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| Craig Newmark, owner of Craiglist.org A social media entrepreneur that does more than sit at home all day at the computer in his PJs Image by AP/Stephen Chernin |
So much has already been written on how powerful of a marketing tool social media can be that I don’t want to spell it all out again here. Visit Problogger, Dosh Dosh, and sites like those to learn more.
The major downside I see with social media is how much time and effort it can take to create a profit.
For example, I’ve been seeing a lot lately on how to grow your blog. One of the more popular ways is to comment on other people’s blog in order to get those bloggers to in turn visit your blog and read and comment, in other words, return the favor. This is probably one of the best ways to quickly build your comment section and community.
But as an entrepreneur trying to succeed in business and needing to make money, you have to ask yourself, “so this is a community of what exactly?”
The interesting thing about this is that I’ve noticed when I comment on other’s blogs, many of them will come over and comment on mine ( much appreciated! 
). However, if I stop commenting on their blog it seems they stop commenting on mine.
What does this tell us? Just how targeted is this means of marketing? How long does it take to read 30 blog articles, write your own, comment on your articles and elsewhere, etc.? What is the return on investment? If you’ve put in 5 hours a day blogging only to see you’ve made $20 for the month, that comes out to $0.13 per hour of work working 5 hours a day for 30 days.
OUCH!
If, however, your primary reason for blogging is to create a community and your business path is to simply market your blog and generate some income from there, the above strategy is definitely something you want to do.
The positive side of things is the longer you do this, you’ll end up making more than just $20/month, hopefully.
Other sites like Digg and Stumble Upon are great for getting your blog articles traffic and linked to, but just how targeted is that traffic? Sure the traffic might be targeted for your article, but 9 times out of 10 your blog articles aren’t pushing your product or advertising your services. In fact, authority sites like Problogger show us how we’re not suppose to market directly in social media.
The instant a blogger feels like you’re trying to push your product on them too heavily you risk losing them. When you run a Stumble Upon campaign, for example, the advice is not to push your actual product’s landing page (e.g. web hosting), but rather an article that provides information.
Most people using social media sites are looking for information and news, not a new tea cup.
Investing Time In Social Media Marketing Business-wise
Pros & Cons
By social media marketing, I’m referring to:
- Spending time creating and marketing a MySpace and Facebook profile
- Working at getting your articles popular on sites like Digg and Stumble Upon
- Participating in online forums
- Guest Blogging
- Commenting on other blogs to get more comments on yours
As I see it, these are some of the pros and cons of social media marketing. Can you add any?
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As I mentioned at the top of this article, the main problem I have with social media marketing is time. It takes SO much time to write articles, read blogs, comment, respond, network on social sites, visit forums, etc. I actually like doing those things (to a point), but as the owner of a web development company and a father of two, it’s very difficult for me to justify spending too much time in social media.
I by no means am putting down social media. Heck, when starting our company our primary focus was to not be corporate and to be more social. I took a hint from Craig Newmark over at Craigslist.org. He’s the “band leader” of Craigslist, so to speak. That’s exactly what I’m doing here at WP Blog Host. I give a face and voice to our company just as he does his.
There are of course success stories out there where entrepreneurs invest most, if not all, of their time in social media marketing. The technology is here to stay and I look forward to see where it goes. I think every entrepreneur needs to be a web entrepreneur to some extent.
The Reason For This Article Is This
I don’t want new younger entrepreneurs thinking they can sit at home in their PJs, build a website, and socialize a little on the Internet and expect to become highly successful.
Can it happen?
Sure, anything’s possible.
T Edwards from Poverty101.net said something that made me think in his comment on my last post:
Getting out and pounding the pavement may not fit the internet business plan but there is definitely a need for a lot of behind the scenes marketing, development, programming, monitoring, revising, etc to build a successful online business.
I do agree that this seems to be the “idea” of social media marketing – the idea that you don’t have to go out and pound the pavement. And you can be successful by not doing so. But for me, Craig Newmark is the ideal web entrepreneur.
He socializes online AND pounds the pavement. That’s how you become highly successful. That’s the difference between $150,000 per year profit and $5 million.
In my next article, we’ll take a look at the way old school entrepreneurs did things and what lessons we can learn from them and how it might apply to building a successful business online.
September 26th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
John,
I like the look here. Creating presence online requires being social. Just like offline. Now that time thing…there’s the trick. If you get that nailed let me know.
September 26th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Hi Janice. Thanks for the compliment, it’s nice to get some feedback.
About the time trick, yeah when I’m done building my time machine I’ll send you an email and maybe we both can get a lot more done in 1 day! LOL.
September 28th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Hi John – I know where you’re coming from. I think a lot of folk use social media and commenting to drive traffic to their blogs. But that’s not the most sensible way to use it. I try to do a combination of things to get traffic to my blogs. I use the commenting thing and social media to build relationships with folk who’ll eventually promote any product or service I bring out – I hope.
We definitely need to be doing a combination of marketing activities. I can’t understand the folk who don’t even use SEO – it’s a brilliant way to find folk who’re actually looking for what you’re providing.
I’m looking forward to the next part in your series, as I want to start promoting my blog offline. And that will feel kind of weird. I’ve done plenty of offline marketing – but not to promote an online business before.
Cath Lawson’s last blog post..17 Ways To Stand Out From The Crowd
September 28th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
Hi Cath. Relationship marketing has become increasingly easier with the “invention” of the Internet as it is today. It’s a great way to build business on the cheap and can be highly effective, but generally is a bit slower to build a nice income from.
You hit it on the nail about SEO. If you intend on creating an online business and make money online, search engine optimization needs to be near the top of your to-do list. If you run a website or blog in an effort to generate wealth, SEO is a must – and like we have discussed before, it really is quite easy if you stick to a few basics.
As for marketing a blog offline, I’m sure there are many ways to market it, it just depends on what your blog is about. I think it would be better to refer to a blog in the offline marketing world as a “website” as there are still many people who have no idea what a blog is or how it works. We don’t want to alienate them.
Also, referring to it as a “company” and “this is our website” is probably the way to go, but again, different situations can dictate different strategies.
September 29th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
It wasn’t your main focus here, but you hit on something that’s very much been on my mind–the quid pro quo of commenting. Is it really a good use of time to comment on other blogs just so they’ll comment on mine? At this point, I’m heavily leaning towards commenting only when something strikes me as exceptional, not as a matter of course.
I’m interested in reaching people who value my writing for what it is, not for a return favor. We’ll see how it goes, but at this point, I’ve definitely freed up time to add value for 90 percent of readers, not just 10 percent.
Sara at On Simplicity’s last blog post..The Simple Truth? You’re Complicated
September 29th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
I know what you mean, Sara. I just finished and posted my next article on this subject and I talk a little about why we start a business. Commenting on blogs back and forth has value, yes, but is it working for you in achieving your goals – and the other person’s as well?
It’s just one of those things you have to evaluate.
For me, I know there’s tons of great info out there and really nice people I’d like to get to know, but I have to manage my time in a way that will allow me to reach my goals.
September 29th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
Just stopping by to comment.
I’ll sacrifice sleep to visit a few blogs and comment. People matter.
Jamie Simmerman’s last blog post..Pick the Brain of Harrison McLeod of Men With Pens
September 29th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
Hi Jamie – thanks for stopping by, I appreciate the comment.
I know what you’re saying. Of course people matter. I too sacrifice to read and comment on blogs, it is something I do, just not as much as full time bloggers might and I continue comment on other blogs with no requirement that the other blogger comments on mine. That’s because their blog is more along the lines of my interests.
What really got me thinking about this was when the other night my wife told me while I was in my office stumbling and commenting on blogs, “Hey, are you gonna come in here and visit with me at some point?”
But the real question is, what are your goals? Can you run a full time business and afford comment swapping just for the sake of it?
Would those people be upset because they comment on your blog all the time but you don’t comment on theirs? Should they be?
September 30th, 2008 at 8:52 am
Yeah, it needs a lot of time to do it but if you do it correctly, there are plenty of $$$ waiting for you to grab
Edward’s last blog post..How to Hack MSN Live Messenger Users Accounts & Password
September 30th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Hi Edward. True, if you have drive, determination, and a good plan, you can be successful in just about anything.
WpBlogHost uses social media marketing – more so than I believe most other hosting companies do. We participate in forums, other blogs, I’m an active user of StumbleUpon, YouTube, run my own blog, etc.
I by no means am trying to make a point that one should avoid social media marketing and use traditional methods, far from it.
But I feel and know many entrepreneurs who rely on it solely, and that’s not good. Like I mentioned above, do you want to make $150k or $5 million?
October 4th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
John,
I have to agree with Jamie. People matter. My husband MATTERS. My children MATTER. Even my sleep MATTERS. Do other bloggers matter, of course! But this shouldn’t be perceived as High School – I called you last, so it’s your turn to call me next. That IS a way of building relationships – ones that tend not to last.
I agree with you and I agree with Cath. Blogging “returns” are multi-faceted. I just completed a seminar on SEO, and it will be changing my ENTIRE view of blogging.
Perhaps it is the people who are trying to “sell things” rather than offer blogging tips or good writing who wish to get into the “tag, you’re it” game. They should have websites, NOT blogs!
Rita
Rita’s last blog post..The Night We Had to Send our Daughter to Jail
October 4th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Hi Rita. Some good points there.
Yeah it pretty much all boils down to what you want to do with your blog – generate an income or build a community of people who swap comments. Sure you can do both, but I doubt you could be highly successful in the profit area.
And yes . . . people always matter.
October 9th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
Blogs can be very power tools if they are used to promote your company and or products.
I’v learned from first hand experience that offline marketing combined with a well-framed
online prescence can help you enourmously.
I agree, blogging (for most of us) is extremely time consuming.
Try to blend your blog time with other activities out the web space if you are in business.
If you get soaked up in blogging, you can lose your shorts; be careful and balance your commuincation activities out.
Mike in Las Vegas – one of the toughest markets to sell in North America.
October 9th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
Hello Michael and well put. It’s a good blend of online and offline strategies that work best. Of course for those with very little (if any) start up capital, online is a great place to start.
February 12th, 2010 at 11:22 am
Thanks for this post. It’s an interesting one. I don’t know though. I heard social media strategist Ja-Nae Duane speak (Http://www.Ja-Nae.net) earlier in the week and she essential walked through what strategies work, things to consider when getting started, how to stay motivated and on track. It seemed to make sense.
What I like about this post is that it makes me think. At the end of the day, we decide on which habits we develop and bring to the table. I am not sure that a medium can decide that for us.
February 14th, 2010 at 5:33 pm
I don’t expect anyone to comment on my blog if I comment on theirs, but it’s nice when it happens if it’s sincere.
I know that it’s supposed to be ‘good’ for marketing purposes to find high PR blogs to comment on, or dofollow ones, etc. but I just can’t bring myself to be unnatural like that – base my decision to comment on that alone. When I leave a comment on a blog, it’s because I’m interested in the content of the post or the site overall. I’ve passed on leaving comments on high PR blogs many times because I didn’t like what I was reading on whatever site it was. That is a no-no according to some of the pros but I don’t care, I don’t want to be fake.
I usually find blogs to comment on quite easily – several a day – because I research many things, in many different niches, so I’m frequently searching for answers to things that interest me, benefit my business, etc. Commenting is therefore a natural thing for me to do – a way to say thanks to the blogger when I find helpful information on their site. It only becomes a time drainer if I feel like I ‘have’ to find a blog to comment on for promotional purposes because I haven’t done it for a few days. I will still be honest and not comment on sites that I don’t like, but searching for blogs when I don’t really have something specific to search for is draining.
A natural search for hard to find answers to a few questions I had is how I found this blog. Thank you again John.
Lillea Woodlyns´s last blog ..WordPress eStore, Affiliate and Membership Site Plugins
February 15th, 2010 at 8:53 am
Same here, Lillea. I can’t seem to force myself to visit and comment on blogs just because they are high PR, it’s got to be because either I enjoyed the article or find something interesting.
I do admit, though, that I’m the type of blogger that many times will read blog articles and not comment. I suppose it’s not the best way to go about community and marketing building, but it’s what I do.