Jim Connolly Marketing

Using social media to launch a new blog

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So, can social media really help you market or promote something?

Oh yes!

Earlier today, I launched a brand new blog. Now, usually when you launch a new blog, the first day sees very little traction; after all, no one knows it’s there.  However, thanks exclusively to the use of a few social media tools, the blog attracted hundreds of unique visitors within an hour of its launch.  The blog has also attracted some great comments and people have been emailing me and tweeting to me all morning with feedback and ideas.

Here’s how I launched the new blog (quickly)

The primary tool I used, in order to let people know about the new blog, was Twitter.

A few days ago, I set up a Twitter account for the new blog, which had a handful of ‘followers’ but was essentially sleeping until the blog was launched.  Over the past 3 days, I mentioned on my regular @jimconnolly Twitter account that I was going to launch a new blog this week.  This got people asking me about it and asking to be informed when it launched.

Earlier today, I published the first post on the new blog and sent a Tweet via @jimconnolly, to let people know. I also sent a simple message to a handful of people I know on Friendfeed, all of whom shared the information with their contacts.

This tiny amount of Twitter and Friendfeed activity was aimed at encouraging a relatively small number of people to check out the new blog.  It seems they did and that they told their contacts about it too.  In no time, traffic to the blog started increasing at the perfect rate for me to be able to monitor it.  I will explain why this was important in a moment.

When people arrived at the blog, they saw a welcome post, which also contained a few suggestions:

  • I asked people to please check out a page that explained what the blog was all about.
  • I then asked people to subscribe to the RSS feed, if they wanted to keep up to date with new posts.
  • Finally, I asked people to join the new blog on Twitter @theideasblog – If they were interested in sharing ideas.

An hour later, I published a second post, which was a typical blog post and gave people an idea of the kind of content to expect. It also gave people something of value to read / share.

Summary

This was a simple, deliberately planned launch; which gave me the time to respond to comments and check the blog was working – rather than creating a sudden surge in numbers.  I mentioned earlier that it was important for me to be able to build the traffic to the blog steadily.  There were 2 reasons for this:

  • The blog is with a new hosting provider and I had not placed it under a sudden, heavy load previously.
  • For the first time ever, I configured and designed the blog theme myself. I had obviously tested it previously, but it’s different when the site goes live and it’s receiving comments etc.

By using Twitter, a message on my new blog and a few messages on Friendfeed, I was not only able to create a successful launch, but even control the initial flow of traffic (to a degree).  This was a great, real life example of what’s possible with social media.

Twitter junkies and social media addicts

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word picturesI’m sure you have heard it said many times before; “people think in pictures.”

In written marketing, the words we use have a massive impact on the kind of mental pictures we paint in the minds of our prospective clients or customers.

These pictures help shape how people feel about us and those feelings have a major role in whether they decide to; trust us, buy form us, recommend us etc.

With many, many businesses now embracing social media and putting an increasing amount of information into the public domain, here’s a question to ponder:

“Have you ever stopped to think about the kind of pictures you create in the mind of your prospective clients or customers, when they ‘check you out’ online?”

Social media junkies and Twitter addicts

I’m a passionate user of social media.  I’m also excited about the opportunities available via social networking sites.

What I am not is “a social media junkie” or “totally addicted to Twitter / FaceBook etc.”

I notice lots of social media users, using terms like those above, in their online profiles.  I’m certainly not suggesting that using these phrases will somehow confuse people into thinking that the profile belongs to a junkie or an addict. I am, however, saying that there’s little to be gained by someone suggesting (even tongue-in-cheek) that their use of social media is out of their control.  From a marketing perspective, it’s far better to leverage your profile, so that it’s working 100% for you!

Remember – It’s not just people who use the services who can see your profile.

Your Twitter profile on Google

If you are a Twitter user, when someone does a Google search for your name or company name, your twitter profile is usually on page one. Here’s an example, using a Google search for my name.  Notice that it gives my full profile on Google, without anyone having to even visit Twitter to check me out.

jimconnolly google

Of course, this means if you maximise the positive impact of your Twitter profile, there’s a superb opportunity to have it working for you far beyond the reach of Twitter.

When someone checks you out, make sure that your various online profiles show how totally brilliant you are and what a fantastic investment you are.

Social networking or commercial networking?

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Whilst it’s relatively simple (if time consuming), to develop a large social network, many business owners tell me they find it difficult to successfully market their products or services via social networks.

Here’s why I believe this happens & how to fix it!

People talk in terms of “increased brand awareness” and “being part of the conversation,” yet many struggle to turn the time they invest in social networking, into bankable results for their business.

One person, with over 100,000 people in his social network, told me that he has not made a penny for the thousands of hours he has invested in developing it.

Social network or commercial network?

Part of the marketing challenge with social networking, is the social part.  Our social network is considered by most, to be our family and friends – The people we actually socialise with outside work. This helps explain why people get the same negative response when they try and “sell” something on a social network, that Multi Level Marketers used to get; back in the old days when they were told to sell to their family and friends.

It just feels wrong!

Whilst professional networks like LinkedIn are designed from the ground up for commercial networking, other networks like FaceBook and Twitter etc were not. These were designed for social networking – Places where family and friends can keep in touch and have fun.

If someone uses Twitter or FaceBook for business and they are not getting the results they want, I find it’s usually because they have built a social network, instead of a commercial one.  When they then introduce a commercial component to their messages, their social network often kicks back against it.  If you have used Twitter for any period of time, you will know exactly what I mean!

As I write this, my business has generated over £60,000, via commercial contacts I have made on Twitter in 2009.  I have a 100% commercial network on Twitter and as such, I love to chat about marketing and share great marketing ideas with people.  Yes, I let my personality come through, but I do that off-line too.

Because people know me as a marketing professional on Twitter, if I had a marketing book and offered it to my network there, it would feel right to them.  It would be totally consistent.  Equally, because people associate me with the marketing of small and medium sized businesses, when they want to speak with a marketing specialist, they feel totally comfortable giving me a call.

Commercial networking tip

If you network online for commercial reasons (like I do), focus on developing a great commercial network.

Don’t copy your social media guru

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I’m a marketing man, not a social media expert. However, because some social media tools are excellent for helping small businesses market their services, I’ve spent years studying the marketing potential of social media.

Here’s an important observation I would like to share with you.

Don’t copy your social media guru

It’s all about why you should not necessarily use the same social media strategy, as your social media guru.  Whilst their advice might be superb, simply copying what you see them do, is not always the right thing to do.

Let me explain.

In my experience, most social media professionals make their living selling a mixture of; books, downloadable products and ads or sponsorships on their blogs. Some of the better known social media figures also offer seminars / workshops internationally too.  Unlike most of their readers, they are not geographically limited in what they provide. Someone buying their latest book or eBook in the same street is no different from someone making that same purchase, on a different continent 10 time zones away.

If you run a business, which provides services (or sells to) a particular geographical area, you are going to need a far more geographically targeted approach to your use of social media.  You will need to focus your efforts in a way that attracts and develops opportunities in the area that’s of commercial interest to you.

For example, if you are an accountant or lawyer, it’s unlikely that you will be seeking business leads or referrals on an international basis.  Apart from anything else, your qualifications will restrict what you can offer internationally.  If you work in insurance, your products may have geographical limitations too.  Same again if you operate a franchise business, with a set territory.

Tools like LinkedIn, Twitter, FaceBook and FriendFeed are known for making it possible to easily develop an international network of contacts.  However, they also make it possible to search for (and connect with) your target audience too – people where you do business.

Your social media feedback

I know that a lot of my readers are big users of social media, some with great success!  If you have developed a social media strategy, which has a geographical element, or you have any tips for a more regional approach to social media; please share it with your fellow readers and myself.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Growing and securing your online network

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This post is all about how to safeguard and grow your online network.

How frustrated do you feel, when you’ve just washed your car, you take it out for a spin and a massive truck goes buy and covers it in dirt?  What about when you’ve been working on a document for 20 minutes, your computer crashes and you suddenly realise you lost all that work!

Frustrating isn’t it?

Then just imagine how frustrated you will feel, if that social network you have spent months building on your favourite social networking site, gets trashed; following an unpopular acquisition or mass user exodus!

I wrote a post yesterday, about FaceBook buying FriendFeed.  Within hours of the acquisition, many established FriendFeed users told me they will stop using the service.  Others are posting messages, telling people how to get in touch with them – because they believe FriendFeed will be closed by the new owners.

No one outside FaceBook know’s what they are planning to do with FriendFeed, but that’s not the point.

The point is, this perfectly demonstrates how exposed we can be, is we decide to rely too heavily on any single, third-party, for the development of our online network.

I believe there are two lessons here:

  • Firstly, make sure you have at least 2 places online, where you can connect with your network – not just one!
  • Secondly, develop a central hub for your online presence, which YOU control – Not something governed by a third-party, who could pull the plug on you, suspend your account (or go broke) at any time.

My online network is spread between my blog, my FriendFeed account and my Twitter account.  I am reviewing adding another contact point shortly and I will let you know more closer to the time.

Self hosted blogs

In my experience, the best hub for your online network is a self-hosted blog.  By hosting your own commercial blog, you maintain control. Host it for free on someone else’s platform and they control it.  Through your blog, you can connect with people, share ideas and grow a community. Plus, with plugins and tools like Google Friend Connect, you can enjoy many of the features of a social networking site, on your blog.

No matter what happens with your account at; Twitter, FaceBook, LinkedIn or FriendFeed – your blog will remain a constant contact point for your online community.

If you are investing a lot of your time and energy developing a single, online network, this might be a good time to consider how future-proof your strategy is.

Scoble, Twitter and the wisdom of the crowd!

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My FriendFeed buddy Robert Scoble announced last night, that he was going to unfollow around 105,000 people on Twitter.  He has his reasons for doing this, most of which are valid in my opinion.

Robert also publicly said (very generously) that he now realises he was wrong, when he said that I should not have reset my Twitter account way back in January. That meant a lot to me, as Robert’s one of the brightest people I know, and I value his opinions a great deal.

Robert’s decision comes after other well-known Twitter users unfollowed their followers too, including; Loic Le Meur, Jason Calacanis and Natali Del Conte. By the way, all of these people simply unfollowed their followers. I completely reset my account – zero followers / zero following – and started again from scratch.

But Jim – Everyone’ says you should blindly follow on Twitter!

I reset my Twitter account because of the time it took me to deal with all the spam and ‘noise’, that came from following everyone back, when I was the 3rd most followed person in England.  Back then, almost everyone, including a man I really respect Guy Kawasaki, was telling people that the ‘right’ way to use Twitter, was to follow everyone who follows you. I disagreed with Guy and with ‘the crowd’ on this.

I believed then, as I do now, that different people should use their Twitter accounts in different ways, based on what they want to achieve.  In fact, if you have the same business model as Guy, following everyone who follows you might be the right thing to do.

But here’s the challenge

It might not be the right thing for you to do: Just because ‘the crowd’ are all taking one piece of advice, does not make it automatically the best advice for you or the right thing for you to do. I am not talking about Twitter here, I’m talking about the commercial importance of having faith in your own judgement.

Never be afraid to stand out from the crowd

If you know your subject, have done your research and you truly believe that you are right, do it!