As we continue the LBFB Series, based on List Building For Bloggers by Phil Hollows, we get into Chapter Two - which deals mainly with basic Email Marketing terminology.
It's important to have an understanding of all the points covered. Particularly "relevance", which we'll discuss more in the next post.
First, let's focus on the "Hub & Spoke" system (see image) that Phil mentioned in the beginning of this section (page 9).
You may be familiar with this term as it relates to Link Wheels or SEO methods, but it also applies to blogging. Your blog is your primary hub, the one property you own and control, with the spokes being all of the channels & methods you use to reach out to your readership and bring targeted traffic into your blog...
Your Blog: Your Hub
Your blog or website is the one property that you own, and have complete control over. While Facebook may be hot, Google+ on the rise, and who knows what may come down the pike next... you do not own these properties, and you have very little control over those channels.
The spokes should each have a life of their own, but your main objective should always be to funnel traffic back to your blog - and ultimately onto your Mailing List where you can communicate with them in a more controlled way.
Your blog should always be your "core", and the source for all of the content you share through your "spokes". While this may seem like a no-brainer, I've seen plenty of people neglect their blog to build active Facebook Pages - or create a Facebook Page in place of a blog, even. Shocking, but true!
There are a number of reasons you should focus on your property above all the others, including:
- to build your mailing list
- because other properties are out of your control
ie could get deleted, blocked, or lose mass appeal - to get more visibility to ads & advertisers
- to improve traffic stats for higher ad rates
- because blog posts & pages rank long-term!
- to improve the overall value of your property
Basically, it should ALL start and end at your blog. Make sure you are investing at least as much time on your own property as you are across your social media channels and other "spokes".
Note: Merchants, Sponsors and Advertisers will be analyzing engagement on your blog. While your "social media rank" will be important too, they are most interested in how engaged your readers are ON your blog.
The Spokes
The spokes are your social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, Google+ - and even your RSS Feed and Mailing List.
They are each a means of reaching out to your market where they are or where they most prefer to get their content updates.
Note: It really doesn't matter if you don't like Twitter (or Facebook) and don't *want* to use it. Go where the people are, go where your market is, and serve your market!
While your ultimate goal should always be to funnel traffic (fans, subscribers, followers, etc) back to your blog or website, you want to have strong engagement on each of your "spokes" as well. Strive for high response rates, ask leading questions, and build out strong properties that entice people to stay engaged with you.
Your "Social Media Rank" is very important to your overall marketing strategy, and even to the ranking of your blog/site's pages and posts in the major search engines. So it shouldn't be ignored by any means. Just keep in mind that your primary objective is to hook it into your main property. 😉
How It All Works Together
I know it seems like a lot to manage. You write content, publish blog posts, share them on your social media channels, email your list, yada, yada, yada...
Do you ever feel overwhelmed with it all??
Honestly, it just *seems* like a lot. The overwhelm usually comes in when you go about trying to find ways to "automate" it. This plugin, that program, this option, etc. None of that is really necessary in my opinion.
There's smart automation such as using Aweber's Blog Broadcast feature to automatically send updates to your mailing list, but when it comes to my social media channels... I update them all manually.
It only takes a few seconds to post your new blog post to Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, etc after it's published. And updating manually gives you the opportunity to use appropriate @'s and hashtags and tags that will improve your reach on each of those channels.
I would love to hear your thoughts. How do you manage your blog, your social media channels, and your content distribution as a whole?
Where do you get frustrated, or feel most confused with the process?
Like I said, in the next post in this series we'll discuss Relevance. Stay tuned, as this is a crucial element to your blog's success!
Best,
p.s. If you don't yet have a copy of List Building For Bloggers, and you want to follow along in the series this month, grab a copy here and use the coupon code "clicknewz" for $10 off. 😉 That makes it only $14.95!
About Lynn Terry
Hey Lynn,
I bought this through you a while ago - brilliant stuff in there and at $10 off it's a steal.
Cheers,
Debra
I always remind myself that those other channels like Facebook, Twitter, etc. could go away at any moment. It's best to have your own 'home' on the net (and a self hosted one at that!).
I don't do any automation. Used to have my blog posts go to FB but no longer.
I think my challenge is remembering where I need to be socializing daily, maybe a checklist? I think I have one...lol Another challenge is keeping up with all the different blogs/sites and profiles. That is hardest for me.
Yup that's true but I still dabble with free sites like blogger and facebook pages once in a while although I own a few domains on self-hosted wordpress myself. It helps a lot for testing before full commitment.
Hi all,
Was surprised to find that in the LBFB, at the top right hand corner of every page, there is a live (yes, live) link that took me straight into the create email of my email box!! Have now password-protected it. Not sure why Phil thought this was necessary - seems like a privacy invasion and a security issue as well.
Apart from that though its great. And thanks, Lynn, for this series - it always helps to go through things with others I think.
Cheers,gab
Hi Gab,
I printed my copy, so I had to go back and look at the digital version. All I find is a link at the top left corner with my buyer transaction ID and PayPal email address (which is a live email link by default). Is this what you're referring to?
Hi Lynn - Yes, that's it. I've never seen that before on a product. Was concerned about possible security issues if I had it on a portable drive for example (lost/stolen). Not sure why he has done that. And its on every page - a bit strange. Maybe it was some kind of mistake.
Anyway just thought I'd alert people to that. Cheers, gab
It shouldn't be a security issue, or I can't imagine how it would be. My paypal email address is one I use for other things, and is known by people who do business with me anyway. 🙂
I like the idea of automation over manually entering updates, but I do all mine manually. I am going to start linking back to my blog more, that is something I have not been doing. It's easier to get followers on Twitter, but I think that's just due to twitter's platform not my content or conversation.
Manual is best, and you definitely want to stay engaged on a personal/manual level. I use http://www.hyperalerts.co to keep track of facebook page responses. It's great, especially if people post on your page or reply to an older update! 🙂
Thank you Lynn for sharing LBFB. I bought it after reading your post because you always share what is good.
I just started, have see the what the link on of the page. Love coming to clicknewz and Unlearn to learn
Hi Lynn,
I agree with you, I feel a little overwhelmed, but I´m beginning to see it clear. The idea is to launch a blog and then start building a mailing list. Social media are only means that help, but the core is your blog.
Thanks!
I agree the blog is the hub. That's how I treat my blogs and how I treated my offline business website/blog. It was the center of my entire marketing campaign.
You could add to the hub and spoke aspect with offline marketing. Use offline marketing channels to drive people to your website/blog. It's a common practice now. Just watch commercials - many are for websites or companies that mention their website. Same thing with radio advertising.
I like the idea of focusing on your own property. In this way, a blog or site owner can really maximize the potential of his/her own property. Do any changes if needed. Optimize it as much as possible. Getting at least more than 50% control over things is the key to towards success.
When it comes to representing yourself, your blog is the best opportunity to create your own brand. Regardless of whether you want to rank well in SERPs, or make money, or any purpose you have for running a blog, hosting your own site allows you to create your ideal online persona, in your own style. When all the social network profiles are based on the same layout, customizing a blog makes the web a lot more interesting.
I always considered my blog as "my corner" on the web and promoting it is like bragging about how you re-arranged your furniture. In other words, it's a pleasure.
I saw someone here saying in a comment saying something about self hosted blog which is pretty much pointless. Use major hosting companies and do regular backups. If the companies suddenly fall (which I doubt), you got your backups and can always switch to another. Why waste resources and time on a self hosted blog, c`mon...