The Web 2.0 social media revolution is in full swing. Are prospects finding your website?
As an entrepreneur, how do you make your business website stand out amongst 435 million other websites and more than 1 million blogs competing for your audience's attention?
It's not as hard as you might think.
To begin, let's look at the demographics of the basic Web 2.0 social networking sites, this will give you an idea on how to position your message to the Web 2.0 World:
- Myspace;
- Facebook;
- YouTube.
The Web 2.0 Social Networking Revolution
Web 2.0 is a real revolution on the Internet. And this revolution doesn't just consist of college kids...
- 62% of MySpace visitors are older than 25 (40% are 35+), and 83% are making over $30,000 a year. 19% are making $100,000 and up;
- On Facebook.com 46% are over 25 and 34% are 35+, and they've got deep pockets. 88% make more than $30,000 and 23% make $100,000 or more.
In the years ahead these numbers will get even more exciting...
- Social media giant Facebook is currently ADDING a million 25+ (non-student) adults per week to their rosters. That's 52 million new users a year;
- YouTube gets over 50 million unique visitors per month. That equals over half a billion a year;
- Facebook and MySpace have the equal daily traffic of Google. Experts predict within the next year they will DOUBLE the daily traffic of Google search.
So your prospects are there, the traffic is there and the spending power is there. So NOW is the time you want to establish your presence on the social networking websites.
Web 2.0 Strategy: Why You Should Be a Connoisseur and NOT a Marketer
As a website owner, how should you position your message in the Web 2.0 world?
The increasingly savvy buying public will quickly shun marketers. Internet readers want information from the Internet. They don't want advertising, marketing, or a "pitch".
According to Schefren in his Attention Age Doctrine, the solution is to become a social media "Connoisseur".
A Connoisseur is a trusted authority, like a friend, on the social media websites. As you gain their trust, your audience will return to you over and over again wanting to invest in your advice.
Five Steps to Becoming a Social Media Connoisseur
Social Media Maven Step 1: Get in the Game
Begin blogging immediately. Create a video explaining how to solve a problem and put it on YouTube, MySpace, and Facebook with links back to your main website. Just those two things alone will establish more Web 2.0 presence than 90% of your competition.
Social Media Maven Step 2: Share your passion
Build your Web 2.0 website around your passions and expertise. Thirty-two year old Gary Vaynerchuk transformed his wine knowledge to his video blog, http://Tv.Winelibrary.com . It now has thousands of subscribers and does $50 million dollars a year in wine sales.
Social Media Maven Step 3: Be Controversial
Your audience will remember you more when you challenge the status quo. Controversy sells. Think like the tabloids and the local news channels here. For example, Web 2.0 Business Coach Rich Schefren challenges traditional marketing wisdom in each release of his Attention Age Doctrine special reports at http://attentionage.net/doctrine .
Social Media Maven Step 4: Create World Class Content
You will drive repeat traffic to your website by offering top notch "how to" information. Gary's wine tastings are highly educational on the benefits of wine, how to cook with wine, and how to choose a wine for your special occasion. Rich's reports teach Web 2.0 marketing principles.
Remember, as soon as your audience feels that you are "pitching" them, you've lost them. So provide content not advertising.
Social Media Maven Step 5: Engage in the Conversation
Web 2.0 is a dialogue, not a monologue. Internet businesses profit more when they observe and listen to their communities first before they broadcast their messages. Savvy connoisseurs such as Gary and Rich encourage their audience to ask questions. The answers to these questions then become part of their user-generated content.
How Marketing in a Web 2.0 Social Media Environment Is Exhilarating.
Visualize it like a big radio or television station or movie screen where you're the star. You're building a fan base so you need to entertain, inform, and deliver consistently for your audience.
You have more publishing power at your fingertips right now than at any time in history.
Use it.
Share your passions.
Reveal your trials and tribulations.
Tell your story.
Watch how quickly your audience builds.
