If I Started Today

November 22, 2008 · Comments

party Okay, so you’ve heard from someone that this social media and social networking stuff is great and you should get involved, and it’s really going to help you out. Maybe it will help you in the economic downturn. Maybe you have heard how you can use Twitter for business. But there’s a lot to it all.

Where would you start? What would come first? How might you think about getting out there and joining in on the experience?

If I Started Today

Here’s what I’m going to do. I’ll build three different scenarios out, and give you the starting points for what I’d do with social media if I were in these steps. Try to extrapolate them out to your profession or your need. If you really want to have fun with this post, take what I’ve started here, and write your own post for your vertical or condition, and then be sure to share the ideas with us here, so we can go to your site and check it out. (We’ll even be able to visit via trackbacks, if you link back to the original post).


Before it All: Listening

(Note: this was updated after Lucretia pointed out that I probably inadvertently forgot to mention it.)

Listening is my first move in starting to understand social media. That means this: go and read the blogs that are out there. Read from different genres. Go visit Twitter.com and more importantly search.twitter.com, and see what people are saying. Read comments on people’s blogs and see which ones seem to get any response. Search using Google and Technorati.com, and start listening to conversations that are out there.

And then, start here.


First Platform: A Blog

No matter what, the very first piece of social media real estate I’d start with is a blog. It’s a website, with lots of built in features that make it useful from a search perspective, and simple from a content creation perspective. That alone is worth the price of admission.

Don’t worry as much about the features, although certain companies make blogging platforms that go above and beyond simple content publishing. Don’t focus hard on the add-ons and whizbangs, but do know that a bare bones, out of the box blog is about as appealing as two slices of bread with a piece of bologna on it.

Now, let’s break that into three potential scenarios.

Personal branding: I’d buy my own domain name, and host it somewhere inexpensive, but with good service.

Company communications: I’d use an off-brand domain, with a “powered by” mindset, similar to Digital Nomads by Dell. Meaning, I wouldn’t necessarily do a “product blog” or a “corporate voice” blog as much as I’d want to do a “something useful to people” blog. Exceptions: really big corporations with lots of bloggers, like Sun, IBM, Cisco, etc.

Nonprofit: I’d start a storytelling and pictures blog about the causes I was tasked with supporting. No question about it: stories and pictures are powerful contributors to nonprofit experiences.

For blog topics and other ideas, I’ve collected my best advice, and that should get you started there.

Second Step: Outposts

In all cases, I’d build outposts which help me reach into lots of different places and communicate with people where they might be. Depending on my needs, I might use different tools. At the very minimum, I’d start accounts on:

  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook

I might or might not then pick one or two more specialized networks. Let’s look at how this works for our three examples.


Personal: use Twitter to build relationships and share interests. Use Facebook to learn about groups and events of interest. Keep LinkedIn active and updated, and stay involved in the answering of questions part of the site. Goal here: keep your name out there, far ahead of when you might need anything from anyone.

Company: use Twitter as a way to show that you’re humans in there. I like how Dell has several namesatDELL type accounts like RichardATDell and LionelATDell, etc. You could also just be yourself, like ScottMonty from Ford, or astrout(Aaron Strout) from Powered. Use Facebook as individuals and LinkedIn as individuals, but with a group purpose. You might participate in other people’s groups. You might find friends with like interests or similar demographics and reach out to them that way. Be human. That’s the main goal here.

Nonprofit: depending on the cause, you could either use Twitter as the cause name, or you can reach out as an individual. There are both in the field, and I’ve yet to see which is more productive. Maybe a nonprofit can comment on their experiences here. On Facebook and LinkedIn, be the individual, but form groups around your causes, and invite people who might be like minded into the groups.

With all three groups, the specific networks I mentioned at the beginning of these segments would obviously vary. One note: don’t use those tools that push your status across multiple platforms. I understand that it’s simpler to update things that way, but it also means that you don’t respect your individual audiences at those outposts.

In all cases, use your picture for the avatar, not a logo. Try to get a candid shot that’s not a stuffy professional photo, but one that isn’t a cropped picture of you next to some ex relation.

In all cases, put enough information in your profile to connote that you’re at once a business person as well as a human being. In Facebook, consider which applications you add to your profile. Yes, being a pirate or a vampire might be fun, but it might also make someone question your professional intent. But do feel free to share your interests in books or movies or sports, and make sure your status messages aren’t always and forever about your business interests, or people might be less engaged after a very short amount of time.

I also have my best advice about social networking to help you there, too.

Third Step: Audience

Once you have a primary place to express yourself (your blog), and a few outposts where you can communicate in a less structured, more real time way (outposts), the next then I would do is find like minds. It depends on your business goals what you might do with this audience, and for some people, this might not apply as much. For the three examples I gave, it would be an important thing to build a level of followership and interaction across your platforms, so we’ll cover this all as one group, not as separate goals.

My best advice about building community and audience is this: be helpful. Write blog posts that others can use (like this one, for instance). The more you can help others, the more they’ll come back.

Avoid writing “me too” blog posts about the latest news in your vertical. Chances are, someone else is doing it better, and your “me too” is just a throat-clearing proof that you’re not creating original content. Work harder on doing something original instead of just pumping out “I read this article about” types of posts, unless you’re going to expand on the ideas, and/or recast them for your particular audience.

If you’re writing for a company, maybe these blog topics will spark some ideas. If you’re writing a personal blog, here are 100 blog topics to get you started.

More important in growing a community: comment. Go out to other people’s blogs and start getting involved. Use a service like BackType to learn what other people are saying and where they’re commenting. The more you make your voice heard in the general space where you want to do business, the better you’ll be.

Note something important: you might want to think about commenting in two places. First, where your peers are writing their stuff makes sense as a place to comment, but that will only bring you into a better relationship with your peers in a space. If you want to start building business, start learning to comment on your customers’ blogs, in your customers’ verticals, where your customers are spending their online time.

Fourth Step: Experiment

If something’s not working, try something else. If you’re not using analytics and stats packages to learn more about your web visitors, you’re missing out. If you aren’t learning how these social media elements tie to your business, and you’re just using them as another isolated thing, then you’re missing the whole reason to start (for businesses, at least).

Experiment. Try new things. I try something new every day. It might be a blog post. It might be a strategy about how I can get more people to do X instead of Y. It might be something as simple as reaching out to other people in new ways. But experiment. If you just sit around doing the same things you did to start out, you might as well turn in now.

I just gave myself another idea even writing this post. That’s the power of experimenting. You learn by doing, not reading. So, read all this, but then do something.

Your Turn

What would you tell people about starting out? If you want to adapt this to your specific blogging or media making interest, what would you tell people differently? How else might you serve your community?

Or, what do you have further questions about? This would be a great post to encourage people to ask questions, and share with the rest of the larger community.

What do you need to start today?

Photo credit, a super long name I don’t remember, but just click this, okay?

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader.

Tagged as: , , , ,

ChrisBrogan.com runs on the Thesis Theme for WordPress

Thesis WordPress theme

Thesis is the search engine optimized WordPress theme of choice for serious online publishers. If you’re a blogger who doesn’t understand a lot of PHP, Thesis will give a ton of functionality without having to alter any code. For the advanced, Thesis has incredible customization possibilities via Thesis hooks.

With so many design options, you can use the template over and over and never have it look like the same site. The theme is robust and flexible enough not only to accommodate a site like ChrisBrogan.com, but also to enable the site to run far more efficiently than it ever has before.

  • Nice post Chris. I especially liked your suggestion regarding audience in the third step. Commented on similar but haven't ventured that deep into some of the areas you mentioned regarding commenting.
  • Love this!

    There's only one other thing I think I'd add... Listen.
    Read, read, read and then read some more.
    Don't just broadcast on all those places - listen.

    It's something *you* do so naturally Chris that I think you forget that some people need to be reminded. Listening is so much more powerful in this medium than being heard.

    But other than that? I'm bookmarking this and putting it in my "here - this is a good place to start" folder for when people ask me! :)
  • Sasha
    As always Chris, your blog is pertinent and loaded with great advice. Am on idle right now due to health problems in my family. Truthfully am afraid to venture out..Have the finances but do not think I am savvy enough in the Social Media scene yet. Am studing - buying every SM book I can get my hands on. Watching the Rock Stars and trying to learn from their mistakes as well as their successes.

    Be Blessed...
  • Thanks for a great, comprehensive post, Chris. Looks like it took you all night to write this. I'll be coming back to this more than once; there's so much to follow from.
  • As always this is an excellent post with great advice. The only thing I would add, right at the very beginning, is to invest some time in listening. Especially for those who are most accustomed to the stand-and-deliver, broadcasting mode of brand communication, taking the time to listen and acquaint oneself with this social media space is so valuable.
  • This is awesome Chris. Whether you're seasoned or just starting out, there is some *great* advice here. Thanks ;)
  • Great tips! I'm doing the first and second steps, although Twitter gets much more of my attention than Facebook or LinkedIn.

    That 100 topics list is interesting; thanks for the ideas.

    As far as step three goes, I have found that when the focus of my blog has shifted, my audience has, too. That can be hard, but ultimately I've decided to stay true to myself and the areas that interest me and hope they appeal to others, too.

    I have actually tried two new things lately: a video post and a screencast tutorial.

    Love what you do. Thanks!
  • Hi,

    Good information in terms of :
    - good links : a starter could learn a lot from reading all the articles that you link from this article (about how to plan your articles, what topics you could cover depending if you are writing for yourself or a business blog)
    - good advices :
    1. Using a blog to express yourself or to market your business (products and/or services) if the first thing you should do. I can't think of an easier way to publish yourself on the Internet : easy to setup, configure and use
    2. Having accounts on some social websites helps a lot but you have to get involved not only by providing links to great content to your community but also interacting with your followers as human as possible : advices, tips, answering their questions, a simple good morning and a good night. Because you need "to be there" in order to benefit from your activity I think that having few accounts helps. I only use Twitter, LinkedIn, Viddler and Youtube, Flickr and Facebook but I focus mainly on Twitter. The others are used more rarely.
    3. I will also consider social bookmarking. Having a simple AddThis button to your blog articles helps to spread the word. And I would also make the first bookmark.
    4. It's a very good advice to buy your domain. The name of the domain helps brand yourself but as we know people find information by searching. So if do your SEO you're ok. Having a domain name that matches your name helps when others would like to see what you have to offer and just search for your name (that means it's a good thing to buy your name also)

    PS : I'll stop here and come back to write some more :). By the way I'm WebOptimization on Twitter

    Thank you
  • Thanks Chris for all the great tips...so nicely organized and explained!
    I'm a total rookie when it comes to the social media world and really appreciate the guidance :)
  • I like this post. Sleep wasn't happening, so now I'm typing. There's a handful of people in my life that I've been talking to about the use of social media, some have no clue, others are starting to piece the puzzle together from our discussions, two others that have a greater grasp and realize how it can help them, but not yet doing it. At the same time I suppose I am reinventing myself. Some things are happening more slowly than I would like but they are indeed happening.

    This post is getting forwarded to those people. It's another piece that will add to the message I'm sending to them, that contains a breadth of social media, while not having a depth that would lose a neophyte. They can dip their toes in the water with this one. They won't be drowning in the deep end once they finish the article.

    Chris, you mentioned using this post as a place to ask questions, so here I'll ask.

    I'm involved with a start-up magazine (first issue not out yet) and I've already explained that the way to get a leg up on others and survive or thrive would be through building community online. People would rather buy a magazine from people. Supplementing the magazine content with related items online, sending them to other sites that have interesting posts on the same subject matter, interacting in the comments area, and through twitter. Using the outpost on MySpace as a place to broadcast what's going on elsewhere. Etc.

    This type of interaction will be vital to any success today, and I believe existing publications that don't do this will be in more trouble than they are already in.

    I am really concerned on how to best employ twitter. I would like to update people on who we're interviewing, where we're going, and what's happening with the magazine. But also as a place where the followers can throw tidbits our way, whether it's a story idea, a related link, or anything else. I'm just not certain of how the account should be setup, as I'd still like to have some of this type stuff on my own twitter. I can create an account with just the magazine name, but we'll have multiple bloggers, so I'd much rather have it clear which one things are coming from. The "atDELL" examples seem like they could be a way to go.

    But what about my own twitter. This magazine is not the only thing I have going on, and I don't want too much unrelated tweeting happening, but I do want it to be known that "hey I'm also doing interesting stuff on this magazine" to folks that are my followers as opposed to the magazine followers.

    I would appreciate all your opinions on this as the community here has a lot to offer, so much so that even if my question is not directly addressed, it's likely that there'll be some gems in these comments anyway.
  • Great post Chris. My addition is not build just on your list, but on somebody's comment about not being savvy enough to enter social media yet... if it's about being yourself and you're not naturally a savvy person, you should bring unsavvy like behaviours to the social media scene. Different personalities and different approaches are what keep it interesting!
  • I don't think I can stress the importance of using your name, if you're building a personal brand, when commenting on blogs or using social media services.

    Using your name builds trust. If your (future) audience doesn't trust you, you're waiting your time.
  • Wow; great post and great tips! This is definitely going in the reference file for when I need to give people a good primer on the first steps into social media.

    Experimenting is huge. I never stop, and it's helped me learn new techniques, discover new tools and outposts, and make new connections that I didn't have before. Plus, if you never stop experimenting, it never stops being fun. ;)
  • A subtle social media hint that was in this post without being blatant was the power of Links. Use your blog and new social outlets as a means to promote relevant posts by yourself but also by individuals you respect in your given area of interest.

    For example in this above post, I quickly found another relevant post on 50 blog topics for corporate blogging, something I've been looking into, and wasn't expecting to get from this post. Good stuff.
  • This is not only a wonderful primer for newbies...but a thorough "check list" for those in process!
    Thank you....and thank you to all those that have left such insightful and helpful comments.
    Blessings...In Peace,

    Jeri
  • Alistair
    Great post, thanks. No time to say more - I now have a long 'to-do' list.
  • Good stuff here. Thank you. You can be professional if you are representing any kind of organization, but you can also be yourself. Be authentic. Be real. It's what I try to do as a performer and I think that communicating online is no different. Whenever I am strong enough to show my vulnerability, I tend to get a stronger response from any audience. I agree that listening, reading, and DOING is indeed the way to move forward here. When getting started, I would suggest giving yourself a fixed period of time to browse daily or weekly. Start small and be consistent in your exploration and participation. Currently I'm trying to understand this stuff about backlinks, linking back, trackbacks - I welcome "how to" info in this regard. Thanks!
  • check on listening
    check on blog (in transition)
    check on outposts
    check on audience
    and yes experimenting sounds awesome...

    But the annoying girl in the back of the class has a question for the teacher.

    That all sounds great, but isn't there something else to online media?

    The guy who started plenty of fish didn't just do these steps. He had a skill you see, he had this magic computer land ability -- he could code. He didn't even have to blog (at first), he could just build it and they will hopefully come (with proper marketing)...ohm. He could actually start something new. Same with the myspace dudes, the facebook guys, the twitter team etc. Oui? No?

    So, here is my annoying question:

    what if you have an idea for something new, a new field to frolick in, a new room on the web in which to hang,a new app for a diff audience, but alas, you do not have the jedi powers of code, nor do the guys/guys in your tea circle, or if they do, you are not sure you can trust them to embark on the path of gestating and carrying your baby to term?

    So what about steps 5, 6, 7?

    Get a bunch of lawyers for NDAs to even be able to tell people your idea? But how do you get the $ for the lawyers without telling people who can invest so you can afford the lawyers, which would mean that you'd have to disclose your idea before even getting an NDA.

    Even if you solve the NDA/trust issues, then what? Get a bunch of venture/angel capital to fund you and hire pros at huge costs to do it? Try and find a few coding partners who want to make it happen as much as you and form a partnership? Go to the moguls of preexisting social media corps and ask them to modify some of their platform for your vision?? Go to your local tech jedi institute and learn how to code (although you'd really really rather not) and dig your own little fish pond?

    Thanks from the quagmire!
  • @maria- my very non-legally-binding advice is this: ask someone on Twitter or in another of your networks for their standard NDA form as a template for yours. Done.

    Why hire pros? Hire folks on Craigslist or rentacoder or several of the other sites, or ask friends on twitter, and see if you can find a lower rate for them to work to get the prototype built. Shop the prototype to VCs for the bigger app.

    At this point, I'd also mention picking up Guy Kawasaki's Reality Check. Guy started Truemors for well under $10K and sold it for much more. He did the same with Alltop, and will likely sell that for a nice profit, too.

    That's what I think, at least.
  • @larzini - I feel that people as names in this case is still the better route. So if I'm talking with @larzini, or reading your twitter stream, I would react to you talking to me about your stories.

    But that won't be the #1 way a magazine will develop community. The #1 way? Reflect the existing community. Meaning, write about the people reading. Directly. (Depending on the type of mag). That's the #1 trick of it all.
  • Short and precise sum-up and escalation. I always believe that people should follow their own way when entering into structured institutions (web is one now), but this guideline sets milestones without hindering the originality of newcommers. Thank you for it.
  • Fantastic...and I'm heartened to know that the advice I've been giving my clients jibes so well with what you're saying. One thing I stress is the 'step' process. When they see all 4 steps at once they panic. So, I find a balance between presenting the big picture and walking them through the smaller steps in realtime. Thanks as always for the generous sharing of your smarts...
  • This is very good information Chris. My blog is a place for multiple nonprofit organizations to use as if it were there own since many of the small a midsize organizations do not have the resources to maintain their own. I will be passing this information on to them.
    Thanks!
  • Chris - you continue to amaze me with your ability to deliver useful, prescriptive information on the best way to tap into the power of community.

    Thank you also for the shout out. A true honor to be mentioned in one of your posts!

    Best,
    Aaron | @astrout
  • 50 years old, new to social media. Just got a laser tailored social media plan from a young, excellent web designer. Your post: dead on, hit the nail on the head advice. I'll be back & subscribe (soon as I figure out how to do that). Thank you.
  • Chris-
    Sorry-I did sleep last night so I am only reading this now, but seriously- even though I am in the tech field I am a newbie as far as blogging, tweeting and such. My business partner LadyOTrout and others at my company have been doing exactly what u are laying out here as a plan. And I, after reading it see the light. I get it now, no offense Kelly, justin or alan... Maybe I needed to read instead of hear! Forgive me for being dense on this.

    Thanks chris I'll keep u posted
  • deb
    wow Chris - as usual, you hit the button. I feel like you wrote this for me. I'm certainly new to this online social networking, but not new to networking. It's fun merging the two.

    The comments have also been very helpful.

    Now I have things to do this weekend to start building a bigger presence!

    thanks so much,
    Deb Brown
    www.debworks.com
  • Judy Storm
    Thanks Chris for the awesome tips. As a newbie, I am often overwhelmed by the wealth of information out there. I've been spending too much time browsing and getting lost in blogs. Now I have a concise, easy to follow plan. I need to limit and focus my browsing, and start pushing out content.
  • Great advice -- and the concept of "outposts"
  • The process you suggest works, period. I've been implementing your suggestions since late August and have positioned my efforts way beyond my expectations. To the outpost list of to do's I'd like to share how much envolvement I've been able to generate through twitpic and flickr photo sharing as well as audio sharing at Utterli. I try to appraoch both these types of outposts with personal branding in mind, focusing my sharing so that my audience has an expectation of where those links might lead.
  • Listen, comment, interact...I would add another word, look! I find that so many people start by asking me the simple queston "where do I find other blogs" as if we all inhabit a parallel universe. They just need to start looking, rather than merely seeing, and they will observe it all around them.
  • Liz
    My thoughts:

    1) Damn! Now I have no more reasons to say that I can't think of anything to blog about. Here Chris easily comes up with 100 ideas! My blog isn't business-focused but still your ability to keep generating original content is unrivaled.

    2) I hate the term "personal brand" but I'm in a losing battle with social media types. As for me, I'm a human being, a person with talents & faults, not a product to be marketed and sold. I've been told that this is just a semantic difference but to me, it says a lot about how you look at yourself and other people.

    3) I disagree with your statement "You learn by doing, not reading". This has to do with the commenters' reminders about listening. Except for the rare blog that uses audio, video, or podcasting, on the Internet, we listen with our eyes, not our ears. We read blogs, Tweets, comments, FB status updates, email, text messages, RSS feeds. That is how we gather & consume personal and professional information in all but face-to-face or phone encounters.

    I agree that we can't just read, we need praxis...putting conscious thought, knowledge & consideration into action. But first we need to listen, that is read, and learn from blogs like yours and other people who are fostering this important discussion. See, even an online discussion is something that is active, that is read, not heard.
  • Great Post (do you ever get tired of hearing that *smile*)

    A great resource to point folks to when they are starting out.

    And it's fun to see that somehow I managed to do intuitively do things in the order that you suggested (although my facebook and linkedin pages could use some sprucing up)
  • Liz
    P.S. As a teacher, I have quote in my syllabus I always include that, to paraphrase, says that in learning, we learn 1/3 of our knowledge through reading (consuming information and art), 1/3 through writing (composing our thoughts & expressing ourselves), and 1/3 through our conversations--in my case in the classroom--with other people (hear our viewpoints that are different from our own).
  • Thanks chris I've been following you on twitter for a while and decided to come over to your blog this morning to take a look at design and elements of your blog, your article however gave me the advice that I needed.
  • gacconsultants
    Chris,

    You really provide a great service. I can't tell you how much you have inspired and directed me in my pursuit of social media, and I haven't even spoken to you. You are a great example to follow and many success stories will be birthed as a result of your work.

    Thank you again,

    Mark
  • This is great content Chris. I am beginning to help Small community corporations harness the power of social networking, and you have given me some great selling points. You now have another follower.
  • one thing I have always believed in is making sure you're genuine in your social media efforts. Those automated tools that update all of your accounts at once just won't cut it.

    I'm so glad you put that in your post so people can understand that. Thanks for the great post.

    You share some valuable knowledge and I think we all appreciate it :)

    Best,

    JR
  • Bingo. I'd like this printed up on a 3x5 card I can hand out world-wide, please.

    Many great points here, but to me the most critical one is "be helpful". If you truly are, and you give more than you take, you will thrive in social media. The rest is just details. This is of course easier to do on the personal side, but Comcast and others are proving it can be done in a business setting, too.

    I would, however, add a preamble to your post which is "know why you're doing it." Social media is a massive time commitment, and you need to have a clear sense of where you're going with it before you jump in - regardless of whether it's personal, corporate, or non-profit.
  • I'd take a look at www.katrineholmshops.blogspot.com -no, I'm not trying to sell you anything-and see how to inexpensively set up a platform with all the features that can help one function all in one place. Image, for example, if you were a homeless person with access to the internet through a library. You could, with enough time and knowledge (and a USB stick) create your own business without capital (well, except for the USB stick). Know Python. Know web design. Know e-commerce and use Web 2.0 tools and you are good to go.
  • Thanks for the great tips, Chris! As I prepare to write an ebook over the holidays focusing on Twitter for Business, I'd love to interview you.

    BTW- Although I launched most of Dell's Twitter properties & came up with a unified stratgy around Dell's use of Twitter, due to the economy I'm on target to be laid off at the end of January. If ya hear of any Social Media Marketer &/or Web Strategist roles in Austin TX, please let me know.

    Cheers!
  • If there was one advice that I could give to every person who is just getting into social media, it would be "Don't be afraid." Don't be afraid to say what you think, to agree or disagree. Don't be afraid to show your human side, even to your customers, competitors or potential employers. Don't be afraid to start a conversation, ask for help or connect with someone who you've never met in person before. Finally, don't be afraid to try something new - this is what social media is all about. When you are afraid, you are unoriginal and boring.
  • Chris:

    Great post --- wish I had seen it 4 or 5 years ago instead of learning so much of it the hard way.

    I like your 3 scenarios --- they were useful and clear-cut. And I do think "listening" is something we often forget to do where social media is involved.
  • Chris,

    The first thing I would tell folks to it get a blog - it's home base social platform from which you can develop relationships.

    This post makes me feel validated in my thinking.

    Thanks,

    John
  • @Chris ... if i were to think about how to apply some specifics from your post to the nonprofit space i'd start with:

    1) blog
    2) share your story through pics, vids & stories
    3) get out and participate/comment on other blogs
    4) try new things - such as: http://franswaa.storytlr.com (really cool tool to aggregate all your web 2.0 type things into one based on date. it also let's you create a 'story' where you can set a start & end date as well as give it a title - when it's over it will create a slide show type page so that you can share your 'story')

    Good stuff Chris. i love coming back here as it keeps me thinking and learning.

    ---
    http://twitter.com/franswaa
  • Chris - As usual, I enjoyed this post. Good stuff.

    A few other things I would tell people just starting out.

    Be CONFIDENT, and not afraid to fail - Let's face it, getting involved in social media can be intimidating. Many people are afraid to put themselves out there by blogging, talking, sharing with the world. It exposes them you a new degree of risk that they've not had to take on ever before. That's ok. There is no perfect approach to social media. You will make mistakes. You will do the wrong thing at the wrong time. The important point it to learn from these failures. What matter is what you decide to do next. Fail forward. Don't let the fear of being perceived as perfect prevent you from engaging online.
  • This is great - thanks! I also heard that to make a strong social community you need online and offline connections. That makes sense to me because the in-person communication reinforces the online communications. On the other hand if that is true how to you explain the viral impact of Facebook which seems purely an online community. Or is Facebook really a manifestation of people primarily conneting online with people they know in the in-person world? Comments and insights welcome!
  • Very useful and concise summary, thank you.

    One thing I'm wondering is how different this advice would be for advocacy/non-profit type work?

    The main thing to add would be using Idea crowd sourcing tools like UserVoice.com which I see more non-profit/civic folks are starting to use now, and am starting to test with the NP work I'm doing.
  • Elaine Hanson
    You've made me feel like I can do this. For that, I am very grateful.
  • @danlatorre - there are plenty o' nonprofit types who read. Maybe one will give their take on it in their blog, and then share the info?
  • Thanks for the insight Chris. Still trying to get my
    head around all this and makes me feel better I am
    headed in the right direction. Found you on Twitter. @CindyKnight
  • I applaud those of you who're getting into video tutorial/screencast creation — the promises of multimedia still gleam with untapped creativity, and if you have a hard time putting it in words, make a picture, a song, or a video.
  • Great post - I do small business marketing and I just wrote about this. I am going step by step to help small businesses get their toes into the sea of social media. It is a cost/time commitment and ultimately I want them to be successful and enjoy it. Thanks again - great stuff.

    Jacqueline
  • Hi Chris

    The other point I might add is that for people just entering the social media world, one of the best ways to get involved and start learning is simply by going for it and jumping right in.

    Yes, perhaps they may make minor mistakes along the way but its the best way to get started. Too often, I see people who are very tentative about this space and so they just stay on the sidelines.

    Don't be afraid of having your persona "out there" - just go for it. You won't learn anything by sitting on the fence.

    Kind regards
    Kevin
  • Judy Rey Wasserman
    Hi Chris,

    Found the link to this via Twitter and will add my thumbs up for it.

    Seems like many of the people commenting have businesses that are about the Internet or computers.
    I use the Internet and now have two web sites as I figure almost anyone who finds my work interesting is savvy enought to be on the web and is using social networking to meet intersting people.

    As the founder of a new Post Conceptual Art Theory and also as an author of a new e book that can actually change the way a person sees the world (helps a person develop visual memories so that theory brain can use to better decode the impressions of light received from the eyes to see more energy), I have two sites, and a blog for each site, but I am basically known as Judy Rey (judyrey of Twitter), and make it known that have the two sites and they are linked.
    As you know, I find your advice very helpful and check out your links on Twitter often. I defonately advise others to do this.

    So, my two cents worth is to encourage anyone, with any kind of business, whether specifically web related or not to follow your advice!

    Judy Rey
  • I recall what I learned at BlogWorld Expo 2007 and that was the importance of contributing to a community, even if only as a post reader and commenter.

    Find tribes that resonates and let them be an influence on what is needed.
  • Chris,

    I just started step two, a few weeks ago, and it's already given me a huge advantage in branching out and starting conversations in thousands of new networks.

    I've been blogging for a while now but have to admit that I had the philosophy of "build it and they will come". I realize now how amateur my thinking was.

    I just stumbled upon your blog via Twitter and have already added your feed to my Google Reader. Thanks!
  • I love synchronisity - or something very like it...I spent the day today giving my brother and sister-in-law an overview of how to get started in social media; your post today is right on the money and I have to tell you I used your blog as a "primer" for them as well as my own. You are a terrific teacher and explain things so clearly and well.
  • Great article! I find when advising clients who are new to all of this, following your guideline is a very efficient process. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and ideas.
  • Thanks, Chris, this is wonderfully detailed and reconfirms to me that I am not losing my mind.

    I started my blog for my resume business and one for the non-profit Wausau Whitewater. I told a few board members I was starting an experiment and then after a few posts, sent them a link. But I know that there are board members who see no value in blogs, in fact hate the word, and yet wonder how we can get the word out about what we are doing. Before the blog, I used the paddling communities own social media, the paddler forums to speak to them. Now I use both, I write a blog post and then give them information on the forums to drive them to the blogs. A large group of my FaceBook contacts are the paddlers.

    Now I will send your post to the President (who does think this is worthwhile!) Thank you for another valuable lesson!
  • Chris,

    I've been a follower for quite some time and this post was great.

    We have done (to an extent) everything you've mentioned here in the article. Giving it the right amount of time was the kicker. Yes, it does take some (more than you think), but the investment is worth it. We have made a lot of connections via these services and I know so much more is possible.

    You've renewed my dedication to the task. Much appreciated.
  • I'd tell people basically the same thing you did, keep it simple. Start with Facebook, Linkedin, a simple blog on wordpress or blogger and a twitter account. Work at it and don't expect immediate results. Focus on creating conversations and getting to know people. Pushy and overly opinionated people get ignored really fast!
  • Today (before reading this post) I posted a list of all the accounts on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn of significant people in my vertical (and myself). I've been reading chrisbrogan.com for a while now and this post was a good re-alignment process for me. As in, according to the advice, I'm doing most things right but there's still room for improvement (profile picture, interlinking Twitter & Facebook).

    I guess my post was an experiment. How much of an impact can I have on the social media connectivity in my vertical. I recorded numbers of followers, friends and connection before and will compare after. My own number are already going up pretty nicely, so it's looking good. That post was very much a share-the-love post, but I will also benefit from more connection and better inter-connectivity in my vertical.

    Click my name above to go directly to the post.

    -Lee
  • Great post Chris! Loving the blog and think that this post is spot on - I couldn't agree more w/ the "me too" posts or regurgitating the same old same old that's running rampant in our industry. This is why I seldom blog - it's already been said before, and by people that can say it w/ better grammar than I. :)

    Love the post and Sphunn it! http://sphinn.com/story/86963 (I don't normally drop links in posts but that's a link to this story so delete if you wish) ;)
  • As always, your commentary hits home and is incredibly valuable. As many of the other folk have made comment, I follow the same ideology as you've written, both for myself and my clients.

    Thank you for writing succinctly and to-the point, providing us with information that makes a difference. I've just forwarded the link to this article to my clients and colleagues.
  • This is really helpful. I'm new to blogging & have been cracking away at it (http://theoptimistpost.blogspot.com/), but get almost nobody to visit. I'm hoping for visitors, but hopefully one's that are relatively kind! I don't mind debate, just not hate mail. I'm going to follow your advice with Twitter. Just gave you a follow!
    -P
  • I'd love to hear some more about personal/business branding as one goes about this. I find my business brand very muddied by my (very active) blog, Facebook and Twitter activities. (LinkedIn is very business-oriented and professional -- think it's the nature of the tool.) The latter I do from my passion and are distinctly personal, and not at all filtered or politically correct. Although I'm also passionate about my work, there are only so many hours in the day. And I just haven't made the time to create distinct Facebook/Twitter personas for my biz. Thoughts, folks?
  • I also haven't made distinctions between my Facebook and my Twitter accounts... the differentiation comes from which tools I use for what. My hobbies and my work are closely related, so on that front, Twitter, LinkedIn, blog posts, etc. all work well together. Facebook is my purely personal platform. It's become a tool that most of my friends and family use... I don't want them to feel inundated elements of my work world.
  • As someone new to social media, I LOVED this post! I completely agree with your comment not to use a service that posts your status on multiple sites... it's like mass marketing!
  • NeilOJWilliams
    I love it. For two reasons:

    1. It's so reassuring to know that I have been doing it right. This is exactly how I got my social web presence (or personal online brand) going. And it's the advice I give to others back at work. But...

    2. It's better written and more concise, and now I can just point them to this :)

    On the listening front, I recently blogged a round-up of 4 methods and 40 tools for listening. I won't deep link it here, for fear of becoming *that guy*. But if you're interested, seek me out!
  • Hi Chris, really interesting blog, thanks for all the great tips and advice. As this is my second week of blogging, I am still very much finding my feet but find that the cursed 'day job' gets in the way of doing all the fun and exciting stuff.

    Am on a days holiday today so will try and get some blogging done, would be really interested in hearing your thoughts on my blog (or any other readers) at some point in the future!

    Cheers,

    James
  • Seems like our agency is talking about and explaining social media in every new business meeting we have. I agree with everything you've said (and advise potential and existing clients the same) and would add one more thing.

    Layering online with real world is essential. While I have met many new colleagues through Twitter, and found old colleagues through Linked In and Facebook, I find that meeting the new colleagues directly makes the relationship much more powerful. So, online, real world, online, real world. Going to conferences, trade shows, etc. is still important in relationship building and makes the social networking that much better.

    Will share this post with many. Thanks Chris!
  • Many thanks, Chris!

    This is one of my first times to visit your blog and I'm incredibly glad that I did. Not only are you clear and concise your thoughts and suggestions are always great! I look forward to reading the other information you'll be sharing with us. I've recently taken over our company’s blog and I look forward to integrating your suggestions into my daily activities.
  • Generally good points, but I don't necessarily encourage every company and person to have a blog -- that's a mistake. This is a strategic decision that requires ongoing resource commitment that many companies don't have. And, if the blog sucks or is never posted to, that says alot more than not having a blog.
  • Thanks a lot Chris for the excellent information. I am just getting involved with blogging and this was excellent info.
  • Love this post Chris -- this summarizes what you were presenting to us at Harvard -- for the ABC news Boston Salty Legs Career Club. You wowed so many of our members and guests and thank you for showing us your passionate side for sure. Best wishes ~ and did I submit our event video to ABC news? you bet! :) As of yesterday 11/24/08 So thanks! We will also share this posting on our facebook site as well.

    Thanks!

    Susan
    Club Chair
    Boston Salty Legs Career Club
    ABC news featured club
    @pinkolivefamily ;)
  • @chrisbrogan

    Busy weekend + Busy Monday + under the weather = delayed response on my part.

    Thanks for giving some consideration to and replying to my question. So your angle would be to keep the tweets coming from the contributors, and let their followers find their way to their blog posts and the magazine articles, and not necessarily even have a twitter for the magazine itself.

    Interesting. Perhaps we could still have a twitter account for the magazine, but could list there the individual contributor twitter URLs on the left side as part of a background. Have this twitter serve as an "outpost" for folks to reach the indivduals, and maybe send the occasional tweets when a new issue is coming out, or a subscription deal, but keep those messages few and far between. I like the medium more for conversation, or to ignite conversation, rather than as a megaphone.

    I am wearing a few hats at this magazine and part of it involves content. I am pushing to include the community in what types of articles evolve, so I am somewhat inline with your suggestion to write about the people reading. The people that we write about so far are individuals who we'd like as readers, and so far they've been enthusiastic about this project.

    I am not here to use chrisbrogan.com as a megaphone, but I would love for this community to see what we're doing when we're ready. To me this project is just as much about creating the magazine as it is an experiment in social media and creating community. And if all goes well, or even if it doesn't, I hope to have a story to share at BlogWorld Expo 2009.

    Thanks again. Happy Thanksgiving.
  • One of the things that worked for me was: posting a question on LinkedIn about something that I wanted to learn; and then posting the resulting answers on my blog.

    That generated additional comments and traffic to my blog (an continues to do so after several months!)

    These were the two questions:

    'What are your favorite books on Management Consultancy?':
    http://jeroendemiranda.wordpress.com/2008/04/18...

    ‘Which are your favorite books on Business Strategy; and what is special about them?':
    http://jeroendemiranda.wordpress.com/2008/04/10...
  • I have two short comments from my personal experience.
    1. Don't be afraid to give a reply comment on Twitter to someone you consider "important". As long as you have something relevant to say in what they are Twittering about. NO spamming them.
    2. If you have another opinion, or disagree, be sure they welcome other opinions before you give yours. Also, be aware of what others may take from your tweet. You may make a negative impression.

    I'm also so glad, Chris that you spoke about non-profits in this post. There are some things I need to work on.

    Oh, I said two, but just thought of one more. So here goes:
    3. When sending a tweet as reply or direct, even though their twitter name starts out the tweet, use their first name if it is available to you. It makes a better connection, (relationship building).
    http://MyHeartForHonduras.org
    http://RealEstateInvestorGirl.com
  • Chris,

    One question I've been asking myself is how to create the most synergy with multiple social media sites. If someone does Stumbleupon, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook - what are some things to consider when seeking to create the best result in combination?

    Haven't arrived at any conclusions yet, but am experimenting with a few "beta" clients.

    John

    John
  • Was just reading John Haden's post about using soc. med. to fundraise..

    We held a ‘virtual food drive’ that was seriously an idea one week and a full fledged fund raiser the next, we used our #GNO group on twitter, paypal back at the home site, and we were floored with the overall success of the campaign! $1400 raised from really only a handful of people and literally no press except what we already had going with our group! We teamed up with feedingamerica.org and they were all, oh? Okay? You want to do what? How? And even after we raised the money they were very underwhelmed, and i get that it’s a drop in the bucket…but we basically did NOTHING and came up with over a $1000 in a week’s time… I can’t seem to get them to ‘GET’ it…but they will!

    Carissa @mommygossip-gno

    @carissarogers on twitter.com

    Working on ways family and friends can serve each other this holiday season by spreading the holiday cheer on thick... hoping the #GNO people hop on board! With all the crap these days, we're hoping to help out... see our challenge?
  • cumhurtapansoy
    thanks.
  • Sorry, I'm late... Really insightful post! What I missed was: understand RSS and set up a feedreader. This relates to 'reading', but collecting feeds, following them, building an opinion is a good way to start if you're not sure you should blog. Then after reading stuff, you start thinking: I could extend that. So you comment on the post. After doing this a couple of times, it's time to start a blog and tweat!
  • Amazing Post

    Thank you

    I lost track of Twitter and Facebook just after I started with it. However, after reading this article I am sure going to try it again and keep in mind that I need to build "outposts" to complement my Blog..
  • Chris, I would bring Squidoo into the mix. I use Squidoo as the hub of my marketing activity and the other strategies mentioned as the spokes. Squidoo takes the RSS feed from my blog, my Twitter feed (which also appears simultaneously on Facebook), my article feeds and allows me to display my YouTube or Animoto videos and my Flickr photos (or video/photos of other people). Squidoo is a great integrating platform and has endless applications including creating an e-portfolio. I guess I'm just super-impressed with this platform that is constantly refined on at least a weekly basis. It's free, easy and highly flexible - and that makes life easy for me.
  • Kimberly Holilns
    This post was extremely informative and useful for someone like me who's been wondering how to effectively use social networking tools. I had been trying to decide whether to start a blog or focus on creating a website and this article helped me make up my mind. I get that the more people see me as a source of useful information, the more likely they are to use my services/buy my products/whatever. And I love the suggestion that we mix personal and business to keep it interesting. That's just the reminder I needed. Thank you!
  • Awesome post. Just came across it. You've forced me to rethink a couple things we're doing currently. Thanks for spreading the wisdom.
  • Very nicely organized and worded for the general audience to consume... not an easy task! I'm also a newbie at the whole social media & networking stuff. While I did not stumble upon this post until now and already generally started doing the things you mentioned, you really just lit up my room with this starter roadmap! Thank you!
  • Wish I saw this post last month. I started out with outposts for several weeks before starting a blog. I also made the huge mistake of just following just anyone and not following my way into the audience I was looking for.

    I now use search.twitter.com and tweetlater's search query digest extensively to find people with not only the same interests, but also in my area. I'm saving this to share with anyone I run into who is new to this space.

    Best,
    KyNam Doan
  • Be clear on what is marketing and what is social ie building relationships. Excellent article on where to start with social media which is very confusing to most novices.
  • I keep coming back to this post for inspiration. The one piece I can't seem to follow through on is the following: "More important in growing a community: comment. Go out to other people’s blogs and start getting involved."

    Don't get me wrong, I follow a ton of blogs and have thoughts/opinions on what read, but a lot of the time, the comments I read are self-promotional drivel, and one thing I am not is a self-promoter. I realize that limits me in many ways. I realize what I have to offer but I'd rather be remembered and respected for my humility than for the volume of my voice.

    When it comes down to it, I have a hard time joining the chorus of those promoting themselves. A lot of people do it well, and deserve to promote themselves. But there is a fine line between having something to offer and being vocal about it and patting yourself on the back.

    I don't know. I struggle with this one. Which is especially interesting since I work in advertising and don't have a problem promoting other people/things.
  • @Nuno Andrade - I hear you on a lot of people taking this with the wrong intentions and coming off purely as self promotional. But I think that those people won't see success in their own networks when commenting elsewhere because they genuinely don't seem interested in having a conversation. Chris Brogan is always saying it's about the conversation and the people. What I get from it is that the self promoters won't survive. Nobody wants to talk to someone who isn't also interested in what other parties have to say.
    It's not how much you can spew out in comments on other people's blogs in hopes that they will come back to you and promote what you are saying, but it's how much value you can add to their conversation that may in turn bring them round to your network as well.
  • @Wendy Peters:Hey Wendy. Thanks for the feedback. I agree that those who aren't adding value to a conversation aren't going to survive but there's always going to be an endless stream of the self-promoting types. Sometimes I choose not to comment because it's almost impossible for anyone to find a valuable comment through all the noise. (Someone should create a service called "Haystack" where you vote on comments and those would rise to the top). I'd *love* to have conversations like this one in the comments section of blogs but if I think it's going to go unheard, I'd rather post it on my own blog. But thanks again. Your response might just motivate me to get out there a bit more.
  • Chris,

    Excellent! I am the founder of www.ojeez.com which is a social network for entrepreneurs.

    I been doing a few days of research on the art of Social Media and everywhere I go you pop up. This is one of the best research feeds to date.

    I look forward to meeting you one day.

    I specialize in professional networking which is why I been doing so much research lately.
  • I have only been in the marketing arena for the last 7 months and just wanted to say thank you as I learn so much from your blogs. I just found you a few weeks ago and spend a lot of time on your blogs. Again thank you.
  • I enjoyed the article. I am a newbie to web 2.0 and social media. I am starting a business that provide web 2.0 services and consultation for musicians and band.

    Thanks for the advice.
  • Excellent blog! There are so many blogs with "fake" content or "light" content that I appreciate the people that take the time to write thoughtful, informed posts. Thank you!
  • Jamiel Sharief
    Excellent content. Well done for putting this together. I am looking forward to reading the rest of your posts.
  • Hi Chris, I loved the way you made it so simple. I should be in a position to say this because ironically, I had just blogged about the development of a social media roadmap and had put one template out to gather people's thoughts. I would like to integrate what I've developed with your approach if that is fine with you. If time permits, I'd love it if you could comment on what I've written @ http://ping.fm/0ndHJ ok?

    Now specific to your post, I totally buy in the idea about experimentation because that is the lifeblood of social media. When you mentioned setting up accounts for Twitter, FB and LinkedIn, what are your thoughts about putting brands on these platforms? I've heard arguments that go both ways and personally, I am for putting brands on it, although the communication should be done tastefully so that it doesn't lose the original thrust of knowledge leadership. I love your best practices on what companies can blog about. But as for your point about not using the services that pump out statuses to several platforms at once, I hold a more centrist view that organizations just starting out could use this approach, and once they have gotten a hang of the applications, they can then make individual and customized updates. This would also depend on what kind of content they are putting out.

    What do you think?
  • Nicely done Chris...only where does one find the time? I'm not convinced that this adds up to anything except chatter. I do a lot of public speaking, maybe I'm at an advantage because I don't have to gain visibility on line. I have a fair degree of off line visibility.

    I will follow your steps, however and see how much I can tolerate before I burn out.

    Thanks!
blog comments powered by Disqus

Previous post:

Next post: