Social Networking And Why You Should Be Following The Crowd

By: Loc Tran

I received this question recently from one of the members of my LinkedIn group:

“Hi Loc, I am working on a marketing project and trying to reach the International Backpacker with social media – do you have experience with reaching this “moveable” audience?“ – Jasper.

Social Network Hopping

So I wanted to write today about the concept of social network hopping which is similar to bar hopping but applied to the online world.

When I’m out on the town on a Friday or Saturday night what I find is that I will rarely stay in one place all night, instead I will hop between a number of different venues because a change of scenery is fun and different people tend to frequent different venues. The excitement, magic and joy of entering a venue for the first time can be repeated several times throughout the night.

This is true also of social networking sites:

• It’s fun to be a member of several different social networking sites because each site may offer something different.
• Each social network may in turn attract a different type of audience.
• Just as in real life, you want to be where the action is and connect with like minded people.

Popular Social Networking Sites

Here is a list of popular social networking sites and the type of people you are likely to meet:

1. Twitter – mainly early adopters who are savvy with technology / social media and who are interested in connecting with like minded people i.e. “Tweetups”.
2. FaceBook – basically everyone is on FaceBook these days so it’s almost mandatory for you to be on there also, with FaceBook you have friends who you know and then if you want to connect with other like minded people you join specific interest groups, fan pages or community pages.
3. YouTube – for people who love to make and share videos.
4. Flickr – for people who love to take and share photos.
5. FourSquare – for people who are often out and about and want others to know where they are and what places they frequent most often.
6. Blogs – for people who like to write and share their thoughts and experiences in a more comprehensive way than what services like Twitter and FaceBook can offer.
7. LinkedIn – for business professionals and job hunters.

Go Where The Action Is For Your Brand

If you do a search on each of these social networking sites for your brand you will find that some networks will have more of a natural “buzz” than others, so it makes sense to follow the crowd and join in on the conversation where people are already talking about you or the things that you are interested in.

The same strategy can be applied across most social networks:

• Find the groups of people that you want to connect with.
• Join in on the conversation.
• Retweet, like, comment on what others have to say.
• Connect with those who respond.
• Ask them to do the same in return.

What Is Your Primary Call To Action?

Be sure to have a primary call to action in mind, that is, what do you want people to do?

• Do you want them to join your FaceBook page?
• Do you want them to check out your blog?
• Do you want them to join your mailing list?

Please note that it is generally frowned upon if you try to sell something to someone that you don’t have a relationship with on a social networking site although it is acceptable to promote an event via social networking without too many issues.

Also, you will find that most people are members of 3 different social networks and it’s much easier to get someone to hop from one network to another (i.e. if they follow you on Twitter, it’s likely that they will friend you on FaceBook also) than it is for them to do something that requires a great commitment such as buying your product or joining your email list.

Start Small, Build The Relationship First

So start small, once someone has connected with you on more than one social network you will have more of an opportunity to build a relationship with them and “graduate” them to another level, such as getting them to join your mailing list, etc.

So that’s pretty much it:

1. Follow the crowd.
2. Make a connection.
3. Get them to follow you back by joining you on your preferred platform.

Cheers

Loc

P.S. Got a question? Hit me up at mrlocspoc(at)gmail(dot)com.

About the Author

My name is Loc Tran and I design, develop and implement cost-effective, simple and proven sales, squeeze, social and statistics pages for small businesses in Adelaide, South Australia.

“Loc is very simply a class act. He is innovative, market focussed, highly computer literate and has the ability to integrate those skills into what a business requires. His creation of an online training platform was exceptional and his excellent project management skills kept mumerous marketing and general projects on track and budget.” – Ian Simpson, Innovation Director, MYI Freemans Ltd.

http://www.mrlocspoc.com/about-meloc-tran/

(ArticlesBase SC #2709590)

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ – Social Networking And Why You Should Be Following The Crowd

Why Do So Many Social Media Experts Dislike Email?

By: Loc Tran

“If you don’t have email, you are missing three quarters of potential regular readers.” – Darren Rowse (ProBlogger), 2 minutes 25 seconds in the above video.

It always surprises me how many times I have checked out someone’s blog and they are supposed to be an internet marketing and / or social media expert and they don’t have any way to capture a visitor’s email address on their website. It’s surprising because all of the professionals and gurus all say that email has been an important component of their overall success online.

Why Do So Many Social Media Experts Dislike Email?

1. Because maybe they think that it’s not effective anymore? Well that really depends on how you use it, there is the right way and there is the wrong way, just with any other platform, if you use it the wrong way then you are not going to succeed.
2. Because maybe they think it is old fashioned? As Darren Rowse puts it “the average mom and pop still uses email, it’s familiar”.
3. Because maybe they don’t want to fork out the money to pay for an email marketing system? The way I see it, if you are a marketing professional then you should be collecting emails just so you can understand how the whole process works!

You Don’t Own Your Facebook Profile!

I received a message recently from someone who had their Facebook profile suspended and wanting to reconnect (and this is someone who is supposed to be a social media expert), if you don’t know this already, once you get your Facebook account suspended, you lose access to everything including any groups and pages that you have set up. The reality is that you never really own your Facebook profile and if you do something that Facebook considers to be inappropriate you will get suspended, some reasons for which Facebook might suspend you include:

1. You are adding friends too aggressively, everytime someone receives a friend request from you, they have the option to accept or reject your friend request, if they choose to reject your friend request they also have the option to specify if they know you or not, so if you have too many people reject your friend request and stating that they don’t know you, you will get suspended. This is true not just for Facebook but other sites like Twitter and Youtube as well, they just have different ways of going about it.
2. You are sending out too many messages, this is particularly the case if you are sending out the exact same message, individually to too many people, every message that you send can be tracked back to your Facebook profile and if enough people click on the “Report/Block this person” your Facebook profile will get suspended.
3. You are posting too much stuff on your news feed, this is especially true if you have your Twitter account linked with your Facebook profile, Twitter followers are very different from Facebook friends, with Twitter there is no such thing as over-sharing, whereas with Facebook you have to be a bit more discerning about what you post.

Why You Should Be Collecting Emails On Your Blog Or Website

1. Because unlike a Twitter, Facebook or YouTube account, you own your email list for life and you are pretty much free to do with it as you wish, even if you get your Facebook profile or Twitter account suspended.
2. Because people are fickle, today’s most popular social media networking site may be tomorrow’s ghost town e.g. MySpace.
3. Because as an internet marketing / social media professional you should be familiar with all effective mediums of online communication (email is still effective based on what the majority of gurus and professionals have to say, it’s not mutually exclusive, you can have an email list and a Twitter account and a Facebook profile and a Youtube account, it’s allowed).

So What Now?

Of course it’s not easy, just because you have an opt-in form on your website, doesn’t mean that people will sign up, here are some tips to help you get started:

1. Provide an appropriate incentive for people to opt-in, this will evolve over time and really depends on your niche / audience / source of traffic.
2. Use a proper email marketing system, don’t just rely on Microsoft Outlook or whatever email client you normally use because if you send out too many emails from your computer / domain eventually enough people will flag you as a spammer and you will get black listed (it will happen, everyone’s definition of spam is slightly different, even if they have double-opted into your email list you’re going to get some people who complain). With a professional email marketing system there is usually a team of people involved in developing relationships with the major email providers such as Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo to ensure a high rate of email deliverability.
3. Start today, test, track, test, track, test and track some more, eventually you will come up with the right incentive that appeals to your audience and in a few years time you will have a substantial email list that you own and that will be helping you to make money for years to come.

Cheers

Loc

P.S. Got a question? Hit me up at mrlocspoc(at)gmail(dot)com.

About the Author

My name is Loc Tran and I design, develop and implement cost-effective, simple and proven sales, squeeze, social and statistics pages for small businesses in Adelaide, South Australia.

“Loc is very simply a class act. He is innovative, market focussed, highly computer literate and has the ability to integrate those skills into what a business requires. His creation of an online training platform was exceptional and his excellent project management skills kept mumerous marketing and general projects on track and budget.” – Ian Simpson, Innovation Director, MYI Freemans Ltd.

http://www.mrlocspoc.com/about-meloc-tran/

(ArticlesBase SC #2639243)

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ – Why Do So Many Social Media Experts Dislike Email?

7 Silly But Fun Things You Can Do While In Adelaide

By: Loc Tran

I just recently joined FourSquare (a location based social networking site). FourSquare is cool because it lets you discover interesting things to see and do in your city but like any social networking website it relies heavily on user generated content, so here is a list of 7 silly but fun things you can do while in Adelaide (in no paricular order):

1. Go to Distill, upstairs there is a pole normally used for pole dancing, climb to the top and touch the ceiling. Usually there is no cover charge to get into Distill although on busy nights i.e. Saturday nights you may need to line up to get in.

2. Go to the Ambassador Hotel on a Friday night and sing some karaoke, if you can’t think of anything I would suggest “All Out Of Love” by Air Supply, it’s a power ballad and it’s very easy to sing even if you don’t have a very good voice. Usually, entry is free.

3. Go to Sugar, challenge your friends to a game of pool, loser has to hit the dance floor and do some dorky dancing for one minute! Particularly funny when you’re drunk and best to do it early in the night when no one else has started dancing yet. Usually, entry is free, unless it is a busy night i.e. Saturday night and / or they have a special act on.

4. Go to the Rhino Room on a Thursday night and check out the stand up comedy, for extra points sign up and do five minutes of stand up comedy one night, probably best to call beforehand if you want to be included in the line up although sometimes you might get lucky although I wouldn’t recommend it, it really depends on what kind of MC you’ve got on that night. You’ll never really appreciate how hard stand up comedy is until you actually do it! Cover charge is usually $12 per person, although, if you’re performing you can get in for free, be sure to check their website for special offers such as two for one entry.

5. Go to HQ on a Wednesday night (flash dance) dressed up in a crazy costume. HQ often hosts dress up / theme parties so it’s not that unusual, be sure to check their website to see if there is a dress up / theme party, on the night you plan to attend. The cover charge is usually around $10 although if you get there early i.e. before 10pm and are in costume you can usually get in for free.

6. Go to PJ O’Briens on a Thursday night (ladies night) and request a song, if you can’t think of anything I would suggest “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley, the dorkier the song the better. Usually, entry is free.

7. Go to Cocolat on Rundle Street and order a hot hocolate with extra love. Not sure why I’ve included this maybe it’s because I like chocolate and maybe it’s because I’m sorely in need of love and affection? Either way, it’s still fun / funny to see how the cafe staff react. The hot chocolate will probably cost you about $4.50.

Alrighty, this is all stuff that I’ve had a go at myself and that I think is quite fun / funny without costing too much, so I hope you like it and have a go at it for yourself!

About the Author

Join me on FourSquare, my username there is locspoc and you can find me here:

http://foursquare.com/user/locspoc

(ArticlesBase SC #2045702)

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ – 7 Silly But Fun Things You Can Do While In Adelaide

Adelaide Fringe – Comedy Award Winners 2010!

Adelaide Comedy Presents

Both 2010 Fringe Comedy Award Winners

Best Emerging Comedian Lori Bell
“Granny Flaps – Opens Up”

&

Best Established Comedian Stephen Sheehan
“Stevl Shefn and his Translator Fatima”

At this year’s Adelaide Fringe for the first time ever both of the Comedy Award winning shows were from Adelaide and the Adelaide Comedy Scene. Adelaide Comedy is celebrating by giving you one last chance to see both of these shows at Arkaba Ha Ha May 4th for half the price of a regular Fringe ticket – $12.

Lori Bell gives us Granny Flaps. This outrageous ukulele lady won the 2010 best emerging comic at the Adelaide Fringe for her show ‘Granny Flaps – Opens Up’. She has also performed at the Big Day Out and tours with ‘Puppetry of the Penis’.

Steve Sheehan began his comedy career after winning the national Raw Comedy competition at the MICF in 2003. The show called Stevl Shefn and His Translator Fatima took out the Best Comedy Award by an Established Comedian at the 2010 Adelaide Fringe and was a Moosehead Recipient at this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival where it also picked up a nomination for a Golden Gibbo innovation award.

Of Lori Bell ~ “By far Granny Flaps was the hit of the night. The ukulele playing octogenarian sang plenty of crude but very funny songs. You’ll certainly never look at your own granny the same way. **** The Messenger.

Of Steve Sheehan ~ “Sweet, strangely innocent, funny and eccentric. Go if only to see something that is unlike anything else you’ll see at the festival, possibly ever.” – Groggy Squirrel 2010.

Check out the Facebook page for this event here… http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=117783724907765&ref=mf

Buy your tickets online here… http://www.adelaidecomedy.com/index.php?view=details&id=18:the-fringe-comedy-award-winners-steve-sheehan-and-lori-bell-perform-their-award-winning-shows&option=com_eventlist&Itemid=58

A Storm Is Brewing (The Road To Alice Springs)

A storm was brewing just as the sun was about to set. The otherwise warm and dry outback had turned into a cold and muddy swamp. Reviewing our options we were thankful that we had 18 litres of water and enough food for at least 3 days. It had been several hours since we had seen any other signs of life, so things were not looking too good! Then, suddenly, in the horizon we could see a glimmer of hope…

A fleet of four cars was driving by and so we ran towards them waving our hands furiously in the air… but, they couldn’t see us because we were located on an isolated dirt road about 1km away. We continued to run towards the nearest intersection hoping to get within viewing range before they passed us by for good… one car, two cars, three cars – they all drove by without stopping, did they not see us or did they just think that we were waving “hello”?

It was day 3 of a 5 day road trip from Adelaide to Alice Springs including stops at Coober Pedy, Uluru and a few other locations. We were about 200 kms from Alice Springs when we saw a sign indicating the site of some meteorite craters, so feeling adventurous, we decided to go check it out!

At first our Toyota Kluger was managing the muddy terrain just fine but then suddenly, the fun stopped and we found ourselves trapped, bogged down in the mud created by the intense rain that had fallen over the previous few days. This was not good at all, we tried everything to get out – the car was too heavy for us to push, there was too much water for us to scoop it all out and the harder we tried, the deeper the hole became.

After some time a couple of what seemed to be German tourists drove by in a four wheel drive and so we stopped them and asked for help, they did not have any rope so were unable to pull us out of the bog but they said that they would go and get some help for us but after several hours of waiting, still no help had arrived.

As we waited, we contemplated and considered our options. It was likely that we would have to stay the night and proceed in the morning on foot (apparently, many people who find themselves in this sort of situation don’t make it because they leave their car, get lost and perish).

Then, in the distance we could see a number of cars driving by, “help had finally arrived” we thought, so we ran towards them feverishly waving our arms in the air but one by one they drove by, it seemed that they were not here to help us after all and we were too far away for them to see us.

We were on a dirt track just out of their range so we continued to wave our arms in the air as we ran towards the intersection hoping to get there before they did, three of the four cars drove by without noticing us but luckily the fourth car – a group of what seemed to be French tourists noticed us and stopped.

Unfortunately their van was not powerful enough to help but fortunately one of the other cars came back to see what was happening, this time it was someone in a four wheel drive with a CB radio who called for back up.

They found us just as the sun was setting and the rain was increasing in intensity.

They escorted us to the nearest main road from which we proceeded with our drive to Alice Springs.

Special thanks goes to the Central Coast Four Wheel Drive Club for saving us from what would have been a very cold, wet and embarrassing night in the middle of a cold and muddy swamp.

That night the crew from the Central Coast Four Wheel Drive Club pulled out 3 cars that we know of including ourselves from the mud.