Social Media Marketing: It’s not about you

You can usually tell a newbie on Facebook or Twitter by how often every day they make a pitch about their book or their business. Something really heavy-handed like: “Looking for that special birthday gift? Buy my book!” That deafening silence you hear is everybody ignoring your pitch.
There’s a few things wrong with selling this [...]

February 9, 2010  Tags: , , ,   Posted in: Facebook, marketing, social networking  No Comments

Why I lurk on social networking sites

It’s been estimated that over 93% of people lurk on social networking sites; not participating, just listening to the 7% who are actually taking part in the conversation. I confess to occasionally lurking myself.
I’m really a social person.В But sometimes when I’m on Facebook or Twitter I just don’t feel like chatting.
So, I lurk. Now lurking [...]

December 8, 2009  Tags: , , ,   Posted in: Facebook, social networking, twitter  No Comments

Cool ways to promote on Facebook that’s not really promoting

I know a lot of authors on Facebook, but not too many are taking advantage of fan pages, where you can promote your business or service or book. One of the dilemmas of Facebook is deciding whether you want to focus on personal relationships – family and friends – or friend everyone you can who’s [...]

June 29, 2009  Tags: , , , , , ,   Posted in: marketing, social networking  No Comments

Are we there yet?

Summer always brings back fond memories of childhood summer vacations. Mom, Dad, and the three kids would pile into the loaded car, hit the road, and drive. And drive. And drive. It wasn’t until years later that I realized the purpose of a road trip was to actually periodically get out of the car and [...]

June 15, 2009  Tags: , , ,   Posted in: blogging, social networking  No Comments

Unfriending on Facebook

It began innocently enough. A friend request on Facebook. I saw we had some friends in common, though I didn’t know this person. Why not? I thought, and hit the button to confirm them as a friend.
Then it started. The constant requests to join groups. The multiple invitations to events.В  The barrage of emails. So [...]

May 18, 2009  Tags: , , ,   Posted in: marketing, social networking  No Comments

Social networking: everything old is new again

I was talking to a collegue today about a class we’re teaching on how to do social networking. In the course of the conversation it occured to me that the supposedly “radical” ideas behind promoting your business by participating on sites like Facebook aren’t all that new or radical.
Here’s the basic tenets of social networking:

Make [...]

February 26, 2009  Tags: , ,   Posted in: social networking  No Comments