We  consume information with an almost manic obsession. In most homes the 50 inch plasma high definition television is babbling on in the corner enticing us to watch and listen while cooking, cleaning  or chilling out.

We jump in the car and the radio or GPS is informing us as we drive to work or as we head off to the shops.

At work the computer monitor tempts us with high definition photos on Facebook  or an online news stream filled with a torrent of multimedia content.

Escaping media while out and about is now almost impossible as walking down the street is now an exercise in collision avoidance with 3.5 inch screens filled with apps distracting most of the population.

We live in a noisy world of  three screens with digital media content that is hard to escape whether it is  television, computers or a smart phone.

The lonely printed  newspaper is now often just reserved as company for the weekend coffee as most media moves online.

Digital Media will Dominate by 2020

It was predicted as far back as 2008 that digital media would dominate by 2020. This momentum is accelerating and content is fast moving out of the offline closet and onto a digital screen near you.

This has been confirmed by new research from the Isobar/Carat global report that digital media will consume 80% of media usage.

The explosion of numbers in this digital and increasingly mobile media consuming world are headlined by these facts

• On Christmas day, 6.8 million smart phones were activated
• In the last week of 2011, 1.2 billion apps were downloaded
• The Guardian Newspaper gets 1 million page views per day via Facebook due to its Facebook app which was downloaded 5 million times with half of those being under the age of 24
• In 2011 YouTube had over 1 trillion video views

If the majority of your content is not being created for online viewing then you need to listen to these numbers.

Challenge of Content Creation

Creating content for this social online world is a constant challenge and what to write, record and produce comes down to time and resources.

If it is a text based article it needs a good headline, a enticing opening paragraph and an easy to read structure so people will not click away.

If it is a video it needs a professional persona and in a world with short attention spans the message needs to be delivered in seconds not minutes.

The Old Spice videos are typically 20-30 seconds!

4 Key Goals for Creating Content

The ultimate goal of content marketing is to be so engaging that your customers will eventually buy, but before you get that far you need to achieve one of these 4 foundational objectives to attract interest, increase page views and maintain reader loyalty.

1. Educate

This type of content is often prefaced by a headline that starts with “How” . People’s thirst for knowing how to start a blog, market their business or solve a problem that is consuming their attention will always be content worth creating and sharing.

Examples:

How to Create a Twitter Marketing Strategy that Rocks

5 Lessons from Coca Cola’s New Content Marketing Strategy

10 Reasons Why “Liquid” Content Should be in your Social Media Marketing

2. Inform

Keeping people up to date with the latest news was the domain of the  newspaper, trade magazines or television. Today the blog or social network such as Twitter or Facebook is the source.

Remember with this type of content it will quickly become old news and only has a certain shelf life.

Examples:

Apple makes Huge Announcement about Twitter

6 Social Media Networks to Watch in 2012 [Plus Infographics]

Google+ Sets New Growth Records

3. Entertain

Entertainment is quite often best done by video and you only have to view a Coca Cola ad or a funny video to appreciate the marketing power of entertainment . It doesn’t have to be a video and entertainment can also be a media type that informs and entertains.Infographics can also be included in this category. Humour is one of the vital components in this category.

Examples:

Test Your Breath   – The Stench that Stole Christmas [Video]

10 Reasons Why Ducks Just Don’t Get Social Media

20 Stunning Social Media Statistics Plus Infographic

4. Inspire

So educating, informing or entertaining when creating content is vital in your mix of content but one often overlooked goal is to provide “Inspiration“.

This can be a challenge but inspiring people to be better, to push their limits or to be successful should be woven into your content.

This content can be examples of other successful people that have overcome adversity people or creative examples that showcase others achievements.

Examples:

The 10 Best Facebook Campaigns

The 10 Secrets Of A Successful Social Media Blog

Choose a Dream

These types of content can stand alone or they can be integrated into one post or woven together.

How about You?

Remember that creating and publishing the content is just the start of the journey, the hard work has just begun after you hit the publish button.

Promoting and marketing your content to make it visible online is the next important step to success.

How is your content? Does it educate, inform and sometimes entertain?

Does it  inspire your readers?

More Reading

• What are 10 Addictive Types of Content?
• How to Increase Your Blog Traffic by 55% with One Button
• 5 Motivations for Sharing Content
• 20 Ideas for Social Media Content that Engages
• Is it Better to Share on Google, Facebook or Twitter+
• 9 Questions to Ask your Customers When Creating Content

Image by just.Luc

Facebook is changing and evolving all the time. Outdated features are being removed and new and more exciting features are added regularly.

These updates are added to make Facebook better and more convenient for its users.

If you want to succeed with using Facebook, you need to evolve along with it and learn how to manage it better. If you can use it better you will be able to take advantage of these changes and promote yourself better with it.

Three of the most important Facebook changes and how to make the most of them have been listed below.

Update 1. Subscriptions

Before, the only way users could get the latest updates from you or your company was through your Facebook page. People needed to like your page to get your latest updates. But now with the subscribe feature, people can just subscribe to your facebook profile. It’s like your profile has been made into a page. With this feature, your subscribers can check out all the public updates you post.

People actually like subscribing to public updates because a profile has a face and a personality, which is different from a page which sounds too official and salesy. When they subscribe to a profile it feels like they’re making contact with a proper human and not a brand. You need to take advantage of this and use your profile accordingly to form closer relationships with your subscribers.

So How do you use your Profile Effectively?

1. Promote your Profile

Promote your profile and encourage people to subscribe to your updates. Try and get as many subscribers as you can and increase your reach.

A good place to promote your profiles is on your website or blog. Facebook has introduced the subscribe button which can be placed on websites and blogs. This button displays the number of subscribes you have got too – all people have to do is click on the button to subscribe.

Another way to promote your profile is by displaying the owner of the Facebook page at the bottom of the facebook page. This will make it easy for people to locate the profile and subscribe to it. This can instantly increase the number of subscribers you have got, especially if your page has got a lot of “likes” already and is well managed.

The page owner can be displayed on the page by clicking on edit page which is located on the top right hand corner of your page.

Then visiting the “Featured” section and clicking on “Edit featured page owners.”

Here you can choose the page owners you would like to display on your Facebook page – choose the owners and save your changes.

You could also actively take part on Facebook to get more subscriptions – this can be done by “liking” or commenting on popular pages or on the updates of people you have subscribed to.

2. Share Different Kinds of Content:

When people “Like” a page they usually do it because they like something about it or because they want to receive updates from that page. Normally on your page, you share relevant content from your own blog and from other blogs. It’s the same with profiles you have to share useful content too, as people expect to see these updates – this is one of the main reasons why they subscribe to your profile, and when someone comments on these updates make sure you respond to them with comments and “Likes”.

Another important point you need to keep in mind, is to share anything interesting you come across. This could be funny pictures, interesting articles, etc. Your profile is different from your page and as it’s on Facebook, people will want some insight into your personal life. So make it a point to share some personal pictures, views, articles and images you come across.

Always make sure you use the public option when you want your subscribers to see what you share, as they can only see it when you share it with the public.

A great example of someone who uses their profile effectively is Mari Smith. If you visit her profile you will see that she not only shares her content and other’s content relating to facebook and social media marketing, which she is an expert in, but also all other kinds of interesting  articles and pictures. She also subscribes to other users and pages and actively “Likes” and comments on their updates. This is one of the reasons why she has more than 124,000 subscribers who actively “Like” and comment on her updates.

Update 2. Posting Facebook Updates

Before the posts that appeared in your news feed were the popular updates. These were the ones which received the most number of shares, “likes” and comments. The more the number of “likes,” shares and comments the updates received; the higher the updates were positioned, in your feed. This meant that the popular updates received the most attention. So if your post received many accolades it stayed at the top and received more and more attention. But with the recent facebook updates only the latest updates stay on top.

It doesn’t matter how many likes, shares or comments your updates get, they will still be moved down, as more new updates are posted.

So how can you take advantage of this new feature?

The best way to take advantage of this feature is to post more often. Normally people post updates only one or two times a day, but with this new feature you can actually post more often, maybe three to five times a day. You shouldn’t worry about people unsubscribing, as people will unlike your page only if your content isn’t helpful. If you share good, helpful content, more often, everyday, more and more people will subscribe to your profile or your page.

The best thing to do would be to share content from your blog once, content from another blog another time and ask your followers one or more questions which don’t lead to any link. People like being asked about their life and when you share an update which doesn’t lead to a link people will love commenting on it or liking it, it’s just like tweeting something without a link. When you tweet something like a quote or question which has no links, on Twitter, you will notice that many people will either retweet it or reply to it.

An e.g. of a Facebook page that does this right is the Social Media Examiner Facebook page. If you observe their Facebook page you will find that they not only share content from their blog every day, but also content from other blogs. They also post one or two questions each day. Questions like asking fans; how their day was, how effective is their social media campaign, etc. These questions receive responses through many comments and likes. All these updates by Social Media Examiner are interspaced by comments from their fans who appreciate all the great content they produce and asking more questions about Social Media which Social Media Examiner happily clear, making this a really good and interactive Facebook page.

So if you want to take advantage of the new feature, make it a point to post several updates each day.

Update 3. Tagging People

Now on Facebook you can tag your friends. When you type in@ and follow it with the name of the user they are automatically tagged. When you do this the person you have tagged is informed and they can check out why their name has been mentioned.

This might seem like something that’s not important and redundant, but it’s actually more important than you think. In the first webinar of Mari Smith’s latest webinar series, she mentions that relationship marketing is all about making people feel special.  When you tag someone and write their name in full, people will feel special about it and will treat you better or want to work with you. They will know that you took the extra effort to tag their name.

Even Leo Widrich of Buffer mentions this in his post “7 Twitter Habits to Adopt in 2012 to Double Your Followers”. In this post, he writes that on twitter when you tweet someone else’s post make sure you mention them and add a comment along with it – this will not only help you make a special connection with the user you mentioned, but will also help you get many twitter followers. This could apply to facebook too – when you mention someone’s name on facebook along with a good comment, you will not only make a special connection, but also increase your page’s likes or the number of subscribers you have got.

So at every opportunity you get make sure you mention your friend’s or your subscriber’s facebook name.

If you follow the above tips you will evolve along with Facebook and use it better to get more subscribers and build stronger relationships, which will prove helpful in the long run. Also make an effort to find out more and more about the latest facebook updates and use them to your advantage.

How About You?

What do you think about the latest Facebook updates?

Are there any other ways you can use these features effectively? What are your favourite updates?

Please leave your comments in the comments box below.

Guest Author: Mitt Ray is an inbound marketer and white paper writer. He blogs about Social Media on Social Marketing Writing. He blogs about white papers on The White Paper Blog and is the author of the book White Paper Marketing.

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• 20 Stunning Social Media Statistics Plus Infographic
• 11 New Twitter Facts, Figures and Growth Statistics plus [INFOGRAPHIC]
• Past, Present and Future of Blogging: 3 Infographics
• How Do You Use LinkedIn [INFOGRAPHIC]
• How Do You Use Twitter [INFOGRAPHIC]

Image by dearanxiety

Like most businesses, you will probably have your marketing plan for 2012 already in place. But have you built your plan so that you’re ready to respond to the latest market trends?

While it’s important to stay focused, it’s equally as important to be prepared for the opportunities and challenges that will come from the latest marketing trends.

Wondering what the future looks like for marketing in the year ahead?

Here are my predictions for the top ten marketing trends of 2012:

1. A broader brand presence across channels

With the range of available marketing channels growing all the time, businesses will start to recognise the value of connecting up their marketing approach across the web, social media and other channels. This will be inspired by the need to better manage business resource in more challenging times – and to create a more streamlined brand presence. Instead of relying on one or two channel marketing approaches, more and more companies will link up their activities to create a truly coherent brand across multiple channels.

2. The rise and rise of user-generated content

User generated content took on momentum in 2011 – and this will continue into the New Year. Whether it is a YouTube video showing a customer using a product or customers sharing their experiences within a selective online community, content that comes direct from the potential or existing customer is likely to grow in value. The key test of this trend will be how successfully companies inspire and facilitate user-generated content. However they do it, it looks like the voice of the user will grow significantly in value in 2012.

3. Mobile marketing reaches critical mass

Mobile is going centre stage. A third of smartphone owners have used their device to buy a product online (Source: EPiServer) and this number is growing. The companies that fully prepare their marketing approach for mobile in 2012 are the ones that will benefit from a potential customer-base that browses – and shops – on the move. This demands targeted, mobile-ready content and a willingness to adapt internal marketing processes. With 59% of UK consumers now in possession of a smartphone and 18% owning a tablet device (Source: EPiServer), mobile marketing is a trend that businesses can’t afford to ignore.

4. The gap closes between business brands and social media

We all know social media is big news for business. But in 2012, it will be even bigger – and even slicker. Companies will start taking social media more seriously as a professional marketing tool. But it won’t just be the big companies using social media to actively connect with customers. Many more companies will start to interact, meaning customer service – and customer interaction – via social media will evolve even further. The gap between social media and the business brand will get ever smaller. Again, the user or the customer will take centre stage with the rise of the brand advocate in recommending, recruiting customers and connecting with companies in 2012.

5. A clearer vision on the value of analytics

Companies will seek to improve their understanding of marketing analytics in 2012. With increased channels and brand presence, businesses will look to clarify and streamline their marketing data. Companies will recognise the value of analytics that allow them to maximise on the flexibility of social media marketing by adapting their content according to live viewer response. Add to this an increasing focus on cost management and online marketing analytics look set to become the vital flipside of business marketing.

6. Up close and personal

Next year is the year that marketing becomes more personalised. Tailored content that is customised to the needs and interests of a specific market or audience will grow in value and popularity. This is for a number of reasons – the increasing growth of content’s role within online marketing and the growing presence of online, niche communities, for example. As people become more and more accustomed to selecting which brands and businesses can join them within their own online community, the value of personalised marketing approaches and content will continue to grow.

7. Content diversifies – again

Content has been big this year – and its role and value is likely to diversify even more in the year ahead. With the increase of personalised marketing, more companies will start to present content that is focused on telling stories about their business and products or services. But this won’t be a top down approach. Companies will need to draw out the stories from within their workforce – and encourage their workforce to share stories. In 2012, carefully crafted, managed and distributed content will play a vital role in successful business marketing.

8. The customer recommendation rules

In 2012, the voice of the user or the customer will get louder. Businesses are becoming smarter at integrating opportunities for customer feedback and response within their marketing approach. Social media word of mouth will keep growing, with people increasingly relying on their own online social circles to advise and comment on their choice of services or products. The companies that actively embrace this shift will be the ones that boost their profile and credibility in 2012.

9. The influence factor takes over

Closely linked to prediction number 9, social media influence will gain critical mass in 2012. Already gaining momentum, a powerful trend in the year to come is the ability for companies to influence, increase and map their influence across the social media channels. The power to inspire users in a real-world, but professional way will make a huge difference to their performance in 2012.

10. Video is centre stage

Anticipated to be big for quite some time, it looks likely that video is set to be one of the leading marketing trends in 2012. The growth of video within business marketing fits naturally with the broadening of social media channels and with increasing customer focus on feedback and recommendations. Expect video to take on some surprising approaches in 2012 – with many companies developing fresher and more user-focused forms of viral marketing.

How’s 2012 looking to you?

2012 is looking like a year where marketing channels and messages will diversify – and where user connection, influence and feedback will rule. Companies can stay ahead by embracing and facilitating how their customers interact with them on social media. Combine this with a more targeted content and better connected cross channel marketing can help grow your leads, customers and revenue in 2012.

Whatever your choice, the New Year is a great opportunity to review what’s been working for you – and what you want to leave behind in 2012. Look back at past marketing activities and at their ROI and other results to see what’s worked best. Then you can move on to make more leads and more customers your New Year’s resolution for 2012. Start with 40 ideas for New Year resolutions now – download this eGuide 40 New Year’s Resolutions for Marketing in 2012.

Guest Author: Sookie Shuen is the community manager at Tomorrow People, an inbound marketing consultancy. Read her Inbound Marketing Blog.

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Facebook has become the online home for both people and business. It has become “the” social network .

Who would have thought that the result of Mark Zuckerberg’s broken heart in 2004 would would create a social network that is projected to reach 1 billion users in August 2012.

That is nearly one in two of every Internet user on the planet. (Maybe we should have more dramatic events in our personal life to provide the fuel and passion to change the planet and our lives!)

Should You Close Down your Website?

Some businesses have even made Facebook their primary web asset and closed down their website. (not recommended as Facebook has been known to suspend “pages” with no notice and no apparent reason).

Websites in the past were boring, text based, one way static platforms that didn’t allow conversation or communication (except for the ubiquitous contact form).

Many CEO’s are still loath to participate but this is diminishing as they are earning the reputation of being “flat earthers” for not realizing that the world is round and social. (remember Galileo who put forward the crazy notion of the world being round )

Facebook has changed the web dynamics and provides a ready to use multimedia platform and social network that communicates in real time with fans and customers. This provides instant feedback that is vital in a fast moving commercial world.

The “Big” Facebook Pages

So which brands and entities are the top performers on Facebook and collected tens of millions of Facebook fans?

Top Brands

• Coca Cola
• StarBucks
• Oreo
• Red Bull
• Converse Allstar

Top Superstars and Entities

• Lady Gaga
• Facebook
• Rihanna
• Eminem
• YouTube

How can You Increase Your Facebook Fans?

One of the best tips to increase your Facebook fans is to provide what is called “liquid content” which is content so contagious it cannot be controlled. This will make people visit and “like” your page.

I have had some fun lately on Facebook posting, images, quotes, cartoons and comics that are fun and sometimes seemingly frivolous but what I have noticed is that the engagement level has increased dramatically (by more then 50%).

This in turn drives your content further into the Facebook network and increases the likes through increased sharing. The other benefit is to improve your Facebook Edge Rank  and consequently more fans see your Facebook page updates in their Timeline.

The continuing evolution of a more visual web is what you should keep in  mind when creating or posting content. Highly visual content performs much better than text or links in driving likes and shares and commments. (but don’t forget to include deep linked content as it is your foundation)

The celebrities have the resources to pursue best practice with designers and developers on tap, but what are some basic tips to assist you with your goal of increasing your Facebook fan base.

7 Tips to Increase your Facebook Fans

These are the core principles that the major Facebook brands use to build their fan base and should provide you with some ideas to get you started.

1. Define Your Target Market

You need to know who you are talking to so that the words and content that you use are congruent with what they like.

2. Get the Tone Right

You need to act the same way your target market so as too gain their trust. Get to understand them

3. Identify which Types of Engagement are Effective

Have some fun and don’t be afraid to experiment. The reactions (or lack of) will be the guide for the engagement types you pursue.

4. Look at it as a Long-Term Investment

You are building an online asset and like investment in property or saving it will take time. So persist and be patient

5. Keep it Real, Relevant and Relaxed

It is important to be “you”. If you are a blogger then the Facebook page is an extension of your personal brand. Don’t force it

6. Create a Schedule for Updates

This doesn’t have to be complex. Once a day used to be the rule of thumb but I have been experimenting with 2-3 updates a day and it seems to be working well. A large brand such as fashion will need to

7. Monitor and Measure

Facebook Insights is a great tool that provides measuremenst of elements such as Facevook Fan growth and even Virality of your content.

So what success have you had increasing your fan count and what tactics have you tried?

The Importance of a Facebook Fan Base

Click Image to Enlarge
Source: The Importance Of A Fan Base Infographic

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Image by voodooangel

If you’ve begun your pursuit of success and fame via social media you’ve probably found yourself spending a lot of time on your social network of choice.

There is so much great information to read and so many connections to be made – where do you draw the line?

Can you really make an impact without spending half of your day commenting, interacting, and retweeting?

Very simply, yes. But, (there is always a but, isn’t there?) you need to be efficient. Luckily, with the use of some easy methods, online tools, and a hint of discipline you can take less of your time and make a bigger impact. Interested? I thought you might be. Here are some tips to help your online voice resonate with your target audience.

Tip 1. Researching your Audience.

You need to ask yourself the 6 W’s.

1. Who is your audience?

2. Where can you find them (what networks are they on)?

3. When are they most likely to engage in a conversation online?

4. Why should they connect with you online?

5. What do they want to know about?

6. How do they want information sent to them (Facebook page updates, an informal YouTube video, Twitter chat, etc.)?

If you aren’t sure where to start, Crowdbooster.com is a great resource to help you research your audience. Not only will you gain insight on how to make a bigger impact within your target audience, the tool will provide analytics so you can track how well you are doing.

Crowdbooster Dashboard

Tip 2. Establish a Plan and Stick to it.

Based on what you discovered in step one, establish a schedule to meet your audience where they are and provide what they want, when they want it. Part of your plan should include a time allocation. If you have 15 minutes a day to allocate, how can you use what you learned in step one to make the biggest impact?

If you are having trouble sticking to your time allocation, head over to the web store on Google Chrome and download StayFocusd (or LeechBlock for Firefox). This extension is a countdown timer for your Internet usage. Simply set how much time you want to allocate to a specific site and once the clock hits zero that site is blacklisted for the rest of the day.

StayFocusd (for Chrome)

Tip 3. Outline Specific Goals

Do you want to increase traffic to your website? Are you looking to increase the attendance at you next conference?

Once the focus of your goal is set, establish key performance indicators to track how well you are doing in reaching your goals. If you want to increase traffic to your website, how many new visitors do you want to be directed via social media? If you are looking to boost attendance, how many more seats do you do want filled? Crowdbooster, Radian6, Viralheat, and Google Analytics are among the many tools that can help you track your progress.

If you tend to fall down the rabbit hole, post something over your monitor to remind you of the goals you’re working towards.

Tip 4. Spend more Time Crafting your Content

With the amount of content your audience sorts through on a daily basis it is important to publish a great message that captures their attention. A throwaway status update won’t have the same impact as a well-crafted update. By focusing on quality over quantity your impact can grow exponentially. For example, if you have 5,000 followers on Twitter and you draft an average tweet you have the potential to reach 5,000 people. If you spend an extra few minutes to draft an excellent tweet you will be more likely to be retweeted by your followers (which exponentially expands the visibility of your tweet to all of their followers as well).

Tip 5. Multitask

Multitasking isn’t always the best way to be productive, but some activities lend themselves very well to multitasking. For example, using your mobile phone to interact with your audience while riding in cabs or waiting for appointments is a great use of your time. I’ve even been known to tweet from the treadmill.

Tip 6. Adapt

Technology is changing at a faster pace than ever before. To not adapt to change is to fall by the wayside. Tweak your methods and your investment based on the progress you make towards your goals and what your audience is looking for.

What other tried and true methods do you use to make an impact on your network without using your entire day? Any great social media tools that you couldn’t live with out? Let us know!

Guest Author: As the founder of Powerhouse Strategy, Kristi Daeda helps businesses nationwide create and optimize custom online marketing programs. Connect with her on Twitter @kristid

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Image By Armitage77

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The death of blogging has been predicted for many years. Social networks such as Facebook and MySpace provide easy to use multimedia publishing platforms to share your life’s experiences and insights with the world, that at first glance seemed to offer an alternative to blogging that would lead to its demise.

As Mark Twain was famously quoted

“The news of my death is greatly exaggerated”

Blogging isn’t dying it is just “evolving“.

You only have to look at the success of platforms such as Tumblr over the last 2 years with traffic levels currently at 90 million visitors a month (12 months ago it was only 10 million) to realise that “self expression” has indeed become the “new entertainment”

Blogging is becoming much more social and visual and is indeed becoming a “publishing genre” in its own right.

Three Types of Bloggers

Bloggers come in all shapes, sizes and flavors. Essentially there are three types

Personal Casual Blogger

Some will blog about their daily life and experiences – the casual personal blogger. Blogging platforms such as Tumblr.com or Blogger.com make it quick and easy for the personal blogger to get up and running.

Facebook or Google+ is also an option for this type of blogger. Creating a “page” on Google+ or Facebook (as opposed to just a personal profile) is maybe all they need.

“Serious” Professional Blogger

Others will blog to reach a global market and monetize their content and traffic, through speaking, strategic business partnerships and opportunities, selling eBooks and online webinars. Social Media Examiner is one great example of this type of blog that have a clear vision, focused and are marketing savvy. This really requires three core foundational elements

1. Blogging software such as WordPress (that gives you ultimate control for full customization)
2. Self hosted with an Internet service provider (ISP)
3. Your own domain name (eg Jeffbullas.com)

These 3 elements provide the solid foundation to scale

Business Blogger

Business blogging is about spreading the brands influence, creating leads and increasing sales. Hubspot provides a fine example of what can be done in this segment.

The benefits here also include improving search engine optimisation, positioning the company as a thought leader and expert in its market place and industry.

So how do you get started?

The fear of your thoughts and writing being exposed on a global scale on the web is daunting for many but there is just one solution to the “getting started” problem.

Just “Do It”

For me just starting the journey without overcomplicating it was the most important step, when I had an inkling of what I was passionate about.

We all have different goals and expectations and whatever blogging journey you are on or want to commence, you need to remind yourself thay the more you put into it, the more you will get out of it.

If you are a bit unsure “just start” – the road will become clearer and the path brighter and you will discover more about yourself and others.

Some of us are afraid of revealing yourself to the world and an audience. Remember – “Fortune favours the brave”.

Once I started, I discovered what was important and what wasn’t.

14 Keys to Influential Global Blogging

1. Start with the Strong Foundation

You may think that not many people will show up once you start your blog and that no one will notice. It is better to be prepared for growth by having a platform that can scale and is easy to make changes to. A WordPress platform that is self hosted and has your own domain name that you “own” is a good place to start

2. Know “Who” You’re Talking To

You need to understand who your audience is. What are their problems, what words they use, what books and magazines do they read, what media do they prefer (videos, articles and images) so you can communicate.

3. Create Compelling Content

If you understand who you target market is for your blog then creating content that engages with your audience is that will bring your readers back and make them want to subscribe to your blog is easier to do

4. Create Content in a Variety of Media

We are all different and some people prefer to read an article.and others prefer to watch a video. To appeal to the widest possible audience be prepared to mix it up and create content in all the formats that your time and resources allow. It could be a YouTube video, a Slideshare presentation or a blog post, an ebook or a whitepaper. Infographics that present complex data are also attractive for your readers and viewers.

5. Learn the Art of the Headline

Some people say you have two seconds to capture someone’s attention with a catchy headline, others say half a second! Whatever the time, it is “short”, so learning to write headlines that tempt and tease readers to click to your blog article is vital in an increasingly time poor world is essential

6. Structure your Content for Skimming and Scanning

When your readers turn up to your post there is nothing more daunting than a huge unbroken block of text that hides the key points.

Provide

• Readable size text (12-14 point),
• Sub-titles,
• Bullet points
• Diagrams and screen shots that gets your message across fast in the simplest way possible.

Make it easy to consume and read.

7. Engage with other Bloggers and Influencers

Collaboration is vital in any endeavour and enlisting others is crucial. You can start by tweeting and sharing other peoples content and you will find in return they will share your posts to their networks. Ask experts to provide a guest post or ask to provide a guest post for them. Find experts who have a reader base that you want and offer to promote them. You need to give to receive!

8. Market your Blog

There is an ocean of content and a sea of blogs (over 150 million).

Just hitting “publish” on your blog post is just the start. It is absolutely vital to learn and implement effective email and social media marketing techniques. The 3 types of key marketing you need to learn are email, Facebook and Twitter marketing strategies and tactics

9. Optimise Your Blog and Social Networks

In all this mix we are still on a web that is driven not just by Facebook but by Google and other search engines. Optimize your blog so that Google can index your blog so that you rank higher in search engine results.

Social media channels that you own also need to have a title, description, categories and keyword tags.

10. Make it Easy to Subscribe

Don’t make it hard for people to subscribe to your blog either by email, RSS or any of your social media networks such as Facebook ,Twitter and Google+. Provide buttons or subscribe functions that make it easy for people to follow you in the format they prefer.

11. Make it Simple and Quick to Share

I see many blogs that do not have a retweet button or Facebook share or Like button. If that is the case on your blog then you are missing out on a lot of traffic and visibility. If you want your content and brand to spread make it easy for people to tweet to their networks and share to their Facebook friends.

12. Listen to your Audience

We live in a fast changing world and trends come and go. You will need to keep an eye on what is resonating with your readers and viewers. Try some different type of content and keep your ear to the ground. You will need to continue to modify your content to meet changing media and subject types in your industry and market.

13. Be Creative and Don’t be Afraid to Make Mistakes

Fail fast and often. In a world of print and high production costs it was expensive to fail and sometimes fatal to your bank account.

In a digital world with zero costs of distribution and low production costs, you can afford to experiment and fail fast and cheaply.

Try different ideas, features and functions so that you can see what works and doesn’t.

14. Persist and be Patient

As with any endeavour you will not build something of substance overnight. Social networks allow you to scale globally with speed, virality and reach that is unprecedented with traditional media.

Patience and persistence is still a trait that must be nourished. It may seem at times that nothing is happening but if you continue to learn and apply the basic principles you will be surprised by the results and opportunities that show up.

Blogging can be an adventure and opportunity to change your life and enhance your business.

It provides a forum and platform for you to build a global tribe that you can empower to share your ideas, personal brand and knowledge. It can position you as a thought leader and an expert in your niche.

The social web with its “many to many” networks has supercharged content production and its distribution and is the biggest change to magazines, books and publishing since the Gutenberg press over 500 years ago.

Are you ready to grab the opportunity and maybe change your life?

More Reading

Image by Jorge Quinteros

Why do you turn on the television? Why do you open a magazine? Why do you read the newspaper, whether it is online or folded and crumpled on your coffee table?

We want to be entertained, amused and educated and the reason you open the laptop, turn on the tablet or browse on the mobile, is that we are seeking information and it is called content.

Google earns $30 billion a year indexing and helping you find information and content.  In an information age, creating content should become the focus of your marketing, whether it is for the consumer or for business.

The Difference Between Success and Failure

Content comes in all types of formats, shapes and styles and often the creator has only a few brief seconds to entice you to go beyond the headline or the opening line.

Creating compelling contagious content can be the difference between success and failure of any media marketing venture whether it be social, mass media or traditional.

So where do you start?

Well for one it’s not about you, it’s about “them” your prospects,customers, viewers and readers.

Step 1: Find and Define your Target Audience

There are many questions to ask here and if you are a large organisation or brand then your advertising agency will certainly tell you who they are. They could be female and aged between 25 and 34 or they could be male and be in the 40-50 bracket.

But you need to know much more!

• What television shows do they watch?
• What magazines do they read?
• What words do they use?
• What events do they attend?
• What fashion do they like?
• What music do they listen to?

If you are creating content for a B2B market then you ned to consider 3 core topic categories

1. Solve their problems
2. Educate and inform them
3. Keep them updated with News

If you are marketing to a consumer then they will want to be entertained, informed of specials and up coming sales and also to be educated about the product.

Step 2: Identify Your Customers Social Networks

There are so many social networks and social media channels that it makes your eyes blur and your mind turn to mush. You need to ensure that you are publishing and placing your content where your customers hang out.

There are a few no brainers that should be in your mix.

• Facebook
• YouTube
• Twitter

Other channels such as Slideshare (the “YouTube for Power Point Presentations) and LinkedIn are important if you are communicating with the business crowd.

Step 3: Establish Their Media Preferences

In an information age of rich multimedia, just going with text or words is not enough any more. To reach the widest audience possible you need to publish the same core content on a variety of media formats and types such as:

• E-books
• Images (Flickr and Instagram)
• Video (YouTube, Vimeo and other online video networks)
• Audio (Podcasts)
• Presentations on Power point – Slideshare
• Infographics

Mixing these up into hybrid content formats as a package or selection can ensure that everyone receives their preferred media type.

Step 4: Find Ideas for Creating the Content

Writers block is real, it happens to everyone!

So how do you keep those ideas flowing to create that compelling content?

• Read other top blogs and develop content on industry Trends – where is the industry going, what are the emerging hot segments
• Write about customers successes – Write up a case study about a clients successful project.
• Publish content on what not to do! – highlighting where something hasn’t worked
• Create a video blog post by interviewing a successful client – this can a powerful providing authentic evidence of authority and credibility for both you and the client.
• Subscribe to the top industry blogs in your market, both company blogs and personal blogs for ideas and view them in one place with an RSS reader such as “Google Reader”
• Look through your latest news releases for ideas

Step 5: Create the Content

Creating content does take time and effort but you must remember that you are building up online assets that will continue to provide value well into the future. A “How to Video” that is published on the web will educate customers and prospects while you sleep.

Blog articles can be the outline for creating an online video or a PowerPoint presentation. So don’t forget that re purposing content is a very efficient way to build your media library.

If you are considering crowd sourcing content such as inviting guest authors for your blog then you may need to set some standards and writing guidelines.

• Length of article such as 1,000 words
• Images to be supplied
• Subtitles

Creating video content can be as easy as interviewing someone at a Cafe with an iPhone!

Step 6: Optimize the Content

So if you think that by just writing and hitting the publish button on your blog is enough then you need to take a deep breath… because your job has just begun!

You need to optimise your content. Some core elements are

• Headline – learn to write an enticing headline that will make people want to click on the link in Twitter
• Structure – Write sub titles that break your content up into bite sized chunks and draw your readers into the article. Write for skimming and scanning
• Search – Write articles using key words and phrases that customers would use to “Google” you. Also if you are publishing images on Flickr, Videos on YouTube and presentations on  Slideshare (or any other social media channel) then make sure that you optimise the content by writing a headline, including a description, enter tags (Keywords)
• Social – make sure you have social media sharing buttons wherever you have content. You want people to share. Don’t make it hard for customers to share and spread your great content!

Your challenge is to be everywhere! – Be ubiquitous.

Step 7: Make it Mobile

Laptops and personal computers are not the only devices that your customer, prospects and readers are using today. So ensure where resources and budget allows that your content can be viewed on the various mobile platforms

• Android Smart phones
• Apple iPhones
• iPad’s or  Tablets

Step 8:  Monitor and Measure

This can be really simple to monitor, such as measuring how many hits the blog post receives or using Facebook Insights to measure its virality on Facebook. Other paid  tools such as Meltwater’s  Social Media monitoring tool “Meltwater Buzz” can provide in depth statistics on  your content’s performance and virality.

Step 9: Repeat What Works

This is not rocket science and if an article about a certain topic is shared many times or receives a lot of hits and traffic, then create more content for that topic.

Give them more of what they want, with the topic and media type that resonates.

What successes and challenges have you had with your social media content?

More Reading

• What are 10 Addictive Types of Content?
• How to Increase Your Blog Traffic by 55% with One Button
• 5 Motivations for Sharing Content
• 20 Ideas for Social Media Content that Engages
• Is it Better to Share on Google, Facebook or Twitter+
• 9 Questions to Ask your Customers When Creating Content

Image by Sanofi Pasteur

Creating a website and an on-line presence for your brand was an easy decision a decade ago. All you had to do was get a website company to design and develop your website add a  few lines of text for each page and then “set and forget”. The static website was the status quo and content very rarely changed.

Fast forward to today and websites are dynamic and interactive on-line brand portals where you  need to actively optimize for search engines so potential customers will find you with key words and phrases.

You need to respond to comments on the corporate blog and engage with your customers on your other web properties such as Facebook and Twitter.

White papers need to be created and published and eBooks are the norm especially in knowledge industries.

Embedded on-line videos are now considered as a standard feature of a website and a corporate branded YouTube channel  is becoming essential in your content marketing strategy.

So content needs to be added regularly in a variety of  media formats. Brands are becoming publishers.

Content Needs Marketing

The reality is that creating that content is just part of the work of optimizing your on-line assets and by just publishing you have only just started and the real work now has to be done….marketing your content and sharing it should be part of that marketing strategy!

Lee Odden of  the Top Rank Blog has created this diagram that reflects the content marketing trilogy that highlights activities and media that should be an essential part of the mix of optimizing your on-line brand.

The three essential keys to marketing your content is optimizing your on-line properties for discovery through search, social and email. Providing a variety of multi-media content that caters to the viewing and reading preferences for your audience and finally make it easy to share.

How to Make Sharing Easy

I don’t know how many times I go to a website or blog and want to share the content but the website design makes it hard to share. There are no “Tweet”, LinkedIn or Facebook “share” buttons to make it a no brainer for me to share it with my followers, fans and connections.

Some recent research reveals the impact and importance of adding a few buttons to your blog.

Brightedge conducted a detailed social share analysis of 4 million randomly sample tweets and discovered that sites that had adopted the “Tweet” button drove almost 7 times more link mentions(sharing) on average than sites that did not have the button.

This one simple feature has the potential to put your content sharing on steroids and accelerate brand discovery.

Top Brands are Ignoring Optimization for Sharing

The research also discovered that nearly half of the top 10,000 websites do not have social sharing plugins.

If this is the case for the top websites and blogs I would suggest  that the smaller companies and organisations participation rate on including sharing buttons would be significantly lower.

When I added a “Tweet” button to my blog the increase in content sharing and traffic was significant and instantaneous.

In a lot of cases uploading a social plugin and including a “Tweet” button on your blog is a 5-10 minute exercise especially if you have a WordPress blog.

Do you have social sharing buttons on your website or blog?

More Reading

• How to Increase Your Blog Traffic by 55% with One Button
• 5 Motivations for Sharing Content
• 20 Ideas for Social Media Content that Engages
• Is it Better to Share on Google, Facebook or Twitter+
• 9 Questions to Ask your Customers When Creating Content

Image by Shira Golding

Presenting tempting content online is about capturing attention and that starts with the headline, after that there are a variety of tactics and media to continue to engage your viewer whether that be multimedia rich content categories such as a video, image or text.

If the content is creative and visually compelling then your chances of having it shared on social media increase dramatically. Infographics allow you to present information for audiences to consume in a few seconds.

Infographics have almost become a media in their own right and the correct creative mix of design and data can be almost magnetic.

This collection of infographics includes Google vs Facebook, The history of social media and the most viral brands of 2010.

1. Google vs Facebook

In 2010 Facebook passed Google as the top on-line destination with 41.1 million minutes spent on Facebook in August 2010 compared to Google’s 39.8 million minutes.

2. Social Media: A History

Click to Enlarge

Source: Tenth Wave

3. Reading Students Like an Open Facebook: How Social Media is Reshaping College Admissions

Social media for universities and colleges is an important tool for marketing and assessing potential students. Facebook is used 82% of the time by admissions officers with Twitter and YouTube ranked second and third.

Click to Enlarge
Source: Schools.com

3. Twitter Facts and Figures

Twitter has just turned 5 and with over 200 million users is now one of the most valuable social media properties on the planet. How potentially valuable? Check out the infographic.

Click to Enlarge
Source: Infographicsarchive.com

4. Most Viral Brands of 2010

A YouTube video going viral is every marketers dream as it can incresae sales dramatically and take a brand from unknown to a superstar. So how did the “Old Spic”e video and marketing campaign compare in the viral stakes?

Source: ViralAdNetwork

5. The Rise of Social Media Ad Spend

In 2007 social networking ad spend was a fraction of today’s budgets. Facebook is one of the main platforms that companies are using with its easy to use self serve ad feature and granular demographic  data. What are the projections for the future?

Via: Flowtown.com

Which Infographic impressed you the most?