I speak to a lot of people who are interested in social media. As this is rapidly just becoming the way we use the Internet getting “into the game” is a lot easier than you think. For those looking to incorporate social media into their business strategy, here are a few easy to follow steps help you take the plunge (many books have been written on this subject so these quick tips are just the tip of the iceberg – pardon the pun):
- Identify your target buyer – create a buyer persona, a biography of the person you want to sell to. Give them a name and write a few paragraphs about them focusing on (a) the problem they have that needs solving, (b) what would be appealing to this buyer and how we can find them online, and (c) the solution you have for them. This can be done on paper with pen or Word. We’ll use this to craft our marketing strategies.
- Brainstorm ideas for your blog categories (ex/ body work, medicine, posture, etc.). These are like chapters of a book and you will usually choose 1 of them to categorize your posts. Categories are also helpful to navigation and give depth to your blog.
- Start drafting your first 10 posts. It may be helpful to think of them as a theme – so for example, start with the theme of posture. You can easily come up with 5 posts about posture: (a) importance of posture (worst cast scenario if not fixed, benefits, etc.), (b) how to have good posture, (c) ways of paying attention to your posture (20 minute reminder, etc.), (d) what to do when your posture is terrible (extreme measures), (e) how good posture improves health, work, etc. This is only an example, but the point is you can think of a single theme that fits in a category, come up with a bunch of posts about that theme, and then just start writing. The beauty of a blog is you can have these posts as drafts for weeks as you develop others and work through your ideas.
Like I said above, these are three quick and easy strategies that I use whenever starting or rethinking about one of my blogs. There are much more qualified people than me talking about this stuff at sites like CopyBlogger and ProBlogger (both EXCELLENT resources).
Daniel A. Schwartz, author of the Connecticut Employment Law Blog posted about one of the presentations from Legal Tech back in February 2010. His post, Social Media Policies and Practices Developing as Companies Begin to Embrace It, gave some details from the panel discussion by the following in-house lawyers: Lesley Rosenthal (Lincoln Center), Ted Banks (former in-house at Kraft), and Mark Bisard (American Express). 
During the 8 days of the Passover festival it is forbidden for a Jew to have any “chametz” (refers to bread, grains and leavened products that are not consumed during Passover) in their possession. We throw lots of stuff away, clean like germaphobes with OCD, and seal any cabinets in the kitchen with masking tape that contain chametz products that we didn’t want to toss out. Then we sign a contract with our rabbis to “sell our chametz” in a paper transaction that removes ownership of the products sealed in our houses until the holiday is over, at which time the chametz are transferred back to our possession.
One of my favorite destinations on the web, Real Lawyers Have Blogs, by social media master Kevin O’Keefe, posted about law firms streaming law content onto social media sites. 
June 14, 2010
Faking It: Why Writing in Your Niche is Killing Your Blog
I have too many blogs. No really, there’s this one, Lurkers Anonymous, Social Marketing for Business (recently updated title that I need to change), my Martindale.com Blog, and I think that’s it. Still, four blogs. Four. And each one kind of talks about stuff the others touch on.
For example, Lurkers is all about how to activate online communities. Started strong this year and wanted to turn the blog into a book. Posted consistently through March and then it died. In starting my new business/project, My Media Labs, I started doing a blog about social media basics, marketing, blah blah blah. Each of these have something to do with social media, but what I find is the more “professional” or “niche” I try to go, the more antiseptic my posts become, like I have to present these Fisher Pricified posts that potential customers or readers can easily categorize. ”That’s what will help my SEO, site visitors, and sales – being put in nice little boxes.” It’s killing me.
Where’s the passion? Where’s the experimentation, the love, and the need to get it out there. Truth be told, striking that balance between passion and commerce is not an easy trick. Most of us don’t have it figured out. If we did, we’d all be doing what we loved and getting paid for it. So here’s the secret: if you hate what you are doing or feel in your gut there needs to be a change: STOP.
You can hit the reset button. Posts are looking too vanilla, throw some marsh mello, chocolate cake crunchies, and cake mix in there (mmm … I want ice cream now). Write something completely off topic and then relate it to your blog theme (posts about how Tonka trucks and playing in sandboxes teach you everything you need to know about product marketing). Go out there. Chances are it won’t hurt your SEO to do something different. Chances are your readers (if you have them) won’t revolt and leave because you did something different. Who knows, you may even earn a few new readers.
Don’t be afraid to break out of the niche. The niche will still be there. You can always go back to writing boring posts again if you want.
Leave a Comment
Filed under Commentary and Critiques, social media
Tags: creativity, ideas, niche