Social Media Tips

My Top 3 Social Sites

February 9th, 2010 by Ken Pickard

On the third day of the New Year my tribe gave to me…

Three top social sites…

I know what you are thinking, this song sounds familiar. But trust me this is nothing like… Ok it’s everything like that other sign. I give, I give. But you have to admit it’s pretty cool huh.

Ok On with the show!

We all know that social media is the all the rage. There are new social sites coming online all the time. If you Google ‘Top Social Media sites’ you’ll see millions of hits.

Some of the top sites boast populations that dwarf small countries.

It’s hard to say which one was the first social media site since even the term ‘social media’ seems to be changing as fast as the weather. But it’s arguable that Myspace was the first to become a household name, as it grew very popular with the 14-25 year range in a rather short period of time.

There are many resources, thoughts and ideas about how to leverage this behemoth of a medium. With all the various top 10 to top 100 sites which one(s) are right for you. This is a question many people really don’t ask them selves

What is social media and how do I leverage it?

For this post we are going to look at the top 3 sites… my top 3 sites. You may have a different favorite three than I do, but if you want to brand yourself and get your message out there to the world you can not afford to skip these sites.

YouTube… got videos?

Ahhh… video marketing. Even though there are many video sharing and hosting sites You Tube is the daddy. At the end of 2009 almost 23 hours of video were uploaded every 60 seconds. Let’s just pause and reflect on that shall we. Almost a full days worth of video, (1380 minutes) uploaded every 60 seconds.

It is no surprise that fortunes have been made from the power of video. Some of the geekiest videos have gone crazy viral. I’m sure you’ve seen the baby panda sneeze and surprised its mother… Did you share that one, like millions of other people around the world? What about the one where the dad makes the 5 little babies laugh and giggle? Yep me too… past that one around.

But let’s not forget that this is a social site as well. You can; rate, comment, meet, email, share, befriend, watch, discuss, and so much more all late into the night on Youtube.

So here’s a cool tip from a tribal friend Katie Freiling. She shares how this one tip can bring in hoards of traffic to your video. Don’t beat yourself up if you have not been taking advantage of this little gem.

Twitter… What’s with the 140 characters anyway?

If you’re readying this then you probably already know all about Twitter. Twitter has become a household name at 140 characters at a time. But I know there are lots of people who just don’t quite get it. I still hear the questions… “How do you keep up with that many people?” or “it’s to simple, it will never be affective.”

Ok now that YOU’VE picked yourself up off the floor; let’s cover a few issues real quick.

Don’t let the simplicity of Twitter keep you away. I love to tell people my analogy of Twitter and how it relates to the other social media giant Facebook. Twitter is like the front door to a big party. It’s where you do a fast meet and greet and say hello.
Twitter is actually a micro logging site… not a classified ad section. Believe it or not you really want to get to know people BEFORE you pitch them on your business, product, or service. Of course yoyu can through out an money tweet now and then, but the best practice for Twitter is value first, business last.
Be Polite. Do you say hi when you first meet some one. I know that’s a stupid question, but think about it. Take a look at your DM’s sometime. Why do almost all the DM’s say “Thanks… but…” Like here’s a free gift, or check this biz out. The ones I like are the invites to Facebook, or when they tell me a quick joke.

Now were ready to move into a cool tip from another tribe member Michael Feil. Michael shares some great insights on how to sue Tweetdeck.

Facebook… Why 400 Million can’t be wrong

Facebook is “The Big Kahuna” The grand daddy of them all. With over 400 million accounts and over 100 million in the US alone, this sleeping giant who just turned 6 has awakened.

What is it about Facebook that has made so many people come to just hang out for an average of 55 minutes a day? Connecting… games… business? Yes, yes, yes. You can really do it all on this site. This place gives you everything you need and were afraid to ask for. This little application that started out as a way for college kids to stay connected with each other at Harvard went crazy viral in just a couple weeks.

What I love about Facebook is it’s like the living room or the den of the party. You have more information about yourself. There are pictures on the walls. You can really let people know what you’re about or what you’re doing in a little bit slower pace. People can hang out and get to know you.

There are a couple of key things you want to do with Facebook and my friend Kary Rogney is going to share a cool way of keeping things organized.

So there you have it, my favorite top 3 social sites. Make sure and subscribe to my Youtube channel, give me an @reply on Twitter and send me a friend request on Facebook.

Ken Pickard

The Network Dad

“TIME SENSITIVE: ‘Tribe Mastery Intensive’… For Those Of You Who Want To Leverage The Power Of The Tribe, Blogging, & Social Media To Syndicate Content And Gain Massive Exposure… You Won’t Want To Miss Out On This Opportunity To Learn From My Tribe…”

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The Aftermath of #TribeTuesday

January 2nd, 2010 by Ken Pickard

On the second day of the New Year my tribe gave to me… two Syndication Power Hours and one really cool tribe page! Is this song catchy or what?

There they go again. My tribes just came running through my blog and social media sites and left a wave of traffic in their wake. Comments and RT’s and tagging galore! Tribe Syndication is starting to emerge as a new spin on an old concept… people helping people but with an added twist and #TribeTuesday is just that twist. The law of reciprocity working at it’s finest.

They say that some of the best ideas are born out of necessity. If there is a need fill it. If you can monetize it then you’re golden. You may have also heard that a lot of these ideas and concepts were created by accident. Well this just so happened to be the case when I decided to start a blog and create a hub for my online marketing.

I started to look around for some blogs that I liked and wanted to emulate, a few things jumped out right away. I saw many professional bloggers and was amazed at all the activity and stuff that was on their blog. Cool widgets (I didn’t even know that that’s what they were called) and graphics. These guys were masters at blogging. You could see a lot of activity. Then I saw many more blogs that were empty or looked like a ghost town. A few posts here and there or maybe several weeks between posts or comments. There was no life to some of these blogs. This brought up a couple of concerns for me.

How could I compete with those who are blogging on a regular basis?
How could I keep a blog going indefinitely?
What value do I have to offer others that will keep them coming back?
How do I get traffic to my blog?

Now there are many great resources, books and trainings on driving traffic, but it really comes down to actually putting these concepts into play. Several factors need to happen at around the same time and if you’re new to blogging or marketing online in general your learning curve is going to skyrocket. Learn how to blog, create content… and build relationships and traffic.

The power of a blogging alliance will assist you in all these areas. A blogging alliance is a small group of people coming together to syndicate each other. There’s a specific method of tactics that we use to create the buzz for each others blogs all over the net. These ‘Syndication Power hours’ have driven more traffic to our new blogs than any other single event before… or since.

What others are saying about going tribal on Tuesdays.

Take a look at Debbie Turners post about creating a checklist for #TribeTuesday Debbie breaks down the importance of staying organized through this dynamic process of syndicating her tribe.

My fellow Tribe leader Kary Rogney shows what’s about to happen to his blog when #TribeTuesday come crushing through. Do you think Kary is starving for Traffic? Not with over 22,000 page views to his blog since it launched. That’s less than 5 months of being online. That’s the power of a tribe.

Fellow Tribe enthusiast Kathy Jodrey tells you why #TribeTuesday is the next best thing to hit Twitter since #FollowFriday The reason is value and relationships. Unlike follow Friday Tribe Tuesday allows people to syndicate with a. The relationships that are built create a solid foundation for growing any following. Move over #FF #TribeTuesday is here to stay!

Another great master tribal leader is Michael Feil. Michael is pulling back the curtain and share a little of what goes on behind the scenes during our #TRibeTuesday power hour.

The sharing of tips and tricks and knowledge during this time that is set aside for syndication, takes the mastermind alliance concept to new levels. It’s very common for every one of us to share a new little gem that we’ve heard about this week. We also make comments about how we can improve each other’s blogs, or point out an issue that arises. Some of the benefits that come out of the Power Hours have been: accountability, teamwork, learning and sharing of ideas.

Leave a comment for the community and share what you would do. Did this shed any light on the power of having a tribe for syndication?

Ken Pickard

The Network Dad

You can also share with your Twitter and Facebook friends. This just may be what they’re looking for. As always I appreciate your Diggs and Stumbles.

P.S.S. If you want your comments to pop and the backlinks to your blog to be clicked on more… get your Gravatar today!

“TIME SENSITIVE: ‘Tribe Mastery Intensive’… For Those Of You Who Want To Leverage The Power Of The Tribe, Blogging, & Social Media To Syndicate Content And Gain Massive Exposure… You Won’t Want To Miss Out On This Opportunity To Learn From My Tribe…”

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Social Tribes on Twitter Lists

November 3rd, 2009 by Ken Pickard

Social Tribes on Twitter Lists Twitter lists are all the rage now and for good reason. They provide a great way to stay connected with your social tribes as well as any other community oriented group. Many people have fully embraced the fact the future of online marketing is in creating communities. We see this in Facebook with the newsfeeds and now in Twitter with the lists.

Right now Twitter allows you to make 20 lists with up to 500 people on each list. The really cool thing is that you can control your feed. You have the power to edit your stream how ever you want. Here are some list building ideas…

• For your tribes or community

• Real Estate professionals

• Comedians

• Celebrities

• Clubs or groups

• Marketing professionals

• Authors

• Public Relations professional

• Any mastermind group

• Work colleagues

• PR professionals

• Virtual Assistants

• Tech savvy people

• And many many more…

The idea is that you can not follow a small or large group of people in a single niche with ease. You can hang on every word of every tweet of all your closets friends. This is a huge opportunity to stay connected within your communities. This is the future of social media. Creating communities within these sites are becoming more popular than ever.

Twitter, Facebook, Linkdin and other social sites realize that it is difficult to follow mass amounts of people all at once. This was actually a big reason why many people do not understand or get Twitter. It’s difficult fore some to wrap their heads around the idea of following so people… believing that you need read or respond to every tweet.

The other issue of spam has turned off a lot of people to Twitter. I agree that the main Twitter stream has turned into more of a classified add section than a place for real communication. The original idea behind Twitter may actually start to come back. The idea of actual discussions and brainstorming sessions and staying connected at the speed of a 140 characters.

The fake accounts or automatic posting will not be listed nearly as much as the real people who are engaging in dialogue. I’m not saying that the spam will go away completely but think about this… would you rather read what REAL people are saying or watch the never ending stream of ads? Let’s take this one step further. If you are active on twitter right now, what are you reading? The stream or what your friends are saying?

The questions I would love to get feedback on are…

1. What is your favorite list? I would love to see some great value added lists.

2. Who are the people you believe should be listed in my Social Media All Star List? You can also share this with your Twitter and Facebook friends. This just may be what they are looking for. I always appreciate your Diggs and Stumbles!

Ken Pickard

The Network Dad

P.S. If you want your comment to pop and the backlink to your blog to be clicked on more… get your Gravatar today!

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Tribe Syndication The Accountability Factor

October 25th, 2009 by Ken Pickard

Tribe syndication is quite literally the revolution of online marketing. This concept will allow new emerging marketers to enter the ever growing social media field that has been previously dominated with competition. It is no longer each person for themselves, but a time for people to come together and support each other. This is what being in a tribe is all about.

It’s time for… Tribe Syndication.

Watch the video and open you mind to the possibilities of what this group dynamic can do for you. Also keep in mind that your tribe should include members in the same niche as you. The reason for this is two fold. You always want to think of who you are connecting with, and who you are introducing your followers to.

Tribe syndication is the action of supporting each other in the social media circles. There are many ways to practice this fine craft. The list below outlines a few of the most popular sites and several ways of ‘buzzing’ each others content.

Twitter – Twitter is the fastest growing micro blogging site there is. Almost everyone is on Twitter, but there are many who don’t quite understand Twitter’s power or the proper techniques to using this behemoth of a social media site.

Twitter is like the front door to a party. It’s where you do the first meet and greet. You get to know others and find people who you can relate to or engage with. It’s NOT a classifieds!

For content syndication via Twitter you want to push the ‘retweet’ button on your tribe member’s site. If the plug-in is installed correctly your twitter account will pop up in a separate window and a message will show the title of the post and the owner’s @user name. The plug in for this valuable step is the ‘TweetMeme Button’

Youtube – Youtube is the granddaddy of video sharing. This is not a secret to anyone who has been on the net for any amount of time. But last reports show that over 20 hours of video are uploaded to Youtube every 60 seconds! That’s a beast.

Youtube is not the only game in town for video sharing but we’re using this as an example since most people upload their videos to this site. The principals work for any video sharing site. So head over to your tribe’s Youtube channels and comment on each others videos.

Facebook – Facebook is the biggest, baddest, most treasured social site there is. Facebook just passed the 300,000,000 user mark a couple months ago and is looking to close on the 400,000,000 by early next year! If you’re not on Facebook you are literally missing the boat. More importantly, if you not marketing on Facebook (the right way) you already missed the boat. But rest assured your tribe can help you fix this grave oversight.

Comments are a tribe’s best friend. Commenting on Facebook is no different than commenting on their Youtube channel or their blog. Comments are king and continue to provide that ever loving social proof. First you can comment on your tribe’s posts. Second you can add their posts to your profile or fan page status. Or… you can combine the two for a more connected effect by tagging.

There is a cool plug in called ‘WP Like’ you may want to add to your blog. This plug in adds the ‘like’ feature on your blog which gives it that familiar look to Facebook

Social Bookmarks – Social Bookmarking is a great way to use another free service to gain back links. Back links are the keys to getting ranked in Google. While all the social media exposure is great… if your not leveraging Google to help your website go viral you missing the boat… again.

There are a couple of free sites like OnlyWire and SocialMarker that allow you to tap into other bookmarking sites via their site. The setup takes a little bit of time, but the results are worth it. There are a couple of notes to consider when using this method of marketing. Not all back links are weighed the same. The ones from authority sites like Digg, Stumble Upon and Delicious are weighed heavier than those less know sites.

The plug ins that you’ll want to use on your blog for your tribe to syndicate are Onlywire Socaible, and Sexy Bookmark.

Tribe syndication serves you, your tribe members, and your following. If you are building a following of like minded people around the concept of underwater basket weaving, wouldn’t it make sense to have tribe members that can provide content around this enjoyable pastime?

Another point to make is you and your tribal peeps will be creating similar content. This is ok. It’s actually a really good idea. Lets take the “underwater basket weaving” concept. By using Google to search for a few keywords around this topic, I found that there’s not a lot of competition. Side note…I was surprised to see over 4400 hits a month for exact phrase match! Who knew?

Ok so let’s say you and your tribe each create a video and blog post about this topic. Maybe you write a couple of articles, and even a Squidoo Lens or Hub page. If your tribe goes after the same keywords using the same top notch social media traffic tips don’t you think you would get to the front page of Google? Do you think that several of your highly coveted pieces of content would crush the competition on Google. Now throw in the social bookmark backlink phenomenon in the mix. How well do you think everyone will benefit from the collective effort of tribe syndication?

The power behind syndicating each others videos, articles, and blog posts gives you and your tribe the social proof you deserve. We all know what T.E.A.M. stands for… Together Everyone Achieves More. Ok it’s an oldie but still a goodie.

In a tribe is where you want to be… accountability is what you want to have… tribe syndication is what you want to do. Find a tribe and stay committed to each other. Provide value added content each week so everyone can create the exposure and moment you require to sustain a profitable online marketing career.

Ken Pickard

The Network Dad

P.S. If this post resonated with you at all, please leave a comment below for the community. Sharing any insights or stories you have for Tribe syndication would be greatly appreciated.

You can also share with your Twitter and Facebook friends. This just may be what they’re looking for. As always I appreciate your Diggs and Stumbles.

P.S.S. If you want your comments to pop and the backlink to your blog to be clicked on more… get your Gravatar today!

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Tags: Delicious, Digg, Facebook, OnlyWire, Social Bookmarks, Social media, Socilable, Stumble Upon, Tribe Syndication, Twitter, underwater basket weaving, Youtube
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Do you Celebrate Your New Customer?

September 4th, 2009 by Ken Pickard

Welcome to day 4 of my 30 day video challenge. What can you change with a 30 day challenge?

Are you excited to have customers? Do your customers know that you are excited for them? Building relations with your customers is essential in today’s age of online marketing. You worked hard to earn your relationship with your new customer. Even if you set up a system like the MLM Mastermind one time, you can still support your new customer in many ways.

We all know how bad news travels fast… real fast. Well good news can travel just as fast. The best way to show your good news is Social Proof. Social proof is huge in online marketing. This is the attraction factor working 24 hours a day. If people are saying good things, then more people will come to check you out.

In this video I explain the advantages of making some noise over your new customer. I highlight 2 important reasons for celebrating you new customer, and a couple of ways to go about doing this.