How Facebook Works (or so they tell us)

A lot of people ask me how Facebook ‘works’, how they get their message out to their fans and followers and the truth is – it can be very confusing, even for professional marketers.  Unfortunately, Facebook itself doesn’t make it any easier to understand, and some recent changes make it even more complicated.  I thought I’d talk a little bit about those changes today.

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Live Appearance: Author Fest of the Rockies

If you are an author interested in Social Media Marketing or Podcasting for Creatives, I’ve got a little something for you.  This weekend (the 28th & 29th), I’ll be presenting as part of the 7th Annual Author Fest of the Rockies in Manitou Springs Colorado. As mentioned above, my presentations will be on Podcasting for Creatives and Social Media for Authors, two topics that authors have a lot of interest in and questions about.  Cost for the event is $75 for two days and includes breakfast and lunch.

A little background: Author Fest of the Rockies is a nonprofit organization operating under the umbrella of the Business of Art Center. The conference is open to anyone interested in the written and spoken word. Author Fest is dedicated to keeping a strong arts-in-education component in its activities and to supporting the Manitou Springs Community.

For more information, visit the Author Fest Website.

Hope to see you there.

Self-Promotion Spam

Marketing is a double edged sword.  I bet you thought I’d say it was an art or a science.  For most people, it’s a necessary evil.  You have to market to get people to buy your stuff or use your services or support your cause.  Don’t do it enough and the phones stop ringing.  Too much and the exact same thing can happen.  I myself can become quite irritated when, outside of my work, I get over-marketed by someone.

Example: when I run into a store, the last thing I want to do is answer a ton of questions upon checkout.  “What’s your zipcode?  Your phone number?  How did you hear about us?”  This usually before they have even begun to scan into the register whatever it is I’m trying to buy, and all because someone, somewhere, decided that it was a worthwhile exercise to annoy some people as long as some other people went ahead and gave them the information they were looking for.  But is it worth it?

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I’m Back

Hi there.  I need to apologize.  I’ve been away and haven’t been blogging.  Several factors led up to this absence, including travel, award shows and a prolonged sickness that I am only this week starting to beat back and feel like myself again.  As for the awards, well, that would be the 2012 Hugo Awards, presented each year at the World Science Fiction Convention.  I was up for the podcast I produce and host over at SFSignal.com.  Alas, I did not win, but being nominated was thrilling and an experience I won’t soon forget.

A lot of podcasting out there is about promotion or self-promotion, and so I thought that would be the topic for today’s blog post.

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The New Rules of Marketing & PR (Book Recommendation)

If you are serious about your marketing, you probably already have a copy of The New Rules of Marketing & PR in your library, but the 3rd edition, The New Rules of Marketing & PR: How to Use Social Media, Online Video, Mobile Applications, Blogs, News Releases, and Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly, updates the book to include more social media areas and content.

Even if you have an older edition, the core tenets of this book can be applied to your 21st Century marketing plan, but I’d recommend picking up (or downloading to your Kindle) the latest edition.

If nothing else, grab this book for the updated case studies, examples, and the Marketing and PR Strategy Plan template.

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Likeable Social Media: How to Delight Your Customers (Book Recommendation)

I have the Kindle version of Likeable Social Media: How to Delight Your Customers, Create an Irresistible Brand, and Be Generally Amazing on Facebook (& Other Social Networks), and I find that it speaks to the heart of social media: connecting.

Everyone will tell you, when it comes to social media, you have to be a real human being, someone people can identify and connect with.  An endless stream of links and in your face selling will not get you anywhere.

Likeable Social Media lays it out for you in clear, concise language with plenty of examples and success stories.  Highly recommended for anyone looking to be successful with social media marketing.

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Being Social

I’m always surprised by people who miss the point of social media; being social.

There is a definite benefit for sales people who use social media correctly, but some try to force it to be something it isn’t.  I see this a lot, especially with self-published authors, or people who pay services or companies to ‘monitor and update’ their social medial channels for them.  This leads to a stream of endless and impersonal links, an immediate turn-off for people who are looking to connect.

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Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day (Book Recommendation)

As part of my marketing presentation to authors and sales people, I talk about carving out an hour a day to do social media marketing in quick, manageable bites.  I break it down as:

  • 15 minutes in the morning
  • 15 minutes at lunch
  • 15 minutes before dinner
  • 15 minutes before heading to bed

Use this time to put out updates, reply to other people and make some connections.

If you’re looking for a comprehensive guide to social media marketing, I’d like to suggest Dave Evan’s updated Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day.

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Google Says: Don’t Do This

A massive mistake people make, especially sales people trying to navigate their way through the social media and blogging landscape, is to copy/paste whole ‘articles’ onto their own websites.  This is a big no-no for several reasons, not the least of which is the impact it can have on your visibility on search engines like Google.

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