March 30, 2011
ACE Newsletter
The Power of Social Networks
by M Theresa Brown
Although I have shared my insights and successes about social networking before, mainly Facebook,
there is not much I can improve upon in this article from marketing book author, Penny Sansevieri!
I am ALWAYS sharing with artists that ALL businesses operate in
essentially the same fashion..and an artist's business is no different when it comes to the basics such as
marketing, social networking, customer relations, etc. :-)
However, no social networking site is a magic bullet unless you can develop the discipline to keep it up! Work the
areas that you can give appropriate time to...but don't use "lack of time" as an excuse not to work at least two
areas online!
A nice, clearly written article from an author's perspective!
The Power of Social Networks
Penny Sansevieri of www.amarketingexpert.com/
These days, you can't go into a coffee shop, bookstore, or turn on your television without hearing about social
networks like Facebook, and Squidoo. These sites have exploded in recent years with members and an influx of money
that's kept them growing.
The idea behind social networks isn't a new thing, but the concept of socializing
online developed and morphed as more and more people spent time in front of their computers. The idea being that
you could socialize, network, gather, communicate and meet friends in an online venue, rather than, let's say a
coffee shop. Years ago, before social networks, we met people in clubs, organizations, bowling leagues. We may not
have had "profiles" like we do on these social networking sites but the concept was still the same: like attracts
like and similar interest-based people gathered in places that supported these common interests.
As we continue to delve into this Web 2.0 world, you'll start to see more niche
social networking sites like those built for wine lovers, car lovers, and book lovers. The more focused a site can
get, the more the network expands. And how many sites should you be on? As many as are appropriate to your message
and you have time to manage. If you've got a book about cars then by all means, join the car lover's network. Got a
book about travel? There's a travel lovers social network as well (we've listed a few of these niche networks
further in this chapter).
Social networks, also referred to as social media, are places where people can
join and become members of an online community. And why does this matter? Well, for a few reasons. First off,
consider the Internet one big networking party. As such, you really want to participate, right? So you show up at
the networking party (in this case Facebook or Squidoo) and you network. Meaning you connect with others who are
interested in what you are doing. And much like a real-time networking event, you give first and ask for the sale
later. In fact, in most cases you don't even ask for it. If you give enough, eventually you'll make the
sale.
People join social networks for a variety of reasons: to socialize, share and/or
self-promote. The one caveat to this is that social networks are not receptive to marketing messages or sales hype,
but those sitting on these sites are looking for answers and advice. In fact your presence on a social networking
site should be 80 percent education and 20 percent sales. Users on social networking sites want friends, mentors,
experts and guidance. If you can offer this to a social networking site or sites, you can certainly grow your
list.
The Right Way to Approach a Social Networking
Site
There's an old saying that goes: fake it till you make it. This is not true of
social networking. You can't fake anything. The best sites are those with an authentic voice. Social network
members can sense an individual who is pretending to be just an "average joe," but is really just looking for a
quick sale. The worst thing you can do is constantly promote your book.
Users join social media sites to socialize, learn and get to know what you're
offering. Be helpful or be gone. That's the motto of the social networks. Remember that social media (much like
anything on the Internet) is a trust-based model. You gain trust by helping, advising, educating, or enlightening
your readers. Seth Godin, who started one of the best social networking sites out there today (Squidoo.com), is a
great example of what to do when promoting yourself. He offers helpful advice, tips and insights but rarely
promotes his book. Does he sell books? You bet he does, but he's helpful first, and a sales person second
(sethgodin.typepad.com). The point is, gain someone's trust and you'll probably gain a sale, too.
Tips for Social Networking Sites
The first piece of this is to figure out what your message will be online. If
you're going to expose details of your brand, book, business, or life, figure out what you want to expose or, I
should say, what's necessary to expose in order to get your message across. This is important because once you
start branding yourself on the 'Net via social networks, you want to be consistent.
Next, remember that the first word in social networks is "social," that being
said, these networks only work if you interact with them. Whenever appropriate (and this will vary from network to
network), join groups, be sociable, be interactive. Participate. You can't just show up at a party and sit in the
corner. Well, you can, but you probably won't get asked back.
If you can spend a half an hour to an hour or so a day on your networks, that's
great. Don't overdo the time you spend on them or you'll burn yourself out. If you can use the social network feeds
to have them syndicate your blog to the site, the updating of your social networking page will be done for you. To
a greater degree, anyway. You'll still want to get in there and tinker, update content, add friends,
etc.
Fan Pages and Facebook
Since Facebook is the dominating force out there, let's talk for a moment about
Fan Pages. Why would you want one? Well first off, you're in the business of marketing and as such, Fan Pages are
business pages, so you'll really want to consider pulling your book followers off of your profile and sending them
to your Fan Page. Also, Fan Pages are indexed and searched by Google so you'll get great ranking with a Fan Page,
more so than you would with a Profile.
Fan Pages, once you know your focus and message, are easy to create and update.
You just want to stay on message and know what your followers want.
Tips for Effective Social Networking
Leverage other social media: If you have a strong presence on another social
networking site like Twitter or YouTube, then I recommend that you use that to promote your Facebook Fan Page. Let
folks know where to find you and never, ever forget to add "Follow Me" buttons to your website pages and your
blog.
Tagging: You can drive more interest to your page by tagging an author or a
popular Facebook page to a status update, photo, or video. It's easy to do this in Facebook, you can also tag an
article that a high profile member ran on their page.
Step outside of your social circle: Try getting away from your inner circle and
migrating out to other people who might be good networking opportunities. While it's fun to stay connected to all
your college buddies, that's not the main focus of your Facebook page.
Selling on Facebook: Facebook now has an application that can add a store page to
your Facebook Fan Page. What this means is that you can start selling your books and products from your Fan
Page.
Slow and steady wins the social media race: The best Facebook pages (and this is
true for any social networking site) are built over time. Slow growth is best when it comes to social networking
sites, so don't force a sudden surge of growth. This will also keep you from getting booted off if you add friends
too quickly. Facebook watches for people who are adding hundreds of friends at a time and will lock your page if
they think you're over-promoting yourself.
Don't be shy: The purpose of Facebook is to connect and interact with other
members, so don't be shy! Interact with people on your friend list by commenting on their news, and pictures,
and/or wishing them a happy birthday. Doing all these things will help others to get to know who you actually are
instead of just knowing your name.
Content, content, content: Remember that it's important to add content. You can
do this by uploading a video, adding the RSS feed from your blog, and a variety of other things.
Keep updating your Page or Profile: Don't let your profile get stale. Update your
status, add photos, and answer wall messages and emails.
Add your Facebook page to your blog: Make sure and add your Facebook page to your
blog. You can have your web person take care of this for you; it's a simple widget that gets added to let people
know you have a Facebook profile.
Social media is a great way to market yourself and your book. When Facebook is
integrated with other social networking platforms like Twitter, YouTube, and Squidoo, it can be an enormous boon to
your inbound marketing campaign. Just remember, your website needs to convert the folks you're sending there.
How would you like a free marketing evaluation of your book? Find out how by emailing me!
penny@amarketingexpert.com
Whether you are posting to a social media site, meeting potential collectors and
clients at a show or making that phone call to finalize the sale of your work, you should listen to "Representing Yourself in Public" We've
recorded a live two hour seminar on the subject with questions and answers. You can get is as an mp3 download for
only $9.95.
That is an investment of less than ten dollars. If it helped you sell one piece
of work, would it be worth the cost? If you are able to raise your prices, would it be worth the cost? Or
will you spend that on lunch or a couple of mochajokas from Starbucks? You decide.
Here is the link to your instant* download:
Representing Yourself in Public
*You can begin the download instantly, however the time require to download depends on the speed of your
internet connection.
More ebooks and other tools on marketing your art are available at:
Click here
for other marketing tools
Theresa and Steve
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