Last week, I read this blog. It inspired me to think about the value of social media, e-readers, and e-publishing. As writers and thinkers, we have a responsibility to the future. Or more accurately, we have a responsibility to preserve history. We must make published documents accessible for future generations.
Do you think they’ll use the same technology in 2511 we use now? Is publishing our most valuable information in such a way that is likened to thousands of authors 500 years ago writing a trillion documents on papyrus, shredding each document into 10,000 pieces, and strewing those documents across the earth the best way to preserve our history?
In that blog, the author jokingly theorized that perhaps future generations might study Kanye West’s tweets. Do you think civilizations 500 years from now will consider what he tweeted, in the midst of zillions of gigabytes of information, that valuable? I’d argue that in the 26th century Kanye West and Lady Gaga will be celebrated, if they are known, in the same way we celebrate minstrels. Do you consider lyrics of a minstrel from 500 years ago valuable? Do you know any?
I theorize ancient civilizations had better means to preserve their most valuable documents. Though, just as we publish in a way that is the most convenient and cost saving for us, perhaps they published in the same way.
What do you think? Is e-publishing likened to thousands of authors, writing trillions of documents, shredding each of those docs into ten thousand pieces, and strewing them across the earth? Or is e-publishing likened to the advent of the printing press? I’d love to know your thoughts.
Recently, I read an article that purported that studies showed social media did not increase traffic to websites. Of course, that was a generalization and is not true of all websites. Though, for the average website, I am not going to argue with it. The purpose of social media is not to increase traffic to websites. If people go to your website because of your social media campaign great, but that should not be your primary focus for delving into social media.
Think of your website like a Starbucks and your website traffic as the foot traffic. Now, lets say because you had a sign spinner or a giant banner or some other means of advertising your store, 1,000 people come into your store on a particular day. 450 of those people buy coffee, 350 come and sit with friends or just read, and 200 just get water or use the restroom.
Of course, you have your overhead, you need to pay your employees, and there are other expenses. Only those 450 people on that particular day paid for all of your expenses for that day. That banner or the guy spinning the sign or whatever other method you used to drive traffic to your site may have driven that traffic to your location, but those 450 who paid for something that day also paid for the 550 who bought nothing or used something without a cost.
Now, think about why you do or do not go back to a particular coffee house. Perhaps its because of good prices, good product, good service, ambience, convenience, you’ve developed a relationship with the baristas, or other. The bottom line is SEO, like that sign spinner or the banner, is about driving traffic; social media is about building relationships and developing loyalty.
Last week, Avinash Kaushik tweeted that some people don’t think before they Tweet, and that can lead to adverse consequences. I Replied, “It makes one consider that the freedom of speech has given rise and justification to the freedom of criticism.” I thought I’d write out a Social Media Marketing Rights version of U.S. citizens’ Miranda Rights:
“You have the right not to post or tweet everything you’re thinking or doing all the time. Anything you post or tweet can be used against you by anyone, anytime, anywhere for any reason at all. You have the right to maintain a social media presence separate from your everyday social and personal life, now and during future interactions with your friends, followers, and fans. You have the right to hire or consult a social media marketing agency, before you engage in social media. If you cannot afford to hire or consult a social media marketing agency, you’re on your own. If you must let everyone on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and other social media sites know what you’re doing and thinking all the time, all those free social media tools you use may cost you your job, privacy, and dignity.”
Like your Miranda Rights (If you’re a U.S. citizen), which are meant to remind you that you don’t have to incriminate yourself under police interrogation or in a court of law, your Social Media Marketing Rights should remind you that when engaging with your friends, fans, and followers on social media sites, there are just some things better left unsaid because not leaving those things unsaid could spell trouble.
No matter whether you’re a social media novice, aficionado, or expert, there is bound to be something in this book you can glean from. It’s a great resource for teachers and students, and it covers all of the basis from blogging to the importance of a social media plan.
If you’ve read this book, let me know your thoughts. I’d love to glean from you, and learn what has and has not worked. If you haven’t had a chance to read it yet, you can buy it below.
In the restaurant industry, a good dining room manager will ensure the entire staff’s trained to take ownership. That means if a guest’s water glass is empty or nearing empty, whoever sees it and makes note of it should either fill that water glass or escalate it to the right person (the server). Social Media Monitoring works in much the same way, in that whichever person in a company sees a specific tweet or comment, should either respond or let the right person know so they can respond.
Now, on the social media initiative side, that is sending out Tweets, such as promotional Tweets or posting comments to blogs and Facebook, it should also be a collaborative effort. Companies that choose not to hire one or more people to handle their social media should consider setting up a social media task force that consists of one person from every department to head up the social media initiative for that department. Larger companies can assign one executive to act as liaison or Chief Social Media Officer to head up that task force and speak on behalf of the company.
If your company has a specific social media department, or a department assigned to handle social media, and that works for you, great. If you have one employee who handles all your social media, and that works for you, great. If you outsource your social media, and that works for you, great. Though, if your company’s large, and you are in social media limbo, consider a social media marketing committee.
I’d love to know your thoughts about what has or hasn’t worked for your company.
The other day, my nephew looked at my Twitter account and asked me how I got managed to get more than 1,000 followers. I told him there was no secret and that it took me over a year to acquire those followers.
Of course, there are services out there that allow Twitter users to buy Twitter followers. But buying Twitter followers is against Twitter’s TOS.
Along with that, buying Twitter followers is a bad idea. While those services add geo-targeted followers to your list, those followers will not have the value of a person who chooses to follow you.
My nephew’s tweeting for his band, so I told him he wants to find people in the area who are interested in music, preferably the style of music his band plays. As long as he tweets regularly, respectfully, and reciprocally, the ratio will be about 3 to 1 at first. That means that initially for every three people he follows, about one of them should follow him back.
The more you tweet the right way the more you’ll attract followers. And the more attractive you become the smaller that ratio will become. It’s tempting to not only close that gap, but to avoid that gap by buying Twitter followers. Just remember, it’s black hat social media that will lead to inflated, low quality Twitter followers.
Eventually you’ll close that gap and you’ll have more Twitter followers than people you follow. Social media is not a get rich quick scheme. The main thing to remember is to tweet respectfully, regularly, and reciprocally.
If there are two things you like, it’s free and it’s lists. Blogs with lists of free stuff always get the most views. I try to write my blogs in list or bullet point format as much as possible, but I don’t list free resources (i.e. other sites) as much as I once did. If I list a social media or related start-up and that start-up goes under or is acquired by a larger company, I am left with a broken link. And that’s not good for SEO.
Recently, someone contacted me about trying their site and writing a review. Someone else asked me to review their book on social media marketing, which I will post within the next week or two (e-mail erick @ seobridges . com if you’d like me to review your book, site, or product).
I stopped focusing on posting lists of free resources because while it is great for my initial SEO because it attracts visitor, it is potentially bad for my overall SEO because those sites may cease to exist or the URL may change.
While I may post the occasional review of a social media or social media related site, which has been around for a while, that’s not my focus. My focus is to help you understand the principles of SEO and social media marketing. Yes, I will continue to give you tools, when it’s appropriate; but understanding those principles will prove of higher value to you over time.
When determining whether or not you should create a Twitter account, consider not all tweets are created equally. The value of your tweets is determined by your Social Media Radii (SMR).
Factors to determine your SMR:
1. The type of business your operate (If you’re a restaurant, people in your area have greater value than those outside).
2. People’s demand for your product or service.
3. The number of people who follow you.
4. How well and often your followers use Twitter (If a person follows you, but hasn’t used Twitter in months, it is unlikely they will see your tweets).
5. Your followers’ location(s) in proximity to you (See number 1).
6. Your followers’ potential to buy your product, come to your event, or otherwise engage with you in a way that is profitable to you.
7. Your followers’ potential to retweet or otherwise inform others about you, your business, and your product and/or service.
8. How well you integrate your twitter account with your other social media accounts.
The best way to determine your SMR is to use a social media monitoring service like Postrank or Sysomos. I also listed some free tools to help you get started.
Your social media radii determines the value of your tweets and all your social media efforts. So, when determining whether or not to put up a Twitter account, how often to tweet, and what to tweet consider the above eight factors. Can you think of any other factors to include in considering Social Media Radii?
I posted the question on the SEO Bridges fan page, “Which social bookmarking site do you use?” Below are stats of the top four social bookmarking sites in the U.S. to help you decide if any of them might work for your purposes.
Tumblr:
17% of people who use Tumblr are ages 13-17, 37% are 18-34, 30% are 35-49, and 15% are 50 or older.
15.76% (the highest concentration) of people who use Tumblr come from Facebook and 14.44% go to Facebook.
41.37% of people who use Tumblr immediately come from search engine or social media sites and 39.75% immediately go to search engines or social media sites.
Reddit:
8% of people who use Reddit are ages 13-17, 35% are 18-34, 32% are 35-49, and 25% are 50 or older.
11.13% (The highest concentration) of people who use Reddit come from Imgur.com amd 12.36% go to Imgur.com (Less than 5% come from or go to Facebook).
35.54% of people who use Reddit come from search engines or social media sites and 35.04% go to search engines or social media sites.
Stumbleupon:
9% of people who use Stumbleupon are ages 13-17, 30% are 18-34, 32% are 35-49, and 28% are 50 or older.
10% of people who use Stumbleupon come from Facebook and 9.63% go to Facebook (The highest concentration).
37.64% of all people who use Stumbleupon go to search engines or social media sites and 37.35% go to search engines or social media sites.
Digg:
11% of all people who use Digg are ages 13-17, 39% are 18-34, 30% are 35-49, and 19% are 50 or older.
10.98% come from Google and 8.78% go to Google (the highest concentration).
40.73% of all people who use Digg come from search engines or social media sites and 37.57% go to search engines or social media sites.
If you’d like to check out these or other stats, you can find them on Alexa.com and Quantcast.com.
Last week, I downloaded a new desktop application called Facebook Desktop. Much like FriendFeed’s desktop application, friends’ status updates on this desktop application appear in the upper, right-hand corner of your computer screen. If you want to respond to a friend’s status update, just click on their picture, and a link will bring you to that person’s update. You can also post your own status updates in a box that appears in the middle of your screen.
Facebook desktop doesn’t consist of all of the SaaS features of Hootsuite or Tweetdeck, but it also doesn’t consist of an impersonal FAQ page. At least not yet. What impressed me most about Facebook Desktop weren’t any of the features, rather it was the personal attention I received from creator Charles Bihis.
When I Tweeted Charles to let him know about some initial bugs, he thanked me for letting him know, fixed the problem, let me know he resolved the issue, asked me to tweet him to let him know if it worked okay, and made himself available. Yes, Hootsuite, Seesmic, and other social services will respond to your tweets; though, you’ll most likely get a response like, “Thank you for the Tweet. We’re looking into the issue.”
Charles’ personal touch told me we can expect more from him and Facebook Desktop, so keep watching and keep connecting. Charles personal attention and quick response impressed me so much that I told him I’d write a blog about his new desktop application. If you want to learn more about Facebook Desktop and connect with them, you can follow them @FacebookDesktop.
