The difference between social media marketing and social media meat markets

The Twitter phenomena, following hot on the heals of Facebook and MySpace, has created the impression with many otherwise savvy business people that they can achieve great value simply by joining the respective communities and blasting their advertising out to a waiting world. Those who understand social media, it's culture, power, edification and relationship building potential realise how misguided this impression is. This ignorant approach to social media makes the clueless perpetrators worse than the most abhorrent spammers in existence.

Albeit I am confident that the social media communities will eventually naturally weed out these cyber-ignoramuses, in the meantime the level to noise ratio has become quite deafening, and a real risk exists that instead of being weeded out they grow out of control until there is very little left worth hanging around for.

What is it about the online world that turns normally intelligent, respectable business people into such vulgar bottom feeding scum?

Now a new industry has been spawned that caters to this market of ignorance and helps the cancerous attitude fester. Sites that offer to sell you 1,000 5,000 10,000 or event 100,000 Twitter followers are springing up and offering what appears to be A Grade Prime Rib for the price of cheap hamburger mince. As the saying goes, if you buy a diamond for $10, chances are you are the not-so-proud owner of an expensive piece of shattered glass.

I have no doubt that the people who set up these services know exactly what they are doing and how very little value indeed their service offers to either their clients or the social media communities in general. However their clients are obviously misguided at best and morons at worst if they believe the pitch of these people to be the great Valhalla of social media marketing. Whilst I am all for capitalism and free markets, do these idiots not understand the total and utter irrelevance of spamming their message to a community that by nature is an opt-in, follow by choice environment.

The challenge for the rest of us is to assist these people to understand the nature of this media and show them the benefits that can be derived from approaching it with the correct frame of mind. The question they will have to ask themselves is do they see value in investing time in building such relationships. I suspect the stats for the answer to that question will map pretty closely with the stats of which of those businesses take a relationship building approach to their off-line customer engagements.

Whatever you do, BE amazing!

Kind regards,

Paul

About the writer Paul J. Lange:
I am a serial entrepreneur with business interests in venture capital & private funding, social media marketing, wellness, personal development, and online services. Together with a select group of C-Level executives, I also provide an outsourced interim board service. I am passionate about helping others to achieve success, and lead Mastermind Groups of people committed to bringing about a positive change in their lifestyle.

If you have an interest in any of the above areas and are seeking advice or support for a specific issue, send me an email with an overview of what you would like to discuss and we will schedule time to talk by phone or Skype.

Social Networking Websites: How to Find Them

Every day across the world hundreds of millions of people communicate with each other online. In addition to communicating with other people in their own country, many are communicating with those on the other side of the globe. This communication is due largely in part to the explosion of online social networking websites over the last 10 years and more. If you are interested in joining the growing number of Internet users who use social networking websites, you will have to find a network to join.

When it comes to finding the social networking websites that are right for you, you have a number of different options. Perhaps, the easiest way to find a social networking website is by performing a standard Internet search on Google, Yahoo, or one of the many hundred different search engines that exist on the Internet. You may want to search with the words social networking or social networking websites. Whichever search phrase you choose, there is a good chance that you will be presented with a long list of websites with both broad general focus and more specific focus. The latter can become annoying when the focus of page after page of search results returns only dating sites. So perhaps specify the type of networking site you are interested in. For example social business networking, social sports networking website, social scrap-booking networking website. I’m sure you get the idea.

You can also find and familiarize yourself with social networking websites by talking to those that you know. The Internet, as well as social networks, has rapidly increased in popularity. That popularity means that there is a good chance that one of your relatives, friends, co-workers, or neighbours has used a specific social networking website in the past, and indeed is probably still active. If they are not, find someone who is because the chances are the people who only dabbled and gave it up will not be in the best position to advise you accurately. Many of the people you know may have even used more than one networking website based on different specific interests that they have. If you know someone who has, you will want to ask them their recommendations. You will find that most social networking websites come highly rated, but there are some out there that may not even be worth your time.

In addition to speaking to those that you actually know, you can also seek recommendations from those that you do not personally know. You can do this online. Online, you should be able to find a number of websites that discuss social networking sites. Many of these websites have reviewed a collection of social networking sites. Warning….unless you are analytically inclined and love research, do this at your own peril as you could find yourself behind the computer clicking from one page to the next to find out more when the hearse comes to take you away. Basically keep it real and reasonable. In addition to reviews and other articles, you should also be able to speak with other Internet users on online message boards. Like speaking to one of your friends, many Internet users would be more than willing to let you know what social networking websites are worth the time and which ones are not. Again, beware of your time. Whilst online message boards and instant messaging programs (IM) are a great tool, they can suck the life out of your schedule like a black-hole.

Although it is nice to receive recommendations from those that you know or other Internet users, you should ultimately make your own decision. Whether or not a social networking website comes highly recommended, you should still to check it out first yourself. A large number of social networking websites are free to use; therefore, there are no risks associated with giving the site a try. Despite the fact that most online social networking sites are free to use, there are some that you must pay for. A large number of these websites offer free trials. Even if the trial period is only for a few days, you should easily be able to get a feel of the site’s environment and determine whether or not it is right for you.

In your search for a social networking website, whether you perform your own Internet search or rely on recommendations from others, you should be able to find a number of popular websites. Personally I find Ecademy the most effective for business, LinkedIn is a great Rolodex and others such as Xing & Internations are also very good indeed. You’ll find me on these and feel free to come on up and say “hi”. The good news about this is that if you are not satisfied with the social networking website you joined, you don’t have to worry; there are many more available for you to choose from.

I hope this was valuable

Until soon.

PJL

How to Create a Podcast

Podcasting is easy to do and become involved in. Anyone who wants to create a podcast should read this brief article. Please also see the blog on “How to Make a Podcast”.

The first thing necessary is access to a web server. The user needs to be able to upload files to the server itself, so podcasting can't be done from a simple blogging or journal site. It's probably best to register a domain and find a host for the site. There is more information on this in the blog: “How to Make a Podcast”.

Once the site has been set up and the user has access to the host server, a small program called dircaster.php should be customized for your site, and can be used to automatically generate the RSS feed that the subscribers will download.

The mp3 files should be uploaded to the proper directory after all the information about the file has been attached. The information you would configure would be the title, the genre, the author/speaker and such similar tags that will allow people interested in your topic to find you online and subscribe to your podcast feed. After the files are uploaded to the directory, the address of dircaster.php, as long as it is in the same directory as the mp3 files, will generate an RSS file that will tell your subscribers where to download the latest podcasts from.

To update the podcast and upload a new episode, create and upload the new mp3 file to the same directory. When dircaster.php is accessed, it will recognize the new file and relay the information on to your visitors.

With these steps, it is easy for anyone to create a podcast with a small expenditure of time and effort. The site is easy to set up; domains and hosting are now cheap enough almost anyone to have a small site, and the programs necessary are all easy to find and use.

I hope this was valuable.

PJL

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Facebook: A Popular Social Networking Website for Former Classmates and Study Buddies

Have you ever wondered whatever happened to your high school sweetheart? Or the buff surfer dude who melted your heart? How about your best friend who you lost contact with over the years?

If you have there is a good chance that you have tried to contact them. Unfortunately, many individuals marry or move away. This can make it difficult to contact those that you once to know. That is unless you join one of the most popular online social networking websites for finding old friends and flames. That website is known as Facebook. Okay, these days a lot of people are trying to do business on it as well but it is more often seen as the grown up social interaction version of the pre-pubescent MySpace.

Although Facebook is considered a social networking website, it is, in a way, unique from most of the others. This is because Facebook has a strong leaning toward recreating connections that were made in school, whether it be elementary school, high school, or college. Although it is encouraged that you contact those that you know from school, you are able to contact just about anyone on the website. That is one of the many features of Facebook that makes the social networking site worth joining.

The only problem that many Internet users have with other sites that try to do the same thing (like Classmates is the fact that they often require a paid membership. Facebook is free and although there are free membership plans available on a lot ot the others, you are generally limited with what you can do on those sites. In some cases, despite the fact that you have to become a paid member to enjoy what sites like Classmates has to offer, it can be worth it, and the membership fee is usually easy to afford.

If you are interested in seeing what Facebookhas to offer, you can easily do so by visiting their online website at www.Facebook.com. Once at their main page, you will have to go through the process creating a profile and selecting your schools. This is part of what will be displayed on the website; however, once you officially become a member you can add more information to your profile.

On Facebook you can post your own profile, pictures, comments, status updates, join clubs, attend events (online and off-line) and view profiles from other members. Viewing the profiles of other members, especially those that you went to school with, is easy. Facebook makes it possible to search for people based on the schools that they went to, and the years that they attended. This means that whether you graduated in 1970 or 2000, you should easily be able to obtain information on your former classmates, lovers and friends, and contact them to re-kindle what you once had.

By joining Facebook, you will not only be able to make contact with your old classmates and friends, but you may also even be able to renew old friendships or make new ones. Reconnecting with your old friends and making new ones, what could be better than that?

More soon.

PJL

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Using Social Networking Websites to Promote Your Online Presence

Do you own or operate your own website? With the popularity of the Internet constantly growing across all demographics there is a good chance that you do. A large number of Internet users run their own personal websites, but others run their websites as a way to make money. Of course, any website owner wishes to promote their online presence, but those who rely on their websites for income are more willing for obvious reasons. Irrespective of the type of website you have, did you know that you can help to promote it with online social networking websites, and through social media optimisation. More on the latter in another article.

If you are wondering how and why you should use social networking websites and the more recently emerging web 3.0 technologies to promote your online presence, you are not alone. A fairly large numbers of Internet users aren’t even sure what social networking sites are or how they work, let alone the web 3.0 technologies, including activities such as micro-blogging on sites like Twitter.

Online social networking websites are like online communities. They give internet users an easy and fairly safe way to come together. Many social networking websites are designed to make it easier for you to search for and make contact with other Internet users, especially those with whom you have something in common.

With a fairly large number of social networking websites, including Ecademy, Xing, LinkedIn, and Facebook, all with several millions users each, there is a good chance that you could not only make new friends, but find Internet users that would be interested in visiting your website or other online presence, especially if that website is your personal website. When joining an online networking community, you are normally given your own profile page with a unique or personalised URL for people to find you on the social network. On this page you can describe yourself, your business (if applicable) and your other online presences including your website. By mentioning what your personal online webpage(s) is/are all about and providing a link, you increase the chance for new visitors to seek you out and read what you have to say, sell, or promote.

As previously mentioned, social networking websites can benefit all website owners, but especially those who are looking to make a profit with their websites. This can be done one of two ways, by selling a product or service, and/or by relying on revenue from advertising. If you have a website that sells products or services, you may find it a little bit easier to use social networking sites to your advantage. This is because, if you wish, you can do product or service spotlights. Each day, week, or month, you can showcase one of the products or services that your website sells. This can either be done right on your profile page or on a blog page. In addition to some of the more popular blogging sites such as blogger.com, most social networking websites provide a blog capability for you to post information.

If you are using your online website to make money with advertising programs, such as affiliate programs or Google Adsense, you will most likely need to approach social networking websites in a different matter. Since you will not necessarily have a particular product or service to focus on, you will need to approach these websites as if they were personal websites. If your website discusses being a dog owner, it may be a good idea to state your love for dogs in your profile. After doing so, it would be acceptable and not necessarily considered spam to add a link to your online website. As with all other types of online websites, social networking websites should help to increase the number of page views your website receives. In most cases, more page views mean more clicks which means money for you. However this advertising focused approach to social networking is not the recommended way of interacting with others online. It is quite often frowned upon and once you have a reputation for it, it will be hard to break free from the perception that has been created of you.

As you can easily see, there are a number of different ways that you can promote your online website, no matter what type of website you have or what you use it for. By keeping the above mentioned points in mind, you should be able to see an increase in your page views, in no time at all.

This however only starts to scratch at the surface of what is possible with promotion of your online presence and website through social networking websites. It also does not even begin to address the benefits of implementing social media optimisation as a part of your (digital/online) marketing strategy. These will be topics for future posts so come back soon and read further.

The writer is recognised internationally as an expert in the field of online and viral marketing, and continues to support the strategic efforts of several small to medium businesses, large corporations, and private individuals to enhance their online image and increase sales.

I hope this was helpful.

PJL

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