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Top 10 Social Media Tips for Connecting with Non-Blogging Customers

Filed Under Marketing, Successful Blog | 14 Comments

by Scott McIntyre

Scott McIntyre — The Avid Blog Reader Without a Blog

Last week, I discussed the main benefits of building awareness for your blog offline- namely to enhance your own personal reputation within your niche industry, and to increase the visibility of your blog’s brand to the wider offline community.

Many of you are finding that word-of-mouth recommendation still can’t be beaten as the Number 1 way of bringing a whole new audience to your online businesses. Creating a positive ‘buzz’ is a powerful method of attracting customers to your products and services.

The sole aim of this ‘buzz’ is to drive people to your website and then to encourage the individual to take specific action- whether this be to purchase, read, or subscribe.

Increasingly, the ultimate place to generate ‘blog buzz’ is through the use of Social Media. Effective participation on these websites now plays a crucial role in any successful marketing campaign. Social Media is where the ‘It Factor’ is at!

Did you realize that non-bloggers are participating in social media too?

Over the past few months, I have become an active participant on several Social Media sites.

Some — Stumbleupon and Digg — I am particularly fond of. For example, by only being concerned with sharing the best quality content with the community, my Stumbleupon profile has a Google Page Rank 5. Reader recommendation sites such as these allow me to enjoy my own community and to establish authority and trust.

I am beginning to explore others — Twitter, Mixx, and the social bookmarking sites Delicious and Reddit — and become more involved to see what they offer a non-blogging reader.

During the fantastic times I have spent Stumbling and Digging, I have become familiar with how best to interact with these Social Media communities and to maximize the mutual benefits to both myself and my fellow members.

Today, I would like to suggest 10 key tips that will help your blog benefit from Social Media. As the topic is vast with so many facets to cover, entire blogs are devoted to exploring the subject. You might use what I write here to reach more non-blogging customers or to explain social media to folks just beginning to explore how to get more from their blog.

I intend to cover the more basic points below, and would be delighted to write a follow-up article to address any questions you have. It would be great to read your views in the comments section.

Using Social Media: What’s the Buzz About?

“Social media is an umbrella term that defines the various activities that integrate technology, social interaction, and the construction of words, pictures, videos and audio. This interaction, and the manner in which information is presented, depends on the varied perspectives and ‘building’ of shared meaning among communities, as people share their stories, and understandings.” (source: Wikipedia)

Stumbleupon, Digg, Reddit, Twitter, Plurk . . . these are but a few of the Social Media mega sites that are defining today’s Internet and shaping our online behaviour for tomorrow. Quite simply, Web 2.0 and the concept of social community IS the Internet.

This is the arena into which your online business can enter if you want to compete effectively and win the attention and dollars of today’s quality and cost savvy customer. And, even if your primary goal isn’t to generate money, engaging in the Social Media environment has massive potential to expose your blog to a new audience of enthusiastic readers — some of whom may have little experience with blogs.

At its most fundamental level, any specific Social Media website is a gathering of like-minded individuals who have interests in broadly the same range of topics. Furthermore, the community members are motivated to share the best information available with each other.

So, how best can you get involved with Social Media? Here are my Top 10 Tips (they’re in no particular order because each one is important in its own right).

Top 10 Social Media Tips for Connecting with Non-Blogging Customers

Effective participation in Social Media communities can benefit your online business greatly, if you approach it in a carefully planned manner like any other promotional activity. Social Media-astute small businesses can level the playing field and take on the big boys in their industries. We can be fleeter of foot and react to the subtle changes within the Social Media community much more quickly than larger enterprises with their marketing / operational departmental bureaucracies.

Not only can you connect directly with blogging and non-blogging customers and attract new ones, you can also build very useful and productive working relationships and forge strong strategic alliances within your niche.

If you’re a blogger, leave a comment to let me know of your experiences of using Social Media? What advice would you give to use these tool to reach non-blogging customers?

If you’re a non-blogger who uses Social Media (and there are are many), tell them what they can do to engage with you via your Social Media community.

–Scott McIntyre

Related
Week 1: Connecting with the Offline Customer: A Non-Blogger’s Perspective
Week 2: Targeting the Offline Customer: Do You Blog for Non-Bloggers?
Week 3: Reaching the Offline Customer: Do You Promote Your Blog Offline?
Week 4: Attracting the Offline Customer: Why Do You Promote Your Blog Offline?

Attracting the Offline Customer: Why Do You Promote Your Blog Offline?

Filed Under Customer Think, Successful Blog | 9 Comments

by Scott McIntyre

Scott McIntyre — The Avid Blog Reader Without a Blog

Last week, I suggested a few practical methods and communication channels that you might use to promote your blog offline. I was pleased to read in your comments that many of you are trying these technques to achieve great results for your online businesses.

As a number of you are already finding, promotional activities such as talking to local organizations, advertising in offline media, and the use of Press Releases and branded goods can effectively contribute to getting your message in front of the offline customer.

But why would you consider doing this in the first place?

Today, I would like to explore several reasons why it can be of great benefit to build an awareness of your blog in the offline marketplace.

Building Awareness of Your Blog Offline: What are the Benefits?

There are two direct benefits that can be realized by extending the reach of your blog beyond the blogosphere: 1) to enhance your own personal reputation within your niche industry and 2) to increase the visibility of your blog’s brand to the wider offline community.

Both of these positive benefits can be achieved through promoting your blog offline.

Brand Building Through Offline Promotion

Next week, I will be considering some of the ways in which you can use the increasingly popular social media and social networking sites as valuable channels to engage with the offline customer.

If you’re a blogger, leave a comment to let me know of your experiences in promoting both yourself and your blog offline. What results have you achieved? If you’re a blogger who isn’t yet engaged in offline promotion, what questions do you have regarding how to go about it?

If you’re a non-blogger, tell them what they can do to attract your interest in both them and their blog.

–Scott McIntyre

Related
Week 1: Connecting with the Offline Customer: A Non-Blogger’s Perspective
Week 2: Targeting the Offline Customer: Do You Blog for Non-Bloggers?
Week 3: Reaching the Offline Customer: Do You Promote Your Blog Offline?

Reaching the Offline Customer: Do You Promote Your Blog Offline?

Filed Under Customer Think, Successful Blog | 22 Comments

by Scott McIntyre

Scott McIntyre — The Avid Blog Reader Without a Blog

Last week, I shared with you my thoughts on how the nature of your online business will influence any decisions you make as to whether you might consider targeting offline customers. Some of you commented that you are already using a range of techniques to spread your message to the world beyond the blogosphere.

Today, I want to look at some of the practical methods and communication channels you can use to promote your blog, or website, offline. Many of you are likely using some of the methods, while others may want to try the most suitable ideas as new ways for you to reach the offline market segment.

Promoting Your Blog Offline: What are the Benefits?

There are still many people who either a) don’t use the internet regularly, b) have never read a blog, or c) don’t blog themselves. When combined, these groups constitute a sizeable target market.

To connect effectively with these potential customers, it is necessary to engage in some form of offline promotional activity. If your goal is to attract these people back to your blog, then you first need to take your blog to them.

The following list of communication methods is by no means exhaustive. There may be additional ones you are currently using.

If so, it would be great to learn of them in the comments section.

Offline Promotion Methods

The promotional activities I have described above are only a small selection of the methods which can form the basis of an effective offline promotional campaign.

If you’re a blogger, leave a comment to let me know what offline promotional methods you are using? What are your experiences of these methods? If you’re a blogger who hasn’t yet engaged in offline promotion, which of the methods might suit your business?

If you’re a non-blogger, tell them how they can get your attention offline.

Week 1: Connecting with the Offline Customer: A Non-Blogger’s Perspective
Week 2: Targeting the Offline Customer: Do You Blog for Non-Bloggers?

Targeting the Offline Customer: Do You Blog For Non-Bloggers?

Filed Under Marketing, Successful Blog | 30 Comments

by Scott McIntyre

Scott McIntyre — The Avid Blog Reader Without a Blog

In the first part of this series, when I shared my perspective on connecting with offline customers, it was clear from your comments that this is an area of business activity which many of you are keen to develop.

I was also very interested to learn that some of you have already adopted this as a business goal, and are taking steps to focus in on attracting this particular audience - a group that is, I would suggest, waiting for you to find them and to address their consumer needs.

Helping you to grow your online business by reaching out to non-bloggers, is a subject close to Liz’s heart. She previously hosted a lively session on blogging outside the blogosphere with Wendy Piersall which opened up the debate.

Today, I would like to explore a little further the issues behind whether your online business could be profitably served by aiming for customers outside the blogosphere.

The Nature of Your Business: Is Your Audience Bloggers?

Let me ask you whether there are people within your own network of current, or potential, contacts who either (a) don’t read blogs or (b) are not bloggers themselves?

I would hazard a guess that there are.

At first glance, the vast majority of blog readers would appear to be other bloggers. Or, at least, that is the impression I get when I read the comments sections on almost every blog I have visited. The vast majority of commentators have links to their own blogs in their signature.

Either other blog readers without a blog are few and far between or else, as I suspect, they are reluctant to get involved in the conversation.

It’s a missed opportunity whichever way you look at it.

Are other bloggers your ideal target audience?

The nature of your online business will strongly influence any decisions you make as to whether you might usefully channel resources into targeting offline customers as your primary marketing strategy.

If your product or service is aimed specifically at bloggers, it seems entirely appropriate for your business to be aiming for customers within the blogosphere.

If your market offering, however, is non-blogging based then it might be best to look for potential customers offline.

To focus only on bloggers as your target audience is to miss out on an army of potential customers — people with money to spend — who are not aware of blogs (yes, they do exist!) or who do not blog themselves.

Next week, I will be looking at some of the practical methods and communication channels you can use to spread your message to this potentially lucrative, offline market segment.

If you’re a blogger, leave a comment to let me know your views on whether it’s right for your business to target offline customers. If you’re a blogger already targeting customers outside the blogosphere, what are your experiences in trying to attract this audience to your online business?

If you’re a non-blogger, let them know what they need to do to get your attention.
–Scott

Scott McIntyre is a freelance writer based in Scotland, who only recently discovered the wonders of the blogosphere. He’s a writer on a personal mission to live a colorful life, and to write about it along the way. You can find out more at LinkedIn, or be one of the first to follow Scott on Twitter.

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Connecting with the Offline Customer: A Non-Blogger’s Perspective

Filed Under Customer Think, Successful Blog | 42 Comments

by Scott McIntyre

Scott McIntyre — The Avid Blog Reader Without a Blog

It is a little daunting to be out here for the first time, writing in front of you all. But I’m not too nervous because I know that you’re friendly folk. You see, I’ve been waiting around these parts for a few months now, watching what’s been going on with great interest. I’ve mostly remained in the background, only once or twice venturing out into the open space of the comments section.

Then, one day, Liz posed a question on the search for the non-blogging customer, and I just couldn’t stop myself — I bolted from the sidelines and let my presence be known. At last, I had something to add to the conversation! This was an issue that I knew about first hand — for I am one of that apparently rare breed — the avid blog reader without a blog.

When Liz invited me to share with you my non-blogging perspective on the blogosphere, I readily and gratefully accepted. While exploring many blogs, I have studied both the ‘art’, as well as the ‘technical’, aspects of blogging.

I have educated myself on the often bewildering, unique features of blogs. I can speak the lingo — I know what a ‘post’ is, I can explain ‘RSS’ and the benefits of ’subscribing’. Heck, I even get what a ‘trackback’ is!

It’s been rewarding to spend time browsing and stumbling through a diverse variety of web pages as part of my active use of Social Media . . . and I’ve done this without the vehicle of a blog.

Over the coming weeks, I’d like to pass on my observations

Together, we will highlight the challenges involved in finding and attracting the non-blogger back to an online business and find solutions for success.

But, first, let me explain on how I became such a passionate advocate of blogs.

Discovering The Blogosphere: My Journey Begins

Though I’ve always been a keen Internet user, I only clicked on my first weblog in March, earlier this year. Ironically, my introduction to the blogosphere wasn’t by way of a gentle, general interest blog but via the ultimate in “How to Blogs” — problogger.

I was fascinated to read Darren’s clear explanations and advice on blogging, and those of his readers. The more I delved into his archives, the more I realised the tremendous value of blogs. It was like finding a never ending supply of constantly updated magazines, delivered daily to the letterbox of my feed reader.

The biggest revelation was to witness how the audience is able to interact with the blogger, and with each other, through the community of the comments section. By doing so, readers are shaping and influencing the very content itself. I soon went searching for countless other blogs, subscribing to many as I went.

Certain blogs have made my experience easier to our mutual benefit. For example, I am more likely to hang around, or sign up to, a blog that has

It is clear that Liz works hard to ensure that the S.O.B. community here is accessible to everyone regardless of their familiarity with blog ‘netiquette’. That’s the reason why I felt compelled to contribute in the first place.

Back then, little did I realise how enthusiastic I would become about this dynamic medium, and by how much I would want to learn about the ‘mechanics’ of blogging. Nor could I ever have anticipated how strong my desire would be to encourage as many other non-bloggers as possible to discover blogs for themselves.

Why Don’t I Blog?

After espousing the brilliance of blogs, you might reasonably ask why I don’t blog myself. It’s a valid question. The more I read blogs and see their potential, the more I am drawn to becoming an active participant as a means of expressing myself. It just hasn’t happened yet.

In many ways, the very fact that I am writing this post today is a novel idea on Liz’s part. Usually, only bloggers do guest posts.

The best analogy I can use to describe my interest in blogs is to compare it to that of an automobile fan who can drive, but doesn’t yet possess their own automobile. There’s no reason why he or she, can’t become au fait with how a classic engine works or travel round automobile shows, admiring the gleaming models on display.

Just as you don’t have to write for, or own, a magazine to be able to read one, you don’t actually have to be a blogger to enjoy browsing through blogs.

I’m Scott McIntyre. I’m an avid blog reader without a blog.

If you’re a non-blogging reader, leave a comment to let me know you’re out there. If you’re a blogger, what advice do you have for non-bloggers, who want to be part of your blog?
–Scott

__________________
Scott is a freelance writer based in Scotland, who only recently discovered the wonders of the blogosphere. A former policy manager with the Scottish Government, his background is in business and Human Resource Management. Scott’s interest in writing developed when, at the age of just 15 and still at school, he edited and wrote for a newspaper column. He is on a personal mission to live a colorful life, and to write about it along the way. You can find out more at LinkedIn, or be one of the first to follow Scott on Twitter.

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