>
The Need to be Everywhere?
The three primary social media channels for marketers and professionals are Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Most people in my professional network are on all three. Do we really need to be? This week I downloaded and installed the new version of TweetDeck, my preferred tool for managing my Twitter account. At least it used to be. When I re-started TweetDeck I was met by a tutorial on how to use all the new features. It seems I can now simultaneiously post the same message to my Twitter stream, my Facebook profile, my Facebook page, and my LinkedIn account. Why would I want to do that? and if I do, why is there a need for all three services if they’re just going to be used as an inter-changeable platform for the same message? Consequently, I’m thinking of leaving a few of the services.
So, just an informal poll: Are you on all three services? Do you post the same thing to all three, even occasionally? Do you think you need all three services?
Earning Attention
What does it take to get attention? If you want to get noticed among a sea of competitors you have to do something different, yet at the same time something not too screwy. Here’s a cool idea you might try: print your own magazine and mail it to your clients and potential clients at the end of the year. It’s not as difficult as you think. over on the Springwise Blog, I learned about MagCloud, a service that lets you print your own magazine on demand. You just upload the PDF files. Print as many or as few copies as you want. Where do you get the content? If you have a blog, take your best blog posts of the year, load them on to MagCloud and print your own magazine. If you don’t have a blog, re-purpose some of the educational materials in your store and write a couple of interesting feature articles. I think it will get me some attention. What do you think?
What do you do to set yourself apart and get attention?
Selling vs. Giving
Do you use your online presence to sell or give? I suspect there is much more of the former. But don’t you think the latter is more effective? Take a look at this video that I found on Tim Cohn’s Search Communications Blog:
I know we need to sell, and we should always ask for the business, How much advice, counsel and commentary do you provide with your online presence? Or do you lean toward pitches, hype and buy now messages? What’s a good balance between selling and giving?
For updates on new articles: Receive The Marketing Spot by Email or 
Get The Marketing Spot in a blog reader