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Tag: social media (page 3 of 3)

Promoting quality content

Do you believe that your content is worth promoting? Worth rising above the noise?

No?

Then why are you creating that content?!?

Yes?

Then why not figure out the best way to promote it?

*Hint: the answer is not in yelling louder, and more often, about your content. Just in real life, if you yell often about how awesome you are, people don’t like it.

Here’s a principle you can take to the bank:

You have to capture your audience and engage them in your promotional content if you ever expect them to click through.

The words you use to promote your content are just as important in driving traffic to your blog as the actual content. Let me explain by example.

Unhelpful update:

New blog. Check it out! http://lame.twitter.update.com (fake link)

Helpful update:

Ever wondered how to write a successful blog? New post: http://engaging.twitter.update.com (fake link)

Your content is battling an increasing amount of noise every day. If you don’t engage your potential readers at the level of Twitter and Facebook, piquing their interest, you can forget them ever clicking through.

I’ve written posts I thought were paradigm-shifting. I’ve written others where I poured my heart out. I’ve written others that I could barely finish because I was laughing so hard.

And in each of those instances, I’ve had posts that never got off the ground.

The more people that engage social media, the louder, more chaotic the noise that we all create. And if you’re adding multiple voices (Twitter, Facebook, blog, etc.), then you’re adding an exponential amount of noise, hoping that your noise produces more noise (through ReTweets, Facebook Shares, StumbleUpon “thumbs up”, and Diggs)…right?

I assume you’re crafting substantial, helpful content on your site. Don’t let your status updates and promotions of your site fall flat. They should start reflecting the quality and effort you’re putting into your blog.

Do you publish content to a blog?

Have you found success in promoting it?

How are you measuring that success?

Content is King

February 28, 2011 / Ben Reed / 9 Comments

Design is crucial. I just wrote about that HERE.

But when it comes to blogging, content is still king.

I have helped a number of people out with their blogs. Making tweaks. Customizing them. Telling them the “secrets” I used to create my blog.

And I’m okay with that.

In the design world, design is sacred. If you design something, you reserve the right to that property…and people pay big bucks for your expertise and creativity. You don’t just give that design away.*

But in my world, I give it away. Partly because I’m not a designer. Partly because I believe that social media is built for generosity. And mainly because, though design is incredibly important and attractive, it’s not king. Content is.

Design may be flashy, but it’s the content that’s driving this blog, not the design. Design is an important aspect, but it’s not the one that keeps me writing.

Design is important, but it’s not why somebody would come back to your site. It’ll only get you (and your readers) so far. I’ve seen some incredibly well-designed blogs…filled with fluff. I don’t go back. I’ve seen some no-design blogs, with lots of great, fresh content. I return often.

People may initially click your site because it looks cool. But they’ll choose whether or not to come back because of the content you produce.

Which is why I firmly believe that the number of subscribers (those who buy in to what you have to say, and return regularly) you have to your blog is more important than the number of blind hits you have.

Are you producing high quality content?

Are your subscriber counts reflecting that?

Do you find yourself working more on your blog design than your content?

Can the same be said of your church?

*let it be known: 1) I’m not a designer. 2) I have no problem with designers charging for their services.

How to use Social Media to drive Blog Traffic

February 10, 2011 / Ben Reed / 5 Comments

Ever wondered how you can use Facebook or Twitter to drive traffic back to your blog or website?

If this is the question you’re asking, then I hate to burst your bubble, but you’re asking the wrong question. You’re starting off on the wrong foot with your approach to social media. Because social media is about giving, not getting. And when you approach an outpost (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) as a means to an end, social media folks can sniff you out a mile away. And they’ll quit following you.

But I do think that, utilized well, social media outposts can help drive traffic to your blog. And providing potential readers/customers (depending on the goal of your site) with information on how to better reach your site can be a great form of customer service. But how do you use them to effectively drive traffic to your site?

What you should do

Remember: social media is about giving, not getting. Be generous with ideas, quotes, stories, and praise of others. If you’re using outposts as a means to simply drive traffic flow to your blog or website, your voice becomes a noise that people will tune out.
Post about other things. It’s okay to alert people that you have a new post…but make sure you don’t do that twice (or more) before you update with something other-than your own site. Don’t be a social media robot, only telling people about your awesome site. Let us know you’re a real person.
Alert potential readers whether this is a new post or a re-post. Most people don’t mind clicking on a re-post, especially if they haven’t read it already. But it’s common courtesy to let people know that this post isn’t hot off the press.
Follow-up: if it’s more than 1 day old, it’s not a new post. Social media is rapidly changing and growing. And if something is more than a day old, it’s hardly considered new.
Use a leading question or statement. Make it a bit provocative. If all you say is, “New post! Check it out! http://…” then I’m less inclined to click through. Give me a reason to click the link.
Use a link shortener. It allows you to add in that leading, provocative question, because you’ll have more characters to use.
Read and respond to your followers. Everywhere you post updates, comments, thoughts, and replies, you’re branding yourself. Because everywhere you do this, you have to login. And when you leave quality responses, it encourages others to read your posts.
Share. Share. Share. Have I mentioned that social media is more about giving than getting? Your generosity and encouragement encourages the same in others.

What you should not do

Don’t just talk about your site. If all of your updates are links back to your site, it feels like you’re not entering the conversation, but that all you care about is padding your own site’s stats. It smacks of self-centeredness. And, like I said above, nobody likes a social media robot.
Don’t post an outpost update more than twice, linking back to the same blog post. It may sound confusing, I know. But all I mean is that if you post the same link on Facebook or Twitter more than twice, you’re going to drive traffic away from your site. At least in the long-run. I think it’s fine to post twice, but if you do it more, you seem to be reaching.
Don’t be a sneaky ninja. Posting two completely different thoughts on Twitter that each link back to the same blog post, causing me to click through twice…not cool, my friend. Nobody likes being duped.

Have you found that social media outposts drive traffic to your site?

Have you found yourself frustrated by those who publicize their site too much?

Why I won’t follow you on Twitter

January 27, 2011 / Ben Reed / 13 Comments

I love Twitter and social media. But just like any other form of media, the pool gets diluted pretty quickly.

So I’ve come up with some of my own rules for why I won’t follow you back on Twitter. Don’t be offended. If we ever run into each other in person, we’d probably be friends. But my Twitter profile has standards much higher than I do.

Why I won’t follow you on Twitter:

Your picture:

has you resting your head on your clenched fist.
is of you wearing sunglasses.
if of you taking a picture of yourself, and we can see the camera.
you don’t have a picture because you haven’t taken the time to upload one.

Your profile:

includes “Internet expert”
includes “social media expert”
includes “Internet social media expert specialist”
includes any of the above words in any order

Your Auto-Direct Message

Your followers:

You have over 1,000 followers and only 2 updates
You have over 1,000 updates and only 2 followers
You follow 2,000 people and only 2 follow you back

Your updates:

You only update about your own stuff (website, blog, self-promotion, etc).
Any of your updates include: “I got thousands of followers using ______…you should try it!”
You never reply to anyone
You never update. Ever.
All you do is reply…to 10 people every update.

Have you ever consciously chosen not to follow somebody back on Twitter?

Why or why not?

Why? Why? Why?

January 4, 2011 / Ben Reed / 5 Comments

I’m going to start posting more consistently on the topic of social media. Because I use it. And so do you.

How do I know?

You’re reading this blog right now.

You also likely use other forms of social media (platforms thriving on interaction around user-generated content), like

Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Vimeo
Ping.fm
MySpace
Wikipedia
Yahoo!Answers
FourSquare
Gowalla
LinkedIn
Spoke
Google Reader
Reddit
Digg
Flickr
StumbleUpon
Posterous
PostRank

I wish I had all of the answers, but I often find myself with more and more questions when it comes to success in social media:

Why do some blog posts take off, and get thousands of hits?
Why do others, some of my favorites, fall flat on their face?
Why do the seemingly meaningless status updates get the most comments?
Why do the posts I take the most time crafting sometimes get no traction, and the ones I put together on a whim go viral?
Why do I sometimes get loads of comments and no retweets?
Why do I sometimes get loads of retweets and no comments?
Why do I think it’s cool to check-in using FourSquare…but nobody else seems to think so?
Why do some people I know and connect with off-line quit following me on-line?
What’s the next social media trend?
What’s next for my blog?

It’s questions like these that I wrestle with. They keep me moving forward, pursuing continued effectiveness online, and with my local ministry here in Clarksville. If I’m not moving towards an increasing effectiveness, it’s time for me to quit.

What social media questions are you wrestling with?

How do you measure effectiveness on your social media platforms?

Leveraging Blogging

October 21, 2010 / Ben Reed / 6 Comments

I don’t write my blog posts so that I would hit the Top 100 Christian blogs (though I do love the stuff that Kent, at ChurchRelevance.com puts out). I write them because I process things externally. The best way I work out my thoughts is to put them out publicly for people to see and critique.

It’s just how I’m wired.

Which means that this blog benefits me more than it will ever benefit someone else.

But, since I’m writing it on a consistent basis, I thought it prudent to leverage the platform to the best of my abilities. So here’s some suggestions I’ve got for you if you care to leverage the power of blogging.

Leveraging your blogging platform

1. Consistently write posts. Don’t let weeks or months go by without a post. You gain influence through consistent posting. Even if it’s once/week, consistency is important.

2. Write substantive posts. Deal with real issues that people face. Answer questions people are asking. Dig into issues that are important. Pictures are great…but if you want to leverage influence, put some substance in there.

3. End your posts with a question. I always try to invite dialog, because I am not simply trying to broadcast information. My aim isn’t to put together a good monologue. I want criticisms, questions, comments…and I’ve found that others want the ability to chime in. Ending my posts with a question help people know how to best jump in the discussion.

4. Make your posts shorter. My rule of thumb is to keep my posts less than 500 words. I know that if I get over 500 words, I lose people’s attention. So I try to get rid of the fluff, and get right to the meat of what I’m trying to say.

5. Read other blogs and comment on them. Engaging others on their turf, on their platform, is a great way to interact. And if your goal is to leverage influence through blogging, this is a great way to do it.

6. Connect your ideas through other social networking platforms. Broadcast updates through Twitter and Facebook. Add your info to Networked Blogs. To PostRank (see my thoughts HERE on measuring success by social engagement).

7. Move beyond the screen. Don’t let interaction stop at the comments section of your blog. Schedule up a face-to-face conversation. Get a TokBox going. A great value of social media is that it can get you further relationally with those you’re developing a network with online.

What am I missing? Would you add anything to this list?

Have you worked on any of these things? Any success?

Twitter vs Facebook

July 24, 2010 / Ben Reed / 5 Comments

I have found great benefit in social media. I’ve written about social networking HERE. Primarily, I use Twitter (you can follow me HERE) and Facebook (you can follow me HERE) when it comes to sharing short bits of information. Right now, though I find great benefit in both, I much prefer Twitter to Facebook. Why?

5 Reasons I prefer Twitter over Facebook:

1. It’s quicker. Facebook takes a lot of time. When you read a status update, especially one that you like, you feel the need to read all of the comments. Then you find a friend that you haven’t talked to in a while, and you click on their page. And find a status update…and the cycle continues. Facebook can quickly become a never-ending pit of time-wasting.

2. It’s more information-driven. I’m a “learner” (according to Strengths Finder), so I love gathering information. Twitter is a great tool to share news and ideas quickly and efficiently (especially because it’s limited to 140 characters).

3. There’s no Farmville. Or Mobster. Or Cafe World. Or Treasure Isle. I just can’t get myself excited about that stuff.

4. There’s no poking. I’ve been poked by somebody. Seriously. I just looked at my Facebook page. And I have no idea what that means, why they poked me, or what I should do in return.

5. With Twitter, you can reach well beyond your circle of friends. On Facebook, for us to interact, you have to accept my friend request before I can see anything that you’ve shared. Facebook seems to me to be designed for you to interact with people that you personally know. Twitter is built for interaction with a broader audience.

What about you? Do you prefer Twitter or Facebook?

6 reasons not to use Twitter to bash your organization

July 13, 2010 / Ben Reed / 2 Comments

I posted this on Twitter the other day:

Church politics are stupid.

It was based on a conversation I had with a guy about his past experiences with local churches. He had been burned many times, and still carries some of those wounds. It wasn’t based on anything that’s happening in the church where I serve on staff.

I’m all about challenging my system. And I’d encourage you to continually evaluate the effectiveness of your system, too. Tweak it, hack it up, throw it out. Make your system do what you want it to do. Criticize it. Mock it. Stomp on it.

But if you’re a leader in your organization, don’t do it on Twitter.

Why not?

6 reasons to not use Twitter to bash your organization

1. It’s too easy. For me, wisdom doesn’t roll off of my tongue. Stupidity does. If I’m going to say something that’s dumb, it’s going to be because I don’t think before I speak. I just rattle off something without putting diligent thought to my words. Twitter makes it incredibly easy to post whatever you’re thinking. It’s as easy as a text message. And though that’s one of the beauties of social media, it can be one of the uglies when you don’t think before you update. (Which makes me so thankful that social media wasn’t a big deal when I was in high school…because I would have publicly said some dumb things)

2. There’s little accountability. You can fire off an update and then just let it ride. Although there’s the false sense of accountability because Twitter operates on the public sphere, it’s not really accountability. Because you can always wriggle your way out of what you said. “Oh, that was just what I said on Twitter…” And an @reply or a direct message (for you Facebook users, a wall post or a message) is much more easily ignored than a coworker sitting across the table from you.

3. All of the right voices don’t hear it. As much as we Twitterers would like to think, the whole world hasn’t adopted social media. Though it’s changed the landscape of information sharing, not everybody has bought in. And even for people who have bought in, there are varying levels of involvement. Some people check it once/week. Others check it once/hour. Lots and lots of information is shared…and lots and lots of information is never read. If you’ve got some scathing criticism to say about your organization, there are other key leaders who need to hear that…not just your friend from 2nd grade.

4. You’re limited to 140 characters. How would you feel if your boss came into your staff meeting and said, “Can’t believe the decisions our finance team is making! Hope they enjoy getting fired…” and then walked out of the room? You’d want a little more explanation, right? You want more than 140 characters to help you understand where you went wrong, and possible solutions to the problem. There’s too much left up to interpretation when criticisms come through Twitter.

5. You have little control over the conversation. If criticisms are introduced in person, they can be immediately addressed and explained in person. If they are introduced via Twitter, your words are stewed over, conversed, and twisted before you can ever fully explain yourself. It could be days before you are able to sit down with those you criticized, and in the meantime, your words have taken on a life of their own.

6. It could get you fired. Read the story about the Cisco employee HERE.

If you feel the need to be critical of an organization you don’t work for, that’s a different story. I’ve done that…and it’s worked out well. Read my story HERE.

But if you work for, or are a leader in an organization, and you feel the need to be critical, that’s fine…just don’t do it on Twitter.