As a new blogger I have found that my
goal of starting a blog has been way more easier than I thought and
just wanted to share what I have learned in less than one week. This
new goal came out of my new years resolution of not limiting myself
and I made a list of things that I wanted to accomplish or start.
Social media gets a bad reputation for
being gossip central. My thoughts on this is it depends on the
person social media is an extension of a person in all aspects, it is
a virtual representation of yourself. Nothing is in black and white
or set in stone as they would say but these are only my personal
opinions; we as humans are complex beings sometimes we feel like a
nut and sometimes you don't. By the way I like mounds and almond joy
candy bar they combine coconut and chocolate, what's not to like? So
it makes sense that those who are messy people in real life are also
those making mostly messy, gossip postings on social media platforms
or attracting that type of attention.
For a blogger social media is a give an
exchange relationship and the advertising that social media platforms
offer are quite unique. For example if a company does what I call
“brick and mortar” type advertising by doing a billboard of their
blog, the audience would have to either live close enough to come to
it to see it. They would also have to be prepared to jot down your
information or either remember your website address so whenever they
get home they can check you out if they remember by the time they get
to a computer. So for that type of advertising it is stationary and
the audience would have to come to it and write down the address to
view later if they remember. Fliers depending on the business have a
better reach capacity; fliers that are informative about a product or
service and offer something to the reader for taking action usually
get passed around or word of mouth gets spread between a group of
people. A negative of this type would be it is still limited by
being concentrated to a certain area. Social media platforms on the
other hand if worked correctly reaches the whole world or at the very
least people that you would have spent thousands of dollars visiting
each city across the globe presenting your service and knowledge of
any subject matter at hand.
The first YouTube videos that I watch
said to be patient, it takes awhile to get followers or companies
choosing you to do product reviews. So far not sure of what I am
doing I have not found that to be the case. My piece of advice is to
attack any step towards your goal on all fronts instead of that drip
drop strategy. I chose a name and open a account with every social
media platform that I could, I will list them in the order of
importance setting them up:
Email – nearly
everything you do will need a email so that companies and followers
can contact you. You also need it to be notified of any
communication from social media such as someone messaging you asking
a question.
In order for this not to become
overwhelming I would start a system of categorizing your emails so
that they are not all in your inbox asking for your attention at
once. You can do this by adding
folders and for most free emails it is on the left hand side of you
screen.
Doing this will help you delegate your
time better. At least once every two weeks or once a month go through
your emails and make sure you have not forgotten to answer someone or
do a action that you promised. You might have to up the time table to
daily at night, I go through my inbox and use the sweep button in
order to clean out lets say for example a a subscription to a blogger
hat post multiple times a day. Compose a signature and include every
social media that you have a account with, so while someone or a
company is waiting on you to get back with them they can read up on
your material.
Facebook – you can
create another page for your blog through your personal Facebook page
and it will have its own URL. When you first start invite as many
people to check out your new page. Post all other social media
websites in your about me section.
Twitter – This is the
easiest platform to get followers, I did searches of my interest such
as other bloggers, or parents, or companies that I want work with.
Twitter will keep you busy because when someone realized that you
followed them they will message you to thank you and ask you to
follow them back. This social media platform is all about short
messages so you have to be creative about your posting and what
information you include in the about me section. Instead of typing
out the url maybe just say follow me at pinterest, instagram, etc.
Tip: check this daily and send a quick note especially if someone ask
you follow them because they will most likely follow you.
Google plus – Google
has changed the rules and now you have to setup a google plus account
in order to start a new blog on blogger
Blogging platform –
mine is blogger; As long as you have a google plus account (setup a
gmail to use google plus)
YouTube
– this is very useful if you want to review products and you can
also make videos about self-help topics.
Instagram
– This is another platform that has kept me pretty busy. To really
get a understanding of what is relevant and what people are talking
about on Instagram perform a search in the search box of “loop
giveaway” there is usually about 20 in the loop but I have done
some that are about 50 strong and that is just an example of one
giveaway, so you do the math if you did at least 2 a week that grows
your reach by a 100 a week. Blog plugin/advertising - Post a picture
of product review or any image you are using in your blog posting and
in he caption link them to check out your blog.
Pinterest -
Blog plugin/advertising - Post a picture of product review or any
image you are using in your blog posting and in he caption link them
to check out your blog.
Facebook is vital for a blogger just
starting off, I can not emphasis that enough. I joined coupon or
freebies groups in order to find out about free samples and coupon
friendly companies. These groups also have sweepstakes of large
brands posted on their page. Another type of group you can join are
product review groups, companies will approach the administration of
these types of groups and they will make a post. In their post about
the product they will also include any specifics that the company has
asked for, you comment to opt in and they will contact you if you are
chosen. I can not emphasis this enough for these product review
groups follow directions.
In order for all of this to be
seamless, try to use the same name (similar version) for all
platforms except for your blog name or Facebook. As for me I am
Reviews by Jay everywhere so that I am easy to find by potential
followers and companies alike. An example if you are connected with
someone on Twitter and you ask them to follow you on Instagram but
you have a different name and fail to mention that you might not get
followed. Facebook is very easy to find a person or business, there
are many options when it comes to searching but in other platforms
such as Instagram or pinterest or tumblr for that matter its either
you know a persons or business name or you do not.
Another thing for some social media
platforms there is limited space such as twitter, instagram,
pinterest) to post a link to all of your other sites that you are
with, so if you have to choose post your blog address and your
Facebook. Those two have lots of space to list each site you are
with. Test you links to make sure they work, do everything that you
can so to ensure that you are creating a stress free environment for
your viewers.
Most of these tips are for product
reviewers but some tips transcend from product to service, to
lifestyle blogging, travel or fashion blogging. No matter how you do
it repetition is the name of the game when it comes to advertising
your blog, share every new post in every outlet that you can and
periodically like once a month or so put a plugin about your blog,
start with a question ad then ask for a action. Lastly, whatever
idea you have work on it do not let someone else talk you out of it.
The only reason someone is saying that something doesn't work is
because they have not found a way for it to work smoothly. Stay tune
for more advice for a new bloggers that you can actually use from day
one.
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