Social networking has impacted our lives completely that it seems to permeate every part of our lives. This point can simply be made looking at how people get jobs nowadays.
With social media sites like LinkedIn that are specifically designed for the recruiter and job seeker all the way to Facebook and the trend of checking in on the social lives of potential new hires, our digital selves are more closely related to the non-virtual us.
One of my favorite TV shows is Kitchen Nightmares, where world-renowned chef Gordon Ramsay visits failing restaurants and helps them turn their businesses around.
He always uses the same steps to eliminate their weaknesses, highlight their strengths, and streamline their processes. The same steps can be followed to improve your website … without all the screaming or colorful language.
Over a period of six months we monitored the usage of all of iMinistries websites using Google Analytics.
Some results were to be expected. Others surprised us.
From these statistics we’ve come to the conclusion that the convergence of technology, social media, and design/UX create a healthy church web presence.
This month, I have been putting some extra time into my personal blog’s Facebook page and we just recently got to 100 Likes, a big deal for us.
When we hit that 100 Like mark, Facebook did something amazing, they gave us $50 in free advertisement to promote our Facebook page. I am one to never turn down something free, so I went to work on it and have been pleasantly surprised on the results.
Every week, I review the top blog articles that I have read through and call the post “Links of the Week.” In this process of going through countless articles, finding the best ones, and putting a link on the post with a summary of the article, I have found it VERY tough to come up with a single sentence for the post. The simple solution for it is that I would love a simple, tweetable sentence that summarizes the whole thing for me.
Marketers do this really well in radio and television ads. A single, simple statement to sell the product that they say over and over again. Anyone remember “HEADON! Apply directly to the forehead?”
There is an unethical business practice called “bait and switch” where a store advertises 80% off something on a product that they know will be sold out quickly, yet leave the sign up to draw people in to buy something else. Bait them with the sale, convince them that you sold out SO quickly, and switch it so that they end up buying something else that gives you a great profit margin.
Unfortunately, across the Internet, SO MANY bloggers are doing that very practice with blog titles.
Much ado has been made about social media strategies lately.
Pundits have lent their expertise to topics such as “how to be more effective on Google+, Pinterest, or Twitter”, or “how do I know what to post?”
The number of networks and the type of posts people make are so numerous that it causes many people – especially those new to the scene – to feel overwhelmed, confused, and at a loss as to where to begin.
If that’s you, perhaps this will simplify things:
We have talked a lot about the newest social media platform on the block, Pinterest, and the accelerated growth that it has received. It has gained notoriety online for its unique take on social media that has attracted a whole new audience that has transformed blogging, e-business, and online networking. But for those that do have Pinterest connected to a website or blog, there is something amazing happening that has not been discussed much, sustained traffic.
We only have a finite amount of time each day to invest in the different things of our lives. For those with an online business or brand of any sorts (blogging for fun or more), you have needed to invest in social media for marketing and networking with viewers and other bloggers. If left unchecked, it can be completely overwhelming, to say the least.
We are constantly asking the question, “Which social networks should we be invested in?” In fact, on a regular basis, I would encourage you to reevaluate what you are spending your time on with social media and decide if it is still worth it.
Could we be giving up Twitter for better Facebook interaction?
Should I add Google+ to what we already do?
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