Avoiding the Hustle

So let’s say you set up a Twitter account, and slowly but surely people are following what you have to say. That’s great, that’s what you want to happen. Once you establish this captive audience, however, you want to keep them in place and perhaps get them to “re-tweet” your posts and spread the love. It’s important to do this in a way that doesn’t lead followers to think you are constantly trying to sell to them. If every tweet you post implores people to buy this or buy that or hire me, you risk losing followers. The point of social media networks like Twitter and Facebooks is the social aspect of them. To keep people tuned into you, you must engage them directly.

So what does this mean? Well, if you’re an author and readers follow your social profiles, talk to them via the medium. If you receive a note complimenting your work, return with a thank you but don’t feel pressured to deliver a hard sell of your other works. You would be amazed with how your name or brand can stick in someone’s mind just by being yourself.

Maybe you operate a business catering to local markets – talk about the weather, what is going on in the city. Reply to a follower’s remarks about favorite television shows and music…let people know there is an actual human being behind the social avatars, lest anyone suspect the profiles are there merely to regurgitate sales copy. If a follower enjoys your content enough to click through to your site, your profile has served its purpose and may just attract new followers through word of mouth.

Give it a try. You just might find you can build trust among your online following…and customers.

Kathryn Lively

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In creating a website for the purpose of selling products or services, content is the key to high search rankings. Your text must be concise and precise as far as keywords and phrases go, and with clear links to supplemental information and a working contact form. When using social media to promote your site and encourage click-through traffic, you are allowed to be more verbose, as you must create searchable content that encourages third-party sites to use your content – and in turn display the obligatory links to your main site. The rise of social media as a means of promotion can help establish relevance for your website.

As you create content to point to your site, you will find several options for promotion, many of which interlink to create a steady routine one should follow. It is said the best way to sell products or advertise services is to be an expert on said subject. As you write, it is necessary to become an expert on social networks and social bookmarking, so you will know the best avenues for distributing your information.

What do you plan to achieve with your website? Do you sell clothing, promote real estate for sale, or offer accounting services? Think of an article you could write that is relevant to your site’s content – 250 to 300 words on average is a good length, but be careful not to overload on one particular keyword as that may trigger spam filters of some sites where you plan to submit. Once your article is written and the necessary keywords and links to your site are in place, here is a suggested plan of attack. As this schedule of submissions becomes routine, take note to check your site’s stats and referral links as they relate to your SMO efforts.

Submit the article to an article bank – Hosts of content-driven websites tend to look for supplement writings to their sites in order to draw traffic. When a site owner uses such content, they are obliged to link back to the author. As you write articles, find a reputable online article database and submit your content. As others use your work, you gain the opportunity to have your site links from several third-party sources.

Blog your articles – Create a weblog for the purpose of archiving your expert articles. Because Google and other engines hold blog content with high relevance in search, you increase the chances of click-throughs to your main site. Set up a simple blog account through Blogger or WordPress or another source, and link your articles to your main site. If the blog has an RSS feed, take advantage of it. Apply the RSS feed to any social networks that allow implementation. Facebook, Squidoo, and Twitter are just three networks that can feed such content into their respective profiles.

Bookmark your articles – Once your articles are live, use social bookmark sites to promote your work. Sites like Digg and Delicious are constructed to collect links of relevant content. As you create accounts, save the various blog links and article links to these sites, and as people search the social bookmarks for this content they just may find you.

The more content you create and distribute, the better the opportunity for exposure. Considering the millions of people who use the Internet daily, the more sources available to you for placing content can help bring more awareness to your main website, and in turn drive traffic directly to you.

Kathryn Lively

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These days, some may tell you it isn’t all about the blog anymore. To be seen on the Internet, and to promote your books, CDs, and other products, you have make friends online, and become involved in a network of like-minded people. If no such place exists, you are then charged with creating such a safe house in the hopes of attracting people who might enjoy what you write.

The concept of the online social network is all the Internet rage. Where blogs allow website owners to add content and promote various products and ideas, involvement in a social networks help one target a specific audience and broaden exposure in a relevant environment. As the world continues to theoretically shrink with communal sharing of ideas, videos, music, and images, people can establish different levels of relationships through these networks, be they casual or intimate.

As someone with a book, CD, or product to sell, involvement in social networks can raise awareness of your brand, contribute to link popularity for your main website, and help your overall image become more dynamic and interactive in the mind of a potential customer.

However, one wants to be certain not to spread the talent and effort too thinly. While it is important to set aside some time to promote via the Internet, having too many eggs in the basket may prove cumbersome. Should you join as many social sites as possible. It is recommended from a branding standpoint. Establish your name on each site and provide the fundamental information about your books, goods and services with the necessary Web links, let this be the minimum effort you put into a site. With some site you may find you participate more than with others. Only your comfort level and commitment to time will ascertain where the bulk of your promotional efforts will go.

So, to which social networks should you subscribe? There are quite a few that have gained world popularity in recent months, some are even cited on news programs and other established websites. Some cater to the general public, some to niche communities. Finding out where you and your books belong doesn’t have to be a chore. Here follows a brief survey if two social websites geared toward promotional purpose:

MySpace: MySpace just may be the pet rock of the Internet. Everybody seems to use MySpace for their online headquarters these days: celebrities, music groups, authors, and everyday people. What attracts users to MySpace is its multi-functionality. Users can post daily entries in a weblog, share pertinent info on a main page for new visitors, post quick bulletins to friends with a single keystroke, and join message board communities with people who share similar interests.

Authors and musicians find MySpace especially helpful as a promotional tool for their works. Musicians may upload songs in MP3 format for listeners to sample, while writers can present books covers, excerpts, and links to purchase. The act of obtaining “friends” within MySpace increases the possibility of exposure as MySpace sites become interconnected through user activity. Leaving messages for “friends” on their respective MySpace sites establishes your brand and advertises your own page. The more active you are on MySpace, the more attention you bring to your works. With regards to functionality and popularity, this is definitely one all authors should consider joining.

Squidoo: With an odd-looking, squid-like mascot, Squidoo is a fast-growing social network that allows users to create “lenses” relating to various topics. An author for example, may choose to create an informational “lens” on the topic of his/her book, and format the content of the page to suit the information. How Squidoo differs from other social network sites is the use of set modules which build each page. There is no set blog software within Squidoo, but users may implement RSS feeds, text content, and affiliate links from any given number of participating retailers to build a page.

An author of a baseball book can, for example, implement the RSS feed of his weblog into Squidoo, link to relevant baseball sites with a link module, and link to his book on Amazon.com. Affiliation links allows for the Squidoo user to earn a percentage of sales attributed to the site as well.

The one advantage to establishing a lens on Squidoo is that, with the RSS feature, one may build two social networks at once. By updating a blog at MySpace or Friendster, the feed applied to Squidoo will update, saving time on updating the lens altogether.

As the Internet continues to expend, certainly more niche communities will launch in order to attract users. Some may explode like MySpace, while others maintain a steady user base like Squidoo. Either way, anybody with a book, CD, or item to sell on the Internet should take advantage of the extra exposure, and determine how much effort should go into each site. Nuture your brand across the Internet, and you are certain to see recognition and sales grow.

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“Social networking” is the new buzzword in search engine optimization. Oftentimes, it doesn’t even apply to standard websites, but rather to the large social portals that have fast become the popular sites to visit and join. MySpace is a prime example of such a social network. Perhaps you have listened to a radio show featuring a local band, inviting you to visit them on MySpace for their concert schedule. Television shows and movies, too, have launched official MySpace pages for their fans to leave messages. Not just for teenagers, MySpace gets noticed and helps people get noticed.

Here people can enlist and create weblogs and photo galleries, make unique designs to the MySpace template for a more personal look to their individual pages, and above all connect with other people. For the creative, the musicians, authors, and web designers, MySpace can serve as an effective promotional tool.

Using MySpace in conjunction with your existing website can serve to aid in your promotional efforts, whether you are selling your latest book or music CD, advertising web design services, or offering consulting on a variety of topics. There are quite a few advantages to using MySpace:

It’s free! Despite what those oft-forwarded e-mails tell you, it costs nothing to join MySpace and set up a page. All you need is a bit of spare time and a valid e-mail address. Once you have signed up, you can start networking almost immediately!

It reinforces branding! MySpace allows you create a personalized URL. Say you have a book called “See Florida on a Dime”. You can create a special MySpace for the book devoted to Florida and places in the book. You can also reserve the URL, www.myspace.com/floridaonadime (this is not a real profile at this writing), to let people know this is a page devoted to your book. This way, too, nobody else can claim the name, and you have reinforced your brand.

It broadens your reach! You will find, as you explore MySpace, that there are users who spend a large amount of their online time there, jumping from page to page to “meet” new people. It can be said that many people who frequent MySpace may not happen upon your regular website, yet the added insurance of having a MySpace allows those visitors to know that you’re out there. Place visible links to your website and to any third-party retailer selling your items in your profile, and let visitors know you have something that might appeal to them.

Once you have figured out your MySpace identity, now comes the tasks of building content and networking to bring people to view your content. You might find that creating your own social niche is as enjoyable as creating a traditional website, though with sites like MySpace there are a few rules to observe with regards to design.

A Unique Space

Look around the website, and you will see many users have taken the time to “pimp” their own spaces. Elegant background images, fancy fonts, and large images lend an attractiveness to what was otherwise a standard template. In using MySpace to promote yourself, however, you want to be sure the design you choose is as professional as it is whimsical, and that it doesn’t detract from your book, CD, or services. If you do not wish to use a picture of yourself for the default profile, choose your book or CD cover, or your business logo if you have one. If you don’t have one, now may be a good time to create one, if only to further emphasize your brand.

MySpace relies upon CSS (cascading style sheet) code to change the color scheme and layout of your template. A quick Google search on “MySpace design tutorials” will yield a wealth of information for the CSS novice. Choose soft colors that don’t distract from your content, lighter backgrounds instead of dark so most users will be able to read clearly. Fill out as much of the Interests and Information sections as you are comfortable doing. As people search through MySpace for like-minded users, the more information you provide increases your chances of being found. Let’s go back to the Florida book: for attracting people who like to travel and like Florida, emphasize that on your profile page if that is your target audience.

And use the blog! Weblogs are just as important, if not more important, in SEO as traditional websites. Even if you have a regular weblog for your site, using the MySpace blog to supplement your information can increase your visibility and reach a new audience. Offer snippets of your work, short observations related to your content or interests, and valuable links to your products.

“Pimping” Your Space

Now comes the challenging part: how do you attract visitors to your MySpace without making it look like you are “spamming” the site? It is natural, of course, to want to let everybody know about your book, but some marketing tactics can be misconstrued as invasive, and therefore not work in your favor. The key to attracting a readership (and network) in MySpace is good research of the audience. A country music band promoting a CD on MySpace wouldn’t actively seek out people who list only heavy metal in their profile, so it makes sense to study profiles carefully before inviting people to join your network.

As you research MySpace, you might find that like often links with like. Authors have other authors among their friends, and the same with bands and other groups. It is not uncommon, and shouldn’t necessarily be viewed as counterproductive, particularly if some of the authors write in your genre. Those authors may have among their networks readers who may be interested in your work, too. By adding these people to your network, you can make use of the bulletin feature in MySpace to alert all users when you have a new blog entry, an upcoming public appearance, or other news to share.

Commenting on Other Spaces

One might consider it a competition to see which MySpace user can offer the most amusing, most interesting comment image. In browsing other MySpace profiles, you will find some people like to insert graphics, be they Photoshopped images or sparkling icons, along with their greetings. As a profile owner, you have the option of turning off HTML in your comments or approving all incoming comments. As a user, however, you would hope many of the profiles you frequent will allow you the opportunity to showcase your goods.

A tasteful calling card photo of your book or CD cover, logo or other identifying image, is a useful promotional tool in MySpace. Leaving such a comment as you browse the portal increases visibility of your brand and product, and may entice new visitors to your site. A word to the wise when commenting in other spaces: try not to make your greeting sound too much like an ad, and do visit friends regularly. The last thing you want is to gain a reputation for committing “drive-by promo,” where you visit a friend once with your ad and never show again. Regular visits to some spaces, if only to say hello, keeps you visible without being too invasive.

MySpace is free, popular and flexible for the user on a promotional budget. With MySpace you can make new friends, find old ones, and create new opportunities for promoting your works.

Kathryn A. Lively is a freelance writer specializing in search engine optimization and social media optimization. She also assists with Virginia Beach website design.

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There is a lot of frenzy going on right now with people clamoring to increase their exposure online through the use of social sites. It has become an important part of Search engine optimization. Not only are people of all ages signing up for social sites such as MySpace, Linked-In and Facebook, many existing companies are putting up pages at these sites. Bands promote their work and some people have even started businesses on their pages.

Most adults realize there can be consequences to their actions, but there are young people who do not. They tend to look at the social sites as a private area where they can rant about friends, teachers, or bosses. They can post suggestive pictures of themselves or brag about drug and alcohol use. This does have consequences. We are hearing more and more about people who are denied college entrance, passed over for jobs, expelled from schools, kicked off of athletic teams and even arrested as a result of something they put on their MySpace or FaceBook page.

There was a joke going around that said possible credit card or mortgage lenders will check a MySpace page before they check credit ratings. It was a joke, with more truth than the public realizes. Potential employers are looking at the social sites before hiring individuals. Colleges are looking at the social sites to see what kind of character a person has. Law enforcement agencies are watching for serious law breakers. MySpace is not a private world or a private space.

I went to my own MySpace page, which is pretty innocent on its own. I have several bands on there because I like them and I support their efforts, and I have several friends. I am fairly selective and a person doesn’t get to be my friend unless I actually know them. I do not have a long friend list. Recently I took a moment to check out the friends of my friends. I did get some shocking surprises. It was time to take a moment to decide what a potential employer may think of my choice of “friends.” People can still be judged by the company they keep.

Of course, a lot of the bands have thousands of friends, so those aren’t really the concern at the moment. My worry is some of the friends of my friends. I have to admit that some of what I found left a bad taste in my mouth. Friends of friends were strippers, beer stands, bongs, some of whom used racism, discussions of hard-core drug use, and some very objectionable language.

Time will come, and it won’t be very long, when a social site will be as important as your reputation outside of the Internet.

Perhaps the time has come to take a look at your social sites and decide if some of the people who are your friends should remain on your page, particularly if you are looking for employment or trying to get into a school. You never know who will check out your page and for what purpose.

Karen Vertigan Pope writes for Ciniva Systems, an award winning Virginia web design company.

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