Talk About Your Blogs Online To Get More Traffic

Beginning to blog? Wondering how to get more readers to read your blog? There are numerous ways you can build traffic on your blog and get more people to read it. You can use several online applications to increase the views on your blog. Social Networking sites are one of the best tools to increase the traffic on your blog. In this era of Tweeting and Facebooking, spreading a word about your blog has become as compared to the earlier times when there were no such mediums available. By using these mediums extensively, more people will come through and visit your blog.

A blog takes some time to get readers initially. Many bloggers stop blogging after the initial discouragement of no users. Do not stop blogging due to lack of response initially. Instead of getting discouraged because of not getting comments on your blog, you can use Social Networking to popularise your blog posts. Tell your friends about what you have written, share the link of the articles online on your wall, and ask your friends and family to leave a comment or two. This way, all the people in your online network shall get aware of the blog and thus the visibility of the blogs shall also increase substantially.

You can also add your blog friends to your list on Social networking sites like Facebook, Orkut and Twitter. This way, you can come to know about the lives and instant updates about the fellow bloggers. With the invention of sites like Facebook, Twitter and Orkut, you can keep yourself updated in the Blogosphere. This is one of the best ways to build your visibility among so many people. Take full advantage of these Social Networking sites and you are bound to get noticed. But remember, this doesn’t happen overnight, so you must be patient. The response and building up takes time.

Several online communities or groups also have active forums where you can share your latest blog posts. The response on these sites is good, and thus this one of the smartest way to increase the readership on your blog. One of the easiest things you can do is sharing the link of your blog in your profile information. This way, all the people added in your friend list on all the Social Networking sites can see what latest has been posted and updated by you. Google mail status messages are also one of the major ways to popularise your blog. Similarly, scrap the link of your blog to all your friends on Orkut. In the same way, you can keep the link of your blog as the signature at the end of your mail body. With this, all the recipients of your mail shall know about your blog.

To conclude, Blogging is good. It is really good. But for your blogging to be successful you must be very calm and patient as this whole process is slow. But believe you me, this is very effective also.

Tags: Add new tag, content writing, facebook marketing, internet marketing, Social Media

Handle the Negative Buzz!

Most of the companies be it a small scale industry or a massively huge industry, all the companies are realizing the importance of increasing the visibility on the social networking sites. While many large retailers have developed significant marketing presence on Facebook, Twitter and other social sites as a way to increase the brand awareness, dissatisfied consumers are increasingly using them as forums to complain about these companies and their mishaps.

While many practices have been talked about for managing this type of buzz on social media sites, we can enlist six basic recommendations for dealing with such incidences gleaned from the social media and PR professionals, as well as the retailers who have experienced such active attacks frequently. They include:

Take Negative as a Positive:-

Yes. It may sound vague, but this is true. Look at the negative buzz as an opportunity to strengthen the bonds with the customers, improve customer services and also reaffirm the corporate principles. It is not that difficult to please the customers online. They believe what they see, so make sure what you show them is what they get.

Foster relationships with Customer Advocates:-

It is very important to build proper relationships with the customer advocates who can and shall support brand when they are under attack.

Be a Good Listener:-

Always keep in mind that the consumer is the prime important person for the company. Listen to what the customers are saying, not just on social networks and Twitter, but also on ratings, reviews sites and on blogs. These reviews are really important and tell you where the company stands in reality.

Look for Alternative Solutions:-

For resolving consumer complaints, consider alternative solutions such as taking them private via e- mail or phone, which helps in giving your full attention to the consumers. Also, consider creating a new website or portal to deal with any particular issue.

Respond Quickly:-

Consumers are very sensitive when it comes to the response. They want acknowledgement that their concerns and problems have been heard and are being taken seriously. Taking care of thet will give them assurance and will make them understanding that it takes time to come up with an amicable solution.

Plan Responses:-

For different types of negative buzz scenarios, it is important to plan what response is to be given in what situations. Conduct proper ‘Fire Drills’ on how to manage and handle the negative buzz to avoid panic should mass customer criticism tends to occur.

7 Tips for effective social media optimization

Social networking sites have transformed the way we communicate and connect. By now most internet savvy companies are already using (and reaping the benefits of) SMO or Social Media Optimization. For those who are still unaware of this rising global phenomenon, here is a heads-up on what SMO entails.
SMO is the process of creating multiple points of access or visibility by utilizing the traffic leverage of already existing social networking sites for brand/service promotion and in-turn improve the bottom line. In simple terms SMO is the utilization of sites like Facebook and Twitter to create a buzz about your company. SMO is a process that not only requires innovation but it also requires continuous dynamism.

7 Tips for SMO

SMO used effectively can have a tremendous impact on the traffic you generate. Here are some handy tips for efficiently using SMO to your advantage –
•    First and foremost set up fan pages or company groups on sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter

•    Inform, engage and provide information that people can actually use through these platforms

•    Set up accounts on image sharing sites like Photobucket for image sharing and optimal tagging

•    Create accounts on social bookmarking sites like Reddit for sharing additional information

•    Maintain blogs on popular blogging sites

•    Innovate and communicate for retention and increase of members on social channels and finally

•    BE ACTIVE! Regular updates on all social sites is imperative

Whether you want to be a part of this social bandwagon or not is not really a choice now! The digitalization of this world has brought with it newer ways of connecting with people and changed the way we market and promote.

-Adapt if you want to move ahead.
-Stay fresh if you want to stay viable.
-Use SMO effectively if you want to succeed in this digital world!

Social Media in Evolving Business

Social media in recent times has become a headline grabbing phenomenon that is rapidly growing. Instead of using social networking as a tool to simply connect with people, entrepreneurs across the world are frequently trying to find ways to utilize the trend of social networking as a business opportunity.
Studies suggest that social networking sites should be viewed as a complementary device to the presence of businesses in order to promote success. Businesses should consider the sites as an asset that is valuable and useful in gaining their companies positive attention. In essence social networking sites, when used properly, should not be employed as a replacement to the business traditional online presence.
But the question arises, what is social media?

Social media is a conversation on the Internet. It is a conversation of the organization with its customers, employees, suppliers, investors, critics and fans. In a nutshell, it is a conversation with anyone having access to Internet. However, the conversation is not controlled and organized. But it is organic and complex, in the form of a human voice. Thus, it is not a strategy, but simply a mode of reaching out to all the stakeholders of the business.

What are the characteristics of Social Media?

Social media is best understood as a group of new kinds of online media, which share most or all of the following characteristics:

1.    Participation: social media encourages contributions and feedback from everyone who is interested. It blurs the line between media and audience.

2.    Openness: most social media services are open to feedback and participation. They encourage voting, comments and the sharing of information.

3.    Conversation: unlike traditional media, which is more of a “broadcast” (content transmitted or distributed to an audience), social media is better seen as a two-way conversation.

4.    Community: social media allows communities to form quickly and communicate effectively. Communities share common interests, such as a love of photography, a political issue or a favourite TV show.

5.    Connectedness: most kinds of social media thrive on their connectedness, making use of links to other sites, resources and people.

Why should companies adopt social media?

- It covers a large audience in a faster, economical and easier manner

- Helps even small businesses to reach to a wider customer base

- These channels allow a connect with the stakeholders which enhances the credibility of the firm

- The best place of connecting with the stakeholders is where they are already talking about things important to them. Thus by joining in the conversation would increase the noticeability of the firm.

- It allows the company’s website to integrate multimedia such as audio and video which increases the attractiveness of the company

- It allows users to generate their own content thereby allowing them to interact with each other

How can companies utilize social media?

There are many mediums available for an organization to effectively harness the complete potential of social media. The various types of mediums available are as follows:

Social networks: These sites allow people to build personal web pages and then connect with friends to share content and communication.

Blogs: Perhaps the best known form of social media, blogs is online journals, with entries appearing with the most recent first.

Wikis: These websites allow people to add content to or edit the information on them, acting as a communal document or database.

Forums: Areas where online discussion on specific topics and interests are held. Forums came about before the term “social media” and are a powerful and popular element of online communities.

Audio, Video and Photo sharing Sites: Sites where the above mentioned are shared between a large numbers of people.

Microblogging: Social networking combined with bite-sized blogging, where small amounts of content (‘updates’) are distributed online and through the mobile phone network.

Companies are now using a wide array of social networking services ranging from Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to emails, blogs and websites to build up interest in their new product or service launch. There are countless social media sites available in each of the above categories.
The diagram below maps some of them into the social media space.

Is Social Media perfect? Doesn’t it have any downsides to it?

Like everything else, social media does have its share of limitations. However, most of these limitations vary depending upon the user’s perceptions. The various disadvantages of this new age media are as follows:

Time Consuming: To leverage on social media, one needs to be connected to its audience all the time. He needs have updated helpful information on the network and should respond to any queries to satisfy the curiosity of the audience otherwise the audience might loose faith in business.

Limited Reach: Accessibility to the Internet in India is only around 3-5% of the total population. Thus, only a limited segment can be targeted through this medium.

Information Overload: With so much information available, there can be a problem of information overload and social networking overload which may cause problems of authenticity and validity of the information may become an issue.

Lack of Knowledge: Since social media is still in its infancy stage, not much awareness and information is available. Thus, organizations may have to incur high initial costs for setting up its operations.

Intrusion on Privacy: Since social media is an open platform, there may be issues with privacy as a lot of information is available about the user.

Apart from these problems, there is also an issue with customer loyalty. According to Deloitte in 2008, around 40% of user generated content websites have more than 500 members but very few engage with it in terms of their contribution, retrieval and exploration on the site.

Tags: social media optimization for businesses

Sell Through Social Networks

Is marketing all about connecting with people? Well…times have changed and so has the technology. Today, marketing is all about connecting with people…faster. Time is of essence but it does not mean that marketing has to be done hastily. It should be effective and well-planned at the same time. And this is where social networks come into the picture.

Take one step at a time
Social networking websites such as MySpace, Orkut, Facebook and the others have huge number of members and we can assume that almost each member is a part of at least one community that caters to his or her interests. Now, if you have a product or an idea to sell, the most effective and easy way to do that is by locating your target audience in any such community on a social networking website. But even prior to that one has to also decide upon the website that you wish to use to sell. This has to be done by evaluating the features and their uses that each of these sites have to offer you. The features or the website that serves your maximum purpose should be chosen.

How to sell
Now once you are through with the selection of the website and have become a member of the community or communities made of your target audience, then start by making your presence felt. This can be done by adding yourself in others’ friends list and adding more and more people to your own. Never make it obvious that you are there to sell! Try and build a relationship with the people and in the process try and assess their needs and desires. If you come across a person who you think might be a potential customer, then start by telling about your product, service or idea in a very general way. Make sure that you give your customers what they want.

Your profile on the social networking website will act as a stepping stone. Make sure it is updated from time to time, has links to the various websites and blogs that shall help in the sale process…basically it should be informative in a very simplified manner.

One more very important thing is to interact. Building a relationship is one thing, and maintaining it is another. Make sure that you never lose contact with your ‘friends’ group. If they leave a comment about your blog, then reply to it. Invite more comments. Make them feel that they are important to you. Interaction is like a building block of marketing through social networking sites.

The glitch
The only glitch with marketing through these sites is that it is very time consuming. The results might not be instant but they are sure shot. Your constant involvement is constantly needed. And if you are ready to invest a lot of time, then this medium is very cost effective as compared to the other ones.
If you are still hesitant to start marketing through social networking, then all I have to say is that it is truly worth giving a chance. I am sure you will not regret your decision!

More on the Benefits of Social Media Optimization

Social Media Optimization, popularly known as SMO is a simple and effective way to drive potential customers towards your web site. It directly benefits a business. A large number of people become aware of your company’s web link and motivated to browse through the different products which your business offers. USP of SMO is that it is a fast process than Search engine Optimization (SEO) and its results can be easily measured.

The immediate benefits of using SMO are:

ü Link Generation: SMO generates thousands of inbound links for your web site in a very less time. This rapidly spreads the awareness about your business on the web.

ü Builds Brand Equity: As more and more users get to know about your web site, your brand gains power and popularity, and thus you earn that cutting edge over the competitors.

ü Increased Web Traffic: The amount of web traffic to your website incredibly increases. Your website becomes popular which further motivates more internet users to browse through it.

ü Increased customer base: More traffic means more chances of conversions and increased customer base.

ü Affordable and effective: The beauty of SMO is that this online marketing strategy does not burn a hole in your pocket. It’s affordable yet very effective.

ü Faster and Higher ROI: SMO gives you quick and high returns on the investments. Within a short duration, your business starts booming.

ü Lessen the Risk: With SMOs, the risk regarding ROI reduces as you do not completely rely on Search Engines to drive traffic to your web site.

ü Results can be easily Measured: The benefits or returns generated by the SMO can be easily quantified and measured.

Social Media Optimization – The As, Bs and Cs of it

Social Media Optimization, a relatively new term for the laymen of the internet, is now making waves and the ripples can be felt. The reverberations are not far away. When I launched iSMO, my endeavor was to launch a company that offers social media optimization services to companies who are looking to drive more traffic to their website. I could see a place for iSMO, especially in the lucrative Indian market. With considerable knowledge of SEO, I guessed SMO would be the next big thing. However, I have now realized that SMO has its own challenges and few takers.

Who should choose SMO?

It has been hardly a year that companies have started to understand Search Engine Optimization, and now we have SMO, another concept that has to be explained to the customers. It is strictly for those who have significant web presence, and need traffic for their web properties. The company can be an IT company, FMCG, Insurance, Healthcare, Real Estate, Consumer Goods, Hospitality, Retail – just about anyone who cares for his online reputation management and website traffic.

Mediums for SMO

Some of the basic mediums for SMO are:

Social Networking Sites: Social networking sites such as Xing.com, Ryze.com, -Facebook, MySpace and many other popular and not-so-popular ones are there to help you drive traffic from. Many big companies and SMEs lure traffic from participation in the communities and forums on such sites. I read an interesting phrase somewhere which said, “You have pants, Facebook has people.” That says it all!

Social Bookmarking: Getting traffic from social bookmarking sites such as Digg, StumbleUpon is better said than done. For every category and post there are thousands of competitors at any given time and they keep increasing. Social Bookmarking is a good idea for those websites that are highly-ranked and have already established them as credible source of information, like BBC, CNN. But why the hell do they need social bookmarking? It is a classical case of the rich getting richer. Anyhow, Social Bookmarking will always remain a safe bet, or should remain a safe bet.

Forum Participation: Very effective tool and if you participate in high-ranked forums and build links from there, nothing like it. The WWW is full of theme-based forums and they are not hard to locate. You can participate in an existing thread or create a new thread according to your own convenience.

More mediums will be disclosed in the posts to come!