Sunday, July 31, 2011

i am shy and modest

why are we on social media at all if not to get blog hits, and get our message out?
what seperates a writer from a speaker, accountant, or maybe a movie star?  there is a compelling urge to have our written words read by someone else, appreciated or at least our opinions seen.  so, i think we need to get the word out there, and not be bashful about it.   we can completely ignore the whiners and negative tweets we've heard about NOT posting our link more than once per day.  alot of those comments come from people who are not writers, and don't have anything to lose from taking that kind of position.  i don't mean that we should be obnoxious, and we certainly don't want to spam our wall or timeline ( spam, by my definition is the constantly repeated tweet or post, without any deviation in order to gain hits, or push a page up the SEO rankings )

a simple hit counter is useful, but look at your stats.  if your blog provider does not offer stats, then back up your blog on a provider that does.  hit counters only total numbers, giving you no analysis.

Find a Provider that Provides Statistics
 a great short read on twitter hits from a master networker, and professional technical writer who dabbles in social media:  http://pronetworkbuild.blogspot.com/p/twitter-tips.html  ProNetworkBuild on Twitter packs more in that page of Twitter Tips, than you might find in a year of trial and error.  why gamble?  learn from a pro free!  right click these links, and OPEN IN ANOTHER TAB, so you don't lose your place here.

so my suggestions are simple:  

1. tweet me your post, i'll get the message out.  use http://tinyURL.com to shorten the link, don't use the "Tweet Button" which takes up more characters than TinyURL.  

2. collaborate with influencers, folks you know will retweet your link.  my twitter attorney, @PiperBayard get's hits from me. (you can hire her, but she charges me two pop tart wrappers, just for a consult, and my heart breaks losing even one shiny object )  i can't  say how many hits she gets as I am not privy to her statistics, but i have posted her links on my Facebook, G+ account, and all over Twitter.  the idea is that i do this for many, many people.  God has blessed me with followers, and i take my blessings seriously, it is my duty to inform others of good writers, so i do.  another is @MuseInks when i had very few followers, i would tweet her writing tips.  she probably got all kinds of nuts and whack jobs tweeting her, i attract a rather demented crowd.  she's a screenwriter and great person to follow.  these are but two examples, i cannot list all of the collaborations i have here.

3. cross market on Facebook, Twitter and Google +, although I have found that Twitter yields the greatest number of hits.

4. be generous, keep planting and sowing, don't stop to look at the row you planted to see if a seed popped up, just keep planting and sowing.  meaning of course, keep putting other people's links out there.  when the time comes, tweet those people your link.  they'll retweet it.

5. tweet between 4pm and 4:50 pm Eastern Standard Time, research, analysis, and reports have indicated time and again that this is the single best time to get your message out, because more people are on the internet. ( just one report by way of example: http://tinyurl.com/5tl82jd The Best Time to Tweet by Bit Rebels )  the east coast of the U.S. is still at work, and there is a mad rush for many of the end users to "get their tweet on"

6.  don't be modest or shy.  people cannot read your mind, they don't have crystal balls, most are not telepathic.  there is no way for them to know you have recently written the greatest blog post since Mashable went to a blogger conference and conspired to be the go to blog for tech...  readers have no way of knowing, if you don't tell them. 

7.  stay at it, not all blog posts are groovy, some suck, don't let the sucky ones get you down.  if thomas edison had given up after only 1,000 attempts, we'd all be striking two sticks together....  writers are not quitters, and all else being equal, persistence is the one single factor that yeilds success.

in conclusion, do you know of any great masseuses?  i am looking for.... ooops, wrong post.....  i have to go make some tea, and wake up, these early sunday morning posts are brutal on my schedule.


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i tweet at @Samuel_Clemons  and my Facebook? http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001986473242

13 comments:

  1. What excellent advice! And I've read that ProNetworkBuild guy. He's amazing. Thanks for the shout out, Sammy, and thank you sincerely for all of your support. I think that narcissistic thing you claim to is just to hide an interior as soft and cuddly as your silky fur and cashmere scarf. But don't worry. I won't tell.

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  2. Here's a shiny PopTart wrapper AND a ball of tinfoil for you to bat about your play-place of choice. No nuts or whack jobs tweet me: only the coolest ferret are in my time line.

    Thanks for the kind shout out. And thanks for the how-to-get-the-spam-free-word-out post! ~rubs the ferret's head till the fur stands up straight~

    @Museinks

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  3. 6. "....most are not telepathic..." LoL Your wry wit is sometimes glossed right over if we are not careful. Thanks for the fine mention. My blog posts probably fall in the dry, boring "suck" category, but I shall persist!!

    I tweet at @ProNetworkBuild

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  4. I've only had 2 tweeps that spammed my timeline. It took me a while to get my timing right, and you are correct - the 5:00PM EST slot seems very active. Since I have UK followers, I also try to hit their AM and PM crowd as well. Good tips - networking and socializing is crucial.

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  5. I'm a part time foot massager!

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  6. Thanks for the information, blogging is for definatly for venting! Without being rediculious of course! Have a good one!

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  7. Oops, added one too many words!!

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  8. Sam, I sent you two of my short posts. Can you help me out with that if you are interested? I am unable to post. I just would like to share them. I sent to your email. Is that okay? Thank-you so very much...

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  9. Thanks for sharing your advice! I am trying to develop a following at Wordpress and Twitter seems to be the only way to get readers over there to read it.

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  10. Excellent post, Sam. Thanks for the information and links. I love that people are so willing to share. That doesn't happen very often on my profession!

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  11. I do the tweeting thing - but am in the UK. Remembering to think of US time on top of everything else often defeats me. But some of you seem to have found me, so I must hit the right time occasionally!

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  12. Please hit our blog. I run it for a 'family' of Philadelphia vampires. Actually, they're very spiritual people who view it like this ---- Not the Shepherd, but the sheepdog. Please, 'cause when they're in a good mood they buy me stuff like maybe new sneakers or dinners at the Golden Corral...And I can do with some fried shrimp and a fresh pair a Nikes.....

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  13. wilkavitz it would be great if you posted your blog URL and your Twitter handle in a post. i didn't put it on this post, i guess, but since i am the God of Twitter, the Universe, and to a lessor extent, the fridge i have to have one foible, one small chink in my armour that makes me less powerful, alas, that is that i am addicted to twitter handles.

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