(Part 1 of 2)
We’ve been talking about web traffic strategies for 10 consecutive lessons now, and finally we’re getting to the topic that I know a lot of people have been waiting for: social media!
This is basically going to be a two-part social media crash course for Internet marketers.
(Watch this video…)
Main points:
Social networking sites – like Facebook and Linked-In
Microblogging sites – Twitter
Video sharing sites – YouTube, Vimeo
Photo sharing sites – Flickr, PhotoBucket
Consumer-review sites – Yelp
Social bookmarking/sharing sites – Digg, Reddit, Delicious
Social gaming sites – WoW, The Sims, Second Life
My 1st-tier picks:
Facebook
Google+
YouTube (covered in lesson #80)
Twitter
My 2nd-tier picks:
Linked-In (#13 on Alexa!)
StumbleUpon (#102 on Alexa)
Squidoo (#2242 on Alexa)
Flickr (#32 on Alexa)
Some others worth consideration: Tumblr, Orkut (in certain countries), Reddit, Digg, LiveJournal, Vimeo, Yahoo Answers, and the Warrior Forum (only for the IM niche… #138 on Alexa).
1) Spamming
– much of what’s being taught by so-called experts falls into this category.
– see video for several examples.
– most social media automation tools are spammy.
– it can and often does work, but I don’t recommend it.
2) Integrating
– Virtually all businesses can benefit by integrating with social media to some degree.
– It’s about communicating through multiple channels. (Better chance of reaching your prospects)
– List building is still one of our primary goals (see lesson #59).
– See video for integration examples
3) Socializing
– Your socialization must be related to your business.
– The objectives are building trust and authority.
– Keep your personal profile separate from your business profile (with some exceptions).
– Don’t waste your time on it. (always remember ROI)
– (See video for examples and details)
1) Scammers abound. Please educate yourself and learn the warning signs, so that you do not fall victim to a social media con artist.
2) You’re sharing your database. By building your business on a social platform, you’re sharing your data with the owner of the website, and potentially allowing your competitors to rip off and/or show their own ads to your list.
3) The distraction factor is huge, particularly for men. If you think you can hang out all day on social media and not get distracted by pictures of attractive women, advertisements of girls in bikinis, your friend’s latest vacation pictures, a cool new video from Youtube, a funny joke, etc… you’re kidding yourself! This alone will make social media a losing proposition for the majority of male marketers. (A good reason to outsource it).
Action steps:
1) Decide what role social media should play in your business.
2) Consider what kind of social media strategies you would like to pursue, such as integrating and socializing.
3) Become aware of the time you spend on social media, and track your ROI as much as possible.
4) Don’t waste your time on low-ROI activities. Outsource the profitable activities as much as possible.
In the next lesson we’ll be looking at specific methods of integration, and tips for maximizing your effectiveness on specific social sites, including Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and Linked-In.
As always, you are welcome to post your questions and comments below 🙂
Have a great day!
Hi Eric,
I think the biggest take away is to not get sucked into it. Outsource and test and track your results to see what’s working and what isn’t.
Good stuff Eric. Hear from you soon.
-Nick
Yeah with you Eric, I’m not a big fan of Social Media in my marketing tool kit its my achilles heel! But I know for traffic and offering my clients info is important.
Your sure right about the Girls! I have a lot of problem focusing as it is. Twitter has a ton of crazy nuts and teens on it. also lots of POSERS! cant tell who the hell they are!
I think social media can be effective when you use it to syndicate the content you create. Social signals play a role in your Google rankings, but to be honest I hate spending my personal time on it. I would just rather give people an opportunity to share the content I create.
I think G+ could be powerful for networking very soon. I love that you can now add your profile pic next to your search engine rankings 😉
Quality of your content will become more important than link building soon. It’s coming. Eric, I think you will see a huge increase of traffic soon.
I have tried using the social media strategy in my religious site. One thing I found out, if it you already have a good amount of readers, the more that it will boost your way to more subscribers!
I’m starting over. God has nudged me in the direction of putting out a gospel album of original songs I’ve written over the years. So I’m in the process of doing that.
Apparently, from what I’ve been able to gather from a few friends who market their music on Facebook – it is the place to build a fan base. Thanks for the warning about getting hooked on social media – I absolutely hate it right now so I can’t see myself falling in love with it any time soon. Which leads me to this point:
I did try to outsource my Facebook activity on a business Facebook profile at one time in the past and I ran into a problem. For whatever reason – I can’t quite recall why now – Facebook wanted me to verify that I was who I said I was before they would allow me to log in to my own Facebook business page. (I had given the outsource permission to maintain my profile and post there).
Because it was a business profile and not my personal Facebook page that became a huge problem. In order to prove I was the owner, Facebook started to show me pictures of my “friends” for me to identify. They only gave me so many chances to correctly identify someone. It was getting down to the nitty gritty when I finally – by sheer luck – recognized someone.
So – if I were to outsource again – what would you suggest to avoid a repeat?
In the case of marketing your own music – would you think it best to do it from a business profile or from a personal profile?
Thanks
Ron
P.S. Some of you may have caught me at a very down moment when I truly needed prayer so I thank you if you prayed for me. I also wish to apologize to you Eric for horning in on your prayer list when you explained your recent illness on this blog. Like a said – it was a low point and I’m feeling much better now.
We have always benefited from the social networking sites especially twitter and facebook. Since we are also content sharing sites by the users , all our updates to our profiles in those websites are outsourced.
Very useful introduction and advice. I am glad you mention Google+, I like the simplicity (it is like a lesson in Web design), uncluttered look, and functionality.
About the socializing without to be addicted… it is hard, but I am sure you will give the honest advise and the right rules to follow.
Hi Eric,
That was really very useful. You dissected the use of social media and now I know how I should be using them.
Secondly, I am planning to use a auto posting tool(onlywire.com) to the various social media networks (about 30 of them) to avoid the tedious task of doing it manually. Will that be okay or will it in, as spam?
Hello Eric,
It is very good resource and I hope anyone who wants to get traffic from social sites have to take every precaution in thier business endeavour. Dont fall victims to fraudsters.
Hi Eric,
Hope you are progressing well and that mother and baby are well.
As always, loving your work. I ,too have been holding off from diving into Social Media, seeing it as a waste of my time in ROI terms. But, I am starting to mellow and have indeed recently gained 90 Twitter followers in 2 weeks in a non IM niche with very little work – and it IS driving traffic to my website!!
So, maybe I am starting to be convinced – a little!!!
Keep up the fantastic work – Love to you all
Jonathan
I can be accused of all 3 actually. Maybe you’re right….need to readjust plans and stratergy.
Thanks Nick, yes I’ll be in touch soon.
Thanks Pawel, yes syndicating your content is a good way to integrate social media with your business.
Mark Joyner created an online music marketing course a few years ago, which is still mostly relevant.
Regarding a personal profile vs. fan page, I think you would definitely want a fan page for you as a musician. That way you can focus solely on your music on that profile, and you’re not restricted to 5000 friends. At the same time, your friends and family will probably be your first fans. So I’d use your personal profile as a starting point to get people excited about your music and get them to join your fan page.
Regarding outsourcing… I’m not sure what is the best answer to that particular problem so maybe someone else here knows. Facebook probably saw logins from IP’s in different countries and so it’s a standard security measure. But there are plenty of businesses, famous people, etc, who outsource their fan pages, so there’s got to be a way around it. Did you outsource the actual creation of the account? If so, maybe it would be best if you setup the account first, then outsource it.
No problem on the prayer. You can always post those here too: http://www.prayway.com/prayer/ 🙂
I’d say it depends what you’re posting. If you’re syndicating your own original content, that’s great. If you’re autoposting scraped content from someone else’s site(s), that’s spam IMO.
Glad to hear it! It’s great to keep a pulse on where your traffic is coming from, so you can gauge the ROI of your activities.
Terrific lesson, Eric. For someone just starting out in this business, staying away from the social media would be a very smart thing to do. It is certainly something for us to consider once we get things up and running a bit. Thanks for your wisdom; it is very much appreciated. On a personal note, it sounds as though you are doing better for which we are grateful – when prayers go up, the blessings come down 😀
Regards,
Kris
We can get traffic from social media – Facebook, Twitter can really drive huge traffic to my website. But what about conversion? Any tips on how to get social media traffic that get converted?
Hello Eric nice to see you back and giving even more use full information. i have thought for a long time that social sites are to chat and interact with friends not to pitch to and spam so your explanation is just what i wanted to here and confirmed what i thought.
once again thank you Eric.
Hi Eric
It’s always interesting and entertaining to watch your videos. I agree with all you say and definitely lots of the social media is hyped up with the latest things going on. It’s important to have the wisdom to discern the differences. Usually newbies fall prey to the latest when I talk to SEO client’s they have read something new that they get really hooked at. Thanks Eric..
This is one reason why it’s usually best to keep your social media followers as targeted as possible. IF they’re targeted, and still not converting, then I’d say it’s one of two problems…
1- Your site needs to be tweaked for better conversion. You may need to create a landing page that is specifically tailored to appeal to your social media visitors.
or
2- The particular social site is not where your “buyers” are hanging out, even though there may be people there interested in your niche.
Thanks Kris, I’ve had some improvement in the past month. Still battling.
I work on various client’s FB Fan pages. You’ll need to add your outsource person as an administrator on the Fan Page. As an administrator, the person logs into their own Facebook account which removes the need for you to keep proving that you are yourself.
So, go to your Fan Page, click on Edit Page. You’ll need to click on “Manage Admins” to add the person who will be working with you. Then you’ll be good to go.
If you have any questions, just let me know.
Cheryl
Hootsuite is a free resource that makes it a bit easier to see who’s following you and what they’re about. I unfollow people all the time because they’re “interests” just don’t jibe with what I’m trying to do.
In Hootsuite, all you need to do is click on the person’s picture and you’ll see their entire profile (including website) and past activity. If they fall into the “crazy nut” category you just unfollow them.
I’m planning on mentioning it in the next lesson 🙂
Great video/article on social media in business – thanks for sharing your insights! I notice that Google+ is in your first tier even though it’s relatively new… Do you think that it is for sure here to stay?
Laurie
Take note: Face book is beginning to block some marketing techniques. When I tried to link my affiliate page to my wall in face book, it was blocked. Just be aware that not all marketing is permitted on Face book, and there may be more restrictions coming.
Hello Laurie,
It sure looks that way! Eric will be discussing Google+ more in his next lesson!
Hi eric, i seemed to have stopped getting the lesson emails. They stopped at this lesson
Hello Patrick,
Eric is preparing the next lesson. It should be posted soon!
You are so right about how spammers are taking over social media.
It is still the place to be if you want to get the word out to your carefully selected group of friends.
Social media is the best source of FREE traffic – particularly FB,
Thanks Eric for the education. I don’t really have a commercial website. I have just been posting my views about life, but I’d like to do something commercial and start to make money. I need to create some products I so I can build my list. By the way can you tell me how should I best handle the comments people send me about my blogs? I normally get them via my email, then I have to go to WordPress and answer them, too many steps!?! I’d like to handle them like emails or like you do here. This is my blog http://www.fredomoreno.com
And keep this in mind, spammers are everywhere, and it is true it is easy to get hooked on some of the pich pages, and landing sights of spammers: How can you tell if it’s spam or just another to good to be true site?
• It contains any picture of a person leaning on an expensive car
•Testimonials contain first name and last initial only
• It features lots of really, really good-looking people
• It contains images of money raining from above
• It has the words “get paid to” in a headline
• It loads music or a video immediately upon entering the site
• It links to a Top Ten Home Business list
• It highlights words a yellow highlighter pen
• It has a web pages that scrolls down and down and down for miles
• It loads a popup or popunder
• It won’t let you leave without a live operator box asking, “Are you sure?”
• It requires you to “act now”
• Contains anywhere the phrase “shocking truth”
One action required DELETE!
Thnks Eric for the tip,
The content is mine and truly original. The traffic really rocks with auto posting and with good content
eric i absolutely love your tips..but i was wondering what happened did you stop at tip #81 or is my email rejecting your tips if so I am going to take care of that soon as possible.
Hi Eric,
> Thanks for the bonus I received recently.
> Can you please help?
> I tried to install wordpress using Fantastico and I got this error message
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Warning: mysql_connect() [function.mysql-connect]: Access denied for user ‘netonlin’@’localhost’ (using password: YES) in /tmp/cpanel_phpengine.1317211713.7578pLqCimZ0nL on line 1617
Access denied for user ‘netonlin’@’localhost’ (using password: YES)
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Below are the details I filled in:
>>Please kindly check the details I entered.
>> I used the following detail for the installation of wordpress:
1.Install on domain >netonlinemarketing.com
2.Administrator-username >netonlin
3.password >…………
4.Admin nickname >Admin
5.Admin e-mail (your email address) >netonlin@netonlinemarketing.com
6.Site name >Net Online Marketing
7.Click ..Install WordPress
Please help me to complete the installation asap
Thanks,
Mike
Hello Angie,
Eric will still be completing 100 lessons. The next lesson will soon be completed and will be sent to you soon thereafter. You can also visit EricsTips.com to see the latest lesson updates and revisit earlier lessons:
http://www.ericstips.com/tips/category/lessons/
Here is the direct link to lesson 82:
If your email happens to block some of the lessons, we recommend that you view this tip on whitelisting an email address:
Hello Mike,
I was able to find a post online with solutions to this similar error.
http://www.wallpaperama.com/disp-post81.html
You might want to get assistance directly from the Experts at WordPress.
We recommend that you use the forum search capability to find answers to any specific problems while installing your WordPress blog:
http://wordpress.org/support/
Hello Fredo,
We actually log in here to answer comments. Plus, we like to keep all comment management on the blog, because WordPress has a number of great features built right in. For instance, we can search for all other comments made by a particular user!
You might want to skip the email notifications, and simply have a set time that you log in to check for comments every day!
Dear Eric, I bopped ahead to look @ this lesson, #81. I’m back on #17 really but I was curious. Eric , you do a very good job at teaching. I am blown away and so impressed with you, your experience, your effort, the depth of the teachings, your ability to communicate so clearly and you sound great. I love how you talk about your business values. I think I am so lucky to have found you. THANK YOU!!!
I am such a new bee in social media, so I really appreciate your information. It makes such good sense.
My interest in Social networking is for the purpose of list building . The Question I have is what if you are working in 2 different niches like.. herbs online and income with affiliate marketing and gardening . How can I demo my authority , authenticity and integrity in different niches, using my own profile.
It is tough to appeal to two niches at the same time. The herbs people will be annoyed if you put out too many make-money messages, and the make money people will be bored by the herbs. Therefore it would be best to have seperate targeted profiles on most social sites. In the case of personal profiles (ie. Facebook and Linked In), you can convey your multiple interests and just be yourself. For example, if you look at my personal Google+ profile, you can see that I’m conveying myself as a marketer but I also express and display my interest in photography. My marketing audience is not offended by this, which is good. But on the downside, I don’t think people in the photography niche take me seriously, because I’m a marketer. So again, it’s not ideal, and it’s simply more effective to focus on one area. But if you do combine two niches, just be careful not to alienate anyone, and do focus on getting your targeted audience onto the appropriate lists where you can deliver the targeted info to them.
Dear Eric Thank you for all your information over the years including the Joel Comm cd’s I got years ago and your ongoing support and sharing.
I wish you and you family a very Merry Christmas and a Healthy Prosperous and Happy New Year 2012
A very grateful
Paul Mara
Hi Eric
I’m getting a lot of emails from you promoting “Instant Product Engine”. Just to let you know, I signed up for the original beta version when it first came out, and I have subsequently signed on for the full version about 3 weeks ago. Perhaps your system hasn’t picked up this yet – thought you’d like to know. Thanks and all the best for 2012,
JOHN McCARTER
Hi John,
Thanks for letting us know. There are also a number of affiliates promoting this too, who wouldn’t have a way of knowing that you already own it.
Hi “young” Eric (& your absolutely georgeous Family, Wishing you all a Happy New Year, from down-under, (hoping Christmas was “very Merry” with many “Blessings”(& Gifts). A bit about me, I am 63yrs young, have been Scammed Big Time, but in this msg I’ll try to be possitive, so not too much melodrama about my personal (bad) luck, (not yet tho, lol), but reading your News, you are “Blessed” with much patience & perserverance which in turn, makes an opportunity become “Lucky”, with the “awesome photos of the Horses & 3 Bears, thank you for sharing, my Partner Joy & I, love all these (& more) “Animals” too!…
My J.O.B. = (JUST. OVER. BROKE.), came about because of my unfortunate Health crisis needing regular Hospital Treatment, (which I read you are also having a Health problem, I Pray it isn’t too serious). When I was making coversation during my Treatment I mentioned to someone I drove Buses previously, next thing I know is, my Vehicle & I were commandeered to become a Private Transport Provider, running a Hospital Service as an Independant (Private) Shuttle/Taxi, (because my home is over 100 mls from this (Major) Hospital), for many Patients (Oncology, Dialasys, & Mental Health), I became their alternative direct Transport to & from Hospital, as they could not Drive & Public Transport didn’t exist or was unsuitable. Then this evolved into another entity, Transporting Special Needs Kids from Home to School & back, this is an IHC Special School Service which for me is not only Challenging, but can be quite rewarding when you see their magic smile or any kind of acknowlegement that they’re happy to see you! (these are mostly Autistic Kids & are often Diagnosed as the Victims of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, because of Parents lack of knowlege about drinking ALCOHOL during Pregnancy or their Mom’s Traumatic Stress Syndrome, unaware it is also affecting the Unborn Child, these are just a couple of the causes that make some of these Kids what they are! (I was requested to be a relief (Owner) Driver for 10 weeks, O. M.G. I’m now in my 12th year)!!!
Eric, I’m Sorry for digressing, I am an IM Newbie, & I’ve been extremely impressed with all the positive comments & commplements I’ve read from many Marketers with a smilar goal. With Your awesome attitude to help those also in need, I’ve seen some of your video clips, you’ve convinced me I want, or more so, need your I.P.E. Program plus these Training & Mentoring Videos which I believe are going to be an absolute nescessity to help my New IM Business, then I can do more, for my Partner Joy (who is so Sceptical after seeing me Scammed by unscrupulous Proffessionals)! I want more time with my Family & giving a bit more to these Beautifull Kids I work with, & their Families, I really Pray & hope you can provide me with the answers, so I too can be Financially Secure. (Hopefully I want to be able to retire in a couple of years, with a little passive Income, lol). You are in my Prayers Eric, God Bless You & all Your Family.
From your (new) IM Friend from Down-under (the New Zealand KIWI) Ps: Please email if you’re in our Neighborhood, it would be a privilige to SHOW YOU REAL KIWI HOSPITALITY! Even bring the FAMILY
OK, no problem. I’m really enjoying the product, as well as this site – thanks a lot!
Hi Eric, I have been receiving your lessons everyday, but all of a sudden they stopped with lesson # 81 on January 6, 2012. Are you taking a break or am I not getting them?
I am far behind, but will complete all the lessons!
Thank you,
Eduardo Alvarez