Think of Social Media Like This, and You Will Make Money

Every once and a while I’ll come across a video on youtube that I’ll want to share with you, usually because it’s contains some valuable information. Here is the first one, and it’s a great lesson given by Perry Belcher about how he thinks Social Media should be used to make money:

My Reaction

I definitely agree that Social Media is like a giant party. The part that intrigues me most is about trying to sell something to someone without any prior relationship. I hate it when people come up to me and try to sell me something or make me do something without even introducing themselves or establishing a relationship with me first.

For example, on eHow (which is kind of like a social network as well), people are messaging me all of the time, asking me to read their articles and rate and comment on them. Honestly, I delete those messages right away. Introduce yourself first, tell me something interesting, and I’ll rate and comment on your articles without you having to ask. That’s just how I feel.

Advice for Bloggers

I think a great piece of advice here is to treat your blog like a home that you would want to invite people to.

You wouldn’t want to bring a guest to your dirty house would you? So why should our blogs be unorganized, cluttered with ads, and uninviting?

Your house is an expression of who you are, right? So why not show a little bit about who you are with pictures and an about me page, like I wrote about in a previous post.

Lastly, you wouldn’t invite a guest over without offering them something would you? This is where great content, free tips, resources, links, and even contests come into play.

The making money part comes after all that, and could happen more organically and naturally, instead of forced and impersonal.

Your Reaction?

What’s your opinion about Perry’s take on Social Media. Do you have anything to add?

11 Comments (Click Here to Leave a Comment Below)

Reply the green ninja on December 15th, 2008 at 7:14 am

That video is freaking awesome! I’m the same way with those messages that I keep getting on ehow. Thanks for making your home a nice place to visit.

the green ninja´s last blog post..IRS or iPhone? You decide.

Reply pfincome on December 15th, 2008 at 8:20 am

Pat – I agree with your comments on eHow. I keep getting those messages from friends at eHow to come and read their articles. No thanks!

I commend you on having a clean site. I have struggled with this concept for some time. Early on I didn’t want to put any advertisements on PFI, but then I decided to start placing them on. I figure my content is what will bring people back regardless if there are ads scattered on it.

pfincome´s last blog post..Car Buying – New, Used, Or Lease?

Reply Pat on December 15th, 2008 at 9:08 am

@pfincome,

I like the look of your website, and I would classify it as a “clean home”. Ads aren’t a bad thing, but if used incorrectly they can really detract from the content of a blog.

Reply WriterGig on December 15th, 2008 at 12:07 pm

I agree that the multiple mass emails from eHow “friends” can be hugely annoying. I tend to ignore, delete or reply with a copy and pasted request not to send me mass emails.

WriterGig´s last blog post..Site Build It 2-for-1 Holiday Sale

Reply Felicia on December 16th, 2008 at 8:49 am

Awesome video.

As far as the bulk emails on eHow, many of the offenders are new to eHow so I send them a reply as follows:

Thank you for sending me the notification of your latest article. Unfortunately, since I have over 100 friends its impossible for me to respond to every such message notifying me of new articles.

Please check out this eHow forum thread on the topic of bulk emails.

Regards,

Felicia´s last blog post..eHow – The Gift That Keeps Giving

Reply Rich on December 30th, 2008 at 5:25 pm

Very insightful video. I’m looking at the comments on this blog post, and I’m starting realize the vast amount of folks who are getting messages sent to them on a daily basis by users who want them to check out their articles. I can see how it can be overwhelming. I’m trying to figure out a good way to minimize those kind of messages.

-Rich
eHow, Community Manager

Reply Pat on December 31st, 2008 at 10:44 am

@Rich, Hey it’s a pleasure to have you on my blog! You do a wonderful job of managing the ehow forums and such. I get at least 3 mass emails each day, but at least it’s not too difficult to delete them.

Maybe when someone if befriended, they have the option to accept or deny mass emails from that person. I dunno, I’m sure you’ll think of something creative =)

Happy New Year!

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Reply Azad Shaikh on January 31st, 2010 at 12:33 pm

Great video i had seen it before. Good tips and i had been implementing this on my Internet Geeks blog. Short future when my Web Portal become a huge success you will be the huge factor in it.
Warm Regards,
Azad Shaikh (The Internet Geek)