When I started blogging about 5 years ago, it was a dizzying world to enter. There was finding the right platform to blog on, learning HTML (no matter what anyone says – you need some idea of how it works), learning about FTP, about Page Ranks, Unique Visitors, Page Views, Analytics, SEO, Key Words…the list goes on.
Some things you needed to learn to just get your blog off the ground (or get help from the ‘professionals’). Others have shown up along the way. Other things are more to do with getting people to visit your blog, which really is the whole purpose of a blog. For some, it goes further still. The term ‘monetize’ soon sprang into being. Everyone was talking about whether to ‘monetize’ or not. Ways to do this have ranged from advertising on the blogs, to pay-per-post, hidden links, sponsored posts, the list goes on.
Cyberspace was filled with people selling quick fix ways to ‘monetize’ or easy ways to drive traffic to your blog. Most of this was technical. Most of it was to do with code and maximizing the system that Google basically controls when it comes to search engine rankings.
Nothing much was said about content.
So, the bloggers who blogged for the sheer love of writing. The bloggers who were true writers plodded along and their popularity grew and so did their Page Ranks and their Page Views and so on.
Content. Content was what drew the readers to these sites. Good quality content. There are no special codes to make a good writer.
The good writers of the blogging world have managed to control the quality of the content out there and the big push for cheap and easy monetization seems to have died down a bit.
This is partly due to the new(er) kids on the block. Social Media platforms and what is now called microblogging. This term comes from the fact that platforms like Twitter only give you 140 characters to use per post.
Twitter and Facebook have become the place where you build your brand.
A brand is more than your Nike’s or Coca Cola’s of the world. Your social media presence is now your brand. Or your brand is now your social media presence.
Case in point. Crunchy Carpets – my own blog – does not have HUGE stats. My Page Rank is only a four. But what IS big is my brand.
Crunchy Carpets is a fun and unique name. It gets attention. Anywhere the name is mentioned or listed…it makes people wonder, or chuckle. On Twitter, this has been a big draw to getting new followers.
People know my brand. People includes moms, marketers and corporations. My brand is why people ask me to do reviews, work with them on blogger campaigns and pay for advertising.
Twitter helped people get to know the Crunchy Carpets brand. Twitter also helps people find my blogs.
Social Media is Brand Building.
Platforms like Twitter allow you to reach out instead of just waiting for people to find you. If you follow the right people….the right people will follow you and that means eyes on your brand, product or message.
Inc.com, my new favorite online magazine has great article on getting the most out of your social media and making it work for you.
Maximizing platforms like Twitter and Facebook do take a bit of effort. There are lots of case studies on how NOT to use Twitter. The best thing about social media is there are loads of people who will very quickly tell you if you are doing it wrong!
If you want to build your online brand, SAHMedia can help. Myself and the many bloggers I work with are now old hands at social media. We keep up with the ever changing playing field. We know how to reach out. We know WHO to reach out to.
Let SAHMedia build your brand.