How To Master Social Media Principles in Less than 2 Pages!

By Jacob Paulsen | May 13, 2009

I get a lot of phone calls from online friends who need assistance in setting up their websites and their social media profiles to begin working in internet marketing and social networking. Every once in awhile I think to myself that I should write a 2 page guide to “Online Domination Setup” which I could just email to these people who call me.

Today is that day. If you already have a website with 1000 plus visitors per week and more than 3000 twitter followers I would suggest you stop reading now and seek higher level training. For those of you who are still beginners here is what you need to know in less than two pages. To prove it I have provided a downloadable PDF file at the end of this post.

Online Marketing Umbrella Concepts:

First, you basically separate all of your online work and websites into these 3 categories:

  1. Social Media – This is where you meet people and create relationships with them… NOTHING MORE.
  2. Personal Website – This is where people you meet who want to learn more about you will come to do so. Your personal site needs to be in the form of a blog and it needs to contain informational, inspirational, and entertaining content. If best find a specific niche where with you can help your readers. The “niche” of this website is “Becoming More, Inspiration & Resources for Entrepreneurs.”
  3. Sales Pages. This is where you will sell your products and opportunities to those who visited your personal site and wanted to know what you do for a living and to those who searched you out in search engines, etc.

Second, You will need to create a HUGE following in social media in order to really make a difference. This will require…

  1. Sincerity. You will have to really care about the people you meet and have their best interests at heart
  2. Marketing Ethics. Don’t SPAM people. (IE: marketing without permission or relationship)
  3. Time. This will not happen over night. Do a little everyday over a long period of time and results will come.

TO DOs of Getting Started…

  1. Get Your Own Website Started:
    1. Get a hosting account at either Godaddy or hostmonster. If you choose Godaddy get the deluxe hosting or higher. Buy the domain www.yourname.com as this will be the most important real estate you own in the virtual world. This one hosting account will allow you to host dozens of different websites down the road and it is necessary to get one eventually… why not now.
    2. Install WordPress onto the main directory of your website. This can be done painlessly with either Godaddy or Hostmonster. There are tons of tutorial videos on Youtube and I also have some on the “Tutorials” page of my site. Watch these same tutorials to help you set up your WordPress site with the best themes, plugins, etc.
    3. Decide what your online niche is going to be. Are you the Mountain Biking Kenyan who owns his own home business? Sorry, that’s already taken… :)
    4. Create content for your site and remember content should generally be either informative/educational, personal, or entertaining.
    5. Find a way to monetize your site by putting relevant ads onto your page from a affiliate group such as Linkshare or CommissionJunction If you already have your own products/opportunity to market put ads up for it or perhaps its own page.
  2. Create a strong presence in Social Media. Focus on YouTube.com, Facebook, and Twitter but also any other network that is specific to your own niche or market. Example: if you live in Brazil you are likely to also focus on Orkut.comwhich is the most popular Brazilian social media site. Here are some tips:
    1. Create profiles that are both personal and professional in nature. You don’t want people to think you are a robot, but you don’t want them to think you are an amateur either.
    2. Don’t go on an adding friend frenzy. Search out and connect with the type of people that share your interests or make up your target market
    3. Don’t spread yourself to thin. If you are going to have a presence then have a real active presence.
    4. Don’t be a hypocrite. Don’t ask anyone to spend time looking at or commenting on your content unless you are willing and actively doing the same for them.
    5. Search out the best tools that allow you to syndicate content and increase your followers without spending tons of money. In my experience the paid tools are barely any better than the free ones and usually come with a sales pitch of their own.
  3. Continue Your Education… by subscribing to blogs and sites to people who can help you grow. The easiest way to do this is by using an RSS reader like Google Reader. Go to http://reader.google.com and you will figure out without too much effort how to get started subscribing to other people’s sites. You will also find that most sites (like mine) have a subscribe option somewhere on the page. (top right). Your google reader will let you know every time someone who’s site you follow writes a new article/post and you will be able to keep up to date with the latest content without having to visit everyone’s site everyday.

Online Marketing Resources:

Online Marketing Explanations:

  • WordPress: WordPress is the BEST program to use to host your website, blog, or both. This is true for three basic reasons.
    • The way it interacts with the Search Engines is PERFECT!!!
    • The versatility of how it will perform or look is second to none
    • The ability for non geeky folk to be able to use it and not screw anything up is amazing
  • Youtube, Facebook, & Twitter are the most important simply because they are the most popular. I would encourage you to find other social networks specific to your hobbies, passions, and specific product/opportunity.
  • In setting up your sales pages as explained above you will use your same hosting account. Just buy a new domain, host it in a sub-directory (folder) and install WordPress.

Favorite WordPress Plugins: (See my tutorial videos on the “Tutorials” page for descriptions and instructions.

  • All In One SEO
  • Google XML Sitemap
  • Google Analytics for WordPress
  • Cforms
  • Social Media Page

Download this Page in PDF Form.

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