As a new blogger, I have been pondering social media a lot lately. The extent to which one can network online is endless. Twitter followers, Facebook likes, blog followers, email subscribers, etc. Is it just a numbers game? What percentage of followers / likers / fans / stumblers / diggers / subscribers really read, or even see your post, status, tweet, etc, let alone convert to a sale? Do you know? Facebook's Insight feature indeed gives us some "insight." From what I read, Twitter doesn't privy us with similar statistics. My recent post on Facebook EdgeRank gives some insight as to the mechanics behind why fans may not see our statuses. However, the problem is even more big picture than that. Part of it is human nature. We are constantly bombarded with messages: we must block out some to prevent sensory overload. It's akin to receiving a lot of junk mail. Our job is to make sure we stay in people's radar...their line of sight. Is it worthwhile? I think it is. Marketers have been doing this forever. They send ads to prospective customers, they bombard us with commercials, they put up billboards on the expressway, they mail us coupons. Businesses reach out to us. Perhaps the 80/20 rule applies, but I bet it's way less. The same thing goes for social media. We put ourselves out there, play the numbers game, build up our network, and see what transpires.As bloggers, small business owners, or crafters selling from home, our job is to keep our "fans" engaged so they keep returning, listening and reading. We try to start a dialogue, create interest and give value. We cannot assume the numbers translate to anything tangible...meaning true interest or money in our pockets. We have to work at it, not just gain a number, but try to gain the person's attention...and keep it. It's a challenge, but a fun one. After all, if we don't challenge ourselves we do not grow. If we do not grow we get stale, and what fun is that...plus it stinks.
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17 comments:
I really liked your post. I know we all tend to get overwhelmed with social media, blogs, ect...We tend to lose ourselves in the internet and lose focus on our real lives. I am always getting junk emails, stuff that I think that I will make time to read later and never do.
I know that I have been trying to sell my jewelry online and using Facebook as a way of marketing my site. I have found that I have spent so much time trying to get "likes" on my page that I have not sold a darned thing. Now my focus is on selling.
Thank you for your post, it was quite enlightening.
I try to read some of each blog that I am subscribed to as you can always get a fresh point of view from others and I am always eager to learn new things or just to get a fresh perspective on life.
Thank you
Definitely it can be overwhelming. I'm finding it hard to keep up as it is but I'm making a concerted effort all the same. I'm finding I have to be more selective with where I put myself online so I can keep up with it, nothing worse than a stagnant profile. Good luck!!!
Hear hear! I try to scroll through my blogroll every day to see what titles jump out at me (which is why I'm here reading this post right now!) It is true that not all blogs I'm " following" are on my blogroll, mostly because they aren't in keeping with the feel of my blog and I don't feel they're all that relevant to my core group of readers...unfortunately, this does mean I myself tend not to keep up with them as much! You do what you can, I guess!
Hi MamaPress :) really great blog! And I really enjoyed this post on social media...it really does bombard us everyday with something "new" to read all the time, but do we really have a choice?? :) xxx here's to not going *stale* :)
http://citygirlsearching.blogspot.com/
Hi Tracy, funny, I just wrote a similar post about Pinterest, whhhyyyy do we need more?! ;) I haven't opened my biz yet and I'm already feeling I need to cut back and streamline. My time on-screen needs to be more efficient so I can get more done off-screen! I look forward to being a regular reader of your site!
I was so reluctant to join the Facebook, a blog seemed so natural, but the other social media, I just set aside an hour a day to update it all...the hour is the time I spend going to other people pages and such! Thank you for a post about how over stimulating it can all be, and challenging...I do love a challenge!
I like blogging. There are a handful I look forward to reading everyday and there are some I follow to follow. I scroll thru the blogger feed every morning and read what is interesting and scroll past the stuff that isn't.
Facebook feed draws my attention sometimes. Not a fan of give aways or recipes or looking at strangers kids. Once in awhile it's ok, but not a lot.
There are a lot of bloggers and very little interaction between people. Very little discussion that I have seen. It's a bit discouraging that a blogger can have over 300 followers and have zero comments to something they've written.
I enjoyed this post. Social media can be very overwhelming! It feels like they come out with a new kind of networking site all the time. I can't keep up sometimes! I passed along the Versatile Blogger Award to you on my blog...hope you accept! :)
True...can't be connected to everyone and every site! I try to keep it mellow, but I must admit, I CANNOT keep up on my blog reader, lol. Try as I might, I fail at that daily. There are just too many. May have to do some weeding (gasp!)
Thanks for the post - it's nice to know I'm not the only one that gets buried. I'm going to focus on Twitter and FB (and mom bloggers) and leave it at that. Twitter needs to get back to it's interactive purpose, though....getting sick of the spam.
I've been a bit overwhelmed by this as well. I'm trying to make smart connections and get traffic to my blog to create meaningful discussion. It is very intimidating with all of the various social media outlets- I try to just stick with a few and focus my energy on writing and reading blogs!
Sarah @ made in usa challenge
I loved reading this! I was just thinking about how I have to cut some things out. I'm a handmade business, which means I have to sew and fill all orders, handle all of the management and accounting, blog/websites, and then all of the social networking. It's way too much. I've found I have no time for Pinterest, Stumbleupon, Google+1, LinkedIn, and some new FB network thing that comes to my e-mail. At the same time, I worry that if I'm not on all of these networks, I'll miss some business connection or opportunity. You just can't be everywhere, and even though I don't see direct sales on FB, I do get interaction with our customers, and I consider it a store front(that feeds to Twitter--no maintenance!) It has high Google page rank too, so something to keep. The others I hope, are not some boat I should have jumped on!
Just wanted to thank you as Co-Host of the Mompreneur Blog Hop for linking up! Please check back in through the month, and meet some more Mompreneurs:)
Cheers!
Courtney
http://www.mommyladyclub.com
What a great message! I love the thought of paying more attention to gaining our readers' attention than on increasing our numbers. That takes the pressure off for sure.
Thanks for linking up on the Mompreneur Blog Hop. I'm the other co-host and am glad I found your blog!
Roz
www.RozKWalker.com
This is so true! I spend so much time just trying to get people to my blog, that I haven't made real connections with ANY bloggers. :(
Aw, typing that makes me sad. haha.
I have a small question. What is the meaning of link Building?
Looking forward for your reply.
Latonya
facebook business page
Thanks for all the comments!! My novice definition of link building is creating back links. From what I understand through my nearly 3 months of blogging, the more often your site is linked up on other sites, the greater your SEO(search engine optimization)...ultimately more readers would theoretically reach your site.
Love this post. I too feel like the whole social media networking can sometimes be just a numbers game. So I am trying to focus more on my writing and creating great content. I guess I feel that "If you build it, they will come." If I write interesting and useful material, people will read it.
I am so glad that you found my "How To Create a Blog Button for FREE" tutorial helpful. Your button looks great!
Http://MomMart.blogspot.com
I loved this post. I'm a pretty new blogger, and I can tell you that sometimes I feel like I'm in over my head. I'm eventually going to get the hang of it, thanks to posts like yours that guide us newbies in the right directions!
Thank you so much for sharing!!
~Ola
iluvtosave.net
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