Top Ten Best Social Media Practices:
with tips from Chris Brogan and Maria Azua
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| *Accurate to our MDIA 470B classroom |
Throughout the last ten weeks, I've picked up on the top ten practices for social media that can help increase online presence, drive readers to your blog, and retain those readers using tactics, tools, and a big ol' smile on your face.
Here goes nothing!
1.) Build a Few Accounts
To participate on the Web these days requires that you build some accounts at various Web platforms. These are called passport accounts, because you need them to visit these virtual places. Create new accounts such as:
- Google Accounts - well, so you can use the best tools on the Web provided by Google, duh!
- Digg - A social news site
- Reddit - Also a social news site, a bit more social, though.
- YouTube - A video sharing site for that video visual presence.
- PayPal - For electronic money transfer.
- Amazon.com - Shopping site to get your goods and sell them too!
2.) Design a "Home Base" that your passport accounts surround
The Home Base is your blog/website. Not everyone needs a blog. But most people who want to develop a personal brand do. If you want to use a paid site, by an easy-to-remember, easy-to-spell, content appropriate domain name if you can. Don't be TOO clever!
A really nice layout doesn't have to cost a lot, but shows you're more than a social media dabbler. Make sure it's easy to comment and easy for people to subscribe to your site's content. Load time is imperative, so test out loading your page to make sure it doesn't take too long.
3.) Tips for Content
Create new content on your "home base" regularly. If you don't update daily, then at least 3 times a week. The more others can use your content, the more they will adopt it. Write brief pieces with lots of visual breaks that allow people to absorb content.
Images draw people's attention. Try to add a graphic per post like this:
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| Peter Cashmore, Founder and CEO of Mashable. Include one of these bad boys in every post and you're sure to bring the crowd back. |
4.) Community
Remember that community and marketplace are two different things. Make your site and your efforts heavily about other people. It circles back. Make it easy for your community to reach you. Contribute to your community's blogs and projects. Thank people often for their time and attention (this alone can go a long way, and I can attest to that).
Remember two things, if any: Always be human; your community knows more than you, ask them questions often.
5.) Use other social media networks, a lot.
Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, EVEN MYSPACE! Create accounts on these various social media platforms and accomplish two things: 1.) find new audience that you didn't have before. 2.) Prove to existing audience that you are present all across the social Internet = retention.
6.) Things to Avoid!
There are a few easy land mines that you should avoid to remain credible and successful at blogging.
- It's okay to remove foul language and unruly commenters from your blog.
- DON'T delete comments that criticize you, provided the people stay civil. This is just begging for a brawl. It's considered poor in taste. Besides, that's one part of blogging: understanding what people think of you. Instead, learn from your critics and let them know you will make changes.
- DON'T repurpose other people's content without appropriate permissions. Learn about the Creative Commons and understand the differences in intellectual property laws and regulations.
- Lastly, avoid posting only business content. Keep your blog and social media presence to all things. Remember, be human.
7.) Social Media Toolkit
Here's the quick list summary of what you will need to get started.
- Listening tool: Google Reader
- Search tools: Technorati and Google Blogsearch
- Home Base blog: WordPress.com or WordPress.org
- Scratch blog: Tumblr.com or Posterous.com
- Better reach: FeedBurner
- Mobile Blogging: 12seconds.tv, Utterli, Qik
- Social Conversation: Twitter
- Social Profile: Facebook
- Business Profile: LinkedIn
- Social Bookmarking: Del.icio.us
- Collaboration: PBwiki
- Shared documents: Google Docs
8.) Your Blog is Part of Your Resume
Remember that your blog may be personal but reflects your business life as well. Keep posts, comments, and interactions on your blog somewhat professional and demonstrate faithfulness and respect to your readers. Blogging is like writing out your experience for a resume, line by line. Employers will want to know more about you and your blog/social media presence can help speak for you.
9.) Making a Business from Social Media
Bloggers are making money in varying degrees, depending on their advertising and/or consulting opportunities. Using social media for viral advertising is popular, but mostly because it's low-cost, low-barrier technology that permits folks to get a message across through different channels. PR, marketing, advertising is obvious, but on the other hand, we have a potential for internal tool usage, or the tools being distributed to employees of a company. There are many possibilities.
10.) Be Economical
Most of the tools that you can use to enhance your presence are FREE! That's RIGHT, FREE! Here are a few tools that you can use, free of charge:
- Use Skype for free voice conversations (and video)
- Use WordPress.com to host your blog
- Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, Google Docs, FREE
- Wikis
- Online (or "cloud") storage is usually very cheap, if not free.
