Here are their best tips. I think you’ll agree there are some excellent ideas here.

#1: Be Active in Other Communities First

Here’s what Mitch Joel, author of Six Pixels of Separation and the blog at Twist Image, recommends:

“You’ll have no semblance of community unless you’re an active community member in other spaces. If I had to do this all over again and start from scratch right now, what would I do?

Without question I would start a blog and fill it with relevant and valuable content for the community, but I would spend ten times as much time adding value to the five or ten existing communities where my potential members might be hanging out, reading and connecting.

It’s not a ploy and it’s not a trick—I would do this because I’m interested and want to engage with the other community members. I would also be hopeful that those community members would appreciate my contributions and take a chance on checking out what I’m up to on my own space.

Give more than you get.”

Top 10 Social Media Blog Nomination: Laurel Mackenzie likes Mitch Joel's Six Pixels of Separation blog because "not only is his written content intelligent and thought-provoking, but his podcasts feature discussions on relevant topics with true industry thought leaders."

#2: Write About What You Love

Here’s how Michael Brandvold grows subscribers on his blog:

“The best advice I can give anyone who wants to grow their subscribers is write about something you love and are passionate about and keep writing.

Readers can tell the difference when someone writes about a topic because they feel it and love it, it’s their life, versus someone who writes about a topic because it was just assigned to them. No magic formula, no secret trick… just hard work on something you love.

Since my first website in 1995 I’ve learned that users will find and continue to return to content which is genuine and created with a passion.”

Top 10 Social Media Blog Nomination: Anthony Best says Michael Brandvold "knows his stuff and presents marketing and social media concepts in ways that are simple to understand and execute immediately. Not only does he share what to do, he also explains specifically what NOT to do."

#3: Write Insanely Great Content

Mark Schaefer, author of The Tao of Twitter and the popular marketing blog {grow}, recommends:

“Blogging is not my full-time activity. I have a thriving business, I teach and I have family activities and charitable efforts I’m devoted to. So when it comes to the blog, I only have time to concentrate on one thing: INSANELY GREAT CONTENT.

I tend to look at things from a unique perspective that seems to set fire to interesting conversations. That’s all I know to do, really! Celebrate smart conversation.”

Top 10 Social Media Blog Nomination: Neicole Crepeau likes {grow} because "Mark combines insightful and useful information with posts about his personal soul-searching as spurred by his social media work. His community is amazingly engaged."

#4: Answer Questions for Your Audience

Mark Robertson, founder of ReelSEO, recommends:

“The number-one way that we’ve been successful in driving readership to ReelSEO, though I realize this is a bit cliché, is through creating compelling, informative and unique content. For ReelSEO, we’ve found that the most read and most compelling content usually comes from two sources.

First, we respond to our readers’ requests and often solicit feedback both on and off the site. When a reader reaches out to us to ask for advice, we can often safely assume that all others would be interested in the topic. As a result, we often write articles that specifically address our readers’ requests.

Second, we try to write about those things that we (internally) are interested in learning more about but can’t find sufficient information online to address the learning.

For example, I searched everywhere for a list of apps to record video with Skype in order to do some video interviews. I was unable to find any useful resources on the Internet. So, I assigned this topic to a writer and not only did I learn what I wanted, but our readers were extremely pleased that we offered up this resource.

Additionally, because it was a question with few results in search to address it, we obtain new readers every day through long-tail search.

If you’re truly passionate about your blog’s area of expertise, you can successfully grow your audience and continue your own learning through answering all the unanswered questions.”

Top 10 Social Media Blog Nomination: Jayce likes Reel SEO "because it's super-intelligent and the place to go for video SEO!"

#5: Offer Real Value

Danny Brown, award-winning marketing and social media blogger and founder of For Bloggers by Bloggers and 12for12k, recommends:

“Offer REAL value to your readers. Instead of just offering generic simplicity—like the Top 10 Twitter Management Tools—offer reasons and strategic comparisons why.

What sales benefit does this have? How can you use something like HootSuite to manage campaigns? How can you then track this using Google Analytics? And how should you use this information to adapt future campaigns?

Don’t just offer an easy top 10 list—get deep and explain the mechanics behind your choice, and really give your readers a reason to come to you over generic blogger X.”

Top 10 Social Media Blog Nomination: Martyn Hodgson likes Danny Brown's blog because he's "always prepared to say what he thinks."

#6: Be There for Your Readers

Mike McGrail, owner of the popular blog The Social Penguin, recommends:

“For me the key to building a strong and loyal readership is to create content that matches their needs.

I know that many small business owners read the Social Penguin, so I look to ensure that the majority of our posts will appeal to them and most importantly will help them.

Having an opinion is also hugely important, as well as showing a willingness to respond to comments and questions. People take the time to read your content, so make sure you give them time back.”

Top 10 Social Media Blog Nomination: Geoff Kennedy says the Social Penguin has a "no-nonsense approach and takes a different angle on a lot of topics."

#7: Say Something New

Deb Ng, conference director for the BlogWorld and New Media Expo and author of Kommein, recommends:

“The best way to grow blog subscribers is to write content that’s useful, creative and original. Blogs are a dime a dozen nowadays and most bloggers are writing the same thing. No-one has time to read a dozen blogs saying the same thing.

If you want more subscribers, say something new, say something helpful and say something awesome.“

Top 10 Social Media Blog Nomination: Andy Hayes likes Kommein because "while many focus on tactics, Deb takes a step back and forces you to ask the tough questions—Why? Who? Where? What? And she doesn't shy away from difficult topics."

#8: Make Your Readers Feel Good

Gini Dietrich, lead author of the popular blog Spin Sucks, recommends:

“People want to feel like they’re part of something and that what they have to say is smart and well-regarded. When they take the time to comment on your blog, they want to know you’re reading and considering what they have to say, even if you don’t agree.

But the real magic happens when people begin commenting to one another and the blog takes on a life of its own. As the blogger, your responsibilities are to pose one side of a debate and open the conversation. At times, it’s even important to continue the conversation in the comments.

But if people begin commenting to one another and you can be graceful about differing opinions, your subscriptions will increase because people will be coming to your blog for their daily brain food.

I always say that blogging is mostly about stroking other people’s egos and making them feel good. I get A LOT of pushback about that because most people don’t want to take the time, nor do they consider it part of increasing their readers. But, if you scratch others’ backs you’ll be amazed at what you get in return.”

Top 10 Social Media Blog Nomination: Justin Brackett says Spin Sucks is "trustworthy and way outside the "clutter of the ordinary." You'll always get a reply to any response that you leave on their site. That's why they're the best there is!"

#9: Respect Your Audience

Francisco Rosales, author of SocialMouths, recommends:

“The single most effective method I’ve used to build up my subscriber list, both RSS and email, has been always to respect my audience. I made a couple of decisions earlier, such as not using pop-ups or not abusing the frequency that I send out email, among others. The intention is to grow organically.

Sure, my growth rate is not as explosive as I’ve seen with other bloggers, but I believe I’m compensated with a higher-quality base of subscribers and with an “unsubscribe” rate of 0%. I think for now I’m happy with the results.

What I do recommend to everybody is setting up Goal Conversions on Google Analytics to be able to track what percentage of your visitors are actually signing up for any of your subscriptions.”

Top 10 Social Media Blog Nomination: Kristi Hines says, "SocialMouths has been a favorite of mine for a while because the content is always useful. I haven't visited a post yet that didn't give me some great ideas to implement.

#10: Focus on Evergreen Content

Stanford Smith, author of Pushing Social, recommends:

“From my experience, I’ve found ‘problem-focused evergreen content’ to be the killer bait for attracting blog subscribers. This content is useful year after year—hence the ‘evergreen’ title. Evergreen content works because it rewards readers with comprehensive answers to their problems.

Readers eat up this content and reward the blogger with their attention and subscriptions. For maximum effectiveness, build your editorial schedule around writing 10 to 12 in-depth posts. Your focus on solving problems will appeal to readers, get shared, garner high search rankings and fill your list with loyal subscribers.”

Top 10 Social Media Blog Nomination: Jay Baer says Pushing Social is "always topical, not afraid to tackle big issues, prolific, interesting and useful."

#11: Know Your Goals and Stick to Them

Tom Webster, author of BrandSavant, recommends:

“In a lot of ways, I’m the last person on this list you should ask about growing subscribers. While mine have grown considerably over the past year, BrandSavant certainly doesn’t attract the kind of traffic that some of the other Top 10 Blogs do.

I marvel at the ability of people on this list like Jay Baer have for not only producing quality content, but producing it prolifically!

If I could offer some advice, though, it would be this: know exactly what you want to accomplish with your blog, and do not waver. I don’t have advertising on my blog, nor do I have any information products or reports to sell. So traffic does little for me.

I get paid when people hire me to ask smart questions and develop insights around the answers. So I made up my mind early on that I would not be a curator of content (which is a fine approach, of course), but would only author my own original insights, and I would only hit ‘publish’ on things that I am proud of that adequately represent the quality of my thinking to prospective clients.

Some weeks I get two or three posts up; others (like this week!) only one. What I’ve found from this approach is that often when I first publish a post it may or may not get traffic immediately. People might click over from a Twitter link, see some gigantic discourse and not read it right away. But they come back to it—sometimes weeks or even months later. That’s when I know I’ve accomplished my goal.”

Top 10 Social Media Blog Nomination: Eric Boggs says BrandSavant is his favorite social media blog by far because "Tom is a brilliant marketer and he always publishes high-caliber and thoughtful content. The comments are usually just as good as the content, which is the hallmark of a quality blog."

#12: Deliver as Promised

Lee Odden, author of the TopRank Online Marketing Blog, recommends:

“The most important thing a blog can do to grow subscribers is very fundamental: give readers a great reason to subscribe every time you publish.

That means making a promise about what you’ll deliver (promotion of your blog overall as well as promoting individual posts) and keeping that promise (great content that leaves readers satisfied and wanting more).

There are numerous functional ‘tricks’ like using plugins that detect new visitors and then solicit them to subscribe or contests that incentivize subscriptions. To build real value among a community of readers and inspire buzz about your blog, being able to ‘deliver as promised’ goes a very long way.

Social Media Examiner and the Top 10 Social Media Blog winners do this very well. They understand who their audiences are and make an effort to both create and promote great content on a regular basis.”

Top 10 Social Media Blog Nomination: Stacey Acevero says Lee Odden and TopRank blog "research and provide some of the more technical aspects of social media, such as SEO."

#13: Give Each Reader Opportunities to Interact With You

Jay Dolan, author of The Anti-Social Media blog, recommends:

“Always remember the little people. You can’t build your readership one reader at a time. That method, while it sounds nice, is too slow and time-consuming. You have a life off of the Internet and you can’t spend your days coaxing one or two new readers.

However, you can give each and every reader a chance to interact with you and make that interaction special and memorable. Not every reader will take that chance, but when it happens and you exceed their expectations, you’ll gain a reader who will bring more readers than all of your efforts to court one person.”

Top 10 Social Media Blog Nomination: Christine Choi says "The Anti-Social Media blogger Jay Dolan provides regular posts that are witty, fresh and relevant. And it's very evident that he cares about his readers and has made many efforts to initiate dialogue and create productive forums for social media haters and lovers. In a culture that is increasingly embracing, testing and reinventing our notions of "social media," Jay consistently leaves his readers with questions and ideas to chew on in regard to how that media is reshaping old conventions or reinstating new ones. And he draws his own illustrations, too. You can't find that kind of heart everywhere."

#14: Ask for Subscriptions at the End of Your Article

Jason Keath, president of Social Fresh (a social media education company), recommends:

“Prominently place the subscription form. If it’s above the fold and the clear call-to-action on the page (the CVI, center of visual impact), then people will see it more and in turn subscribe more. This same concept holds true for pop-up subscription forms, but I rarely advocate these, as they are usually an annoyance to the user.

Emphasize email, not RSS. More people know email and check it daily than RSS. And if someone really wants your RSS feed, they’re used to looking for a smaller RSS icon.

Ask for subscriptions at the end of an article. If a reader makes it to the end of the article, he or she has gotten value and will be more likely to sign up for more.

Post daily, or at worst on a regular schedule. People subscribe to a regular schedule of content and daily blogs get way more subscribers.”

Top 10 Social Media Blog Nomination: Brandon Uttley likes Social Fresh because "it's full of timely and actionable social media information, aimed at business professionals.

#15: Place Your Subscriber Box at the Top

Mack Collier, author of the popular MackCollier.com social media blog, recommends:

“My best tip is to move the subscriber button/box to the TOP of the blog, or at least make sure it’s ABOVE the fold. I did this on my blog and instantly noticed a 30% increase in email subscribers.

It also helps if you have a Google Reader button at least, in addition to the standard RSS button.”

Top 10 Social Media Blog Nomination: Jonathan Saar says Mack Collier "creates great discussion, is very much engaged with his readers and his content is supremely timely and helpful."

#16: Offer a Benefit

Ricardo Bueno, author of the popular RicardoBueno.com social media blog for real estate and small business, recommends:

“Offer a free eBook. Don’t know what to write about? Well, what’s your blog about? Think of ways to share some of your best ‘how to’ content.

For example, I author a blog on social media for the real estate industry. So last year, I interviewed eight top real estate bloggers on their methods and techniques for building a successful real estate blog. I compiled these interviews into an eBook that I could give away for free and offered it to my opt-in subscribers (I had 73 subscribers in the first day).

If you use AWeber to email your content, you can easily set up a follow-up email with a download for your PDF. If you’re using FeedBurner, you might try the RSS footer plugin to provide a download link for your PDF.

Bottom line is to offer a benefit (something of value) to people who subscribe. Then, deliver good content consistently to keep their attention.”

Top 10 Social Media Blog Nomination: Adam King likes Ricardo Bueno's blog because he "cuts through the BS, gives you the foundations of effective social media practice and helps the newbie get off to a great start."

#17: Let People Follow You in the Way They Prefer

Kristi Hines, author of the popular social media blog Kikolani, recommends:

“My best tip for growing blog subscribers is not to focus so hard on forcing readers to pick one particular method of subscription, but give lots of options.

Personally, I subscribe to different bloggers in different ways including via my RSS reader, email and StumbleUpon. For some blogs, I know I’ll want to share their content with my followers, so I ‘subscribe’ to them by setting up their RSS feed in Twitterfeed to automatically share their latest posts on my Twitter account.

If you want people to follow you, let them follow you in the way that best suits them. Make sure links to your RSS feed, subscribe via email, Twitter, Facebook fan page and other social networks where you update your latest posts are easy to find on your website. The top spots would include your sidebar and the end of each of your blog posts.

Some other great ways to grow your subscriber list would be to include your subscription links in author bios for guest posts, social networking profiles, email signatures, free reports/eBooks and pretty much any other place where you can insert them. The easier you can make it for readers to find your subscription links to your blog, the more subscribers you will gain.”

Top 10 Social Media Blog Nomination: Sarah Arrow says Kikolani "is very useful and well thought out."

Now It’s Your Turn

These tips are the beginning of a great foundation to grow your blog audience and blog subscribers.

What do you think? How do you grow your blog subscribers? What other tips do you have to share? Please leave them in the comment box below.

The real question is how many people are buying what you’re selling?

Unfortunately, getting your blog readers to buy what you’re selling, especially if you run an online business, can be difficult.  This article will reveal a proven technique to turn your blog into a sales engine.

If your social media campaigns are not netting you any cash, then you’ll be out of the game in a hurry.

Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are great marketing channels, but the blog is king. If you aren’t setting your blog up to convert when new Twitter or Facebook users come your way, then your entire content marketing plan will be in jeopardy.

So what do you do to overcome this? You not only have to find a way to build in social proof, provide a value proposition, craft an offer and convince readers that your product is worthwhile, but you also have to do it in a way that isn’t pushy, doesn’t confuse people and works for you around the clock.

Sounds impossible, right? Wrong.

This article will introduce the concept of using your blog as a lateral sales page.

Leaving Breadcrumbs: An Introduction

Your blog is your content showcase, but it also does more. It functions as a hidden sales agent, ready to market for you.

If you’re selling something, don’t try to force all of the details on a single sales page, blog post or in an email. Why not take Jeff Walker‘s concept of the lateral sales page (once done via email), and apply it to your blog?

It’s simple, really… Define what your blog needs to accomplish, break it into sections and turn those sections into blog posts. You can use a single post for each goal, or you can take your time and work them in on a monthly basis.

The best part about this is that posts don’t have to be in order because there’s no way you can guarantee people will read them in that order; and furthermore, when you introduce them casually, you don’t raise any alarms. You’ve got your audience where you need them, which is focused and attentive.

By doing it right, you’ll slowly work your way into the forefront of your reader’s minds, without having to force your way in.

#1: Create an Offer

For now, stick to the basics. What are you offering (i.e., what is your product?), how much does it cost and what does it include?

Your Product

If you’re blogging already, then you should be talking about your products anyway, but if you aren’t, then start using your blog as a way to describe and explain what you’re offering.

Is it a physical or digital product? Is it something I can download? What does it look like when it arrives at my door?

This part is all about the experience. Use posts like this to help your readers actually visualize owning the product.

The Price

Although you don’t necessarily need to mention price (it should already be listed somewhere on your sales page or shopping cart), you can mention the factors related to price, such as how your product compares to those of your competitors, how important your ingredients or materials are to the value of your product and why the value of your product is far more than a number on a price tag.

The Package

Your product isn’t just a widget, it’s a package or a bundle, right? It’s not just a digital product, but a system… a whole course.

This is also a great time to talk about upgrades, new releases (great for software), trial versions, improvements and any other changes that you make to your lineup. Introduce new products as they come. Create ribbon-cutting ceremonies. Add some flair and spice it up. Get people excited!

37signals has a dedicated product blog that strategically pitches their products without going overboard.

Check out how 37signals does it.

The goal here isn’t to pitch, but to blog about your offer in detail so that you can eliminate this objection right off the bat. Readers won’t buy unless they know exactly what they’re getting, so don’t leave it up to chance.

Notice the call to action at the bottom of the post? This feeds directly into their lateral sales page.

#2: Create Value

Obviously, if you want to convert a reader into a buyer, you’ll need to convince him that your products are worthwhile. You’ve already done half the work by blogging about your offer, and now you’ve got to work to overcome a few objections.

This is where you get to dress it up a bit. Write posts about why your customers can’t live without your product. Provide examples of people who aren’t using it, but could really benefit from doing so.

Build your authority through informative posts and talk about the need for your services. For example, freelancers create need via detailed posts about how to improve design, how to improve copy, or how to build a better application. Internet marketers do this by talking about what could happen if you followed their system.

Online service companies such as 37signals share “insider” industry information and create not just a following, but also a philosophy around their product offerings. It’s even easier with physical products… The classic “before” and “after” shots in weight loss commercials come to mind.

You get the idea.

Feel free to add a call to action at the end of these posts. If you don’t point to the sales page, then point to an opt-in (continue this lateral concept there).

Again, this is where you talk about philosophy.

Are you green, easy to use, complex, efficient, experienced, and so on? What is it that makes your company tick, how does this feed into your product offerings and why should I buy from you instead of your competitor? You could easily write dozens of posts on these topics alone.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYNssS_DCPo

#3: Employ Social Proof

Social proof is one of the most important aspects of the blogging sales engine. It’s not essential, but it makes your job easier. It’s also something you should be doing on a constant basis because it creates a culture around your products and in today’s market culture is extremely powerful.

Written testimonials are decent. They’re a start. Most people don’t really believe them, but they like to see them. So if you have them, post them on your blog in a place that’s easy to see. If you don’t have any, then get some.

Video testimonials are even better because we get to see a face. It’s closer to being real. I prefer testimonials that are rough and imperfect because let’s face it, if they’re too polished they’ll look like a late-night infomercial. Nobody believes those are real, do they?

Also, interviews work well too. In fact, interviewing customers is a great way for you to put them in the spotlight. Who wouldn’t like to be on the blog of their favorite company’s website?

Both audio and/or video work well, but it just doesn’t have the same effect.

Another tactic is to post photos of your customers, or even better, of your customers with your product in/on hand. That’s about as real social proof as you can get.

Lastly, as we all know, Tweet streams are extremely useful for showing social proof. “Surely this must be good if everyone is talking about it,” right?

Tweetizen allows you to embed streams, as does TwitStat.us. Strategically placed on a blog or sales page, these streams work as street teams for your product, and they do it 24/7.

Artist John T. Unger has 10 pages of customer photos on his homepage.

#4: Take Your Time

Creating a lateral blogging sales page isn’t a one-time thing, it’s ongoing. If you do it right, you’ll always be selling without having to sell, your customers won’t have their guard up and you’ll still be providing useful information. That’s the goal really, to make use of your blog in a way that maximizes your ROI without making you feel like a marketer… even if you are one.

Just remember that a blog exists to serve one purpose, which is to keep your business in the black.

Are you using your blog to sell? If so, what tips have you discovered? If not, what’s holding you back? Leave your comments in the box below.

This article will show you five practical tactics you can employ when writing any blog post. The great part is that you’re going to get it done in less than 15 minutes.

Before I begin, let’s address a horrible content-based epidemic swarming the Internet:  quantity does not equal quality. Most great writers know the importance of being brief.   This does not necessarily mean that you should craft a one-line post, but it does mean you should be value-focused and not length-focused.

Tactic #1: Plan Your Writing

What are people searching for? What interests them? What do they want to read? Figure this out and then develop an organizational format for your articles. For example, my organizational format for this post is:

• Headline
• Question
• Tactics and explanation of tactics
• Conclusion
• Call to action

Tactic #2: Create a Headline Bank

Why do you think most blog posts fail? It’s because the headline isn’t catchy!   People are drawn in by headlines.  Determining the right headline for your post can be the difference between a reader staying or leaving your site.

A headline bank is nothing more than a list of grabbers that will not only save you a huge amount of time in the initial writing process, but they attract your readers to the content. At the very least, your bank should include:

Questions

When you begin by asking your readers a question, they feel as if you are speaking directly to them.  There is much power in asking the right questions.  For example:

• Who else wants to write a great blog post in less than 15 minutes?
• Is your Twitter campaign sinking?
• How do you make the perfect connection with your audience when speaking?

Quotes

Very few bloggers begin their posts with quotes, but they are just as powerful as questions because they add credibility to the subsequent content.  For example:

Nicholas Boothman stated, “The cheapest, most effective way to connect with others is to look them in the eye.”

Short Stories

You can use sentences and phrases as well for story headlines.  Stories do not have to be two or three paragraphs in length. Let’s examine two short powerful story headlines:

• The Runaway General
• A Tale of Two Twitter Users

Statistics

Numbers always gain the attention of your readers and they do it quickly.  For example:

• 100,000 people affected by iPhone 4
• 500 million flock to Facebook

You can easily access ideas from what you already have. Just pick one from your headline vault and get going.

Although you need to have a bank of headlines, you shouldn’t write your headline until the body of the article is complete.  Why?  Because as you write, ideas change and as ideas change, so will your title. Allow the content to control the title.

Now, if you examine this list closely, you’ll have an option for every day of the week. All you have to do is rotate them to fit the needs of your audience. Also, see Brain Clark’s article 5 Simple Ways to Open Your Post With a Bang.

Tactic #3: Time Yourself (Watch the Clock)

Time is the most precious resource we have.

You need to make every minute count.

When I first started blogging, it would take me three hours to write ONE blog post.  Yikes!

Your first task is to remember that perfection is not an option. Don’t spend all day trying to craft the “perfect message.” Create short, comprehensible sentences and step away from the computer.

You may be concerned that people will not read your article because it’s not perfect.  Not true.  Think of progression and not perfection.

Despite all of your perfective tactics, some people will still never be satisfied.  Set your timer for 15 minutes and when it stops, you’re done.

Tactic #4: Use the “Series Approach”

Say you’re planning to write a blog post concerning this topic: 5 Simple Steps to Getting Your Business on Twitter. Instead of packing all five steps into one post, create a weekly series by breaking each main topic down and creating a single post for that topic.  By doing this, you’ll have developed blog posts for a full week:

• Monday: Set Up Your Twitter Account
• Tuesday: Choose Your Twitter Name
• Wednesday: Upload Picture
• Thursday: Upload Your Best Link
• Friday: Write an Interesting Twitter Bio

Now, let’s create a plan with a few tweaks to the article titles.

• Monday: How to Set Up Your Twitter Account to Attract More Business
• Tuesday: 3 Steps to Avoid When Crafting Your Twitter Name
• Wednesday: Using Your Twitter Picture to Attract Targeted Prospects
• Thursday: Link-building with Twitter: Upload Your Best Link for Success
• Friday: How Writing an Interesting Twitter Bio Can Make You Millions

This will keep your readers coming back for each step.  By looking at the titles of the above posts, you’ll be sure to cover only the necessary content that pertains to that headline, meaning that the content will be shorter. Thus you can almost ensure that you meet the 15-minute mark.

Tactic #5: Get to “the Meat of the Problem”

How would you feel if you went to McDonald’s and ordered a quarter pounder with cheese only to walk away with bread and lettuce? You wouldn’t be too happy.  So, keep that in mind when writing for your readers.

They want value, not diluted information.

So don’t get your readers all revved up with a great grabber, neglect the body (being the meat) and skip to the conclusion.  Imagine reading this:

• Introduction: “Are you aware of the fact that 80% of your colleagues spend more than 45 minutes crafting an introduction for their daily blog posts?”
• Body (the meat): Here’s what you should do to avoid this roadblock:  Prepare.
• Conclusion: All you need to do now is click the Join Now button and pay the $99.95/monthly fee.

Wow, what a great way to start a relationship.  Not good.

The point here is that anyone can ramble on and on or even write a brief statement about something that really does not provide value.  If you want people to continue to follow you and your blog, you must provide quality and not leave the bigger needs unmet.

In the above example, the questions that your reader is going to ask are, “How do I prepare?” and “What am I preparing for?” You see, this is the main source, the missing piece to the puzzle that will throw the entire article off into wonderland. Simply put, your readers want detailed solutions to problems.

Creating a great blog post in 15 minutes might be difficult for you at first, but if you focus on providing value, planning ahead while keeping “headlines in the bank,” your readers will thank you every time!

What are your thoughts? What’s your experience?  If you like this article, press the retweet button at the top of the page. Let’s get the discussion going.

How can social networks become useful marketing and operations tools for smaller businesses that don’t have a large customer base?

This question has kept many small businesses from interacting on social networks, as a recent study showed that only 24 percent of small businesses had begun social media marketing.

Here are five tips to optimize your small business’ social networks to attract more customers online.  Small business owners and marketers do not have the luxury of lots of free time to monitor social networks, so these tips are intended to help you be as efficient as possible.

#1: Make Your Profiles About More Than Just Your Industry

While you should be demonstrating expertise on your Facebook fan page and your blog, you should also be adding local context to this information.  What does the information you are providing mean for your specific region?

If you are selling homes, provide information and links about the local area, as well as the real estate you are offering.  As a small business, you are competing against large national news sources, so provide something the big guys can’t afford to give—local perspective.  The Wydler Brothers Realty Team does just that, offering insights on the Washington, D.C. market as well as homes they are offering in the area.

On their blog, Wydler Brothers Realty offers advice on the general DC area, in addition to their expertise in the real estate industry.

#2: Offer Value

By far the most important tip to getting value from social media for your business is offering value to the customers you want to interact with.  First, make sure your social media presences contain all the information a customer needs to find you on and offline, and provide a clear idea of what your business offers.

Second, define what you’ll be offering your potential customers in return for their attention and time.  You can offer promotions or discounts specifically for fans of your Facebook page, for instance. 

If you do not have the budget for special offers, make sure the content you are offering is valuable to the potential customers you are trying to reach.  Envision the need you are filling for the target customer and serve the customer with useful information related to your business or industry.

Rackspace sees high interaction from polls. Smaller hosting companies could learn from what the market leader is doing, and replicate the types of activities that drive engagement.

#3: Show Consistency

Nothing is more likely to reduce the effectiveness of small business social media outreach than inconsistency and spotty participation.  You can’t expect potential customers to revisit your Facebook profile if it is hasn’t been updated in the two weeks since they first visited, or expect them to make a purchase from your Twitter outreach if you only post 2 updates per month.

For example, Naked Pizza, based in New Orleans, messages its followers on Twitter 1 to 15 times per day.  It is now receiving 20 percent of its total revenue from these interactions.

#4: Diversify and Connect

It takes some time investment on the front end, but reaching out on multiple social platforms—then connecting the different presences with the same themes and message—is crucial to reaching the most possible customers on social networks.   You don’t want to replicate the same message on every platform, either.  Though services like ping.fm are great for simplifying content posting, try to add something unique to each social media presence you maintain.

#5: Be Competitive

Observe your competition and their social media activity.  If your business is the only one in your industry and region interacting on social networks, congrats, you’re ahead of the curve.  But more likely than not, your competitors are experimenting on social networks, too.  Observe what they are doing to grow their base.  Which tactics are working?  Which are not?  This is exactly what you’d do in a competitive assessment offline, looking for ways to improve your process by evaluating your competitors.

Remember to stay persistent, as it takes time to establish robust presences on social media sites.  If you act on these five tips in your social media outreach, you will leverage your time effectively, and see improved results from promoting your small business on social networks.

What techniques have been most successful for you on your business’ social media presences?  Which of these tips do you see the most/least potential in?  Let us know by commenting in the box below!

Do any of these sound familiar? “Who has time?” “You expect me to do all this on top of my normal duties?” “How do you fit everything in?” … and so on.

I am not going to lie to you. Social media does take time. In fact, time is going to be one of your major hidden costs of doing business on the Internet.  And for some of us, that time could be wasted if we are not careful.

You need to watch where your time goes to ensure you’re spending it efficiently and with the desired impact.  Here are five tips to help you.

#1: Spend Your Time Intentionally

It’s all too easy to just chit chat, browse and surf, get distracted or feel like we are making progress when really we are avoiding work and using social media “engagement and interaction” as an excuse to procrastinate. There are good conversations and wasteful conversations and you need to decide which is which.

Consider a face-to-face networking event. Do you spend all of your time speaking to one person at that event about the weather, or do you spread yourself around a bit and find new and interesting people to connect with? Are you just hanging out or do you direct your efforts toward a precise tactical aim or specific goal?

You need to know what you are doing and how you are going to measure your success.

How does this help you find time? Well, most businesses and individuals already allocate time for marketing, networking and research. If you know that your social media activities come in under one of those headings, and your efforts in social media are going to achieve equal or better results to other things you could do under those headings, then you are equipped to carve out time to try social media instead.

#2: Carve Out Time Where Social Media Is More Efficient

Because of my social media efforts, I no longer have to pitch, write proposals or go to sales meetings. I have never had to cold-call for my own business, and I do not write competitive bids.

How much time could you save if you didn’t have to do this kind of sales lead generation or closing?

In my previous job, I would have to spend more than six hours in a car just so I could go to one 30-minute sales presentation competing with several other companies with very little differentiation between us. Not only was it soul-destroying and a colossal waste of time, it was actually very ineffective.

I am not saying you will be able to 100% replace your old way of doing things with social media right away, and I would not suggest that is wise even if you could. But you should be able to take an hour or two out of a week to test social media and see how the results look. In fact, combining approaches usually works best, as each technique and medium compounds the results of the others. Reaching prospects through a multi-channel approach is normally much better than the sum of the parts.

The great thing about social media is you can pretty much get involved anywhere and any time.

#3: Use “Dead” Time

How much time do you spend just waiting? I was recently at a conference in Las Vegas and because of the long-haul nature of the travel and the fact that I would be alone much of the time, I did a lot of hanging around and waiting, which I filled with social media. Just think of your average business trip… What do you spend a lot of time doing?

• Flights
• Taxis
• Queues
• Departure lounges
• Restaurants
• Meetings
• Hotels
• …?

If, however, you have an Internet-connected laptop or smart phone, you can at least use some of this time to stay connected, engage with people, write some content or otherwise go from “hanging around” to being semi-productive. If nothing else, you will feel like you are not all alone in the world!

How long does it take to check your messages and send out a tweet, status update, check out a link, or answer a question? Seconds? Minutes at most?

How many times during the day do you get the odd 10 minutes where you are simply waiting?

Even at my desk I have to sit and wait, watching progress bars as something calculates, prints, renders or uploads. Those are prime “check what is happening in social media” times!

What if you find you have more than a few minutes to spare?

#4: Escape, Bulk-Produce, Store Up and Schedule

On those occasions when you have a good chunk of time, make the best possible use of that time and get a power hour of content produced.

• Outline and write a set of blog posts to go out later when you are too busy
• Brainstorm and create ideas, mind map your thoughts and generate headlines
• Plan for the future, write up an editorial calendar, “most like to meet” list or line up meetings with people with whom you have lost contact
• Get organized and make your week more efficient with tasks, to-dos, filing and an empty inbox
• Write out some interesting tweets to go out over the next week so you only have to check in and reply each day

One of my friends “escapes” to the coffee shop a couple of times a week and does all his content creation and planning for that week in those few concentrated hours. Being out of the office with zero interruptions (other than the constant stream of fresh latte) means he can bang out several quality items and his brain cooperates, rather than fights against his productivity with distractions and… Ooh, shiny!

#5: Just Relax

My last point is that this is not meant to be a chore. Nobody is testing you, tracking your use of time or holding you to any grading system. It should be useful and it should be fun!

Aim to build a reputation for being helpful and providing value, and most of all being a real human being. Then people will be much more forgiving and understanding. You do not need to be perfect.

If you do not post an article this week, so what? Your Twitter followers might be concerned if you do not appear for a few days, but they are not going to start saying bad things about you if you are too busy to tweet!

For me, social media is primarily social. It is my coffee break. Yes, I do find it a very effective set of tools for my business, but I also deeply appreciate the people who are at the other end of those avatars and tools. If you keep relationships foremost in your mind and do not treat social media as something you have to do or else, you will have much greater success at it!

What do you think? Have you struggled to find time? How do you find time for social media? Please share your comments below…

Photo by Leo Reynolds