As my loyal blog readers know, I have been working on a series over the past year titled “35 Social Media Truths.”

The Social Media Truth series is based on a keynote presentation I did at the Rochester Institute of Technology last year. I have been writing on the core concepts since then and it has served as a foundation for much discussion. I used the content as a test project to practice what I preach, build and execute an integrated plan around one solid piece of content.

The return on investment (ROI) on doing such has been high and something I will do again. Below I share a few of the statistics and approach I took on the project and leveraging of one slide deck to help meet business goals for a year.

As I bring the series to a close to work on the next similar segment I want to share all 34 of the social media truths as originally written.

The marketing nut community and loyal followers will probably see many familiar quotes and concepts. I hope they have inspired you, educated you and provided you value over the months we have discussed and debated them! I look forward to many more great conversations and debates in the coming months!

This post includes the following: 

• Snapshot of approach used to leverage content of one presentation deck for one year as part of an integrated marketing program.
• Bullet list of all 34 social media truths
• Embedded Slide Share deck of keynote presenatation.
• Offer to opt-in to our email list and be notified of upcoming webinar to walk thru all 34 social media truths.

Note: Funny thing is I just now realized there is a typo in the deck used as the source for the series and in reality there are only 34 social media truths. Thought we would clear that confusion up first! 

Approach: 

1. Created keynote presentation deck for Rochester Institute of Technology #SMACSRIT event.

2. Focused content on topics I was teaching, researching and planning to write about.  Most are backed up by industry data and case studies and / or real experiences our team has had with clients.

3. Developed an integrated plan aligned to our own business goals and objectives to best leverage the content for a series of months.

4. Integrated plan included:

• Videos
• Email opt-in list (grew list by thousands)
• Email content sent to subscribers
• Blog posts
• Tweetchat topics for #GetRealChat Twitter Chat
• Facebook, Google+, and Twitter posts and discussions
• LinkedIN polls & discussion
• Training with local Chamber of Commerce groups, Clients, Associations, Non-Profits and more
• Created video training webinar shared with clients as part of client on-boarding program.
• SlideShare deck published today. In less than one hour it hit Slideshare top decks for both LinkedIn and Twitter. Less than 12 hours later it has 2200 views.
• Generated high quality leads, clients and sales from all of the above. It was not one single thing that drove results. It was the integrated platform and plan aligned with specific business and marketing goals.
• Webinar to walk thru entire deck and all 34 social media truths. Sign up to be notified of webinar here–>> Free Webinar

Now that’s what I call ROI. What do you think?

34 Social Media Truths 

1. People don’t buy things, they join things.
2. Communities Create Markets.
3. Be Your Own Social duck!
4. It’s not about the next big thing.
5. Lead with results.
   Welcome to the inspiration age. (Heartbeat of social media)
   Social Currency = action.
6. It’s what happens after the Facebook like and follow that matters most.
7.  Don’t do social, be social. Changed later to “Don’t do social or be social, be socially relevant!”
   Social media plugs into your business. Your business does not plug into Facebook.
8. SMART Objectives and goals are key to success.
   Align social media with top business goals where social media can have an impact.
9. Be realistic.
   Objectives differ by level and role. (Tips for communicating with internal and external stakeholders.)
   Assess business readiness to be social.
10. Stop Random Acts of Marketing (RAMs)
11. Tools are the tactics, not the path.
    Evaluate each initiative based on priority, risk, impact and alignment.
12. Sum of all parts is greater than the individual tools (learn the ecosystem).
13. Social relationships are the life raft for technological changes.
    It’s about the people, stupid!
14. Only guarantee is change. 
15. Deal with the hard stuff NOW!
16. Skeletons will fall out of the closet.
17. Social media will not fix your broken business.
18. Slow down to speed up.
19. You will tick people off.
20. You might even get fired!
21. Your kid may be ugly. (i.e., website, blog, Twitter profile, Facebook page)
22. Ya’ gotta start somewhere. Embrace imperfect perfection.
23. Understand your audience.
24. All conversations are not created equal.
25. Hang out with 9 brokes, you just might be the 10th!
26. You need friends.
27. Stop using interruption marketing tactics.
28. Know your audience.
29. Use social media to solve your customer’s problems.
30. Talk to me like I am human.
31. It’s not about YOU!
32. Measure the right stuff.
33. Take time to tame the social media beast.
34. Shape up or ship out!

People don’t “Follow”, “Like”, or “Circle” your company because you’re great.

They do it because it benefits them. That’s they secret to every viral marketing campaign.

Maybe your latest blog post will help them save money. Or perhaps it made them laugh (or cry).

Either way, the underlying trigger that sparked their reaction is your key to unlocking social media growth.

Here are 3 effective ways to leverage those triggers and get more fans and followers.

 

Image courtesy of seanrnicholson

 

1. Create an Irresistible Offer

The quickest way to grow any social network is to incentivize your customers.

You have to craft an offer that’s not only appealing, but also motives them to take action. 

But be careful…

The offer or incentive you use will depend on your business.

For example, using coupons will work great for commodity-type businesses that are going after price-concious customers. But they’re a terrible choice for complex or consultative sales because they’ll attract the wrong type of customer.

So you need to match your unique situation with the type of offer, or bait you’re using.

Here are some other examples that I use with my clients:

 

2. Get People Involved

Casino tycoon Steve Wynn recently said in an interview that today’s generation of consumers don’t want to sit passively and watch a performance – they want to get on stage and be the performance. Social media promotions are one of the best ways to grow a social network, because they:

• Break the everyday monotony by introducing something unexpected
• Act as an incentive to lure people’s attention and engagement
• And can include viral hooks to draw new people in

They also don’t have to be complex or expensive.

Look to partner with complimentary businesses that service the same customers you do. You’ll be able to cross-market your products and services. But you’ll also be able to “bundle” your own products/services for prizes and keep the cost down.

But don’t forget to start with a goal. This is the most common mistake people make in social media.

If you want to build awareness and drive traffic, then run a sweepstakes or giveaway. You should make it as easy as possible for people to enter.

If you want to increase engagement of your audience, then hold a contest where people have to take an action and join the discussion.

And try to always include a “viral hook” so people involve their friends or social graph. An easy example is to have people vote, and the winner will have the most votes or Likes at the end of the competition.

You’ll get friends-of-friends involved, and it will dramatically increase your reach to new people.

 

3. Embrace the “New” PR

If social media is the new PR, then bloggers are your new journalists.

And the good thing about online marketing is that size doesn’t matter as much. If you find bloggers with the right audience, then you’ll convert leads and customers at a much higher rate.

But you need to know how to reach out to bloggers if you want their help. They’re usually looking for either (1) money, (2) exposure, or (3) exclusive/unattainable access:

1. Money: Blog writers are expert content creators – which is essential to internet marketing today. So sponsor their work through advertising, or hire them to create content for you (they might even promote it themselves then).
2. Exposure: Most bloggers want more traffic (just like journalists). So offer to promote them on your website, in your customer newsletter or social media audience.
3. Access: Give them something money can’t buy. That could mean back-stage access to a sold-out event, an autograph from their favorite NFL player you happen to have connections with, etc. etc. Think about how you can use your product, service or network to provide something exclusive and unique.

In each case, you need to put yourself in their shoes to understand what makes them “tick”.

But don’t settle for vague survey-like answers.

Marketers everywhere are trying to discover how to monetize social media. But some social media sites can’t even make money from their own users.

Facebook has been in the news recently for failing to live up to its business promise. LinkedIn, however, has performed remarkably well in the same difficult sector.

It has announced quarterly sales that would see it approaching $1 billion in annual revenues within 12 months. Membership is growing at 60% per annum and in countries like Australia it is growing faster than Facebook.

So what differentiates these two companies? Their business plans.

Facebook Struggling with Mobile Monetization

Facebook’s stock price started at a very high $38 a few months ago, but now it has plummeted to close to $20. Investors fear that the company will not monetize its 900 million users effectively—and they may be right.

The largest portion of the company’s ~$4.5 billion in annual revenue has so far been through ad sales. But click-through rates as low as 0.05%, as well as so-far unsuccessful mobile ads, are hurting the company.

Quite frankly, ad revenue alone will not be enough to power the company going forward. Facebook needs a new and effective business plan if it is going to avoid failure.

Zuckerberg is trying out new revenue sources, such as advertising mobile apps in its app center and linking to Google Play and the App Store. Another new venture for the social giant is as a platform for internet gambling in Great Britain. Unfortunately for investors, neither of these new ventures looks likely to solve the revenue problem on its own.

On the opposite side of the social media spectrum is the professional networking site LinkedIn. LinkedIn users only spend an average of 18 minutes per month on the site, compared to 6.4 hours for Facebook users.

LinkedIn Monetizes Recruiters

However, LinkedIn is able to generate revenue of $1.30 for every hour a user spends on the site. Contrast that to Facebook, which only earns just over 6 cents per hour of use.

Originally, LinkedIn made most of its money through advertising and $9.00 premium subscriptions. However, the last two years have seen the company shift to a focus on monetizing the massive data they’ve collected. With information on thousands of workers and job seekers, they provide corporate recruiters with one of the best recruiting tools on the market.

Each corporate recruiter account costs approximately $8,000, a much better source of revenue than advertising. That premium product is the primary focus of the horde of LinkedIn sales reps.

There are two big lessons to be learned here: First, LinkedIn has had its share of troubles. But with leadership focusing on revenue generation while still building its user base, it has successfully monetized the data it gathers. Facebook needs to follow suit if it wants to succeed.

Second, Facebook has something that not many companies do, a user base of almost 1 billion people. However, by focusing exclusively on the user experience for so long, it has created a lot of very happy customers but does not know what to sell to them. A business plan is crucial to growth, and Facebook has the chance to become just as profitable as LinkedIn if it can figure out how to monetize the time that people spend on the site.

My own suggestion is that Facebook should position itself as a platform for e-commerce, allowing it to facilitate social buying on a level never before seen. This could generate money for the company while making the buying process easier for consumers and sellers. Win-win-win!

What do you think Facebook needs to do to become sufficiently profitable?

Guest Author: ”Jonathan Slonim is a marketer, student, and social media strategy nerd. He studies Economics and History at Hillsdale College and is a marketing intern at a large manufacturer. Jonathan blogs about marketing and business strategy. You can also follow him on Twitter at @jonathanslonim.”

My New Book is #2 on the “Best Sellers List” on Amazon!

Blogging the Smart Way “How to Create and Market a Killer Blog with Social Media”

Thanks to your support since launching last week it is now on the “Best Sellers List” in two categories according to Amazon.

• #2  in the category “Small Business – Marketing“
• #6 in “Marketing & Sales  – Marketing”

In this book I outline all the tips and tactics I used to create and market my blog with social media and grow my page views to over 300,000 a month.

It reveals the different key elements and ways to apply social media marketing to be found on a crowded web.

141 Skyline Rd, Sandia Park NM
For sale: $500,000

Many homeowners can boast of spectacular star gazing from decks or balconies, but few go as far as to install an enormous computerized telescope and observatory for viewing.

Located in the Sandia Mountains, a little over 30 miles outside Albuquerque, this home is already in a prime spot for stars.

“It’s the most phenomenal view I’ve seen in New Mexico. Your view of the stars is like nothing you can imagine” said listing agent Kara Schug of RE/MAX PROS.

Abutted by national forest, the Sandia Park home is custom-built. When the owners first purchased the land in the 1970s, there was nothing out there.

“They literally had to dynamite in roads and work on the electrical company to bring in wires to them,”  Schug said.

The result is a modern, secluded retreat still within access of civilization.

Measuring 3,100 square feet, the 3-bedroom, 4-bath home has a custom kitchen with high-end appliances and a master suite with a sauna and jetted tub. Outside, the home has a shop with radiant heated floors and a solar-heated pool.

And then there’s that observatory. Accessible via the home office, the observatory’s glass ceiling gives way to a view of the stars. An outdoor balcony holds the telescope, but the owners have finished wiring to bring the telescope inside. The telescope is included with the home.

Priced for space lovers and nature lovers alike, Schug says the home is for someone who values privacy and peace.

“Once you get there, you don’t ever want to leave.”

From time to time, someone asks me about either paying off their mortgage entirely or paying down their mortgage in the smartest possible way. Does it make sense to pay off your mortgage? Does it make sense to pay down your mortgage? In my experience, the answer to both of these questions is actually more of a personal preference than one of actual dollars and cents.

Should you pay off your mortgage early?

Before you can determine the smartest way to pay down your mortgage, you must first answer the question of whether you want to pay off your mortgage early. Here are six simple questions to consider:

1. Does your employer match any retirement funds you save?
2. Do you have any debt other than your mortgage?
3. Do you have at least 24 months of living expenses in liquid assets?
4. Do you currently owe more on your mortgage than your home is worth?
5. Does the amount of your mortgage bother you?
6. Do you think you could get a better return on your money if you invested it in other things?

If you have considered the pros and cons of paying off your mortgage early and have decided that it is a goal, then it is time to start evaluating different payment strategies. Some of the more common options include:

• Bi-weekly mortgage payments
• Making extra principal payments

Bi-weekly mortgage payments

Bi-weekly payment programs are often offered by your lender, and in the event that your lender doesn’t offer a bi-weekly payment program, there are third-party services available.

Bi-weekly payments are popular because many people get paid “every two weeks,” and the bi-weekly mortgage payment schedule coordinates with their payday schedule. There isn’t really a secret to the bi-weekly program; it is simply structured so that you essentially end up making one extra payment per year — and you might be surprised at how much that can cut off your mortgage.

For example, here is a simple example graph (built using Zillow’s bi-weekly mortgage calculator) of how much a bi-weekly payment can save if you have a $200,000 30-year fixed mortgage:

Making extra principal payments

Making an extra principal payment will also cut your principal balance on your mortgage — and the rule to remember here is “faster is better.”

As in: the faster you make a principal payment on your mortgage, the better it will be.

People often ask, “should I wait until the end of the year to make one big extra payment, or should I make them monthly?”

August is traditionally a vacation month, and with college students heading back to campus earlier and earlier, family travel is often in the equation around this time. So if you will be leaving your home “alone” for a few days or a couple of weeks, it’s a good idea to take some precautions.

Enlist the help of friends and neighbors

The sure way to avoid vacation-related worry is to arrange for a house sitter, particularly if you’re planning to be away for an extended period of time. If that’s not an option, have a trusted friend, neighbor or family member visit periodically to check the house, water the plants and bring in the mail. If it’s a good neighbor, ask if he or she will park a car in your driveway, if yours will be otherwise empty. And don’t forget to hire a neighborhood kid to mow the lawn and trim the hedges, as an unkempt lawn is a sure sign of an unoccupied home.

Remember, water can be the enemy

If a pipe leaks or bursts while you’re gone, the resulting damage could be devastating. Shutting off the main valve is the best protection, but if you can’t do that, at least consider shutting off the valves to the most common sources for water damage — dishwashers, ice makers and washing machines to name a few.

Check the weather report, too. If a storm is on the way, ensure your gutters are free of blockage and reinforce any areas that could allow water in. If your basement is prone to flooding, test that your sump pump is working as it should.

Be security smart

There are plenty of simple ways to keep your home safe and sound while away, including:

• Notify the post office to stop mail delivery to your address for the duration of your trip.
• Place electronic timers in various rooms and set them to activate/deactivate lights on a staggered schedule.
• If you have a pool, padlock the surrounding gate or install a retractable cover.
• Consider motion detector lights for the front and back of your property.
• If you have an alarm system, make sure it’s turned on and that you’ve told the alarm company the dates you’ll be away.

Before you’re set leave, put together a checklist of all the security measures you plan to make. This list will help you stay on task in the hectic days and hours before you leave. After all, the last thing anyone wants is to go on vacation with the lingering thought, “Did I remember to lock the back door?” Plan ahead and you’ll find it’s easy to stay on the safe side without stressing.

Many homeowners develop their own residential security tips and tricks. What are some of yours? Tell me in the comments section; I’d love to hear!

Related:

• Landscaping Lighting 101
• How to: Stain a Wood Deck
• Take Your Shower Outdoors

Bob Vila is the home improvement expert widely known as host of TV’s This Old House, Bob Vila’s Home Again, and Bob Vila. Today, Bob continues his mission to help people upgrade their homes and improve their lives with advice online at BobVila.com. His video-rich site offers a full range of fresh, authoritative content – practical tips, inspirational ideas, and more than 1,000 videos from Bob Vila television.