Puzzle Piece #3: Reaching an Audience

Once you have completed the setup, it is time to put these sites to work. Below you will find the recommended sites, their uses and the recommended steps you can take to get things rollin’.

MySpace: do not disregard this site – you may not see it as your target audience, but with over 68 million people visiting a month, can you afford to ignore it?

• This site has heavy traffic in terms of music and visual arts -- interactivity is a huge part of its success. If you have videos or graphic design work, this is the perfect place to display it.
• Make sure your profile contains a link to your company site.
• Find friends by searching by name, e-mail address or display name.
• Expand your network by searching profiles for people with similar interests, and perusing groups applicable to your business.
• Maintain a personality on the site by updating your material often (at least twice a week), joining groups and conversing with people who take an interest in your posts.

Facebook: this site is perfect for grabbing the attention of educated professionals.

• To reach out, you can import your contacts from Outlook, import your AIM buddy list or Windows Live contacts, or search via a specific school or company. The site will also recommend new connections based on your own network and information.
• Make sure your profile contains a link to your company site.
• Post new material at least twice a week, and join and participate in groups. Use the events, photos and notes features whenever possible to keep your page current.
• Create a business page in addition to your personal page by simply clicking on “Advertising” at the bottom of any Facebook page, then “pages,” and “create a page.”
• We recommend creating a company page with an interesting, catchy angle. Have your creative topic be the name of the page, and your company’s name the secondary title.
  
  

LinkedIn: This is the go-to site for when you want to reach a skilled audience, as it allows networking among professionals.

• Find connections by importing your e-mail/address book connections. Also, once you enter your company information, the site will recommend new contacts.
• Make sure your profile contains a link to your company site.
• Maintain a presence by joining relative groups and participating in the questions and answers section. Pose thoughtful questions, and only answer when you truly have something helpful to provide. Browse this section regularly.
• Other apps allow you to upload and share presentations, collect data for polls and more.

You Tube: use this site for viral marketing.

• Post videos your company has created to an audience of millions.
• Be sure to link back to your website or embed it in your site or blog – this directs viewers back to your company.

Flickr: Share visual content in a way that engages viewers.

• Upload pictures and videos to share with your audience.
• You can organize and tag them, which makes them easier for others to find.
• Join groups and create new contacts as you become more involved in the site.

Twitter: This is a hugely popular service that is not going away any time soon. It is the best vehicle for frequency outreach and reaching the masses. It truly is the billboard advertising of today – minus the cost.

Finding a market

• Twitter has search capabilities, so use them – find people you know, people you think sound interesting and people you think want to hear what you’re all about. Research shows about 15 percent of the people you follow will then follow you.
• Tweet using the budurl service so you can track readership numbers.

Fixing the numbers

• Once you have a base of followers/ followees, use Twellow.com to find industry-specific people to follow.
• Employ the Twubble service (http://www.crazybob.org/twubble/) to expand your circle. It searches your friends’ friends and suggests new twitterers for you to follow. Remember, it’s quality, not quantity.
• Twitter Karma gives you a full list of who you follow and who follows you, so you can see how they compare. You can filter the results in different ways and it shows you how your numbers are stacking up so you can do some purging if need be.
  

Blogger: there are many blogging sites out there (WordPress, Blogdrive, LiveJournal), but Blogger is our personal fave.

• Use your blog to create personal brands, which can then in turn add value and credibility to the corporate brand.
• Make the content useful and entertaining. Do not simply blog about company achievements – make the copy personable, and give readers a reason to return.
• Make your blog title catchy and your headlines creative.
• Keep is short and sweet.
• Include links and keywords.

Add the “Add This” function to your blog. This will allow others to share your posts.

1. First, log into addthis.com and click on “Get Your Button.”
2. Select the options you want. For our purposes, we selected the following options: What kind of button? Sharing/bookmarking. Where? On a blog. Performing platform? Blogger
3. Open a new tab for blogger. Log in and click on “View blog.”
4. Select “customize,” then “edit HTML.”
5. Click on “expand widget templates.”
6. Go back to the AddThis tab and copy the code you were given for your blog.
7. Return to the tab that contains your blog. Insert that code directly after <div class='post-footer'> tag within your blog's HTML.
8. Save your settings. Now the AddThis button will appear after every blog post you write.


Add the Simplaris Blogcast application to your Facebook account.
Search for and add the application within Facebook.

1. Search for and add the application within Facebook
2. Within the settings, add your blogspot address.
3. Recommended settings: times automatic, one paragraph, send to my blog, show pictures

Note: If you use Blogger, you cannot have ping.fm update your blog on Facebook. Instead, download the Simplaris Blogcast app in Facebook using the above suggestions and your friends will be alerted when you create a new post.