Want to make it easy for readers to share your great content with their tribes? If so, keep reading as I share six social media add-ons you can effortlessly integrate into your blog today. Your immediate result: much better engagement with your readers. And by the way, I’ve used them all—many on this very site.
via www.socialmediaexaminer.com
Great additions to any website or weblog that has a goal of connecting and interacting with a loyal audience in a meaningful way.
Posted at 09:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
A lot of us who are using social networking to its full extent are probably knowledgeable about Ning as members of several networks or as network creators who have used this popular and growing free platform to set up and manage our own networks. I've done just that with BlackWebpreneur and I'm guilty of belonging to several other networks created by others. I've discovered a great way to promote my network using Twitter while also growing followers who may become network members or potential customers in the future.
To use Twitter to promote your Ning network, follow these easy steps:
Twitterfeed RSS updates are not a substitute for regular, informational tweets. This technique allows you and your followers to easily stay informed about new members, posts, discussions, or other network activity. Your network activity will also receive exposure to millions of Twitter users. Many who see your network activity will become new members of your network. If you want to see an example of how I use Twitter to promote BlackWebpreneur Network, check out my BlackWebpreneur account on Twitter.
Posted at 10:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Let's face it: Ning is a great social application for bringing together folks with related interests in a way that give them the freedom to express themselves and connect with others using a variety of media. Many of us are members of multiple Ning networks and some of us have even started our own.
What most of us haven't done is utilize the customization available in almost every Ning network to fully promote our products and services in a very passive way that provides our visitors with an even better perspective of what we're all about and why they should consider doing business with us.
Here a just a few ways to put some Zing into your Ning experience so that you maximize your exposure and provide the best possible showcase for your expertise and niche experience.
1. Click the Settings link in the right hand column under your user name. Take a moment to upload a photo, tell us a little about yourself, include a website link and describe your business or interests. You can also add an email address that you can use for mobile uploads to the network.
2. Once you've updated your Profile Settings, click on the My Page link from within the Settings page (it's on the left side). You've already made changes to your profile, you can now choose to change the appearance of your page by changing the template or customizing the color scheme to your own liking. When you're satisfied with the way your personal page looks, save your changes and click the My Page navigation link to actually visit your personal network page.
3. Use custom text boxes to add whatever you like by way of information about you, your business or services. I prefer to use a bit of html code that I've copied into all my My Pages across multiple networks that includes three of my primary internet projects to include my weblog, my forum, and my business directory website. Below these three, I've also included a widget that provides updates from my blog along with a link to my Facebook profile.
4. After you customize your text box, get right into becoming a part of the community by authoring a few weblog posts in your own weblog space, joining some of our groups or creating a new group, participating in our forum discussions, adding pictures, video, or music to your page that can be shared with others in the network. While you're at it, visit some of the other pages and find a few friends to connect with to share best practices and other mutually beneficial information.
These are just a few of the ways you can really enhance your network experience and benefit from increased connections and visitor traffic from others who will see you as an Influencer in your niche. An effective internet presence is just the starting point for long-term relationships and revenue streams that will serve you far longer than the time it takes to optimize your network contribution.
Iceman Baldy is a BlackWebpreneur and has a weblog focused on technology, entrepreneurship, and personal development.
Posted at 03:09 PM in Social Networking | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Tweetdeck is one of the most popular applications for managing all of the chatter on Twitter and now you can also use this excellent program track status updates from your Facebook friends.
Just when you thought you might have your Twitter and Facebook addictions under control, the social networking powers that be have given us another powerful way to cause self-inflicted informational overload. Have fun.
Posted at 09:44 PM in Build Your Brand | Permalink | Comments (0)
This post is an oldie but goodie from a forum note that I wrote earlier this year. It's especially relevant for online entrepreneurs who are using Twitter in establishing an effective web presence. It's also the inspiration for a Way of the Twitter Master page that I'll be adding to this site over the next week or so time permitting.
Everything That Twitters Ain't Gold
There's a lot of debate on many forums about whether Twitter is really useful as a marketing tool or if it simply contributes to the level of social distraction that characterizes a lot of Web 2.0 applications.
I use Twitter in my marketing and I've found that the more well known a person is before using Twitter, the more followers they amass quickly as others want to connect with their celebrity. However, all is not lost for those of us who are working to become established and who want to use Twitter as an effective marketing channel.
A good example of how to integrate Twitter with what you're already doing is blog promotion. I use Wordpress for one of my blogs. There is functionality built into Wordpress to send a Twitter update to your Twitter account each time make a new post. I also use Twitterfeed to do the same thing with my Typepad blogs. If your posts have good titles, the fundamentals of successful marketing will kick in and other individuals who are using search features of Twitter applications will find your Twitter post and often decide to follow you.
I've had this happen personally when mentioning a famous person's book or product and then being pleasantly surprised when that person has decided to follow me. Many times, those who are following famous people will also choose the follow the people that their famous people are following so I gain more traffic through the positive association.
The same automatic integration applies with those who are using Squidoo. You can opt to post a Twitter about any updates you've made to your Squidoo lenses. The key with any of this is to make the updates meaningful and interesting enough to either get people to visit your site or to decide to follow you or both.
The real secret to Twitter is using powerful developer applications that enhance its functionality. Tweetlater is a prime example. Tweetlater allows you to set up functionality with Twitter where you can automatically follow anyone who follows you in addition to sending them a welcome message from you as soon as they start to follow you. My welcome message thanks the individual for following me.
You can also use Tweelater to schedule Twitter postings for the future and establish an RSS scheduled Twitter feed to make special announcements or to keep your Twitter account going while you're away or focused on other activities--it's kind of like a Twitter autoresponder that limits messages to 140 characters for ease of reading and guaranteed delivery.
Twitter is quick, easy and effective in terms of providing you with additional exposure and visibility or for just keeping your customers, friends and followers up to date on your latest endeavors. The key is to strike the right balance between daily ramblings that provide personality and social interest with solid awareness about key posts or product announcements that are important to your following audience.
Posted at 10:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Brand Yourself: Special content from my Squidoo Internet Marketing Strategy Index.
Branding your name (or your pen name) is very important on the internet, no matter what niche you're in. You need to establish yourself as an authority in your market, because people trust authority figures and authority confirms perceptions of expertise.
Authority figures are able to influence people. Others trust their recommendations; they trust that their products will be of good quality; and they trust that they have integrity. It also lends credence to the buyer that you're a real person - not just some nameless, faceless entity trying to sell them something on a static, automated website.
You should put your name on everything you create. Whether it's a membership site, an eBook, or something as small as a PLR article pack for sale - you should put your name on all of it. Getting your name out there is so essential to your ongoing success and an established presence.
Think about all of the marketing gurus you've heard of. Some of them you may not have heard of yet, especially if you're new, but chances are you've heard of at least a few of these. Have you heard of John Reese, Mike Filsaime, Frank Kern, Dan Kennedy, Joe Vitale, Willie Crawford, or the late Gary Halbert?
If you've been in marketing long at all you've surely heard of at least one of these people. People know and remember the names of these people because they put their names on everything they produce and distribute.
Their names are all over the marketing forums, their eCovers, their headers, and everything else they do. They work very hard to brand their names, because their names become the brands. People buy their products simply because their name is on it.
Buyers think that the product must be good, because the person is so well-known. You should do the same thing with your name. Always use the same name on everything you do within a particular niche.
You may not want to use your real name for whatever reason, but your name needs to be a "real name." A nickname usually won't cut it in most markets, but sometimes it works - like in the case of Travis "The Bum" Marketer, the "Rich Jerk", and of course, "Iceman Baldy."
If you've signed up for forums under a nickname, ask the moderators if they can change your name to your real name or pen name. You might not want to tell the moderator it's a pen name. That's up to you.
Keep getting your name out there any way you can. Host teleseminars, JV with well-known people if possible, and offer to help create content for well-known people in your niche in exchange for a Bio Box that hosts your name and link to your website.
Offer to be an interview subject for someone. Be a "guest author" for popular websites and blogs in your niche, and create 100% original content for them. Never stop branding your name. Even when you're as famous as Donald Trump, the king of name branding, don't stop.
Donald still puts his name on everything he does. His name appears in huge, bold letters on his books. He names buildings after himself. Think of Trump Tower, Trump Taj Mahal, and Trump Plaza. His name is all over everything.
Not only is it a matter of pride, but it keeps his name everywhere. You may never be as famous as the Donald, or even as famous as John Reese, but you might become known as the king or queen of your own little niche or for a particular slant that grows in popularity.
Posted at 12:48 PM in Squidoo IM Strategy Index | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
With all the fuss about Twitter and Facebook, you might wonder if anyone is still using a weblog or blog to further establish and build personal brand and effective web presence. The answer is a resounding yes and here are a few facts to back it up:
The bottom line is that good blogs get attention and have the potential to make money. Blogs are getting even better as microblogging services (Twitter, etc) are used to direct even more attention to blogs that further distinguish themselves with internet video.
Blogs are as much a part of our media and news sources as mainstream media websites. In most cases, blogs are even better at providing specific expertise and reference material that helps to address our individual needs. The interactive nature of blogs allows us to converse and connect with content creators in ways that traditional media just can't compare. Blogs build expertise through relationships between the blog owner/writer and the readers who visit the blog.
If you want to benefit from the attention that blogs are receiving and will continue to receive, you need to claim your own space in the blogosphere and start making a contribution. Take advantage of other social media tools to enhance and promote your blog and you can be on your way toward greater presence (and potentially profit) as you build your brand.
Posted at 06:50 PM in Build Your Brand | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
As I've built this site over the last two days and become fond of the excitement of starting something new again, I'm amazed at how almost nothing about the site pops up when I type the words "Effective Web Presence" into Google. That makes sense--the site hasn't been around long enough to be indexed. Still it's surprising considering what I find when I type "Iceman Baldy" and conduct a search.
Well, if you're just starting out with defining your online brand, you've probably had the same experience; but, fear not--I have seven things that you can do immediately to start changing where you show up when you start searching for your specific keywords.
1. Create a headquarters presence. This could be a profile page, weblog or lens on a highly trafficked platform like Facebook, LinkedIn, Blogger or Squidoo. I have tutorials on this weblog that can assist you with this task.
2. Use your headquarters presence to connect with others by linking to people, sites, and things of interest to you that are also consistent with the brand image that you want to portray.
3. Write content or post pictures and links that are interesting and informative to further develop your image as an expert while providing reasons for others to link to you from their profile pages and websites.
4. Find sites and weblogs in your area of expertise and leave comments on posts that you find interesting or where you can add to the discussion. Include your site or profile address in the appropriate field so that those who appreciate your comment can visit your site to learn more about you and what you're into.
5. Visit social networks and online communities or forums that are dedicated to your interests. If you like what you see, join the community and become a contributing member. Use your profile page and/or signature there to link back to you headquarters page and vice-versa. Your Effective Web Presence should build on itself with each new profile pointing back to a primary headquarters location and referencing the others where possible.
6. Use social bookmarking sites like StumbleUpon, Digg, Technorati, and deli.cio.us to share sites that fit your brand with others who might also like what you've tagged. Many of these bookmarking sites have their own community features and offer additional opportunities to showcase your expertise.
7. Set up a Twitter account and make sure that your profile page includes a link to your headquarters profile or site. Review my Twitter resources to get an understanding of how Twitter can build your brand and use Twitter to connect with like-minded individuals while also providing helpful contributions that build your expertise.
There are many other things you can do to further enhance your Effective Web Presence. Some are refinements and evolutions of the steps listed above, others may be a bit more time consuming but these seven things will give you a quick and dirty headstart on raising awareness about your online brand and taking you higher in the search engine results within a few days of their execution. I'm going to take the steps this week with this weblog and we'll see how it ranks next week.
Posted at 04:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
As I've perfected what I do online by watching others, reading about best practices, implementing techniques on my own and then teaching and coaching others through the process, it's become evident to me that a real-life example of an effective web presence in action is a powerful motivator. By visiting this weblog and experiencing the very techniques that I advocate as features that are built into the site, those that visit or who are referred here gain a full appreciation of what is possible in their own branding and marketing efforts.
This site is a virtual brand-building tool box to optimize the effectiveness of your web presence. Click around, read through the content, watch how things work and feel free to provide me with feedback on what you like and what you'd like to see more of and I'm happy to oblige.
Posted at 07:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted at 06:21 PM in Weblog Update | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
