ClubBlogger

Supercharge your blog (or other website) with Facebook

ClubBlogger — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:11:18 +0000

Yes, Twitter’s huge. But Facebook still dwarfs it.

So, some stats about Facebook, first, as at the time of writing:

More than 400 million active users
50% of active users logon to Facebook in any given day
Average user has 130 friends
People spend over 500 billion minutes per month on Facebook
More than one million developers and entrepreneurs from more than 180 countries
Two-thirds of comScore’s U.S. Top 100 websites and half of comScore’s Global Top 100 websites have integrated with Facebook

We could end the post there Fortunately, CB isn’t a lazy site.

Facebook’s big. It’s impressive (whether you like it personally or not). But how does it really lift your blog/site to a different level?

1. People LOVE to interact – they love to discuss, feedback, comment

It’s one of the building blocks of human nature and it’s what, most of all, blogs are all about. Using Facebook on your blog allows your readers to interact and share.

Let them ask questions. Get opinions. Make your blog’s Facebook page come alive (if you don’t have a Facebook for your page, really get one – it’s free, quick and easy to do).

You’ll see a real spike in traffic and you’ll get so much more from what you’re spending your time on.

2. Fan the flames

Hey? Er… Don’t worry, it’s not that complicated. When interaction starts, encourage it and keep it going.

All you’re doing is advertising, or driving people to, the discussion on your Facebook page. This is done in a variety of ways, including via other social media (your Twitter account), email updates and from your other blogs.

Seriously, this is powerful. Just try it.

3. Engagement

We have talked about guest blogging before and we’ve had some good fun with it, as have some of you. But that’s only one element of engaging your users in your blog. Only one way of really delivering value to your readers. We’re keen for ClubBlogger to be shaped by you, and we recommend you guys allow your readers to do that, too.

There’s an amazing concept out there called cognitive surplus, which some of you will know about. It examines the concept of community contribution (the sum of the parts being much greater than the whole) and the results are astounding. We recently read Clay Shirky’s Cognitive Surplus and can’t recommend it highly enough.

Ask readers to comment on your theme, your logo, your style of writing. Be open and really benefit from it. It’s a two-way street. Facebook is a superb tool for this and it’s standing ready for you to get the most out of it.

4. Overlap your existing social connections with your business (whether it’s your blog or other). This can have really powerful results, but it doesn’t work for everyone – some people like to keep the two separate and distinct.

Personally, given we love what we do, we find the overlap just fine.

Speak soon, CB

Marketing Online – How To Work…

ClubBlogger — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:52:51 +0000

Marketing Online – How To Work With It http://bte.tc/c5Uq #RTW

Too much email? Go cold turkey and improve your business.

ClubBlogger — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 18:34:25 +0000

We were really interested to read Matt Cutts’ blog about this one as it kicks into life one of our real areas of interest.

People have thought for a long time that email is invasive. We know it. But Matt (of Google and SEO fame) focused and is experimenting with it. Abstaining from email is difficult enough for moderate internet users of moderate success, but for someone in his position it’s a dramatic step.

The fact is, spending more time away from email improves your efficiency dramatically. Just try to imagine how many times you check it (often idly) every day. Whether in front of your desktop, laptop or mobile (whatever they may be). Guesstimate how long it takes to check even short messages, figure out how important they really are to you and your productivity (let alone your life as a whole!), run the figures and you’ll come out with a very scary time/return number.

Check out Matt’s experiment.

Just try it. Being connected all of the time really isn’t a great thing. In fact, your business can work better without your constant interruption! It’s a great topic and well worth a look.

One of the best real-life quick-read studies on efficiency and productivity we have come across is by Tim Ferris. A successful serial entrepreneur and speaker regularly called upon by the Ivy League, his book The 4-hour Work Week: Escape the 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich is a thought-provoking study which other ClubBloggers have commented on.

Take a look when you’re not checking your email!

The Power of Social Media

ClubBlogger — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 22:36:21 +0000

Social media has changed a lot… imagine life before it. And it continues to change and shape the online (and offline!) world every day.

It’s fundamental and it’s key to your own business success. Don’t just take our word for it, look at the millions who use it every hour of every day.

We’ve all;

- had trouble developing our client base;

- over-spent on marketing;

- struggled to understand and demonstrate our ROI (return on investment) when it comes to promoting our brand(s), products, services.

And that’s the short list!!

Social Media can deliver targeted, relevant followers and clients. The integration of Twitter into Google shows the awesome power of Social Media and we hardly need to touch on Facebook, but we will Facebook has an incredibly loyal following.

Just take on board one stat: “50% of our active users log on to Facebook in any given day”

Imagine leveraging even part of that for your business.

Click here for the Top 18 Social Media Resources for Developers. It’s a great list and full of fantastic information.

Hobby Blogs

ClubBlogger — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 21:36:57 +0000

Even in this super-tech era, people still love strange, bizarre, diverse, interesting hobbies.

And that’s a real testament to diversity of interest and human behaviour; it’s interesting and rewarding.

We were sad to see, recently, that some of them, however, have started to close down. And we’re trying to understand why.

This one was good in its time but is now dormant: hobbyblog.blogspot.com/

Let us have your comments, please?

Great Business Blogs

ClubBlogger — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 21:29:35 +0000

Genuine, good, business blogs are hard to find. But they’re gems.

There’s a mass of amazing information out there in the blogosphere, but a lot of it is diluted or just plain hidden behind money-making ideas and get-rich-quick scams.

You won’t regret looking at some of these, below (totally unrelated to ClubBlogger, may we add!)

Enjoy

Unveiling of Apple Tablet – Leaked Pictures!

ClubBlogger — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:15:23 +0000

The time:- 10:00 am PT (1:00 pm ET) today.

The event: Apple will unwrap the Tablet.

Amazing pictures leaked a short while ago:

Successful Email Marketing – The Fundamentals

ClubBlogger — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 22:07:18 +0000

If you’re asking “I really need a list…get me a list…where can I buy a list…” then you’re probably already in totally the wrong place to achieve successful marketing by email.

You don’t want to ‘scatter gun’ any list; certainly not one you haven’t built and generated in a targeted, controlled way.

Yes, you can ‘rent’ or ‘buy’ a list. But it’s a one-hit wonder. And actually probably a one-hit failure.

But if you develop and nurture your own, valuable list you benefit from generating a customer relationship; a reader relationship; real engagement with those who buy your produce, use your service, read your blog

The 10 key areas:

Who’s your audience and why should they listen to you?
When you email them, what, exactly, are you trying to achieve?
What will your mailings look like – would you read them? Would they make you take action?
Will you – actually, SHOULD you – do the writing and construct the mailings? Are you really up for it?
How regularly will you mail and how long will your mailings be?
Those email addresses won’t just magically appear – how will you collect them? Always do it ethically, whether via web form or other opt-in method – do it right, do it well, do it consistently.
The last point bears repetition: ALL recipients must have in advance expressly asked you to mail them. And if they don’t want to hear your drivel anymore, make it easy for them to switch you off!
Is your technology scalable to grow your list? Will the length of the list actually become a problem? How will you store/host your list – internally or will you outsource.
Whatever you do, you MUST create and maintain TRUST.
You must add value.

Be honest. Be genuine. Be successful.

Apple Mac Tablet – The Poorly Kept Secret

ClubBlogger — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 16:46:40 +0000

Well, it’s been rumoured just as intensely as it has been debated whether Elvis is really dead. And now the moment of truth: the impending Keynote is likely to reveal the piece of kit you’ve all been waiting for.

It’d be very, very cool wouldn’t it?

But how useful will it be? And will it hammer other pieces of geek kit like the Kindle? We really do feel so.

IS THIS REALLY IT?…..

It’s easy to be a little bit sceptical, especially with the not-so-accidental hype. But, remember how people, now unbelievable, criticized and were sceptical of iconic gadgets such as the iPod and iPhone were before they released.

Remember – Apple generally (not quite always) “does excellent”. So hang on – wait a minute and see. We predict a riot

Fact-Based Searching – Factery Labs – Are Other Search Engines Incomplete?

ClubBlogger — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:23:36 +0000

Factery Labs pledges to bring just the facts. A BIG promise. But it sounds damn good.

Factery Labs (when its server isn’t down due to overload – isn’t popularity great?) is a service which serves-up facts and allows the reader to lift-out the key nuggets of info he/she has been searching for – is this the holy grail of search?

Its consumer engine has just launched (following a developer API test at the back end of last year).

Whilst its front-end needs a polish, it’s quite intuitive and easy to use. It’s heavily-based on trends (we’re all pretty interested in those) and, yes, Twitter feeds are key, here.

The ‘facts’ are categorised and served up for you on a sesame bun. C’mon – don’t take all the hard work out of using search engines