Posts tagged as:

influencers

Social media asks: Who do you want to be?

by Ian Greenleigh on November 21, 2010 · 2 comments

The barriers have been smashed. Start acting like it. (Flickr photo credit: sheeshoo)

Let me share something with you. The biggest difference between those that are finding social media success and those that aren’t is that the latter see traditional barriers where they no longer exist. In the world before social media, barriers were everywhere. They took the form of gatekeepers and rules of conduct that blocked access to those who, at least in part, held the power to change things for us. They were erected by people who could not be bothered, and it was normally only those with an almost absurd amount of drive or the means to pull strings that could shatter them.

Of course you have to work your ass off to be successful in your social media efforts, but hard work alone won’t cut it. Start acting like you’re already there.

  • Don’t be afraid to write about subjects you’re still learning. What matters is that you’re adding to the conversation when others are holding back and adding nothing.
  • Read what those you admire read. You’ll start understanding how they think, and you’ll be able to engage with them about things you know they find interesting.
  • Disagree openly with them when they give you reason to. Understand that 99% of the people trying to get in front of them do so by publicly agreeing with everything they utter, retweeting everything and sucking up in general. Be part of the 1% that tells them the truth when they’re wrong, and you’ll earn their attention and respect.
  • Click send. The worst thing you can do is ask yourself, “Who am I kidding?” It’s strange as hell seeing my writing on blogs like Convince and Convert and MarketingProfs, but if I didn’t stop worrying about whether it was really good enough, if I didn’t click send, it wouldn’t have happened at all.

The delta between our aspirations and our reality might be wide, but we have more ways than ever to navigate it. Write about what you want to become known for and it will begin to read like the writing of someone who’s already recognized. Engage with those you admire without worrying about if they’ll pay attention, and eventually they will. The barriers are in your head.

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Blogging in the dark: The vital data no one has (or talks about)

by Ian Greenleigh on August 31, 2010 · 10 comments

Blogging in the dark

Blindly searching for the data we don't have. (Flickr photo credit: Pranav Singh)

There’s something that’s been bugging me lately, big time. It’s not your average annoyance, or mild setback. It’s a huge problem for all of us in social media marketing, but no one seems to say much of anything about it.

Let me illustrate the issue with a real-life scenario, though there are countless others:

You’re hired as a social media manager or consultant to a company that sells something, B2B or B2C—whichever. Dreaming up a social strategy to generate conversions from qualified prospects (email subscriptions, webinar registrations, contact form submits, etc.) to fill the pipeline for your company’s overall sales and marketing efforts is central to your job description.

Because you’re smart, you know that simply creating and distributing content on your own blog is only half the story when it comes to blogs. Outreach in the form of blogger relationship building, commenting and guest posting form the other half. Of course there’s more, but let’s keep it simple and continue…

So, which bloggers do you engage with, and where do you comment? You can find blogs that other bloggers say are the best in your industry. You can look at lists like The Power 150 that are informed by a mix of data, including traffic and external links. You can piece together which others think are the most important in just about any niche you’re trying to market to, but you’ll be comparing apples and oranges.

The truth is, no matter what numbers you look at, the numbers that should really matter to you simply aren’t there. Anywhere. Because you want to be on the blogs your prospects are on.

Who reads these blogs?

I don’t mean how many people. I don’t mean from where their IP addresses originate. I mean:

  • What industries do they work in?
  • What are their job titles and/or roles?
  • How often to they read this blog?
  • How influential is this blog to them, and how much do they trust what’s on it?
  • What other blogs do they read?

Try finding that information. It’s simply not there. So how do I back my decisions, as relate to external blogs, with data? I don’t.

If you were a media buyer for television campaigns, you would know where to place your ads. All the data would be there—who watches what programs at what times on what channels. It’s why you see ads for for-profit colleges on daytime TV.

Lots of other web marketing strategies can be backed by data. Search ads can be informed by myriad useful numbers. The decision to purchase banner or interactive ads on 3rd party websites is usually based on data provided by the site owner on audience.

So why not blogs?

We need a Nielsen of blog audiences.

I’ve tried in vain for months to locate a single useful source for blog readership demographics.Yes, it would be difficult to create. But it would also be insanely lucrative, and incredibly helpful to those of us in the industry (and the DIYers).

Until then, we’re just blogging in the dark.

Why don’t you think we have this tool and/or service? Am I missing something? Or is this data far less important than I believe it to be?

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5 causes just as likely as the one @danzarrella seemingly picked out of a hat

by Ian Greenleigh on April 10, 2010 · 6 comments

368 - Cell Texture

What are we really seeing?

I’m not going to explain the scientific method to someone that describes himself as “The Social Media Scientist.” In fact, I have enormous respect for Dan Zarrella and Hubspot, and I know he understands it. So why he writes an article like Twitter Accounts with a Profile Picture Have 10 Times More Followers Than Those Without beats the hell out of me.

Bottom line is, you can’t notice a correlation between two things and then assert one is the cause of the other without eliminating other possibilities.

Here is where he asserts causation: Effect of Profile Picture on Followers [emphasis mine].

Oh, and here, too: “…if you want to get followers on Twitter, it’s a good idea to upload a picture of yourself.”

And here are 5 likely alternative explanations for the correlation Dan noticed.

  1. Number of tweets. Maybe those without pictures tend to tweet less, and it is the latter variable that is causing their lack of followers.
  2. Spammy content. Maybe those without pictures tend to tweet spam more often, and it is the latter variable that is causing their lack of followers.
  3. Age: Maybe those without pictures tend to be newer accounts, and it is the latter variable that is causing their lack of followers.
  4. Location: Maybe those without pictures tend to live in locations where Twitter use is less common, and it is the latter variable that is causing their lack of followers.
  5. Lack of effort: Maybe those without pictures tend to put less effort into acquiring followers, and it is this latter variable that is causing their lack of followers.

I could go on and on. But that’s where you come in! Extra points for funny hypotheses left in comments.

As I’ve said before, Dan noticed something interesting here just by sharing the correlation he found. That alone was worthy of a blog post and perhaps a larger conversation. I don’t understand why he had to then jump to a conclusion and taint the larger effort. I really don’t. Based on our conversation (click “show conversation” after jump), he doesn’t seem to think there’s a problem with what he did. Cognitive dissonance? Who knows?

Remember, I’m writing this because I’m a fan, and posts like this might help influencers like Dan get better—and by extension, our study of the social media universe can improve. But I won’t say posts like this will do much of anything. That, after all, would be assuming causation :-) .

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Standing Out in the World’s Toughest Crowd

by Ian Greenleigh on December 3, 2009 · 7 comments

Not too long ago, I was looking for a job. The central emphasis of all my work-seeking efforts was on standing out. This much I knew: Now more than ever, you’ve got to positively differentiate yourself from the competition. You’ve got to market yourself.

Visiting LA recently, I started thinking about this again. The cruel paradox of LA is that it’s simultaneously the place where being noticed matters most and the hardest place in the world to be noticed. In this impossibly-crowded market,  nearly everyone you meet is trying to “make it” in some form or fashion. Whether they know it or not, they’re trying to market themselves to influencers. This is especially true of aspiring actors. As evidenced by whichever bad movie you saw recently, being a bad actor does not–sadly– preclude one from getting serious screen time.

Enter an actor friend of mine, Logan Fahey.

logan_head_1I’ve known Logan since the second grade, and I’m not the only one that thinks he’s great. Daryl Miller of the LA Times called a recent performance of his “letter perfect” (and it was). It absolutely kills me that Logan isn’t using new media to capitalize on his recent successes, and I told him as much. He, if anyone, should be a standout.  Within five minutes of meeting the other night, we had mapped out his next steps in order to make it so.  I’m confident the plan will work, even in a place like LA where everybody is trying to get in front of anybody who’s somebody (say that five times fast).

Most of what we discussed applies to new media, personal branding and conversation marketing quite generally. To illustrate their applications, I’ll include some specifics regarding how Logan might take these steps, but just add a little imagination to construct your own game plan. It’s never too late to start marketing yourself.

  1. Claim a central online outpost; a place that aggregates all the new media presences you’d like to put in front of influencers. Once you’ve put up some decent content, slap this URL on everything you send or give out. In Logan’s case, he should print www.LoganFahey.com right on his headshots.
  2. Flaunt it tastefully. As Brian Clark writes, brilliantly, “What other people say about you is more important than what you say about yourself.” Collect and publish your praise. Don’t be shy about it. Smart people make choices that are informed by testimonials above all else. These are the people you want to get in front of, so give them what they want–or someone else will.
  3. Play to your strengths. Put up a blog and write about what you know. Come across as both informed and interesting! Most settle for one or the other. Go for both. Comment on the posts of those who influence you, but also start conversations with other beginning bloggers, as they are more likely to reciprocate, link to you, etc. Logan is easily the funniest guy I’ve ever known. I see him posting biting observations on the travails of the aspiring actor and the excesses and of LA culture. If his observations are as sharp and witty as I expect they will be, he’ll be able to create a substantial following.
  4. Pages, not profiles. Logan the friend has a Facebook profile. Logan the actor should have a Facebook page. Pages offer far more functionality, customization and marketing flexibility. They allow you to construct and maintain a rich new media presence on one of the globe’s top websites–free. Using touches of FBML and following basic web design principles, pages can be a one-stop showcase of a brand’s value. Logan’s page will use video, photos, press clippings and carefully-written verbiage to create a mixed media demonstration of his talent and commitment to excellent presentation.

There’s more that Logan can do, but the above will keep him busy for a while. Rather than spreading ourselves too thin, it’s much more effective to carefully select  a few new media tools, create deep content experiences and update them often. Every time someone comes across one of your online outposts, make sure they’re encountering the person you want them to see, and not a bit of you here and a bit of you there, scattered across a trail of half-finished profiles.

As much as I’m excited to show a dear friend the new media ropes, doing so has forced me to consider my own reflection. Staring back at me, I see an incomplete picture of myself. I have a lot left to do and even more to learn. Yet, I like what I see. With a little work, it’s only going to get better.

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