Mick Say: Online Marketing Strategy

Digital Marketing as a broad term is about “Marketing”
My Definition of Digital Marketing “identify what the customer wants and then deliver a more than adequate service to them which meets their want and needs and to do this at a fair price”

Digital Marketing and Social Media Technology
Those who seek to leverage Social Media and Digital Marketing for business benefit will need to know firstly which tools to use in order to be productive and secondly know how to use those tools to engage meaningfully. My first tip is follow those people who specialise in various aspects of Social Media and Digital Marketing.

Digital Marketing and Social Media Experts

I keep up to speed with Social Media and Digital Marketing technology by following experts in the field. People who engage in Social Media and Digital Marketing daily in their business and personal lives.

I follow these people in various places – as an example this is one of my Twitter lists:
Mick Say’s Salt of the Earth Twitter List < click the link to see the list.

These people are my personal fiends, non of whom I knew before my Social Media and Digital Marketing days, I met them all in social networks and we keep in touch via various means.

Online Marketing Academy

I founded the Online Marketing Academy as an extension or satellite business to our business development consulting company and it has grown to such an extent that Digital Marketing consulting and Online Business Development Training and provision of resources is now the main-stay of our business. That is the power of Social Media when approached with knowledge of Digital Marketing tools.

I have to admit to not having read a book for about three years, this is sad I know but I read at least 10 times more now than I ever did before, but this reading is all web based via my PC browser and my iPad.

Writing styles are more relaxed today by most authors and bloggers I read, is this a sign of the times? Is this because more people have access to to write for am audience because of easy access to the internet and social media?

I think that this is a good thing because their content is easier and more fun to read, and as a bonus it makes writing a lot easier too.

How do you stand out from the crowd?

With so much content and competition on the internet how on earth do you write content that people want to read?

Well for starters we need to write content that people want to read. This sounds obvious I know but we need to write content which keeps readers coming back.

When you develop a reputation for writing great content your readers will look forward to receiving your posts and this will encourage them to share it socially as well.

I have never considered my self to be a good writer, but my inbox receives a steady and growing stream of new business and my requests to speak at events is growing rapidly, so I must be doing something right.

My formula for blog and website copywriting

Firstly I have pledged just to be myself I have me own writing style which is far from academic but it reflects who I am as a person and as a professional.

My top tips for writing compelling website content:
• Be your self and develop your own style
• Stay on subject, don’t dilute your message by going off topic
• Write as regularly as you can a minimum of one blog per week
• Keep the content focused and simple
• Make sure the content is unique
• Use paragraph titles to attract attention down the page
• Get to the point quickly or readers will get board
• Link through to supporting information on your own site
• Believe in what you are writing and it will flow
• Research your subject if you need to, but keep it authentic to you

Also remember to cater for the search engines as well as people, Google likes great content too. Finally try to mention your business in your blog post if you can do it without boring your readers because you want to rank well for your business name and your subject matter.

Here at the Online Marketing Academy, we write about Digital Marketing, Online Business Development, Social Media and Website Development. There that was (I hope) an effective way to get our business name and subject matter in to the post for the benefit of our readers and the Search Engines.

Thank you for reading this post, you might also like to read one of my previous posts on The Importance of Unique Website Content

If you’re writing a bio for a web page, please don’t fall into this trap.

Keep in mind, you’re writing something to showcase your achievements and personality – to persuade the reader that you’re more than just a competent pro. You’re an all-round great person to know and work with.

And that means throwing away the cheesy old CV statements!

OK, so where do you start with an online Biography?

In the modern web sphere, you’ll probably need bios of all shapes and sizes, adapted for your website, blog, networking sites and social media profiles.

Some will be long, some will be short, some will be just a few words. Some will be business-intensive, and some will be social with a businessy twist.

But whatever the platform, the aim is always going to be the same: to add a touch of aspiration and trigger some kind of response.

Before you grapple with multiple versions, here are 6 points to consider:

1. Objective
Specifically, what do you want the reader to do once they’ve read your bio? Click onto a web page, send an email or pick up the phone? Make an enquiry, take a trial or opt into a list?

Your bio is the tale of your life and work, but it’s there for some deeper purpose – so decide what that purpose is before you put pen to paper.

2. Content
Your bio should answer the eternal questions: who, what, why, how, where and when? If you don’t address each of these, the reader can’t latch on to the real you. So right from the outset, consider:

• Who are you? Jot down your name, occupation and something about hobbies or spare time or family.
• What do you do? What does your work involve – in friendly, layman’s terms?
• Why do people need you? What’s their problem or goal, and why are you the best person to help?
• How do you do it? What’s the approach, what are the hurdles, what sets your methods apart from the rest?
• Where have you worked? List your main clients or employers, with some brief examples of duties.
• When did it happen? List approximate dates for the milestones in your life and career.

3. Structure
Now you’ve got the basic content, think about how you’ll tell the story.

For a ‘micro’ bio, like your Twitter profile, a useful structure would be:

[Your name] is [your profession] who works with [your type of clients] who need [what
you deliver].

Something like that – followed by why and how to find out more.
This structure is also useful for a single paragraph bio, but with the key points fleshed out to reflect more of your skills and personality.

If you’re writing an extended bio, try using a structure like this:

• Paragraph 1: an intro statement: who you are, what you do and who you do it for…linking in to how you do it.
• Paragraph 2: go back in time to the start of your career, and tell the story of how you got to today in 40-50 words.
• Paragraph 3: coming back to here and now, build your credibility. Mention notable speaking gigs, publishing credits, awards or other types of recognition.
• Paragraph 4: beyond work. What’s important to you in life, how do you spend your evenings, weekends or holidays?
• Paragraph 5: call to action. Don’t be tempted to lapse into hype – just make a pledge of what’s in store, and add a link for further info.

4. Style
Bios always read better in the third person – probably because it adds a sense of objectivity. Plus, in the first person, most bios would sound like shameless trumpet-blowing, which is guaranteed to alienate. (We’ve all seen “The Apprentice”!)

So write with an editorial style. But don’t let it get too formal. Describe your work and achievements in the voice that you use with friends or family.

5. Review & Revise
Ideally, your bio will run to 200 – 300 words. But your first draft will probably run to 500 – 600 or more! So go back through it. If you can, set the draft aside for a day or two, to give yourself some distance…then cut any sections that slow it down or feel too much like waffle.

As a rule of thumb, avoid too much detail. The 10 years you spent with your last employer can be summarised in 10 words! That’s fine, because at this stage, no-one wants the full chapter and verse.
Above all else, revisit your original objective. Check through the content and make sure it’s in keeping with the end goal.

6. Is it you?
Maybe the finished work reads well, but is it really you? Is it an accurate summary of your achievements, and does your personality shine through? If the answer to either question is no, there’s still work to be done.

Go back to your list of potential content, and insert what needs inserting. Then tweak the wording, until you get a thumbs up from someone who knows you well.

If you follow these steps, you’ll avoid the bio writer’s usual pitfalls. It’s hard to write dull or naff copy when the voice is authentically you, and you’ve mastered the art of brevity.

For an example great social bio for Mick Say, click here.

To see a more business oriented bio of Mick Say click here:

Short Video – Why Ecademy is my favorite Social Network

Build Strong Business Relationships

To build a strong business relationship, you must first gain trust from one another through having a personal relationship, this is critical before you can expect to move onto a relationship where a transaction or a referral can take place.

Ecademy has particular values we stand by, these are: Openness, Honesty, Transparency, Friendship & Kinship, Winning by Sharing, Connectedness and being connected – the old Chinese belief known as GuanXi. Connecting and Supporting Business People whatever they seek, helping them with new contacts, new knowledge, new prospects, new customers, new projects, new suppliers and new direction in life.

Join my network on Ecademy. > to begin your own Ecademy journey.

Short Video – How to connect to people on XeeMe

Three great Reasons to use Xeeme Social Precence Management

1) Organize your social footprint
Get all your social profiles into one place, one page, one vanity URL (xeeme.com/YOURNAME).

2) Shareing and advocating across all networks
Share your XeeMe wherever you are to make it easy for contacts, friends, reader and everybody else to get in touch with you. Sign comments and posts with your XeeMe URL. Use the little gadgets we provide for your Blog, website or your email signature.

3) Constantly monitor progress and success
Watch the number of visits to your XeeMe. Review the network relevance reports and your social presence reports. XeeMe provides very insightful social presence analytics.

Connect to Mick Say on XeeMe

and Click here to get your own free XeeMe account.

The official Facebook stats page reports that Facebook now has “more than 800 Million active users” and 50% of us log on to Facebook in any given day to interact with more than 900 Million objects (pages, groups, events and community pages).

The average Facebook user has 130 friends and between us we upload 250 million photos per day ! Glad I am not paying that bandwidth bill.

2012 Facebook Statistics

see the December 2011 Facebook penetration for December 2011 in the right hand column below.

World Internet User Statistics

Please click on the region above in the left hand column to see reliable world internet user statistics for your region.

How many internet users in the world?

How many internet users in the world? > According to world internet stats news there are 6.9 billion internet users in the world, and this number is growing rapidly.

What’s Next Event at the ATRiuM University of Glamorgan, Cardiff.

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It started a few weeks ago when I had to take a couple of weeks away from social media and when I returned I felt a little lost and disconnected, you see over the years I have joined literally hundreds of social networks and today I can’t remember when I last engaged with most of them or even remember what most of them are for or about.

This set me thinking that it was about time I formally organised my social presence and I wondered how I could achieve this. I don’t have a list of all of the networks that I have joined and other than my favourite Social Networks which are Ecademy, Twitter, FaceBook, LinkedIn, Google+ and YouTube I don’t really engage efficiently or have a map of where I am active.

Organising and Prioritising my Social Presence

Coincidentally @MQTodd had introduced me to XeeMe a few weeks earlier and I blindly joined without really taking any notice of what it was for. Then it hit me like a freight train, I can use XeeMe to list and prioritise the Social Networks which are important to me and as a bonus I can share this information with my friends and community.

So for the last couple of weeks and over the next few weeks I will register all of my active networks in my XeeMe dashboard and gain control over my social presence. This will help me to prioritise where I spend my available and valuable time.

Powerful Social Presence Analytics

Amazingly I found that my XeeMe dashboard has some very powerful Analytics which allows me to see and evaluate my Social Networks performance a little more effectively.

XeeMe is a very exciting and very powerful aid to developing and controlling my social presence, and the biggest bonus of all is that XeeMe (pronounced See Me) is FREE.

Try XeeMe for free yourself > Get your Free XeeMe account by clicking this link.

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I then reconnected my facebook and within another 24 hours my Klout score raised to 62 – Phew – a dangerous test but one that proves that FaceBook plays a large part in overall social influence, according to Klout.

24 hours after disconnecting FaceBook from Klout

24 hours after re-connecting FaceBook to Klout

Joe Fernandez Said on Accuracy and Transparency:

The subscores contribute to one overall score, the Klout Score. We’ve always been transparent about the various activities that could impact your Klout Score but we now have the power to share the specific actions that are helping or hurting your score. When your Klout Score changes you will be able to match it to a corresponding change in one of these subscores and understand why the change has occurred. If your Score goes up because more top influencers are acting upon your content, we will share that with you.

Please pay particular attention to what Joe said in the last line above
If your Score goes up because more top influencers are acting upon your content, we will share that with you.

Joe Went on to say > Influence is the Ability to Drive Action

The core premise behind our algorithms has always been that influence is the ability to drive action. We have tightened this concept even further in this release. You are not more influential because you tweet or use Facebook more, you are influential because you have an influential audience engaging with your content.

Again pay particular attention the Joe’s last line:
you are influential because you have an influential audience engaging with your content.

So here is my confusion > Klout will reward you with a high influence score if you engage with highly influential people, IE people with High clout scores. But the Juxtaposition is that as a teacher, consultant I mainly engage with people at the beginning of their social journey and therefore I engage mainly with people with Low Authority and Low Klout Scores.

Of course it has been evident that engagement with High Authority people has helped maintain high Klout scores for a long time – but if Klout has “Tightened this Up” then how will I ever get back to my previous Klout Score High of 75? Do I have to ignore my friends with low influence scores ?

Obviously, regardless of the answer I will not do that, but I find it strange that Klout would not measure influence at any “influential level” …

My Recent Klout Journey

On the 18th of October 2011 I had a Klout Score of 75 and then I took 16 days off social media whilst I was travelling Europe and also focusing on client work. During this period Klout made the changes to the PeopleRank algorithm and on the 3rd of November 2011 I had a Klout score of 62 – a huge 13 points drop in my authority?

Was this 13 point drop due to my very much reduced social media activity or was it due to the changes or both? I suspect a bit of both.

As of today 5th of November 2011 – I hope to get back to normal (ish) social media activity levels so we will see how quickly (if at all) I can get back to a Klout Score of 75.

I will keep you posted – Mick