Archive for Social Bookmarking
Three Popular Social Networking Sites You Should Definitely Think About Joining
Posted by: Admin | Comments (0)Please note that these are my personal favorites. They are well worth considering for different reasons, which I shall reveal as we take a quick look at each one. So let’s take the guided tour, shall we?
MYSPACE
It’s big, it’s popular and most people have heard of it. And those are three good reasons why you should get involved with it too.
They don’t like affiliate links, so if you’re planning to promote other people’s products and you don’t have a site of your own, you’ll benefit from getting one. But that aside, you’ll get a comprehensive profile page that will help you tell people what you’re all about, and you can list your interests too. If you make sure these are related to the focus of your business, you’ll draw even more interest.
Oh and did I mention you can have your own blog on MySpace as well? People can access this from your profile page, and you can end up with quite a few fans simply by writing a great blog on a regular basis.
The other huge social networking site out there today. And this one doesn’t mind you promoting your business either, which is why it gets on my top three list.
You can actually join by proclaiming that you are a business and opening a business account, but you should be aware that you can’t then have a personal account as well. The rules regarding this are quite complex, so it’s worth checking out the help section before joining.
Facebook is laid out differently from MySpace, but the principle is the same. And the fact that you can be honest about why you’re there – to market your business – makes it a lot easier and arguably more enjoyable to use.
If you want big results for less work, then Twitter is the site for you. Why write a long message to people who are interested in what you have to say when 140 characters will do?
That’s all you get to communicate with on Twitter, but it makes it easy to keep busy on the site. A minute or two here and there and you will soon have plenty of followers hanging onto your every word.
Some people have even created a series of necessarily short pieces of advice, labeling them ‘1 of 12’ and so on, to create interest. It works well, too, and simply experimenting with using the 140 character limit to your advantage can create some good results.
For more information about creating buzz-worthy content – and for all the secrets of using social bookmarking to build your lists – check out the brand new ebook, Social List Building
What’s viral content? It’s content that gets passed around until it’s sweeping through your niche like an out-of-control prairie fire on a windy day. And since your marketing message is a part of that content, you get instant, massive exposure when you create and launch this sort of content.
All marketers hope to create an ebook, video, tool, software or even an article that gets this sort of exposure. It’s easy to fantasize about creating a video or ebook that overnight becomes “the next big thing” that everyone’s talking about. And we all feel like it could happen, because the social media sites (like YouTube and MySpace) make it so easy for anyone to create and share content.
But few marketers actually accomplish this. And even fewer know how to create content that’s “buzz worthy” and likely to be shared. Here’s what you need to know before you launch your next viral campaign:
- Create Edgy Content: If your 85-year old grandma sees your content and approves, it’s probably not going to sweep the Internet like you hope. But if her jaw drops and she’s shocked and offended, then you might be on the right track. In other words, bland “newspaper style” articles, videos or other content won’t make the rounds online. It needs to push the envelope, be engaging, maybe controversial and a little offensive, and/or highly useful. Just think about the last article, ebook or video you shared with a friend. I bet it wasn’t the sort of content you could find in a thousand other places, was it? It caught your attention because it was different. And likewise, you can catch your market’s attention by delivering something different than they’re used to seeing.
- Encourage People to Share It: You can’t create content and then just cross your fingers and hope someone shares it. Instead, you need to encourage sharing it. That means that you tell people, specifically, to pass it along to their friends. You may also use a “tell a friend” form. And of course, you should make it easy for people to share it on social bookmarking sites (like Digg.com and StumbleUpon.com) by adding those badges and widgets to your site.
- Get Your Content in Front of People: Finally, you need to get your content in front of as many people as possible. Indeed, pretend it’s a paid product and “launch it” with a marketing campaign. Use Digg, MySpace, Squidoo, YouTube, article directories, blogging and every other tool and site at your disposal to get the word out. The more people who initially see it, the better chance it has of going viral, fast.
For more information about creating buzz-worthy content – and for all the secrets of using social bookmarking to build your lists – check out the brand new ebook, Social List Building.
