Not so Social Media
I am not big into social media but I do understand that this is the the future. However, I am struggling with the whole thing. I have just opened a pinterest account and am going to follow Kyle's training and pin the pictures from my posts there. I also saw a good post on here about how to get lots of relevant followers on pinterest so I have a good strategy for this one.
I have also just opened a google+ account and I have to admit that this one is completely alien to me. I have no clue what to do with this or a strategy to utilize it.
I have a long standing twitter account but no followers - I have to admit that I have rarely used it other than to keep in touch with whats going on with high profile sports people and celebrities.
As I have no followings on any of these I feel as though I will be posting content and links to nobody at all. A bit like speaking through a megaphone to deaf people!!!
Any help with this would be gratefully accepted
Strap
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Wow it didn't even occur to me to use social media like that - especially the part about pinterest! I have an account but haven't used it in forever - i think i'll start using it again as my posts still get re-posted quite often! Thanks for the reminder!
One suggestion is to join a few groups in your niche area in Google and you can check out your competition. You can join and post your blogs in the community groups. In regards to Twitter, follow people and there is a very good chance they will follow you back. Have you added a social plug in to your site? There are many to choose from and after writing a blog you can share with the social media that you choose.
Not alone on this. The social media part of the business is something I'm taking a gradual approach with.
I am the same way, I only opened these accounts because we were requested to. But I don't have a twitter account, don't have an iPhone, don't have linkedin, they wanted access to my contacts, that is personal to me. So you see I am in worst shape than you. I think it will get better once we learn how to use them!
I wrote a blog about using Google+ back in December 2013, see link below. At the bottom of my blog post I provide a link to a website that has animating informational images (gifs) on 31 different tips for using Google+
Though I use Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn in addition to Google+ I have found that Google+ is the most important when it comes to giving more benefit to your website SEO once you share content there.
Useful Tips for Using Google Plus
Hi strap I will give you the same advice that a good folower gave me they said to me to follow Youtube and listen to all the tutorials and I am listening to them and I am starting to get the where and what of Google + just giving you the same advice that was given to me.
Willie
Thanks Willie - I'll head over there for some info. I really appreciate the community we are privileged to be part of
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Hi Strap,
It takes an enormous amount of work to build a social media following. You need to build content in social media too in order for people to want to follow you. In Pinterest, it will take you hours, days, ... it's a constant process of adding new pins on new boards. You want the boards to say something about you, to reflect your tastes, your preferences. That way, you will attract followers who are like-minded and hence more likely to be interested in your blog posts.
Sadly, it's not as simple as posting your own blog material. I think the general rule is to try to get a mix of curated:created of about 80:20 or less on all social platforms. That builds more trust. People know you're not in it for yourself, but that you care about providing them valuable information and resources that cater to their interests.
This is my third month as a blogger (independently) and I went from 1000 views/month to 6500/month overnight because of just 2 posts. Instead of focusing on Google ranking or affiliate sales, I just focused on creating interesting, useful, and compelling content. I was going to call it quits actually because I couldn't see how blogging was relevant anymore. I thought people coalesce around the big, reputable sites and the people who started blogging early. To some extent, that is true. Starting a blog in 2005 was the best time, no question. BUT, my sudden boost in traffic was purely on the basis of the value that people found in my content. I did not optimize my site for Google (I just rely on Yoast SEO plugin), but I did leverage social. To my mind, social is the new way to bring awareness to content. And blogging is still relevant as long as the content resonates with the target audience. I am in the same boat as you regarding sales, but I have not focused on this at all - first step was to see if I could create content that resonated with people. Now, I can focus on how to convert that traffic. My research is that what I should be looking for is around 150K-200K views per month to build a sustainable, albeit moderate revenue stream. It's a constant battle, no question. But it's a tremendously rewarding experience just to have people like your content.
Next step for me is work on trust. Once I have trust, visitors and subscribers will be more receptive to my product and service recommendations. It's a process. One that, to my mind, starts with satisfying people's content needs.
Best of luck to you mate. You can do it.