What Are Your Intentions For 2012?
I love this time of year.
For me, like many others, it’s a time for reflection and renewal. We can start with a clean slate and begin to pursue those things we’ve put off.
I’ve never been one to set New Year’s resolutions mostly because I set goals throughout the year. I also try to make my goals more meaningful nowadays, going beyond generic fitness or financial pursuits.
This year, I’d like to make a real dent in the universe. I’d like my efforts to be inspirational to others and not just in vain. So, without further delay, when it comes to educating our clients at Fruition Interactive as well as the business community at-large, here is one of my two intentions for 2012:
Build an online asset you can control
Over the past few years, social media has been a hot topic. People have differing opinions when it comes to using the social web. Some are for it, some are indifferent, and some are completely opposed to it.
Regardless of your position, when it comes to using popular social networks for professional or even business use, there’s actually a bigger danger looming:
Some people are getting lazy.
Businesses and professionals are spending time and money on social media, but neglecting their own online assets, properties, or media in the process. In my humble opinion, social networks were really never intended to be a main destination or virtual storefront for your business.
I’m not suggesting social media is evil, I’m an huge advocate. In fact, I often recommend making client’s websites more “social-friendly”.
However, my advice is to use social media more as “outposts” to educate your audience, share interesting stories, and have the occasion friendly chat with people when you have a spare moment. Just remember, social media should not be the destination, but simply a vehicle.
Bring them home
When people are ready, at some point, you have to make it easy for them to find their way to an online asset you control — bring them back to a relevant landing page on either your website or blog.
Everything that happens on a website can be measured via analytics. When set up properly, you can find out how many people came from Facebook then signed up for your email newsletter or downloaded your white paper.
The real secret to online marketing success is to spend most of your time and energy building online assets and a platform that you can control.
That way when Facebook changes their layout, adds a feature or does something else that gets everyone all worked up you can relax because you’ve got thousands of loyal subscribers following your blog and hundreds of subscribers to your monthly email newsletter who actually open and respond to it.
In other words, you own and have a direct relationship with your audience, not someone else.
P.S. Stay tuned for Part 2.