10 Simple Steps to Social Media Success in 2008
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Is this amazing little article. Here is my view on some of these, directly quoted, “simple steps” to social media success. From a websurfer expert, here’s my take on things.
- Connect. Add 2 contacts per week on either LinkedIn or Facebook. It’s a great way to connect with people and get opportunities flowing. If you simply add 2 people per week, that will be 102 new people per year that are in your network and who you can possibly work with. Time Spent: 1 hour per week
- Maybe. But don’t forget that you don’t know these people. Try to keep your contacts safe and through the right connections, not just from random searches. Those rarely work out. Make sure people you work with are through other co workers, or those who are local and in your area in the least. The internet is a very useful tool but, can be extremely risky
- Master a Forum. Find one active forum (check to see how often people are posting) in your niche and create a real profile there. Introduce yourself and get involved – use the private messaging features to introduce yourself to other influential members (DON’T sell). Once you have made contributions, then feel free to share your products or services with the other members of the forum. Time Spent: 2 hours per week.
- I can’t emphasize enough how much i dislike forums. I’ve never ever been a fan. It’s like snailmail in the internet world – my god, i’ll never know when people will read what i’ve posted, not to mention that it’s likely that they wouldn’t give a shit. I think it’s a start, and if you’re willing to wait, yes, create a profile and become active in forums. Post to what you can and what you’re interested in, and ask questions. But don’t forget that you might not get responses.
- I can’t emphasize enough how much i dislike forums. I’ve never ever been a fan. It’s like snailmail in the internet world – my god, i’ll never know when people will read what i’ve posted, not to mention that it’s likely that they wouldn’t give a shit. I think it’s a start, and if you’re willing to wait, yes, create a profile and become active in forums. Post to what you can and what you’re interested in, and ask questions. But don’t forget that you might not get responses.
- Cut Down & Move Up. Get rid of most of the blogs in your feed reader. Unless you are running a site that relies on that latest news, you probably don’t need to read hundreds of blogs each day. Instead, focus on a handful in your industry that are viewed as highly influential. Comment at least once per week on each of those. After a month, email the author to let them know how much you enjoy their blog. When you have something good that you are looking to build links to, email them. It’s no longer a “cold-call” now. Time Spent: 5 hours per month. Time Saved: 10 hours per month not reading everything.
- This step i find very essential. I want to emphasize this because i don’t do this nearly enough. People don’t forget comments and compliments people give. So don’t just view an article or a work; don’t forget to make note of what you like or don’t like (constructive criticism only).
- This step i find very essential. I want to emphasize this because i don’t do this nearly enough. People don’t forget comments and compliments people give. So don’t just view an article or a work; don’t forget to make note of what you like or don’t like (constructive criticism only).
- Meet a Digger a Day. Spend 15 minutes per day (during the week) contacting a new person from Digg via instant message and forging a bond. You can usually locate this information right on their profile page and add them to your IM program. This simple task will do more for your chances of success at Digg than anything else you can ever do. Trust me. Most of the active diggers also have profiles on a lot of the other social networks, so you are killing many birds with one stone. Time spent: 15 minutes per day.
- I’m embarassed. I don’t own a digg. I should, jesus. Reguardless, there are similar sites like StumbleUpon and other social bookmarking sites that allow you to do the same things. Making connections with people might be in your interest more often than theirs, and on the other end they’d begin to wonder “why you wanna talk”. But if you find active diggers, they’re more than willing to connect you to the right resources that you need.
- Get Universal. Take advantage of Google Universal with video optimization. Create 1 video for your business and put it on YouTube. Build links to it. Hey, if a chiropractor can do it, so can you. Time Spent: 5 hours to create the video and 5 hours to get links to it.
- I’ve only just learned what this is. So in a sense i’m like you guys – first time explorers on new stuff that you might love. Well this is cool. I”m automatically a fan if it’s by google. I like the idea of creating business videos; if it’s applicable in your field. This is really a step too far in some cases. Your call, really!
- Think Globally. For each submission that you make to Digg or reddit – use the same exact title and description and translate it to Spanish and submit to meneame (a “Spanish digg”) and Scoopeo (a “French digg”). You’ll be surprised at how much traffic and links they can generate (and you don’t even have to translate your content). Use a quick translator to make this super easy. Time Spent: 10 Minutes Per Submission.
- This is clever. Make use of these website links, if you’d like to go this far. Taking it to the foreign frontier is really again, your call, if you’ve got the time. :)
- Focus. Stay away from the over-hyped, all-purpose social networks that don’t drive traffic or influence people. They are out there and they want to suck your time up. Don’t let them. If they can’t get you decent traffic or links, don’t waste your time. This is why it’s so important to track your work closely and make sure you see where results are coming from. Time Saved: Countless Hours.
- This is very subjective as to ‘what is the overhyped social network’. To me, myspace is one of them – i absolutely detest myspace. But many would disagree with me. Although i’ve little experience with myspace’s music section, i heard its a great space for upcoming artists and, with such a large fanbase at myspace, it’d be easy to find people to listen to your stuff. Tracking work closely is very essential. You need to find sites that are influential AND have a large fanbase. Thank god for social networking! :)
- Answer. Answer 5 questions per day in your niche on Yahoo! Answers. Link drop to one of your sites every 5th answer. Time Spent: 15 Minutes per day.
- Another interesting idea. Even I haven’t taken this into consideration!
- Join the Conversation. Once per day, use a tool such as Google Blog Search or Serph to search for your name and your company. See where people are talking about you and join in on the conversation. Time Spent: Varies on your company, but should be less than 20 minutes.
- Serph is really great. I should write an article about serph on it’s own. It’s a great way to ‘look yourself up’, so to speak. Check it out.
- Year in Reviews. If you own a business or work for a client that does, there’s a good shot that user generated reviews can play a big part in your life. Find out all of the places that are featuring your company and create a review there. Whether it’s Amazon, Epinions, Yelp, CitySearch or Google Local, they should all have reviews of your company from the people who know it best. Time Spent: 15 minutes per review + 5 minutes per day asking customers and contacts for reviews.
- AMEN. Don’t be ignorant /in denial of your clientele’s commentary on your company or services. Better know than not what your people are saying about you!!
So there. Great suggestions, and i’ve learned alot in the process. I”ll be looking out for articles like this.
