100% property: networking, discussion, and education
Ask not what the Forum can do for you, but what you can do for the Forum ....
If you are new to the idea of forums, you may well be wondering what they can do for you ... likewise Twitter and other social media.
That is Web 1.0 thinking. Take instead of give.
Web 2.0 thinking is what you can do for the community. GIve instead of take. In other words, how can you add value to what other people are doing? Those that consistently give value are seen to be "experts" or "network leaders", which in turn gives them visibility and profile. This in turn leads to trust in on-line communities. Business exposure is a passive by-product of that.
The longer your "tail" in a niche area of expertise, the more your record of consistency and adding value, the more you stand out as a leader and the more people will naturally gravitate towards you. They NEED to know you and what you know! In some ways, you become an editor of your own on-line "newspaper", and your followers rely on you to assess the huge amount of information out there, and distil it down to the golden nuggets that matter, that they need to know. Your followers leverage your time and expertise.
Conversely, if you spam with sales messages or invitations to get in touch with you for more information, people have the choice to ignore you. The point of forums is to share information. Being closed, selective, and controlling will not achieve anything for you in these communities, other than people thinking you have something to hide or that you are not authentic in your message.
You will be judged by the community and spammers tend to be challenged and "seen off" pretty quickly.
However, when starting out, you need to understand how to build this "contribution currency".
First of all, remember and respect that an on-line community is no different from a bar, a coffee shop, a golf club, or the water cooler at the office from the point of view that the members know each other.
When you enter an on-line community, the first thing you must do is introduce yourself, just like you would if you walked up to a group of people at the bar. Let people know who you are and what your personal interests are about. You can do this via posting an introductory message, or via your profile. Really take time to produce a really striking profile. Let people know what matters to you and what you feel passionate about. People are looking to engage with like-minded people, who share their interests and values, so ensure you give a real glimpse of what makes you tick.
You can then start a discussion or add to other people's discussions. Remember to respect other's point of view and never resort to personal abuse.
One of the greatest things you can do for someone, is to share knowledge with them. If you find something of interest on the internet, share it with others.
Maybe you feel that you are not opinionated or experienced enough to contribute? Even thanking someone for sharing knowledge with you is a contribution. If you got value from something, give the original poster the pleasure of letting them know that they helped you.
Above all, be consistent, open, and supportive in all areas of your on-line activity.
The great marketing mind Seth Godin recently published his 3,000 blog and had this to say:
"The impact of having one's own personal long tail is huge. It's not about googlefu (at least it shouldn't be) but your footprint expands nonetheless. Do a google search on seersucker suit and there I am, listed third, with a vaguely relevant post. Do one on advice for authors and there I am again. Drip, drip, drip, it adds up. The hard part, as you can guess, is the first 2,500 posts. After that, momentum really starts to build".
The whole purpose of social media is to spread ideas. Embrace the random-ness of everything and don't try and monetise it, as you will never understand it using old contexts to quantify it. Word of mouse is becoming the most powerful way to reach out to a global audience, but it takes consistency to build momentum and have an impact with people. Don't post one thing and expect to get instant results. It's a cumulative effect and it's often the people on the fringes of your network who spread your message the most.
If someone has done something of value for you, or you have used a product or service that you were happy with, consider writing a testimonial. An unsolicited testimonial can make someone's day.
See where you can connect people who you think might be able to work together or help each other, or add value to each other.
As Seth Godin said recently, "everything you do now ends up in your permanent record. The best plan is to overload Google with a long tail of good stuff and to always act as if you're on Candid Camera, because you are".
NOW is the time to start building your contribution currency on-line. The younger generation were "born digital" and they understand this and are embracing it. They will be the success stories of the future. It comes to them intuitively. Those of us over 40 have to learn this from scratch and change the way we think and interact on line.
As Eric Hoffer once said, “In times of change, learners inherit the Earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists”. The beauty of social media, is that you can learn new things just be following someone who is an expert in the subject you are interested in! There is no excuse not to engage with new technology and processes.
Google rates organic content like blogs, forum posts, tweets, etc. very highly, meaning you can achieve high natural listings through the content you provide. This is a very cost-effective way of marketing, as it costs nothing more than your time. Facebook (friends), YouTube (videos), Linked In (Business), FriendFeed, Social Median (clippings), flickr (photographs), Twitter (information blasts), and ecademy (social business) are the main platforms we focus on, along with various subject-specific forums.
Barack Obama is one of the first real exponents of using social media. It helped him become President of the United States. Do not under-estimate what it could do for you and your business, now and in the exciting and fast changing years ahead.
That is Web 1.0 thinking. Take instead of give.
Web 2.0 thinking is what you can do for the community. GIve instead of take. In other words, how can you add value to what other people are doing? Those that consistently give value are seen to be "experts" or "network leaders", which in turn gives them visibility and profile. This in turn leads to trust in on-line communities. Business exposure is a passive by-product of that.
The longer your "tail" in a niche area of expertise, the more your record of consistency and adding value, the more you stand out as a leader and the more people will naturally gravitate towards you. They NEED to know you and what you know! In some ways, you become an editor of your own on-line "newspaper", and your followers rely on you to assess the huge amount of information out there, and distil it down to the golden nuggets that matter, that they need to know. Your followers leverage your time and expertise.
Conversely, if you spam with sales messages or invitations to get in touch with you for more information, people have the choice to ignore you. The point of forums is to share information. Being closed, selective, and controlling will not achieve anything for you in these communities, other than people thinking you have something to hide or that you are not authentic in your message.
You will be judged by the community and spammers tend to be challenged and "seen off" pretty quickly.
However, when starting out, you need to understand how to build this "contribution currency".
First of all, remember and respect that an on-line community is no different from a bar, a coffee shop, a golf club, or the water cooler at the office from the point of view that the members know each other.
When you enter an on-line community, the first thing you must do is introduce yourself, just like you would if you walked up to a group of people at the bar. Let people know who you are and what your personal interests are about. You can do this via posting an introductory message, or via your profile. Really take time to produce a really striking profile. Let people know what matters to you and what you feel passionate about. People are looking to engage with like-minded people, who share their interests and values, so ensure you give a real glimpse of what makes you tick.
You can then start a discussion or add to other people's discussions. Remember to respect other's point of view and never resort to personal abuse.
One of the greatest things you can do for someone, is to share knowledge with them. If you find something of interest on the internet, share it with others.
Maybe you feel that you are not opinionated or experienced enough to contribute? Even thanking someone for sharing knowledge with you is a contribution. If you got value from something, give the original poster the pleasure of letting them know that they helped you.
Above all, be consistent, open, and supportive in all areas of your on-line activity.
The great marketing mind Seth Godin recently published his 3,000 blog and had this to say:
"The impact of having one's own personal long tail is huge. It's not about googlefu (at least it shouldn't be) but your footprint expands nonetheless. Do a google search on seersucker suit and there I am, listed third, with a vaguely relevant post. Do one on advice for authors and there I am again. Drip, drip, drip, it adds up. The hard part, as you can guess, is the first 2,500 posts. After that, momentum really starts to build".
The whole purpose of social media is to spread ideas. Embrace the random-ness of everything and don't try and monetise it, as you will never understand it using old contexts to quantify it. Word of mouse is becoming the most powerful way to reach out to a global audience, but it takes consistency to build momentum and have an impact with people. Don't post one thing and expect to get instant results. It's a cumulative effect and it's often the people on the fringes of your network who spread your message the most.
If someone has done something of value for you, or you have used a product or service that you were happy with, consider writing a testimonial. An unsolicited testimonial can make someone's day.
See where you can connect people who you think might be able to work together or help each other, or add value to each other.
As Seth Godin said recently, "everything you do now ends up in your permanent record. The best plan is to overload Google with a long tail of good stuff and to always act as if you're on Candid Camera, because you are".
NOW is the time to start building your contribution currency on-line. The younger generation were "born digital" and they understand this and are embracing it. They will be the success stories of the future. It comes to them intuitively. Those of us over 40 have to learn this from scratch and change the way we think and interact on line.
As Eric Hoffer once said, “In times of change, learners inherit the Earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists”. The beauty of social media, is that you can learn new things just be following someone who is an expert in the subject you are interested in! There is no excuse not to engage with new technology and processes.
Google rates organic content like blogs, forum posts, tweets, etc. very highly, meaning you can achieve high natural listings through the content you provide. This is a very cost-effective way of marketing, as it costs nothing more than your time. Facebook (friends), YouTube (videos), Linked In (Business), FriendFeed, Social Median (clippings), flickr (photographs), Twitter (information blasts), and ecademy (social business) are the main platforms we focus on, along with various subject-specific forums.
Barack Obama is one of the first real exponents of using social media. It helped him become President of the United States. Do not under-estimate what it could do for you and your business, now and in the exciting and fast changing years ahead.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Vanessa on -
Adding to this thread:
Best and Worst Practices Social Media Marketing
48 Comments | Posted by Lee Odden on Feb 12th, 2009 in Online Marketing, Social Media
Social media is hot, just take a look at Google Trends to see the comparison between topics like “search marketing” being eclipsed by “social media” in terms of search volume and news references - at least according to Google. Along with all that “hotness”, there’s good and bad when it comes to the way companies are beginning to engage social media channels.
On Twitter, the difference between mentions of ”search marketing” and “social media” are even more pronounced. Of course this is by no means a formal assessement, but it gives you an idea of what people on the web are paying attention to and in some cases, what they expect.
Most people learn about new things in terms of what they already know. Any number of companies have taken this approach to heart and entered the social media world oblivious to the formal and unwritten community rules and treating social channels simply as another dumping ground for current advertising assets. Don’t get me wrong, there’s some amazing digital creative that’s being produced (TV commercials and ads) that are well received on sites like YouTube, Digg and StumbleUpon.
But for the most part, many marketers are not exactly sure about the difference between best and worst practices when it comes to participation with the social web where intentions are commercially motivated. Identifying best and worst practics is a work in progress of course, as communities develop, grow and change. It’s best to start out with the basics that will hold true regardless of these changes:
Social Media Best Practices:
Start with a plan, not tactics. Research and build a Social Media Roadmap involving: Audience, Objectives, Strategy, Tactics, Tools/Technology and Metrics. [Insert plug here: TopRank offers a 2 day workshop on how to do this]
“Give to get” - Successful social media marketing programs involve listening and participation. That participation centers around giving value before expecting anything in return. This is not “sales” as you know it. But companies can definitely increase sales as a result.
Commit resources and time to be successful or you may very well fail. It’s important to forecast labor hours, who, what, when, how and where with the intention of succeeding, not just experimenting. If a social media effort is successful, scalability will be an even bigger issue if you don’t plan for it. Hiring a community manager for example, may not be justified when a social media monitoring program is started or with a new company, but a job req and understanding of the role should be ready in case it’s called for.
Be transparent with intentions & your identity or you may alienate the very audiences you’re trying to connect with. Objectives, strategy and doing your homework about a community should make it pretty obvious what types of commercial messages are appropriate. Being transparent about intentions might come in the form of stating a purpose: ”Brand XYZ has created this Facebook page to help consumers make better choices about Topic XYZ”. It’s fine if goals are to increase sales, but participation should be focused on providing the kind of value that facilitates sales - not attempting to make sales directly. When is the last time you purchased something other than a virtual cupcake on Facebook?
Understand, you do not control the message. Old habits die hard and there’s a tendency to want to treat social media participation like advertising where the ability to control messaging is the norm. Once information or media is available on the social web, people will inevitably mash it up, stretch it, pull it and reshape it according to their interests. Brands need to protect their identities, copyright and intellectual property for sure, but rather than “controlling the message” marketers should encourage the mashup and creativity.
Welcome participation, feedback and co-creation. As comfort levels rise with social web participation, companies will see opportunties to encourage participation with communications, especially with brand evangelists. Developing relationships and community within social communities on the web can facilitate buy in, provide invaluable feedback and crowdsourcing opportunities.
Metrics should roll up to objectives and objectives should be relevant to the channel. More than a few companies see evidence of other social media efforts ranging from Superbowl commercials on YouTube to social participation during and after President Obama’s campaign, and “want that too”. Direct marketing is the lens through which many social media efforts are first viewed, with a tendency to focus on action “A” resulting in “B” outcome. Social media marketing is more like public relations than direct marketing. It’s more like providing resource “A” results in “action “B” that influences outcome “C”. Metrics for success need to consider the pre-goal performance indicators like number of “friends”, comments, links, etc as well as commercial outcomes influenced by social media participation.
Social Media Worst Practices:
Being fake in any way isn’t good for anyone on the social web. Early on, companies like Walmart and Sony (via their PR firms) tried to fake their way into making consumers believe sites like the Sony PSP blog or the Walmarting Across America blog were authored by impartial brand evangelists, when it wasn’t that at all. Both Sony and Walmart have learned from those mistakes and now have social media sites that follow many of the best practices above. Some say failure with social media is a sort of “rite of passage”.
Not listening. How can you learn anything if information is only flowing one way? Listening is really the most important step in learning about social communities on the web. It’s important just starting out and even more so on an ongoing basis to monitor conversations, sentiment about brands and identifying influentials to engage. Lucky for companies, there are abundant social media monitoring tools to choose from.
Being oblivious to formal & unwritten social rules. It pays to lurk a bit before participation with social communities, especially when you have commercial intentions. Aspire to “speak like a native” when embarking on social media journey to improve your brand visibility and to encourage relationships. Social networking, news and media sharing sites all have Terms of Service guidelines, but the community itself will have guidelines for behavior that can only be understood by observing and participating. Ignoring these guidelines risks alienation by the community.
Being pushy or overtly salesy in messaging and communications and expecting traditional marketing outcomes are common behaviors by companies that see social media communities simply as content distribution channels for existing marketing programs. Overt commercial messages, especially sales solicitations are outright tabu in most social communties. A social environment amongst “friends” and likeminded individuals isn’t going to accept interruptive messaging. Think of barging into a conversation at a party trying to sell something to people who are talking about their favorite movies and sharing baby pictures - and the disdain that behavior would encourage. Provide the kind of information that facilitates choices that lead to sales, and you’ll go a lot further.
Approaching social media channels as silos - Many companies approach social media via individual web sites rather than as a collaborative effort. An example would be a company that starts a blog within one division and another that starts something on Facebook and yet another creates a group on LinkedIn or Ning. Not working together is inefficient and can create mixed messages for consumers that participate in more than one social media destination for the brand.
Learning from companies what they think of social media as a topic and opportunity over the past few years has been enlightening. Our digital marketing and public relations agency gets to talk to a substantial number of companies each month that need help making sense of where social media might fit within overall marketing and PR efforts. Those conversations vary, but an increasing number of client side marketers clearly aware of the social media marketing fundamentals.
In those cases, companies simply want help from someone that has the experience to guide them in creating a social media strategy, specific supporting tactics and dealing with measurement issues. Other companies really have no idea how to proceed and need a focus on education and an audit that will help them create a social media roadmap before getting into specific programs.
What’s encouraging is that more companies are looking more seriously at the challenges and opportunities of social media participation. Others understand that social media is not a destination, but rather an indication of consumer behaviors aided by technology. Successful social media marketing isn’t about the tools, it’s about the people.
If nothing else, remember that social media is about the C’s: Conversation, Connections, Community, Consumer, Control, Creative, Collaboration and Content. Do: listen, be transparent about your intentions, “Give to Get” and have a plan. Don’t: Be fake, interruptive and focus only on short term sales.
You can read the original blog here.
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Permalink Reply by Richard Greenland on -
Hi Vanessa,
I went looking for this post prompted by a mildly unpleasant encounter I had last night. How much more sense it all makes now, than it did when I first read it back in March! I was a bit sceptical then to say the least. Now I see your piece as a clear road-map for anyone who wants to seriously engage in social media.
I joined Tribes right at the start, and back then took what might be considered a pretty unsophisticated attitude to forums. I was here to learn, and also simply because I enjoy interacting with others with whom I share a passion. I had no agenda beyond that, didn't want one. But it seems that after you have built up a certain critical mass, people start to know who you are, what you stand for, and trust you. Furthermore they want to do business with you! It's great!
A belated thanks for this post. Everyone should read it.
Rich
Fed up with HIGH PROPERTY MAINTENANCE COSTS? Follow my weekly blog at http://pimlico-flats.co.uk/blog/
Trading as greenlandcarpentry.co.uk and Absolutely Brilliant Properties.
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Permalink Reply by Vanessa on
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Thanks Richard for your kind words. I am glad you found the post useful, although I must admit, my own thinking has moved on and developed so dramatically from when I wrote this!
What happened last night that prompted you to look this up? Was it an off-line encounter that could translate to an unpleasant on-line encounter in the sense that the person wanted to take rather than give or listen?
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Permalink Reply by Richard Greenland on
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Hi Marcus,
You tend to be quieter these days. Busy?
It's here, fourth paragraph down. No big deal, just (aside from the rudeness) pretty clear she had no idea how to network effectively. Some people still manage to run successful businesses, almost in spite of themselves sometimes. The biggest thing I think is having the balls to go for it. But ineffective (or just plain rude) networking will hold them back IMHO.
Vanessa, I'd be intrigued to hear how your ideas have moved on. Some of the stuff in your second post still sounds a bit contrived to me (unsophisticated networker that I am). My experience has been: be polite, be yourself, admit what you don't know, seek to learn, share, and you will prosper. Simple really.
Rich
Fed up with HIGH PROPERTY MAINTENANCE COSTS? Follow my weekly blog at http://pimlico-flats.co.uk/blog/
Trading as greenlandcarpentry.co.uk and Absolutely Brilliant Properties.
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Permalink Reply by Marcus on -
Richard Greenland said:Vanessa, I'd be intrigued to hear how your ideas have moved on. Some of the stuff in your second post still sounds a bit contrived to me (unsophisticated networker that I am). My experience has been: be polite, be yourself, admit what you don't know, seek to learn, share, and you will prosper. Simple really.
That second post looks to be by another, not Vanessa.
Ditto with your thoughts on how to act in a social media space and life in general. What amazes me is how few people actually conduct themselves like this in the real world, despite appearances, shame.
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Permalink Reply by Richard Greenland on
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By the way, she's joined Tribes, and I got her business card and email. I'm not going to publish her name here, I'm not that vindictive. But I'll make sure she sees this thread. I think she needs to know.
Rich
Fed up with HIGH PROPERTY MAINTENANCE COSTS? Follow my weekly blog at http://pimlico-flats.co.uk/blog/
Trading as greenlandcarpentry.co.uk and Absolutely Brilliant Properties.
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Permalink Reply by Vanessa on
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The second post was not written by me - it hyperlinks back to the original source. If I understood then what I understand now, I would not have posted it!
Writing "marketing" in the same sentence as social media now seems daft to me.
I have come to understand that social media is just a small part of "mapping the web". There is a much bigger picture. We will publish a blog on our thoughts soon. Please join our sister forum Social Media Tribes if you are interested to learn more, as that is where we share the bulk of our web insights. We do not want to go "off topic" too far from property, although social media will be having an increasing influence in this arena.
Rich, I think your story is a lovely organic, authentic testament to the power of what good web interaction can achieve. The reputation you have built, and the connections you have made, are now helping business flow towards you - although you never set out with that in mind! You should write a blog about it!!
Social media = R.I.P - Return in Perpetuity!
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Permalink Reply by Richard Greenland on
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Yes, I've already joined, but there just aren't enough hours in the day!
Rich
Fed up with HIGH PROPERTY MAINTENANCE COSTS? Follow my weekly blog at http://pimlico-flats.co.uk/blog/
Trading as greenlandcarpentry.co.uk and Absolutely Brilliant Properties.
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Permalink Reply by Richard Greenland on
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By the way, this is what dropped into her inbox this morning LOL!
Rich
Dear ******,
A friendly word of advice. What you say to one person will sometimes be heard by many others. This can impact positively or negatively on your business. You never know who you are talking to, and some people talk a lot. This is more true than ever in the internet age.
You might be interested in these links to help you see what I mean – you are getting noticed already on the first one, and it’s likely to continue over the next few days.
http://propertytribes.ning.com/forum/topics/ask-not-what-the-forum-...
http://propertytribes.ning.com/forum/topics/berkshire-property-meet-a
Best wishes,
Rich
Fed up with HIGH PROPERTY MAINTENANCE COSTS? Follow my weekly blog at http://pimlico-flats.co.uk/blog/
Trading as greenlandcarpentry.co.uk and Absolutely Brilliant Properties.
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