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KristineS
08-07-2008, 02:47 PM
Social media can be a great way to network and market yourself. I have profiles on Linked in (http://www.linkedin.com/myprofile?trk=hb_side_pro) and Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/fbnew.php?next=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fhom e.php%3F#/profile.php?id=848194292). I also Plurk (http://www.plurk.com/user/KristineS) and Stumble (http://gunslingergirl.stumbleupon.com/).

I'm interested in how the rest of you use social media and what kind of results you've had. Please share your stories here.

vangogh
08-09-2008, 12:11 AM
I use a lot. In fact I've been thinking of writing a series of blog posts on all the different social media sites I use.

delicious (http://delicious.com/vangogh99) was the first social site I used. I mostly use the site to bookmark things. My browser bookmarks were getting to full so I started moving things to delicious. It's important to tag your bookmarks well if you want to find them again.

You can also search delicious and find things other people have recommended. Sometimes the results are better than Google. I also follow other people and check out their bookmarks.

StumbleUpon (http://vangogh99.stumbleupon.com) I mostly use SU to help promote posts I think others would like to read. Not my own posts, but whenever I'm reading a blog and think it might be helpful to someone else I'll give it a thumbs up.

Same as delicious I'll also search my friends stumbles. I occasional use the random stumble. It actually delivers much better results than you might expect. You can also stumble your friends posts.

Sphinn (http://sphinn.com/user/view/profile/login/vangogh) is the social voting site of the SEO community so when I find posts I think are sphinworthy I submit them. I'm building a profile by finding posts that others also like which gives me a little more visibility in the SEO community. I browse what other people submit and have find some great posts and blogs that way.

MyBlogLog (http://www.mybloglog.com/buzz/members/vangogh/) I mostly just check stats there. They offer a couple of things other stats programs don't. It used to be when you surfed if someone had the MBL widget it would show your avatar which could help branding to a degree. The system works a little differently now bit it can still be used in a similar way. You surf, your avatar shows in the widget, and people see it. At some point I may display their widget on my blog as well.

Plurk (http://www.plurk.com/user/vangogh) to network with others. The reason Kristine uses it is because I got her addicted to it. It's a great way to chat with people you know and meet people you don't know. Network is key to the success of most any business. Plurk is like a microblog where one person posts and others respond.

Twitter (http://twitter.com/vangogh) Same as plurk Twitter is great for networking. I find it works better for me to build stronger relationships with people I already know than it is to start new relationships, though I have started new ones there.

Both of the above are also great to learn more about people when they aren't trying to put their best face forward. You can really get to know someone in 140 characters or less.

I have profiles in other places, but those are the ones I use the most. I don't try to actively market myself through any of them. I just use the systems as they were intended and as a result network and build relationships with a lot of people. Many of those people have linked to my site and subscribed to my blogs.

Each also sends a fair amount of traffic through my profiles. I've also added a plugin to my blog to help people vote for my content. I don't think most people vote through the plugin, but I do think it helps remind them to vote, which also helps drive traffic.

StumbleUpon and Sphinn have been the largest source of referral traffic to my site for several months and Plurk has quickly risen to be the #4 site for referral traffic.

Paul Elliott
08-09-2008, 12:21 AM
Social media can be a great way to network and market yourself. I have profiles on Linked in (http://www.linkedin.com/myprofile?trk=hb_side_pro) and Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/fbnew.php?next=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fhom e.php%3F#/profile.php?id=848194292). I also Plurk (http://www.plurk.com/user/KristineS) and Stumble (http://gunslingergirl.stumbleupon.com/).

I'm interested in how the rest of you use social media and what kind of results you've had. Please share your stories here.

I'm on LinkedIn, too, but haven't done much on it. My email is paul@fractalmarketing.net. I couldn't find you. The link simply takes me to my home page.

I'm on Facebook, but haven't filled out my profile or used it.

I use Twitter and it has begun to get some activity for me. PaulElliott

Paul

KristineS
08-09-2008, 09:28 AM
I'm on LinkedIn, too, but haven't done much on it. My email is paul@fractalmarketing.net. I couldn't find you. The link simply takes me to my home page.

I'm on Facebook, but haven't filled out my profile or used it.

I use Twitter and it has begun to get some activity for me. PaulElliott

Paul

Let's try this link Paul: Kristine's Profile (http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=8779261&trk=tab_pro) Hopefully that works.

Do you like Twitter? I signed up for it, but then I started using Plurk instead.

vangogh
08-09-2008, 12:32 PM
Kristine it still takes you to the login page, but once you login it redirects to your profile. You might have to find your public profile page and link to that.

KristineS
08-09-2008, 04:41 PM
I thought that's what I had found. Dang. I'll look again later.

Aaron Hats
08-09-2008, 04:58 PM
I also Plurk (http://www.plurk.com/user/KristineS) and Stumble (http://gunslingergirl.stumbleupon.com/).


That will happen if you hit the bottle a little too often. :eek:

I'm on MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/aaronhats) and Facebook. The shopping cart I use for my web site developed an app that let's me showcase certain products on my MySpace page. I can't say that it's brought me any sales but it's a nice feature.

vangogh
08-09-2008, 06:13 PM
That will happen if you hit the bottle a little too often. :eek:

Funny.

I've heard some people having great success with MySpace and others little if any. I'd guess it has a lot to do with the general subject of your product/service and also how much you participate at MySpace.

Paul Elliott
08-09-2008, 06:36 PM
Let's try this link Paul: Kristine's Profile (http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=8779261&trk=tab_pro) Hopefully that works.

Do you like Twitter? I signed up for it, but then I started using Plurk instead.

Steve's right, Kristine, it won't let one look at a profile where you don't have any contacts in common.

However, you can "invite" me with my email address (above), and I can respond

I am getting more and more traffic with Twitter as I learn how to use it and do so more frequently. I don't know anything about Plurk.

Paul

Paul Elliott
08-09-2008, 06:37 PM
That will happen if you hit the bottle a little too often. :eek:

I love it!

Paul

Marcomguy
08-14-2008, 09:31 PM
I'm only using Linked In. And a couple of online networks, one of which has a real-life component.

I'm impressed with you guys, who have the discipline to participate in so many social networks. Maybe I'll take the plunge someday.

KristineS
08-14-2008, 09:33 PM
I have profiles in a lot of places, but I don't participate in all of them as much as I probably should. I think sometimes I should get rid of some of the profiles but then someone finds me through one of them and I reconsider.

KristineS
08-14-2008, 09:35 PM
That will happen if you hit the bottle a little too often. :eek:



Very funny, Aaron. I missed that one the first time around.

Marcomguy
08-24-2008, 02:45 PM
Speaking of Linked In, here's a blog post from the Wall Street Journal (http://blogs.wsj.com/biztech/2008/02/28/bill-gates-joins-linkedin/) about Bill Gates and Facebook and Linked In.

Yup, he's on Linked In.

vangogh
08-24-2008, 05:58 PM
Doesn't surprise me that he's there. A lot of people you might not expect are on one social network or another. Both Obama and Clinton were sending updates over Twitter during the primaries and I imaging Obama still is. I don't remember if John McCain was using it, but I suspect not.

Social media can be a very effective channel for communication.

KristineS
08-24-2008, 06:49 PM
Social media also has the added benefit of making people feel like they're in the know and getting privileged information. How many people were talking about Obama text messaging his VP pick to supporters who signed up? It got a lot of buzz.