May 11

Connecting Social Media

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Hi,

This is part answer and part question.

You see, I’ve been chatting with Jim Turner, Michael Stelzner and a couple of other people good at social media. By the way, Jim’s ONLY source for lead generation is now social media. He’s good at it.

One thing I’ve learned is that there are lots of tools to connect social media services to Twitter. I wonder if Twitter will become a sort of hub for interacting. Everyone can connect their services to Twitter, and it gives a little link you can follow to the read the whole message.

It’ll be like envelope teaser copy.

Maybe we’ll end up with 140 characters to persuade others we have something worth listening to – or reading.

In the last few days, I’ve connected my blog – this blog – to Twitter. Now every post I make here gets Tweeted – or is it Twitted – maybe Twittered?  😉

My account at ezinearticles.com, and at FriendFeed.com, is connected to Twitter. That means every new article I send to ezinearticles.com gets announced through Twitter.

I’m not sure what the FriendFeed connection does yet. I’m actually still learning about FriendFeed.com.

It’s actually ezinearticles.com that got me thinking about connecting all this stuff. They let you connect your account to LinkedIn, Facebook, FriendFeed and Twitter. My article views count has skyrocketed since I connected everything to my account.

One question I have is: Has anyone found a utility that helps you connect social media?

It’s great that ezinearticles.com connects things so we can increase our exposure with every article. What I’d like to do is connect maybe five or six social media sites so every time I put something on one, some kind of update gets posted to all of them.

Another question I have is how are you doing the research to find social networks oriented toward your market and interests?

The first step is deciding what your purpose is in going to any social network. Every network you choose has to be a choice based on serving your interests. But do you see how it has to balance with the fact that it’s a social network?

You can’t just walk in with a marketing message. You do have to walk in with a marketing plan – a plan to engage your audience, inform them as prospects and empower them when they become customers.

(Like my little soapbox moment?)

Honestly though, from the posts you make to the content on your site, all your efforts have to be oriented toward helping people get the answers they’re looking for.

And that leads into another thing I”ve figured out. Social Media or Social Networking is exactly the same as branding.

Your brand  is the reputation you build with every customer contact.

When you are the company, even behaving badly at a friend’s part could impact your brand. It makes me think of a friend I know in the acting industry. Her agent got hugely upset with her one day when she showed up without makeup on – and it was for a casual lunch!

Her agent’s point? That you never know who you’re going to meet. The stranger in the elevator could be her next casting director.

For a business – for you when you’re on social networks – every contact with the public is part of your branding. Maybe a particular person clicks the link to your site, maybe they don’t, but every single person who “sees” you is forming an opinion about you.

Do you see how it is that social networking is a long-term, relationship building process? It’s the ultimate in reputation development.

That’s my 2 cents worth. Let me take a second to remind you of the questions I asked:

Have you found a utility that connects social media for you?

How are you doing the research to find the networks that will work for you?

Post your answers here so we can all learn a thing or two.

Sincerely,

Conrad Hall


Tags

Conrad Hall, ezinearticles.com, facebook, friendfeed, jim turner, linkedin, michael stelzner, twitter


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