Social Media: Repetition, Repetition, Repetition.
At BlogIndiana I heard an interesting statistic : Approximately 75% of the visitors to your blog or website are first time visitors. This didn’t sound right, surely people were coming back again and again. But I checked my own statistics and sure enough, 72% of my guests were first timers.
All that new content I was generating, was it going to waste? If I just wrote the same post over and over again, who would know? Well I believe it isn’t going to waste, because every post builds SEO bait. At the same time, the practice is improving my writing skills.
The fact that 3/4 of my audience is new every day presents an interesting challenge. If his is the first time you have arrived here, I want you to know a bit about us. – At Roundpeg, we are focused on small business. We write about marketing, social media, pr, web design, and business planning. Occasionally we show off samples of our work, and link to projects we do for our small business clients. Look around, we hope you will enjoy your stay, and maybe come back and become part of the other 25%
However, if you are part of my regular audience. I am glad you are back.. On this visit, I hope you will take the time to share some of your thoughts. What keeps you coming back?
Bring Your Date Home!
As Facebook expands their reach, launching a geographic platform ( Facebook Places) to compete with foursquare, it raises once again the question – Is Facebook All You Need? With custom fan pages, the simple user interface, the ability to take messages viral, why do you even need your own blog or web site?
The Answer … Control!!
While Facbook is an amazing tool, it is their tool, not yours. It is their game, their rules, and they can change the rules any time. This message was hammered home to me in several different presentations at BlogIndidana last week.
- After building a significant following on Facebook, Scotty’s Brewhouse had reached the maximum number of friends. Giving up most of their traditional marketing, they had come to rely on the platform to stay in touch with customers, promote location based specials and build a following. Yes they have a website, but it is their fan page and twitter stream which really allows them to connect with their clients.
When they reached their maximum Facebook shut them down. Now they were able to rebuild, but they had some significant scrambling to do, and some customer connections were lost forever ( not many, but some)
- FBML!!! – Facebook launched FBML – A quirky tool which allowed developers to create really cool Welcome pages as part of the fan page. I have met several designers recently who argued with FBML, they would never need to build another “real website” . Not convinced it would replace traditional websites, we still took on the challenge of learning the quirks of FBML. The result are some some really cool fan pages:
- roundpeg
- startingpoint
- Lipstick on the Rim ( This is my favorite)
The problem – Facebook is moving away from FBML – The first warning something was in the air, was a notice pages needed to be resized. So all of our designs have been downsized to 530 Px from 730. Not bad, but definitely not something I wanted to do. But the bigger issue? They are abandoning FBML. So now, instead of working on new projects, we need to find another way to add the custom tabs, and rebuild our sites and the ones we have created for our clients. Their game, their rules, their toys.
- As I was researching this topic, I found a blog by Jeff Bullas with one more reason: Facebook is not forever ( Think AOL). Sooner or later something else will come along. Their obsolescence becomes yours. With your site, you control, when, how and why you morph.
Have I given up on Facebook? Absolutely not. It is a powerful tool, which allows us to connect our clients with their constiuacy and DRIVE THEM TO THE CLIENT WEBSITE. That is the bottom line,: Think of Facebook as a giant party, where you can meet lots of people, maybe even the love of your life.. Meet them at Facebook then bring them home to dance!
Lessons from BlogIndiana
I have had the weekend to process my thoughts about Day One of Blog Indiana. First comment: Noah and Shawn once again put on a great show. This years event was absolutely the best, and I am sorry I couldn’t participate for both days.
I have stacks of notes, (ok Megs of digital notes) lots to think about and lots to share. Here are just a few of my key takeaways from the day:
- @JasonFalls – Social Media Explorer opened the conference with a presentation on making social media a conversation. I have heard Jason speak on several occasions before this, and I always enjoy his sensible approach to social media. Friday was no exception. There was so much content in his presentation, but the core was the idea that you need to build trust. And the things you do to build trust on line is not all that different then what you do to build trust off line. More from this session
- IU East is a small school, making big waves with social media. Taking an integrated approach, tying their media together ( print and eResources) and getting everyone, even the Chancellor of the university involved they are one of the most engaged universities. Sure IU Bloomington, has many, many, many more students connected to their fan page, but when you look at real engagement : Likes and Comments per post compared to the total number of fans, IUE outperforms Bloomington. This session really made me think about who are my peers and competition on line. It may not be companies of the same size at all.
- Jeremy Dearringer, the CEO of Slingshot SEO, had some interesting information to share about what affects your online reputation. What stood out most for me the most was how quickly negative information can spread. 70% of surfers will click on negative result first. You have to have a lot of very positive information to combat a little negative press. The other really powerful element was the fact that people search for company names more often then key words. And when they do, the conversion is significantly higher.
- A look behind the scenes at Scotty’s was great. While I was sorry I didn’t get to see @brewhouse himself, he was well represented by Bruce McClain. And that was an important part of the message – To be successful, your social media strategy has to grow out beyond the owner!
That is just a start. There are a few more longer posts in the works with themes inspired by other sessions. And I can’t wait for the video to see what I missed. what did you learn at BIN2010?
Confessions of a (former) Tweetophobic: Why you need to be on Twitter
Who cares what I’m doing right now? What can you really say in 140 characters?
These are some of the most common objections to using social media in general, and Twitter in particular. Chances are you’ve heard someone mention these concerns. Maybe you’ve even thought them yourself. I know I have.
The biggest disservice that Twitter ever did for itself was the stupid “what are you doing right now?” question. For many people, that flip statement came to define Twitter as an empty, vapid, egotistical service. Just look at the Oatmeal’s scathingly hilarious comic on 10 Things You Need to Stop Tweeting About. For many people, this narcissistic side to Twitter is all they know.
And while there are people who only use Twitter in that capacity, they’re a fairly small minority. Here are the real reasons you need to be on Twitter, either recreationally, professionally, or both:
1. To learn: Twitter is one of the best sources of information out there. Everyday I learn something new and fascinating from my “tweeps.” Maybe it’s a link to a great professional development article. Maybe it’s a new aspect of social media I hadn’t thought about. Or maybe it’s just a great new place to eat, or a bizarre factoid. Whatever it is, I always walk away from Twitter with some new tidbit.
2. To network: Through Twitter, I’ve met acclaimed social media experts, dozens of local small business owners and marketing professionals. I’ve even communicated with a national TV host. Twitter is a great leveler, and allows me to get in touch with people I never would have met otherwise.
3. To share: Any Twitter user worth his or her salt loves to share. Sometimes, admittedly, it’s for personal gain: I routinely tweet items about Roundpeg, or about one of our clients. And that has its place. But I also share information about job postings, retweets of other company’s triumphs and news, and generally interesting information. Twitter only works if you participate, and give just as much as you get.
4. To have fun: Chat about your favorite TV show. Shoot the breeze about the weather. Laugh at someone’s cute photo. At the end of the day, Twitter is exactly what you make of it. If you choose to only share trivial updates, that’s okay too. But if you’re looking for a deeper experience, you can find that, too.
Don’t fear Twitter. Embrace it! Don’t be afraid to jump in–the water’s fine.
Roundpeg Radio is Old Hat…
This week our “Oldies Theme” was inspired by several completely unrelated events.
- @BgKahuna and @ChuckGose discussing the reunion concert tour of boy bands : New Kids on the Block and Back Street Boys. An event Chuck thought perhaps was the sign of the apocalypse: http://ow.ly/2rXPp
- A humorous video link sent from @aballstudio of how songs should be rewritten as rock stars age http://biggeekdad.com/2010/06/old-rock-stars
- And @allisonlcarter’s link to the Beloit College Mindset List – which just really made me feel old.
So this week we are looking for your favorite “Oldies” songs. What classifies as Oldies? You decide! We’ll start off at 10 am with a few really old style rock and roll to get the day going, but the rest of the day is up to you.
As always we will be live until 3 PM today. Then play list will be up all week. So send your song requests to @roundpegradio.
NOTE: The widget takes a minute to load, and you’ll have to refresh to see the new songs. Make sure your speakers are on!
Are You Attractive?
As I get ready to head out to BlogIndiana, where I will get to hang out with some of Indy’s top bloggers, (and some of my favorite people) I can’t help but think about why I like these folks on and off line.
When it comes to attraction on or off-line, what makes someone attractive? The next time you go to a party look around the room. Interesting, confident people are usually the center of attention.
How does this translate to your on-line presence? Write interesting content and share it with confidence. Get the conversation started with a simple post on Twitter, Facebook or Linked in to let your followers know you have something new to share. Then let your readers find you.
It is frustrating when you write a good post and no one comes to read it. (I have written hundreds of unread posts.) How do you deal with the lack of response? Hint: Don’t email a link to everyone you know. Simply write another good post. With enough good content on your website, the readers will come.
And one final thought, in addition to interesting people, the other very popular folks at any party are the good listeners. So spend some time listening as well by asking good questions.
Who are the most attractive people you know?
All Things Marketing – SEO Strategies
As a member of the panel discussion at the All Things Marketing Conference last spring, I talked about the two types of creatures who visit your website; humans and search engines.
Here is an excerpt from the discussion.
Seven Link Challege Day Seven – What I Learned
Over the last few weeks, I have written seveval posts ( six to be exact) which were comprised primarily of links to other posts with a common theme. My goal was to introduce my readers to great content, on roundpeg, and other blogs, which they may have missed.
The results have been fun to watch. Many of my favorite posts, have gotten new exposure, lots of traffic and some positive comments.
While I can’t do it very often, with more than 1,000 posts in this blog, there is certainly a wealth of great content worth sharing a second time.
This is a good strategy for any blogger, who has a significant amount of content, and wants to take a little time to rechage their batteries. it is also a good way to see what people really like!
Try the seven link challenge, even if you don’t do it for seven days, and tell me how it works for you!
Social Media Survey: Final Results
Over the past few weeks, we’ve been revealing the results of our social media survey. We had a great response and lots of interesting insight into how small businesses are making use of social media in their businesses. Now, we’ve compiled all of the results into one in-depth white paper.
Fill out the form below to download your FREE copy, and we’ll also enroll you in Social Media 101. (You can opt out of the online course at any time.)
Thanks to everyone who participated in this survey–there are more on the way, so stay tuned!
It takes a few minutes for the PDF to load after you hit the submit button, so please be patient.
Episode 30: Social Media and Customer Service
it has been awhile since I recorded a podcast episode of More than a Few Words, but things have started to settle down in the office, I bought a new portable recording device, a new computer, and I have time to start working on weekly podcast again.
Today’s topic: Customer Service and Social Media. I don’t think good companies are changing their service levels, but I think they are using new tools to improve their response times. … and companies who are not as good as they should be are discovering that consumers have power!
To listen to the podcast click here.
