Heads-up: At about the 1:42 point in the timecode for the social media marketing video above, I mention a few folks whom I recommend you follow. These folks are great sources of content and knowledge sources. It's obviously not an exhaustive list. Here are a few more folks to follow from my Jara University Mentor's Twitter list: http://twitter.com/melaclaro/jarauniversity-mentors.
Original Content Creation vs. Content Redistribution
"Content is king," as they say. But just as kings come in different sizes and quality, so does content tend to differ from one type to the next.
I'll have more to say about the added value of being an original creator of what I call Consultative-type Content in a later video. But, for now, suffice to say that Consultative-type content creation is the kind that seeks to give guidance from your own business expertise--and which you create from scratch. It's a key component of any serious list-building/marketing strategy. But, when you're first starting off, it's also the type of content that can be most intimidating to create. That's why in this video, as we're just starting off, I like to make a distinction that you don't have to focus on being an original creator of "full-length" consultative content for now. Rather, you can be just as relevant and helpful to those in your community by becoming a distributor of content.
Being a distributor of content is important because, just like the capital markets, it aids in liquidity. Only in this case, it's informational liquidity that we're talking about. For the most part, online content creators want their creations to be re-distributed. And, provided you give proper attribution to its source (and barring specific copyright restrictions against redistribution), you're actually encouraged to spread the wealth so it gets in the hands of many people.
And, even though you may not be the originator of that content, your online reputation can still benefit by virtue of the type of content you choose to share.
So, before retweeting a post on Twitter or sharing a link on Facebook, make sure to vet the piece of information first. Take a look at it and make sure it fits with the type of information your community network will appreciate.
Your turn
In addition to the social media marketing tips I give in the video above, what other search tools or social networks do you use for finding good, relevant content to share with your communities? Scroll to the bottom past the Transcript section and leave a comment.
This video is one of the dozens of free social media marketing video training modules I created for Jara University. Packed with hours of free social media marketing training for business. Includes social media marketing tips for: LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Blogging, Content / eMail Marketing, professional/expert seminars, a whole videoBook, eBooks and much more. You can register now for free by downloading the --also free-- Social Media Marketing Essentials Mini Course and newsletter.
[Video transcript available. Click "Continue..." below.]
Social Media Marketing Video Transcript
(Continued from Part 1) ...Enough said on that for now. There’s a lot to talk about. Let’s move on to content.
Like I alluded to earlier, good content is anything that will help improve the lives of people who are connected to you.
And here’s the thing, this doesn’t have to be just YOUR content.
It could actually be the content generated by other people. So here’s a secret, you don't always have to be creating your own content. Of course, this would be ideal, but there are also many times when it's perfectly appropriate to share content of others. As a matter of fact, this feeds very well into the spirit of reciprocity and giving of the social web... because by sharing the content of others, you're actually also helping those content providers, as well. Think about it, they want their content to be spread throughout the web. If you find value in it…. Help them.
So, content is key. This could be a quote, a blog post, anything you learn, a video, books, ebooks.
Now, one of the common questions I get is where do I get good content? What if I don't know anything right now? And that's a great question.
You have to start with your own values... you have to learn about the communities you plan on interacting within. And, you can do that by finding other people that you have a good vibe with. And, by observing other people and interacting with them. It’s a lot easier than you think.
When you think about it, you’ve already begun that process, you've now followed me. I didn’t bite, did I?
Let me give you the names of a few other very helpful people who won’t mind you following them at all: Jacob Swodeck. He’s got thousands of friends on Facebook and typically will fill a room when he goes to town to teach others about what he does best… which is teaching other agents about how to properly care for their clients during a real estate short sale.
Eric Stegemann. Eric is one of the most helpful and knowledgable people you’ll get to meet. He loves talking about processes and tools about social media and search engine optimization. As a matter of fact, on a community web site I help manage, Eric has given graciously of his time to teach others about how to improve their search engine rankings on the web.
Bob Watson and his wife Kathy Klingaman are two more great professionals who are very generous on the social web. As a matter of fact, most Saturday mornings will find them both opening up their place of business for free to everybody and anybody who wants to come by for a cup of coffee and a couple of hours of lively discussion about now to use some of the ever evolving tools of the social web to help others in their business.
Now, other places from where you can get good content on the internet are places like digg, stumbleupon, google alerts, rss feeds, blog search, backtype, and so on...
Now, let's talk about networking and relationship building.
