That's not the way the game is played, kids.
Take it from Scott Sigler, arguably one of the most popular and successful users of social media. He's used variations on a theme to break through several barriers and is still going strong. Is he making a full-time living on social media? No. Is he making a full-time living because of social media? Yes. Yes he his.
Want to copy his success? OK. But consider what it really means to "copy" him.
What I’ve found is that [working your tail off with social media] is not something that most authors [or anyone wanting to catch the social media wave] do. ... I reply to absolutely everything. Everything gets responded to; every instant message, every email, every tweet, everything. And that, combined with the social networking sites, makes such a strong connection with the readers. They really feel like someone actually took five minutes just to reply to them, and even if they only email once, it’s totally locking in fans for life.
Bingo. There's the secret. Like most, it's not complicated. It only takes commitment. Do you have it? If not, plan on falling short of the mark. Regardless of how well-planned your social media strategy may be, in the end you have to respond. To everything.
Excerpt taken from Podcasting News interview with Scott that seems to have happened some time ago, but only now has been published
I have just realised that Siggie needs to come talk to the people at my day job. The boy knows more about making it work than most of us out here (yeah... I know waaaaay less than this man).
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I love how you counterbalanced his high-fallutin' business talk with the picture I always mentally refer to whenever I think Sigler... I think that's a TechTard style cap, there.
[...] Terra spills a closely guarded secret, that of how to be a new media success. Shhhh, don’t tell anyone. They might soak up all the new media riches that are rightfully [...]
ReplyDeleteAnd here all along I thought it was the kangol.
ReplyDeleteAs a newcomer to the whole social media scene and podcasting, I really take what Sigler says to heart and think that it's really good advice. With someone like him who has so many fans and listeners and readers, I can't imagine how long it takes him to answer everything and still get work done. So if HE can do it, well then...so can the rest of us.
ReplyDeleteHey! Great stuff. Like your style. I'm desperately trying to break through and not getting very far. Did you work MySpace and Facebook or what?
ReplyDeleteAnthony
I think you missed the point of the post, Anthony. May be due for a re-read.
ReplyDelete