I’ve sold 10 books this month, and not once have I mentioned any of them in my Blog posts or elsewhere (with the exception of one Tweet that I can remember.)
The point is this: When I got started with Social Media, I read books like Crush It! and read Bloggers like Chris Brogan and David Meerman Scott first. I watched Gary Vaynerchuk’s insanely entertaining and inspiring videos to learn how the Social Media game is played. And these guys taught me this:
Thank You Economy. One of Gary Vee’s favorite phrases is the “Thank You” economy. I try to follow this rule by creating really good content and giving it away for free. No strings attached. People say “thank you” by supporting my brand, my “stuff” as it were. Even if that means buying novels I wrote about baseball, golf, time travel or a book of personal essays from my days as a syndicated columnist.
Pull, don’t Push. You pull people into your Blog with amazing content, Tweets, comments on others’ Blogs, YouTube videos, etc. Once people land on your Blog and see they really like what you have to say, they tend to support you and your products. I literally bought a book (Socialnomics) based off a cool YouTube video. Author Erik Qualman didn’t say “Buy my book!” anywhere in the video, but the content was so well done I knew I wanted to hear more of what this guy had to say on Social Media. Same with Gary V, Brogan and David Meerman Scott. I’ve bought their books, read their blogs and (perhaps most important) spread the word about them to all my friends and colleagues in PR via Social Media channels and regular conversations.
The Brogan Rule. Chris Brogan is great at practicing what he preaches – constantly pointing out cool stuff other people are doing. On the surface, it seems silly for Brogan to be driving eyeballs off his Web site to another blogger (sometimes a competitor!) or Social Media guru, but Chris has it figured out. (A) His content and talent speaks for itself, and he doesn’t need to toot his own horn. Others will do it for him. (B) He’s so passionate and on the ball with Social Media trends and thought leaders that I know as a reader of his I’ll always get the biggest scoops and coolest new ideas – even if they aren’t Chris’ to begin with. That makes me a loyal Brogan follower and brand supporter.
Be authentic – or else. We all hate a phony, and heaven knows Social Media (especially the Twitterverse!) is filled with self-promoting loudmouths offering yet another Amazon link to their books disguised as a Tweet or telling everyone how their new moneymaking program will have you earning thousands from your office chair in mere minutes. I think it’s awesome that the more honest and authentic a person is on Social Media, the better he or she seems to do. Not only does it resonate with readers/viewers/followers, but it reveals your true personality and style – which to me is what separating yourself from the rest of the Social Media pack is all about!
The lesson is this: Social Media success is based upon creating and/or pointing out really useful, cool and helpful content, and sharing it in a way that makes it (A) Easy for others to digest and (B) Easy for them to pass it on. How do I know it works? Look at the screen grab above! I haven’t lifted a finger with any direct book marketing this month, and I’ve sold 10 books in 15 days! Sure, I won’t be bumping Stephen King off the bestseller lists anytime soon, but it’s enough in royalties for a nice night out with the family.
How about you? What Blogs do you follow? Have you experienced the “Thank You Economy” or see The Brogan Rule pay dividends with your own brand/product?
Are you building up your immunity to ensure you don’t become irrelevant in this new world order? I say it all the time – the introduction of Social Media is akin to the invention of the telegraph, telephone and television all rolled into one. Your job is no longer confined to the four walls of some faceless corporation – thanks to Twitter, YouTube and the rest you have the ability to become a global business player. Your time and talents can be viewed anywhere, anytime using Social Media. You business network of trusted contacts can literally span the globe and number in the millions. There is no limit! If you don’t believe me, ask this guy or this guy.
How’s your personal branding process going? What’s working? What isn’t? Share your ideas in the comments!
Chris Brogan wrote a nice post today on Social Media and time management. I thought’d I’d share a few of my own as well. In general, I’m coming to believe I have to spend less time trying to read/react/respond to every single item vs. thoughtful engagement, content creation and following. To build strong and steady instead of fast and loose.
Here some some of my thoughts/tips on Social Media and time management:
1. Google Reader is a great way to gather all your “must reads” in one place via RSS feeds
2. I’m liking the new Mac App Socialite to manage multiple Twitter accounts on my desktop.
3. Give up “guilty pleasure” or “fun” reads and feeds if they don’t directly relate to your work/goals of the day. They are total black holes.
4. Use Twitter lists so you don’t clog up your stream with Serial Tweeters. (Those guys are rapidly becoming my pet peeve on Twitter!)
5. Engage and be authentic on a strategic, individual basis. Build your network one person at a time rather than trying to slam everyone with generic “thank yous” for follows/etc.
6. Utilize as many of the multi-posting software tools as you can so that you write a post once and get it pushed out to your Twitter feed/etc. so you don’t have to take any extra steps. For instance, this feature is built right into my WordPress options – I simply have to enable it.
7. Take the time to comment on Blogs and to post insightful, non-shill comments. Earn your traffic!
8. Make pumping out new, awesome content on a regular basis a top priority. You ARE your content, so it should come before anything else.
Mashable has done its first ever video book review, and I have to say it’s pretty cool stuff. They manage to bang through five Social Media books in under 10 minutes, offering key insights from each one. Ten minutes normally feels like an eternity in the world of watching videos online, but I found it fast-paced and interesting enough to watch it all the way through.
Now, I haven’t read all of these books, but have a copy of Trust Agents on the shelf I want to get to, and I bought the Vook version of Crush It!, which I’ve enjoyed immensely on my iPhone. Gary Vaynerchuk is a marketing dynamo and it’s impossible not to love his passion, authenticity and enthusiasm. The overwhelming message of Crush It! is daunting but true – to emerge on top, you will literally have to work your face off, pounding on the keyboard until your wrists throb and your eyeballs bleed. But Vaynerchuk is living proof you can get there if you want it badly enough. Crush It! gives a nice synopsis of his amazing American 2.0 Success Story while also sharing the key tenets (create incredible content around the things you love and are passionate about, serve/share others and engage in the virtual communities built around that subject matter like nobody else) you’ll need to succeed.
I’m also definitely going to pick up The New Community Rules as it sounds like that book is loaded with practical tips and strategies that you can start applying immediately.
What I love about Social Media is how cutting edge all of this is. It’s communications, marketing and PR on steroids. It’s akin to how the invention of the telephone changed communications in the United States. It’s that big of a deal, and if you are in any way, shape or form involved in communications, marketing or PR and NOT using Social Media, you are like a dinosaur stopping for a sip of water at your own personal La Brea Tar Pit.
