If I Tweet in My Blog... Does that make it a Twog?

Have you been dying to learn how to incorporate your tweets into your blog posts?  Well, I certainly have been flapping my wings pondering the process.  Email to the rescue!  Yesterday, this great tutorial landed in my E-mail - Embedding your favorite tweets into your blog.  Can I say that it's arrival was right on time?  The process seems a little daunting, so it will be a minute before I take on the task. 

So, here is my initial question - "If I tweet in my blog....does that make it a Twog?"

What's your thoughts?  Are you presently including tweets on your on blog? 

Let's talk....

Where's My Audience?

After finishing this recent post, one of my colleagues in the Event industry,  sent me an E-mail that consisted of two things: a great compliment on the article and a very thought provoking question that resulted from this same post.  It seems that her efforts in actively participated in social media communities had been quite successful in netting her an audience of other like-minded business owners.  Although understanding the importance of  the B2B relationship, her question was:  "Where do I find my consumer audience"? 

My first response to this was an introspective - "... hummm.  What a great question!  And, what a even greater blog post this will make!"  The reality of it is that the answer to this question maked for great fodder for many blog posts.  I will attempt to give a shortened version - touching on just a few tactics...

The process and strategy for finding your audience on social media sites is much like the research that goes into target marketing.  To effectively locate (and market) to your audience, you must put in the time/research required to be able to succinctly discribe 'who your customer is'.  The ability to successfully locate your audience in the world of social media, goes far beyond understanding the usual demographic and geographic description.  It is imperative that you understand what psychographic and generographic characteristics motivate your audience.  That is to say, what is their communication style ?,  what devices do they utilize to access their platforms of choice? and what sites warrant the attention?  In general, what are their interests?

 

You can start your search in a number of ways.  You may want to start your search by asking trusted industry colleagues, who share your target audience, the above questions.  By soliciting the assistance of a colleague who does not share your same geographical territory should decrease the competitive factor.

A second source of locating your audience can be found in your industry publications.  Industry publications are invaluable resources for ascertaining, not only general information about your audience, but also, providing statistical profiles of  factors that influence their buying motivation, convey their concerns and interests, how they spend their time, what issues they are facing, with whom do they associate and what their aspirations are. 

Once you have created a general outline of your audience, you can more easily select the social media channels to target. 

What tools and/or strategies have you successfully used to locate your audience?  Let's talk about what has worked for you?

Field of Dreams?

...so I built it?  When will they come?

(pic via here::special thanx)

So you've  monetized your blog?   So you think, "If I build it, they will come".  NOT!  It should be that easy.  How about trying this mantra on for size? 'First I build it, then I help them find me'.  This is the second step in successfully monetizing your blog.  You've made certain that your blog is focused, targetting a specific demographic.  A specific niche.  Good.  First half of the game - won.  Now to the second half of the game. 

If one word is to describe the theme of the second half, that word is 'diligence'.  From this point forward, it will take diligence, on your behalf, to put your blog in front of the audience that will make it possible to earn revenue.  Be it book/magazine publishers, sponsors, affiliate marketers, advertisers or/and businessess willing to pay for posts, every concerted effort at this point is to 'optimize your blog'.  Make it shine.  Shine like a beacon guiding its charge into shore after a long journey.

Getting in front of the businesses that pay for the audience that you have carefully groomed through the content of your blog, can be accomplished in several ways.  If your blog successfully reaches your intended audience, it is safe to say that you have a grasp of the techniques used to optimize your blog.  Let's go through a few. 

Appropriate use of 'tag' words.  Without boring you to tears, the wizards behind Google Analytics have devised a method of ranking web/blog sites on their search engine.  The ranking is driven by an intricate number of factors, one of which is the use of 'tag' words.  The word(s) that the average individual, doing a web search, would use to find web-based information - tag words (aka, labels, keywords).  All blogging platforms have templates that allow the blog author to put tag or labels.  Make your tags/labels/keywords descriptive of the blog post that it is highlighting, minus the industry jargon.

Link Building.  The inclusion of rich anchor text that references or/and gives credit/kudos (or just plain ole' shout outs) to another source - reciprocity.  Quality links, placed appropriately in your posts, allow interested readers (read:: potential monetizing agents) to add your blog to their site's blogroll, allow them to 'follow' your  posts,  becoming evangelists for your blog and ultimately monetizing agents.  Links help to optimize your blog by  allowing search engines to follow the links to your site.  Some sites will always give you 'link love', while others will not. 

Increase the amount of traffic to your blog.  Increase in traffic flow to your site is a direct function of truly knowing your audience and then providing them with relevant, pertinent, useful and valuable  information.  The greatest challenge in doing this is refraining from 'selling' to your followers.  Increased traffic, naturally, draws the attention of those who share a common audience with you. 

Remember that the use of strategically used tag/keywords/labels, appropriately placed links and relevant posts is about making quality connections.  Thinking in terms of offering content that is of value to your audience will, eventually come to the attentions of those monetizing agents who, also, have the best interest of their audience at heart.

Show Me the Money...

...aka How do those companies make money from their blogs?

(pic via here::special thanx)

You've seen them.  The fantastic blogs that you 'follow' regularly for their unique, up to date content, cutting edge information.  More and more you've noticed the amount of advertising and sponsorship that appear neatly incorporated into the site's wallpaper (almost as though they are just  subliminal suggestions and not actual ads).  If you're like me, you have- on more than one occasion- scratched you head while wondering, "how do they do that'?  The 'that' in this instance is, attracting and retaining well-known, innovative, familiar advertisers and/or sponsors.  After all, the sponsorships and ads must add a bit more credibility to your blog.  Monetizing your blog can be done either, directly or indirectly.  And it appears that one might have greater successful monetizing a business blog versus a 'personal' blog.

With direct monetizing, your blog is making money.  The blog generates revenue through advertisements, sponsorships, paid posts and/or affiliate marketing.  Although, this method is generally seen with business blogs, there are several blogs - whose focus is the event industry (ie, Kelly De Luca, Abby Larson and Maria Cooke) - that have been successful with  implementing this method of monetizing.

Indirect monetizing, the more popular method, serves double duty.  Not only can it be lucrative means of generating revenues,it is a valuable means of branding. yourself.  This method involves you, (the blogger)  leveraging the success of your blog to generate revenue.  Revenue sources, often times flow from speaking engagements, workshop, book proposal, article writing and the like.  Rebecca Grinnals, Liene Stevens, and Katasha Sherrie Butler,  are a few of the event industry gurus who have parlayed indirect monetization of their blogs into a handsome business 'up' sale. 

Your business has a focus.  A target audience. Your blog represents your business focus- your niche.  And selling to advertisers is much easier when you have a niche.  Suffice it to say, advertisers fully understand niche marketing.  Advertisers know who their audience is, and,  if your blog caters to that audience, then it has value.   

Whichever path that you chose to travel toward monetazing your blog, directly or indirectly, be sure to keep your blog 'valuable' by posting content that is  focused and true to your audience.  First you build it.  Then you help them find their way to you.

Who Invited the FTC into My Bed?

{photo via here::special thanx}

You've heard about them. You know...Them...The rumours floating around on how the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has become bedfellows with those of us in the blogosphere (like it or not).  What rumor, and when they get in bed with me?  Here's the scoop.  After twenty-nine years, last October 2009, the FTC has effected several new guidelines that will forever guide all of us 'professional' and/or serious bloggers.  The guidelines concerns "...the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising, which address endorsements by consumers, experts, organizations, and celebrities, as well as the disclosure of important connections between advertisers and endorsers.who receive advertising testimonials, endorsements and/or sponsorships".   And...rumor has it that there is some astronomical fine attached for those who are noncompliant...
Whoa!  What was that!

Here is the simple 'keeping it real' version:

Those *lovely* client testimonials that are posted on our blog/web sites, must be a reflection of what a client will  'typically' experience with your product or service.  No more use of the infamous fine printed disclaimer of, "results not typical"

"Material connections" (ie, payment for or receipt of free products/services) between, you - the blogger any product/person/service that is endorsed (on your blog), but, not expected by the 'listening' consumer - must be disclosed.  The guideline reads, "...the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement.  Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections  they share with the seller of the product or service".

Fortunate to have some celebrity ties?  Well, listen up.  Because this is what the guidelines have to say about the use of celebrity testimonials/endorsements.  The "...celebrities have a duty to disclose their relationships with advertisers when making endorsements outside the context of traditional ads, such as on talk shows or in social media". 

Richard Cleland - Assistant Director of Advertising Practices at the FTC, clarified FTC’s expectations for disclosure, as it relates to bloggers as - “the FTC’s main criteria is the degree of relationship between the advertiser and the blogger. . .If there’s an expectation that you’re going to write a positive review, then there should be a disclosure.”  Further, he had this to say about receiving sample products versus being paid for a review:

“That’s going to depend on the circumstances. If we’re talking about getting one free product or something sent to you and you happen to write about it on your blog, that’s not the type of relationship that has to be disclosed. But if you’re part of a network and you’re consistently receiving products to test and blog about, then that raises the implication that these gifts are quid pro quo and that’s why you’re writing the positive reviews.”

You might be asking yourself, does this new guideline effect my Facebook and Twitter presence?

What About Twitter and Facebook?

The guidelines hold true for bloggers who receive paid endorsements (read: tweets) and/or Facebook 'Fans' of products/services and then share those fan pages or/and tweets with friends.  Safe rule of thumb - whenever their is some type of payment or/and compensation (actual and/or in-kind), the 'guideline' flag should go up.  Here is how the guideline may be applied to use on Facebook:

“[A] celebrity or other prominent figure with loads of friends on Facebook receives free hotel stays from Hotel Chain X in exchange for running Hotel Chain X ads on his or her blog. If that person then signs up as a Facebook fan of Hotel Chain X–which, remember, could mean that the person’s name can show up for his or her Facebook friends alongside Hotel Chain X display ads on the social network–he or she could be held liable by the FTC.” (info via here:: special thanx)

As for Twitter, the expectation is that, somewhere in that 140 character limit, you must include your disclosure statement.  In other words, "if you can't make the disclosure, you can't make the ad"

How is the FTC going to keep track of ALL of the Blogs in the blogosphere?
Great question!  When the guidelines were first made public, through a series of interviews, Cleland offerred clarification of the guidelines; as well as, an explanation of how the guidelines are to be applied and monitored.  In one such interview, Cleland stated that the education, of the individuals/companies that is effected by these guidelines, of what is expected of them as it relates to the new guidelines is primary and key.  He indicated that "the FTC would be 'looking primarily at the advertisers to determine how the relationship exist'".   In an interview with CNN,  “Richard Cleland . . . admits there will be no new team to monitor all the blogs, and that enforcing these guidelines would be a ‘game of whack-a-mole’ given the numbers involved... The new guidelines are viewed as more of an educational tool than any kind of requirement, and geared at advertisers more than bloggers. If numerous complaints are filed regarding a blog, the FTC is likely to investigate that the advertiser has properly advised the blogger of these guidelines.”
Further,  Cleland goes on to say, “…in the bigger picture, we think that we have a reason to believe that if bloggers understand the circumstances under which a disclosure should be made, that they’ll be able to make the disclosure. Right now we’re trying to focus on education.”


Do you have to go back to previous posts and add a disclosure for gifts/payments received prior to this new guideline?  One suggestion offerred by Lisa Stone, founder of Blogher.com, is that "...you update your “About" page with your blog policy about payments and review your blog for the current year and disclose any gifts or payments. For previous years, I think you can disclose on your “About” page the date on which you began your disclosure practices. We are not your lawyer, but as a a general practice we recommend that bloggers disclose any kind of payment at the top of every post written because of a payment of cash, goods, or services.”

So what does this new 'partnership' offer as a penalty for noncompliance? 

Can You Spare $11,000 Dollars?

What's to the (rumor?) of the $11,000 per violation for noncompliance?  Trusted news sources were reported  that bloggers who don’t disclose payment will be fined $11,000 per violation.  The updated FTC regulations don’t mention an $11,000 fine at all. None of the original articles with erroneous information had been updated to reflect the lack of this exhorbitant fee. 
To the credit of the majority of bloggers - we are doing the right thing already.  That being said, the level of vigilance lies in the hands of each blogger to remain within the bounds of the regulation guidelines.  The rest is relatively simple.  Write your own disclosure policy/statement and post it clearly on your blog. Need help in writing that disclosure.  This site will assist you in generating one.

Has the new FTC regulation effected the way that you maintain your blog?  How so?  Have you included a disclosure statement in your blog?  Let talk about it...