Are You In Control of Your Content Stream?

Image courtesy of [KROMKRATHOG] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Are you in love with social media but find it a little overwhelming sometimes?  As gratifying as it is to meet new people oftentimes it can be a challenge to find the people you are looking for and it can be even more challenging to actually start talking to these people.

Unlike many would suggest having a huge following or fan base is not always the optimal goal for every marketing campaign. In many cases you'd be better off reaching your target segment.

As you can imagine every network online is also filled with mini networks and "in the know" type conversations.

Your goal as a marketer should be to crack the networking barriers that keep you out of the know and away from those "real" thriving communities.

Some of the questions you should begin asking include:

-How to get people talking to you
-How to start conversations that have people itching to respond
-How to find the people who will add the most value to your conversation

Obviously, I won't be cracking the code in this particular post. However, I will share a simple little trick that will get you 100 times closer if you're not doing it already.

---- Why Controlling Your Stream Will Dramatically Improve Performance ---

Imagine you just began a 90 day fitness plan. In order for the plan to work you need to stay clear of any distractions, remain consistent, and continue to fulfil your obligations. Turning this plan into a success depends largely on your resolve and also largely on what you choose to fill your life with.

In the same way your content stream also fills and fuels your marketing. If your stream is filled with random unmanaged content, your marketing will in effect become random and unmanageable. In contrast being in control of your content stream allows you to hone in on social activity that consistently makes a greater impact.

--- Simple Ways To Control Your Online Content Stream ---

Being in control does not require fancy software, an elite marketing course, or a $10,000 consultation fee. It simply means you know how to best utilise the resources that are readily avaiable to you.


1. Go With The Flow:
     
           Content flows like water in the ocean it never really goes against the current. Look for people who focus on the subjects you need to focus on. You can search for them on Google and connect with them through social media.

2. Embrace the Hash Tag:

          Aside from Jimmy Falon's hilarious hashtag parodies hashtags are actually extremely useful when used properly. Google +, Facebook, Twitter, & Pinterest allow users to include hashtags in their posts and media. Although the hashtag can be used in many different forms ultimately it helps you find everything in an easy to use catalogued format. Try it out, search for #god or #fashion #b2b, this is probably one of the easiest way to immerse yourself in a very focused content stream

3. Talk to talkers

         The industry calls them very different things from influencers to tastemakers to mommy bloggers to social media gurus and a million other plus names. But the general rule of thumb is to talk to people who are interested in having conversations. It's more productive to send 5 or 10 messages to people who consistently care about what you have to say then to spam 30 - 50 Facebook or LinkedIn groups in hopes of attracting attention.


You know you're going in the right direction with your social media strategy when you don't have to spend 30 minutes searching for something interesting to engage in that is also related to your industry.
You often hear social media mavens and gurus say spending 10 mins a day on social media should be enough time to stay engaged with your audience. Many find that challenging because they're spending all their time looking in the wrong places, doing the wrong things. Realistically, conversations shouldn't be a tiresome task it's all readily available when you know where to look.

Continue Reading

Is your blog a time suck?

I got 20 million things to do online and blog management ain't one! For many businesses and self promoters blog management has exploded into a gargantuan task. It's a little more than content creation these days and honestly most people don't realize how much time it takes to build, manage, and grow a blog.

When it comes to marketing I wasn't always a very logical person. I often acted from sheer emotion and the lure of shiny new complexly coded websites and software.

I remember a little over two years ago I was writing content for a marketing agency. One of the pieces I worked on was a very arbitrary investment chart that illustrated how a company should expect to invest in blogging activities and how much they can expect to earn. At first I surprised myself when I discovered that for a blog to see a concrete return on investment they'd usually have to spend between 25 - 28k a year. At first I thought that can't be right and then I realized well, that makes sense since it's basically the salary of  fulltime employee who's grossly underpaid. Running a blog is a fulltime job and for many businesses blogging activities might be the cause of lost opportunities that add more value to the company.

When you think about the basic idea of blogging its function is to communicate, direct, spread, catalogue, showcase, and be found. All of which can be done on almost any platform today.

I know it's a little ironic that I'm talking about blogging being a time suck in a blog post. But if you know you'll remember that I used to spend a great deal of time running full blown cleverly crafted blogs. And while I still love blogging I found a way to do it without all the headache that comes with design and development : like using blogger, Tumblr, heck even my Facebook profile and Google+ page has become sort of a micro blog in itself. Best of all I can now spend more time adding more value to my work and clients.

Here's a challenge for you and it's a big One. Ask yourself is your blog investment earning you a positive return. I don't just mean money I'm also referring to the cost of your time. If after you ask yourself this question you realize your blog is becoming a time or money pit then let's do something about it.

It doesn't mean you have to abandon what you're doing. It simply means you should start considering how to make it work for you instead of constantly working for it.

Continue Reading

Do you find people challenging...

In a conversation on Linked the discussion question went something like this:

In one word describe the challenge with social media today

While the list was filled with clever professional terms including: ROI, engagement, content, reach, etc. The only response I could give was

PEOPLE 

Obviously, I love people but you have to admit in general we are a challenging bunch and for some reason I don't think many of us remember that the internet is tech based but people ruled I forgot for a long while. In fact, I've made it this years mission to steer away from the complex world of technology and focus on my people. 

Don't Believe me...

See there's my profile it's official I'm admitting to doing nothing but being here for the conversation and good people :) I've gotten rid of the self-hosted blog in lieu of free for all blogger, tumblr, google +,  pinterest, instagram, twitter, and Facebook. Holy beans that's still a whole bunch of stuff. Who knows I might just end up neglecting all but a few of them but for now the purpose is not to rule the network it's to be with my people.

I ran across a post by someone who my apologies I can't remember but the headline went something like

The problem with most content is that it's written mostly by marketers

Honestly, I almost took offence

Thems fighting words 

But if you really think about it, it's the god's honest truth 

We're so smart we're forgetting to be human. I don't want to engage I just wanna talk. I don't care about conversions I just want to share something with you that you want to see. I don't want your email, for what? your inbox probably has ~10,000 unread messages like mine (ooopps!) 

So in the midst of my revelation...

I decided this world is full of pretenders who bomb discussion threads and randomly post their opportunity links beneath a popular post and that's cool but it's not my cup of tea.  I believe it was Tony Robbins (I could be wrong) who recently posted that we're in the entertainment age. 

Somewhere inside I'm screaming, "no I don't want entertainment I want what I want". And I think that's were we are headed to next. It's not just about entertainment it's the idea that people want what they want and NOW they can get it online instantly or forget as quick as they got it. 

So what's the solution? 

The solution is people. If you find people challenging stop trying to conquer them or master them just be a person. 

Thanks for reading my mindshift God Bless, 

Andrea Naomi 

Continue Reading