, you’re stuck in that location.
What are the three most important factors in a web presence?
- Content
- Content
- Content
Or are they?
Location is an important factor in the value of an Internet property too.
When you set up your blog in a blogging community such as Blogger.com or Wordpress.com, you benefit in several ways:
- You get free rent; you don’t have to pay for hosting
- You’re up and running very quickly; no WordPress.org set up and no upgrades to struggle with
- You might get indexed right away — no big deal — but you might also get page ranked quickly, and in the short run perhaps that helps you
- Your community might work a like a social networking site and give you extra exposure
The main thing you give up is control.
If you accidentally — or intentionally — violate the community’s terms of service, they may very well terminate your blog. It happens, and it’s painful.
After all your hard work, you discover that you built your house on a mushy landfill.
Certain widgets or other site customizations may not be as straightforward either compared to marking up a Wordpress.org blog.
Look at it this way. You’re building a site for long term use. Do you really want to be under the thumb of a capricious landlord who can put you and your belongings out into the street on a cold winter night?
Having said all this, it’s still your personal call. The advantages of a Blogger.com site may outweigh the disadvantages as far as you are concerned, especially if you’re funds are tight right now.
And that’s fine. As long as you’re making a well thought out determination for yourself.
My personal choice was and still is WordPress.org. I use a variety of Wordpress plug-ins which I will list and discuss seperately.
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Apr
15
Online Social Networking: Quantity vs. Quality
Filed Under Favorite Posts, Networking and Marketing Strategy, Social Media and Social Networking Sites | 3 Comments
On April 4 in Building a List with Online Social Networking I discussed the role of online social networking in permission-based marketing.
When you add a friend at one of the social networking sites, you are adding that person to your list, and at the same time you’re adding yourself to his or her list. It’s reciprocal list building.
You’ll readily agree that a tiny list is not likely to get you far. Right?
You must build a large list. But how large? And do you focus on quantity or quality?
Whether you have 100 or 500 or 5,000 people on your friends list, you aren’t going to be able to have a regular intimate dialog with all of them. So why opt for smaller rather than larger?
In Stan Relihan’s interview with Ron Bates, the most connected networker on LinkedIn with around 40,000 direct connections, Ron answers the question quite succinctly. He says that “there is quality in quantity”.
In other words, the larger your list, the more people there will be who are just the ones you’re looking to meet. Some relationships will remain superficial while others will become strong friendships.
Ron also discusses the importance in business today of what he refers to as an “additive online presence”. Before somebody does business with you they’re likely to Google you to see what comes up. That’s your online presence. Each place you network, post an article or bookmark a site adds to that presence. This you may recall is a subject we touched on last month in Social Networking Sites: Your Web Presence and is frequently discussed at My Private Classroom for Marketers.
I encourage you to listen to Stan’s interview with Ron Bates and Stan’s other online social networking podcasts. You’ll find loads of gems.
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Mar
18
Social Networking Sites: Your Web Presence
Filed Under Networking and Marketing Strategy, Social Media and Social Networking Sites, blogging | 3 Comments
Google™ Larry Brauner and you’ll find several pages of entries that pertain to me. A dozen entries or so link to profile pages in various social networking sites. Several of them link to pages in this blog.
In a recent post I listed ”web presence” as one of the Top Reasons Why I Blog. Blogging is a marvelous way to build a web presence.
What about online social networking?
We think of social networking sites as places to meet, network and communicate with people. This is true.
But consider this: Online social networking sites are hosts to personal profiles. These profiles showcase you to fellow networkers, and at the same time they build your Internet presence, Web 2.0 social media style.
You are able to join a practically unlimited number of social networking sites and post your profile. Many of them will let you link to your blog or other favorite website. Post a profile that “brands” you. Do not post blatant advertisements.
I close with a note of caution: Don’t try networking actively on more than one or two social networking sites. You’ll spread yourself too thin and fail to develop the credibility and key relationships you’re looking for.
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