News flash! Social media strategies don’t have a magic formula…

That’s right. There is no hidden elixir to ensure success with your social media campaign.

BUT there are absolutely some very basic, yet critical elements which must be at the foundation of all of your social media. (There are also pieces to the puzzle that take a bit more research and know-how.)

Here are just a few to get you on the right track:

Content is king (or queen). Just like in ALL marketing, what you say and how you say it is absolutely vital. There is an art to writing shorter, pithy social media copy. Grab your microscope and make it your business to study how other posts get (or lose) your attention.

Get the most bang for your social media buck. While social media is largely free, there is a cost of time. There are literally thousands of options. Be sure to choose the channels that best reach your target market, leverage your time, and promote your brand.

Get others involved. This isn’t all about YOU. It’s all about ME. Okay, not “me” per se but the “me” in every single human on the planet who wants to know what’s in it for them. Pretty basic human nature. Every good sales person/marketer understands this quality and it doesn’t evaporate just because we’re on a social site. Ask for opinions. Share quotes. Comment on posts.

Don’t sell directly from social media. If you crash into the social media world with your best used-car salesman pitch, you’ll be quickly ostracized by your social media brethren…and rightfully so. Social media is not a tool for selling but a tool for building relationships. (The good news is the sales are a natural progression of strong bonds. BE PATIENT.)

Play nice. Social media lives on for a very long time. Search engines pick posts up. Other people can spread the word about your posts whether positive or negative. Just as if you were face-to-face with a person from your community rather than behind a keyboard, treat them the way you’d like to be treated.

If you’re still baffled by how to set up a powerful strategy in your business using social media, by all means consider joining me for an in-depth workshop called, Social Media Strategies to Build Your Community, Expand Your Brand & Connect with Your Target Market.

It’s a 4-week webinar series that starts Wednesday, March 10 at 1pm PT/4pm ET.

Yup, it’ll be recorded if you can’t make it live. Check it out here at www.RedHotSocial.com. Trust me, I’m not holding anything back on this training. Hope to see you there. Meanwhile, if you have any comments about how YOU use (or would like to use) social media, please add them below.

And if you have any questions, let us know at www.RedHotHelpDesk.com.

Just like you, I hate being marketed to. Every day we’re bombarded with over 3,500 marketing messages. (That’s an old stat from about 3 years ago…no doubt it’s at least tripled by now.) And frankly I’m sick of it! But blogs are different. Blogs are a two-way conversation between blogger and bloggee (plus all the readers in between). Through commenting and cross-linking, you can share feedback. You can build your network. You can become, dare I say it, an Internet celebrity!

See blogs add humanity and instantaneous expression to the web. Like ezines, blogs are a way for your customer to get to know you.

However, unlike ezines, blogs help you with search engine rankings. Did you hear me? I said, unlike ezines, blogs help you with search engine rankings. That’s a big one.

Entrepreneur Magazine, Business Week, even the FCC (Federal Trade Commission) all believe blogs are here to stay. Recently Michael Powell, chairman of the FCC, started one. His initial post drew over 30,000 readers. And filmmakers are using blogs too. Michael Moore built a blog to promote his controversial movie, Fahrenheit 9/11. As did makers of the hit movie, The Dark Knight.

But who has time to read a blog anyway? Exactly! The job of a blog is to cut through the information overload and deliver searchable, relevant and current content. BlogAds.com recently conducted a survey of over 17,000 blog readers. Here’s what they report:

readers appear united in their dissatisfaction with conventional media and their rabid love of blogs.

Don’t you want to be a blogger too? How about looking at some samples of the good, the bad and the bizarre?

Model citizen blogs: http://vivavisibilityblog.com – Nancy Marmolejo is a genius at using social networking for maximum visibility.

http://www.income.com/blog - John Reese’s blog. Hey, the guy just made $1,080,496.37 online in a single day. Here’s a good rule of thumb. If Reese is doing it, you should be too.

http://www.michaelport.com/blog - Michael Port’s blog does a great job of cross-promoting his products while providing useful content.

http://www.theroadtofabulous.com – Sandy Grason’s ‘Road to Fabulous’ uses photos and video to bring her stuff to life and make us envy her.

Bizarro Blog: Jeff Bridges’ site is considered a “blog.” It’s hand-written! (Yes, really). http://www.jeffbridges.com

My website www.red-hot-copy.com has been down for three long days now. That means no online sales. That means no email. That means brand, spanking new web surfers looking for information about copywriting pull up a “Page Not Found” when they Google my website.

I am not a happy camper.

But life goes on. It has to. So how can an Internet marketer run an Internet business without a website? Here are a few workarounds to keep you in business while things get straightened out.
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Blogs Are the NEW Secret Weapon for Reaching Your Tarket. Just like you, I hate being marketed to. Every day we’re bombarded with over 3,500 marketing messages. And frankly I’m sick of it! But blogs are different. Blogs are a two-way conversation between blogger and bloggee (plus all the readers in between). Through commenting and cross-linking, you can share feedback. You can build your network. You can become, dare I say it, an Internet celebrity!

See blogs add humanity and instantaneous expression to the web. Like ezines, blogs are a way for your customer to get to know you.

(more…)