Books, blogs, videos, podcasts – wow the information out there is amazing. A fantastic supply of everything we need to know to ‘make it’ on the web. But how much of it is really helpful, genuine and useful? How much of it is just regurgitated crap that is completely out of date?
Don’t get me wrong. There are some terrific books out ‘there’ and I don’t mean the $67 ebooks. I mean real touchy feely books that you hold in your hands while winding down at the end of the day. I could list dozens of books worth reading and the list includes work by Chris Brogan, Stephen Covey, the Eisenbergs, Steve Krug, Gary Vaynerchuck, John Jantsch, and many more.
But, back to the social media experiment.
Having bloated my head with so much “advice” about personal branding, becoming part of the community, being trusted, earning a reputation as the ‘go to guy’ for help in particular areas… Quite frankly, I came out of the few months of mucking about in Twitter, Facebook, etc., thinking “what a load of _______ 90% of this is” (fill in the blank).
This is actually my second ‘experiment’ of this kind. A year ago I did my first one which ultimately led me to wipe out my first blog, remove myself from numerous forums and close my FB and Twitter accounts for a while – having become completely disillusioned by the whole thing.
Everyone had become experts in SEO, marketing and branding
Grrrrr! Everywhere you looked there was an expert. Everyone was slapping each other on the back and every man, woman and household pet had written the ultimate guide and had a $97 ebook for sale. Get the book and get $497 bonus if you buy before midnight.
Obviously I was reading in the wrong places but people were falling for all that crap. And no matter how much the genuine folks tried to say it was crap – loads more people were creating the ebooks and more were buying. Or were they just buying each other’s ebooks and then affiliating each other? Perhaps. But, after wasting $27 here, $67 there and paying good money to use business forums costing £19 a month here and $200 a year there… I realised that there was (and still is) a massive imbalance and everyone had miraculously become experts.
Automate your way to riches
Oh come on. Click here, then there and just enter your paypal ID there and you’re on your way to a fortune. What bollocks. Blog comment automation. Social bookmarking automation. Link exchange automation. Black hat SEO methods. Build a blog with no work using syndicated content. Make your fortune with adsense and affiliate links. Come on… Stop all the garbage.
Yes – I tried them all. In the name of research. It was actually hard for me to pull out my credit card for some of them because I just knew it was a complete load of crap but I had to be convinced. How could I write about it if I hadn’t actually tried it?
Everone had a Scam
The amount of magic formulae; instant traffic secrets, the real secrets about Google, how to dominate your niche, blog your way to the bank, the magic formula your competition don’t want you to know, bull bull and more bull.
If it was all so bloody easy and fast then why did it take years for Chris Brogan to get as popular as he became? Do you think Gary Vaynerchuck used back hat methods to build the popularity of Wine Library? Did CopyBlogger spam the world population to get their subscribers? Why did BBGeeks.com take 2 and ½ years to reach the level there are at today?
Simple answer: There are no freakin’ secrets – it takes hard work.
The amount of BS was overwhelming
I could go on. I dreaded the next call from some overnight Google expert or new born Google reseller – one day I was really gonna lose it with them… Which is why I baled out last year and spent 6 months doing client work and steering very clear of many things social.
But then I came back to do it all again. I started off with my “Beyond SEO” video and, because I had been recording my thoughts, reviewing websites, studying constantly by reading only (what I believe are) some of the best blogs & books and still writing various bits here and there, I decided to become ‘social’ again.
However, the bullshit brigade were (and are) still out in full force. In fact, I think there’s much more now than there was a year ago.
So I continued my Social Media experiment:
Twitter
I followed loads and loads followed back – result: noise noise noise. I interacted on Twitter and the followers came rushing in. Thing is – so few of them had anything to say than firing links after links onto my time-line. I was ignoring 99% of everyone who followed me and only watching for a dozen or so names.
Facebook
I accepted Facebook suggestions for a week or so and got hundreds of new friends – people whom I didn’t know and who nothing about me. Sorry to many of you who accepted my friend request but I was merely experimenting to see if you would.
I unfriended nearly 100 friends and only 2 or 3 actually noticed (these few folks are back on my preferred friends list).
Forums
I joined a couple of paid forums – one of which was actually very interesting and had some useful stuff in it – but ultimately both introduced me to new angles in marketing and self promotion. I even got a business opportunity – until I realised the person was full of crap.
Through one interaction I was puzzled by what the guy said so I challenged him – I direct messaged him via the forum, via FB and also openly (maintaining some level of diplomacy – honest) and got no answer… Shame really cos this guy was telling everyone that ‘he knew a way of making 5-figures a month from blogging’ but when I offered him to name his price to be my mentor he disappeared from view. Bullsh!tter.
Turns out a lot of what we read in blogs (and some books) is a load of bollocks unless you want to play the game. But what is the game?
Who knows the rules?
Well, take it with a pinch of salt but these are my Social Media rules…
Being nice
Of course. We should all be nice. You never know who is listening. But be nice to people you 100% do not like, respect or care about? Why? Just ignore them. Don’t fake it.
Be helpful
Absolutely. I love this part cos it’s the best bit. Always happy to do a bit of pro-bono work in exchange for a pat on the back. For some this has led to the building of massive organisations based on trust and – well – a lot of back slapping basically. You slap mine and I’ll slap yours sort of thing.
Be awesome
Well – lets get one thing straight. When I say “awesome” I don’t mean it in an “I’m on happy pills” kind of way. I mean in providing real value and good honest advice – being the best at what you do. Or, at least, doing the absolute best you can do. Don’t go half way. Others will see that and start to wonder if you’re the real deal or just blagging your way through to the chequebook. In a previous post I talked about “being the best” and referred to many names I’ve mentioned above and also Amazon cos I think they set a fantastically high standard.
Be genuine
Don’t pretend to give a shit if you really don’t. It will show through in the end and everything you do and say in public stays in public. You will get found out!
Make time
If you haven’t really got time to write every day – then don’t ry to. Write once a week or once a month. Don’t start a twitter chat of you really have no intentions of sticking around for the long haul. Don’t get involved forums if it’s only to drop your link in a couple of times and leave your profile to collect dust. Don’t befriend people and never interact with them. What is the point?
Don’t be “that guy”
I love this line from Chris Brogan “Don’t Be That Guy”. The guy who twists every conversation into a sales opportunity. The guy who hands you a business card before even getting to know you. Before even having a clue what your needs are. So many people do that. Spam is what I call it. Follow someone on twitter and get an automated DM from them asking you to visit their amazing blog. Friend someone on FB and get a DM asking you to connect with their ‘fan page’…
Be honest
If you are a newbie – say so. If you don’t know what the heck you’re doing – say so. Let people get to know you without pretending to be something you’re not. We all start somewhere. I give a lot more respect to people who say “I don’t know the answer” than I do to people who think they have the answer to everything.
Ultimately, be real
Real people get noticed more than others. Real people end up on the ‘ignore’ list far less frequently than people who are nothing more than self-promoters.
What are your rules of social media engagement?
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