Is Social Media Really Important With Having a Blog?

Do Not Under Estimate the Importance of RSS ReadersSet up an RSS feed:

1. RSS feeds benefit publishers by letting them syndicate content automatically at the same time as benefiting readers who want to subscribe to timely updates from preferred blogs or websites.
2. In essence what happens is all those feeds from as many sites as you chose to draw from come into one place where the reader can view them all.
3. RSS feeds are read using an “RSS reader”. A user subscribes to a feed by clicking the RSS icon in a web browser. cursos de animacion 3d . The RSS reader checks the user’s subscribed feeds regularly for new work, downloads any updates that it finds, and provides a user interface to monitor and read the feeds.

It’s a good idea to start social book marking your stuff’ including all your videos and your high value blog posts.

This will open up channels to your website creating back links and visitors; examples of social media book marking sites include: Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon,Google buzz, del.icio.us, Mixx, Fark, Clipmarks, Newsvine, Propeller, Mister Wong, Blinklist, and faves; but there hundreds more.Now I know that most of these sites are US based but UK people do use them. As far as I can tell there are few if any of note specifically focused on the UK.

Your Blog should be integrated into all aspects of your social media initiatives;

1. Every post should be promoted via twitter;
2. When videos are included in a post each should be uploaded to the main video upload sites,
3. All your blog posts with video should be posted to facebook and LinkedIn social media sites,
4. And if its of real interest you should make a Pod cast of the blog post video and up load it to the main Pod cast channels although for the minute its itunes that is the most important

One important guideline is that a significant percentage of your blog posts should include a short video, with commentary. The commentary should be a repeat of the same information presented in the video; its for those that prefer to read quickly, including giving any links that are mentioned in the video,One of the most frequent questions about blogging is this:What is more important the quality of the content of a blog or the frequency of the updating of the blog itself? i.e. do we go for a few infrequently placed really good articles or loads of average fare? Now of course frequency is an issue and it is important. Who wants to repeatedly go back to a blog and see very little that is new? Nobody! If you do take this approach then you’ll quickly find that the few that come in the first place start coming back fewer and fewer times if you’re not updating.So, if you want regular visitors, whom you’re seeking to build rapport and relationship with, you must keep updating regularly.But above all else,, whether considering the blog from the readers perspective or the search engine’s, it’s the quality of the material that is by far the most important factor in your success.This is where most go wrong and loose what following they have built because the substance in the blog just isn’t there to warrant repeat visits from members of social media sites.This means whether you use a daily, or a once or twice a week or a twice monthly blog update regime this is far less important than only Blogging when you have something relevant, valuable, timely or interesting to say to those you’re targeting.The upshot of all this is that you must keep on top of your Blogging:

1. You must be doing your research; you must be developing new or fresh insights;
2. You should be shaping up interesting angles;
3. You must be posing questions to stimulate debates and new threads at social media sites;
4. You need to get off the fence and polarize folk into taking a position;
5. You need to be providing an insider’s perspective, developing an angle, or taking a stand, whatever it takes to be someone people appreciate hearing more from.

The adoption of such a tack will mean your blog will get backlinks, people will respond and make comments; people will quote your stuff’ and it will be seen as useful and worthy of future visits.The result your market profile will become ever stronger, you will enjoy better search engine rankings people will see you as someone with something say; people will start to appreciate your worth and a whole new world will open up.A problem for some firms that have started using Blogging and the social media is their failure to manage it as a means of attaining beneficial results.Jumping into Blogging & social media initiatives without knowing what clearly defined benefits you seek to attain is a totals waste of time. as usually this means that little will achieved as there is no focus in what you’re doing and no integration in the campaign context with other social media sites.Real value must be defined from both the client’s and the firm’s perspectives.There is no purpose in doing something that will take time and resource if its not clear why you’re doing it, how all parties will benefit and where should be the focus to achieve the desired benefits.For example For your firm the benefits of your blogging and social media activities might be

1. To improve the service innovation process by encouraging customer input;
2. To build trusting relationships with prospects that translate into new client contracts;
3. To identify service short falls via client feedback;
4. To understand what people think of you and what is being said about the firm in the local context;
5. To connect and build relationships with other firms that result in JVs or new business;
6. To get happy clients to become advocates of the firm;
7. To reinvigorate past clients to use the firm once more; or
8. To build must use status for the firm in its area of expertise or To build go-to status for the firm’s business leaders

Then from the client’s perspective the benefits might be:

1. The provision of excellent quality information communicated in ways and at times when they want to receive it;
2. To gain the feeling that the organization values and really cares about them;
3. To enjoy a great experience when interacting with the company;
4. The ability to affect how a service is being marketed or created thus giving a feeling of contribution and involvement; and
5. They can enjoy special Offers and promotions which they take exclusively through the social media channels they like to use or at the blog.

These may or may not be specific to your clients as there will be hundreds of objectives and resultant benefits arising from the effective use of the social media sector by sector, practice by practice.The key here is actually setting up these value statements so that you have a clear idea in what areas and how, the firm its partners, prospects and clients who are consuming your materials and entering into dialogues with you are benefiting.Why?Because herein lies the raison d’etre for committing too and implementing your Blogging programme and your social media plan.You can see many more articles like this at our Online Video for Professionals blog.Stephen Kember is Proprietor at Online Video For Professionals; a firm dedicated to supporting the business owners of professional services firms in the UK and France with their online marketing using online video and the social media to establish relationships, build trust and get more of the right sort of clients.

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