Last spring I was at a small local blogging conference. One of the speakers was a pretty big blogger with traffic in the thousands per day. She came up to me and told me that she had been looking forward to meeting me, that I was HUGE.
In shock, I could only just stare at her. I was fairly sure she wasn’t talking about my butt. Surely she had me mistaken for someone else. I have hardly any traffic, I’m lucky to have a couple hundred unique visitors a day. On a good day. And I’ve been around for almost 4 years which, in internet years, I’m as old as the heavens.
We chatted for a few minutes and I laughingly told her how awful my traffic is. She responded “Well, I don’t know who does your PR but EVERYONE knows you and your blog.”
Everyone knows who I am?
Really?
That’s incredible because no one does my PR, or in the case of blogging, my social media.
It’s all me.
She told me that whatever it is I’m doing is working.
Interesting, because up until recently, I thought she was nuts.
But I realized after reading the Unmarketing by Scott Straten and then this post which I caught tweeted from Shannon Paul(who is pretty awesome), I’m ABSOLUTELY RIGHT ON in my approach.
Which really? Isn’t even a complete approach.
I just do what feels right. Which,…is just being myself. Transparent. Open book. And, without worrying about sounding arrogant, I’m apparently likable and relatable.
I tweet from the heart and sometimes from the head. Although, for business, it’s opposite.
That is what is working.
I may not get a lot of blog traffic but when I hit the social media circuit, I have a decent amount of people taking notice of what I’m saying. I know, right?!
Recently my friend Nicole and I started a social media company. You may have seen Facebook and Twitter updates about it already. We are simply called Barrett and Brodsky Media. It’s our tagline that says it all though.
Being social is our business.
Social media, to me, is about being social. Period.
I’m not smart in the ways of talking like a internet guru techie. You aren’t going to get a cerebral, mind-blowingly quotable post about how I think social media should be. I don’t have that type of mind. I can write a mean short story though. ๐
I can only tell you what works, from what I’ve seen. And that is taking that company you are doing the social media for and turning it into an approachable, personable, somewhat knowledgeable online personality. Think Ford’s Scott Monty, and GM’s Chris Barger. And how about WXYZ’s own Stephen Clark with #backchannel.
These are true social media GURUS. Taking the medium and transforming it into a true social, interactive platform. When they Tweet, people retweet. (That should be E.F Hutton’s NEW tagline, when we tweet, people retweet. I maintain the copyright, call me, we’ll talk).
There are so many companies and individuals out there who are doing social media for business but you would NEVER know it. They become friends, people you look forward to talking to online and hopefully, someday, in real life.
That’s what works.
What doesn’t work, in my little opinion? The social media “consultants” that don’t do what I just said.
Most of the individuals that these companies are trying to reach, after awhile, tune out the tweets, status updates and blog posts that are nothing more than links. Personally, I stop following those social media tweeps.
I also go through my twitter followers/following and clean house. I’m not going to keep you in my stream when you don’t interact with me (or anyone else, for that matter).
DELETE.
There is NOTHING social in that type of social media marketing/consulting.
The beautiful thing about the internet, especially for businesses, is the interaction you can have.
I mean, c’mon, it’s so obvious.
Use it.
Take maximum advantage of it.
Forget the media part for a moment and concentrate on the social aspect.
Stop taking yourself so seriously.
Have fun with it.
Social media is the most incredible and effective way to say what it is you want everyone to hear.
It would really stink to realize that no one was listening.
Hey Melissa,
Best of luck with the new business venture!
Brandon
@bchesnutt
Brandon Chesnutt´s last blog post ..What I Like About The New Crainโs Detroit Business Site
I wish I had time to tweet more. I’m good with Facebook because it is easier to go back in time and interact or comment with people, but Twitter is way too fast for that.
Jennifer´s last blog post ..House Rules
Great post. And you have actually given me a new perspective. It has always bothered me that when I go to conferences people seem to get excited about meeting me, but I am always wondering where these people are in my traffic numbers. I have had people tell me I am a “big blogger” before and I turn around to see who they are talking about. Believe me, I am not saying this to toot my own horn, but maybe I am better at this whole social media thing than I thought. Best of luck in your new venture!!
Great, great post!
I’ve just started on the social media rounds and am kind of going the same route as yourself … although my interests are a bit different.
I’m so glad I discovered your blog. The great thing about the media world, is that we all have a voice and the “Free Market,” so to speak gets to decide who is worth listening to and who is not. For once in the history of humankind, the artists are gaining some power and control.
I am loving it!
PJ Lincoln´s last blog post ..White Sox make bold move Will Tigers Counter
Loving your post Melissa. Marketing by doing what feels right is the best way to stay authentic. Chris Brogan says it best – bloggers should be heaping value on top of value in our blog content. If you do that then traffic will come ๐
I had no idea that you started a company, but I have no doubt that it will be a success– you do social media really well.
Good luck with the company, Melissa. I stopped tweeting around the time that people were picking it up … I wish I had more time to keep up with the whole social media thing, as I’m sure it would amplify my blog traffic beyond its current trickle. But then what you put in translates to what you get out, right?
And obviously what you’re doing is beyond working… congrats!
Karen MEG´s last blog post ..Sunday- when I should get off my and do something productive
Nice post Melissa, Being social is the ultimate strategy we can use to get a good number of readers, socializing more with people rather than dumping our products on them can bring a lot of benefits to our blog, More of all it helps to build trust among our readers. Nice strategy ….:)
Beth
Beth Owens´s last blog post ..Symptoms of Ovarian Cysts