If you’re at all familiar with auto-responder services you’ll love these free tools…

TwitterFeed at http://www.twitterfeed.com allows you to post your blog entries, to your twitter. This is a set it and forget it account that checks your blog’s feed throughout the day and when it discovers a new post, it tweets it to all your followers.

Another invaluable service is Tweet Later - automating even more of your Twitter marketing in a multitude of ways. In fact I suggest clicking the link to see the variety of ways it can use Twitter that you may not have even thought of before.

Just one of the features allows you to send any new followers an instant message the moment they ‘follow’ you on Twitter. You could just send a quick thank you note for the follow, or you might endear them to your further by including a link to a free offer on your site. For example, if your profile on twitter has to do with “home cooking”, you’ll want to give new followers a free digital cookbook or guide as an incentive to opt into your email list. The click through rates you get on these initial messages can really be high.

Remember, if you have multiple Twitter profiles for multiple markets that you’re in, keep the free offer relevant to each profile or your thank you will appear dis-jointed.

This service also allows you to broadcast messages to all of your twitter friends at once, either immediately,
or set up for some point in the future.

[This content is protected for Pro members only. Click here to learn more about membership] - it is cheaper than you'd think!

[This content is protected for Pro members only. Click here to learn more about membership] - it is cheaper than you'd think!

[This content is protected for Pro members only. Click here to learn more about membership] - it is cheaper than you'd think!

I’m sure to take a lot of heat for this post from other marketers, but the fact is, if your time is short, you should have representation on at least one social bookmarking site, 3-4 networking sites, a few blogging sites and one mashup. By blogging sites I don’t necessarily mean Wordpress.com, Blogger, or Yahoo 360 (but they’ll do) - by blogging site I mean any Web 2.0 property that allows you to post content and is Web 2.0 compliant by its very nature.

What Is Considered Web 2.0?

May Include: accepting visitor comments, the utilization and organization of content via tagging, a voting feature, RSS integration or creation, email and/or video capabilities, and so on - anything that is interactive for the visitor.

Choosing which ones to engage for marketing purposes first can be a daunting decision, but you are probably already a member of a few for personal interests, so be sure to add your urls and your feeds, as well as using tags within any network you are already using. And, for the sites that facilitate the strategy, employ my transposting technique explained fully in “Why Your Social Marketing Results Suck.”

As an example - using Facebook to capacity. (1) Update your profile to include your url(s) and tag yourself well (they’re called interests in Facebook). (2) Add your RSS feed(s) through any one or more of the applications created for this. By doing so, your entire friend list is notified within hours of posting new content on your blog - this converts to a lot of traffic if you have a large friend list and engaging content. I have very smart people as my Facebook friends, but when I look at their profiles, their website url is blank and they aren’t sharing their content via RSS! Don’t feel bad if you’ve missed this opportunity, just login now and correct it.

Before setting up new accounts or posting content, be sure to read through “What Actions to Take on Web 2.0 Site for Maximum Effectiveness”

[This content is protected for Pro members only. Click here to learn more about membership] - it is cheaper than you'd think!

]]> http://www.socialmarketingstrategy.com/social-sites-you-must-be-on/feed/ http://www.socialmarketingstrategy.com/what-actions-to-take-on-web2-sites/ http://www.socialmarketingstrategy.com/what-actions-to-take-on-web2-sites/#comments Thu, 05 Mar 2009 22:26:47 +0000 Laura Childs http://www.socialmarketingstrategy.com/?p=624 Hard to say whether this is an intermediate or beginner topic. Anyone with a website should already know this, but I see so many people, hell bent on promotion, that don’t have a clue about keywords or know to explore all available areas to leave their url.

So, Quickly, Here’s the Lesson on Keywords

The keywords you choose to target, choose to use in your content, headings, etc. are not of your choosing. Neither are they cross-site specific.

Here’s an example of what I mean…

In 1998 I had a client who gave training presentations as a Health Care Knowledge Management professional. He wanted to be number 1 for the search term “Knowledge Management Health Care Consultant”. I might add he was a forward thinker 10 years ago, but ‘back in the day’ no one was searching for that particular search string. Therefore being #1 in Google netted him zero speaking engagements, zero traffic, and zero recognition.

The lesson here? Do some keyword research to find what words, related to your product or service, people are actually typing into the search engines!

Flash to Present Day…Tags

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]]> http://www.socialmarketingstrategy.com/what-actions-to-take-on-web2-sites/feed/ http://www.socialmarketingstrategy.com/strategy-training-exercise/ http://www.socialmarketingstrategy.com/strategy-training-exercise/#comments Tue, 03 Mar 2009 05:53:31 +0000 Laura Childs http://www.socialmarketingstrategy.com/?p=536 As a training example of how a busy social networking site can help you understand social networks and marketing on them, here’s the skinny I taught about 43things.com, back in April 2007.

Although this training is a little old, the concepts and investigative research skills learned are just as valuable.

First of all you must be really careful about how you approach 43things. (In fact, I would completely stay away from that site for marketing purposes or risk wasting hours of your time. However, you can practice your skills there and even do a little research on your niche topics as you peek into the minds of your potential customers.)

Appear to be completely natural in joining and contributing to this community. Don’t stuff keywords into your username or upload photos of your product as your profile picture.

Simply join, make a few posts over the next week, make a post with a [This content is protected for Pro members only. Click here to learn more about membership] - it is cheaper than you'd think!

Give the above (member only content) conditions, your strategy would be to choose and write down those tag(s) and your approximate posting schedule - then implement it!

]]> http://www.socialmarketingstrategy.com/strategy-training-exercise/feed/ http://www.socialmarketingstrategy.com/your-own-social-marketing-strategy/ http://www.socialmarketingstrategy.com/your-own-social-marketing-strategy/#comments Tue, 03 Mar 2009 05:38:01 +0000 Laura Childs http://www.socialmarketingstrategy.com/?p=534 Web 2.0 Traffic vs. The Way We Used to Do It…

Making the most of Web 2.0 for traffic is a very different lesson plan than the one I taught on blogs and RSS feeds in 2004.

Keep in mind as you continue to work through and on your own social marketing strategy that one size (style/strategy) will never fit all. Although I had hoped to create a membership site that provided point and click answers, I’m certain that no such thing exists. This is especially true if you’re in a tightly defined or highly specialized niche.

Strategy is never cut and paste and it often rewrites itself as trends evolve. Plus, if you want to be successful online, you must study, watch, define, and implement a strategy to see any results. You can’t buy or follow a generic traffic strategy that works across the board, but you can first learn about and then design and execute your own traffic strategy for any market you so choose.

As I said earlier, there is no way I could ever say ‘A Web 2.0 traffic strategy is performed from this particular place, with these necessary tools, and in this absolute order’…

Remember, Web 2.0 is all about a relevant user experience.

You’ll want to understand the processes and terms, define and then find your target market, and then roll out your red carpet of offers and services, in their path.

Anyone who is trying to sell you on a one size fits all solution to online traffic in this day and age is doing you a grave disservice, wasting your time and potentially turning your natural traffic away from your site before you have a chance to convert those visitors into something tangible!

Don’t Get Frustrated During the Learning Process and Don’t Give Up

If you happen to get caught in negativity (it happens to all of us) and feel as though the work is too labor intensive, understand that once you have your ‘2.0 ducks in a row’ maintenance is a breeze – and the results are nothing short of splendid.

In 2004-2006 people thought the work involved within the Stampede Secret was too time consuming as well (2 hours to research and set up, then 10 minutes per week to maintain) but those who made the effort had traffic that they could consistently draw into their site upon request! Even my newbie clients (and I mean newbie with a capital N-E-W) had huge breakthroughs!

Mapping out your Web 2.0 traffic strategy will also take about 2 hours to devise and initially employ, then 10-20 minutes every 2-3 days to maintain. Again, every market differs. Be of the mindset “Whatever it takes,” and you will find the success you are looking for!

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