I must be losing my touch! Although I’ve been #10 for SEO Goddess the day after I tried to reclaim the title but still #10 after 6 days?! Anyways, I should at least make it worth your while to visit and read this post. Facebook as we all know is the foremost social network as of today, do you still know anybody who doesn’t have a facebook account? I know a few, but that is besides the point. The new generation is so addicted with facebook that marketers are actually considering and using them for marketing their products.

Before I dissect facebook, are you really sure you know what social media is? I know for a fact that social media blurs the line between personal and business realms, do you know why? Its because the main importance of Social media is to establish and build relationships, a few years ago it only means building and rekindling friendship but the advent of facebook has changed the outlook and the actual infrastructure of social media. Now social media is used by companies to introduce their products, advertise their business etc. Social media is not longer just personal, it has become a world of its own. So how do you as a marketer use Facebook to get into this so-called world and harness its power? Let me give you a few secrets:

1. If you are looking to portray a professional image with your Facebook Marketing then a professional photograph to your profile is the best way to do it. It is not recommended to put an image or logo as your profile picture, this is seen as less personal and many people will not accept you as a friend. Depending on your type of business, product or service you need to tailor your profile picture to suit. Remember first impressions count so make it a good one!
2. Add valuable content on a consistent basis (relating to your niche market). Every time you update your status, write a note, add a link, photo, video or any other content it will not only appear on your profile, but on the wall of your friends as well. If you are adding quality content you will find people wanting to know more about you and what you do.
3. Building a strong list of friends from your target market is extremely important. These friends are going to be sharing your content and bringing you into connection with their friends as well. If you have a certain target market that you are trying to connect with, building a strong network is an ideal start.
4. The fastest way to scare someone away is to start talking about your business as soon as you meet them. Don’t start pitching your business or opportunity to them. Instead enquire about them, their interests and what they do. They will naturally go to your profile to find out more about you as you are taking an interest in them…
5. Do not make baseless claims. If you post some topics or information, do not make promises you cannot keep. It’s never a good idea to sound like a salesman or make pitches for things people may not want. Instead, entice them to your site to make a purchase with relevant content.
6. Remember to have fun, this is a social network, engage with your Fans, provide massive value and they will share your Page. As your Fan base grows you will notice a lot more business coming your way.
7. Post Interesting Content. Try to appeal to the curiosity, interests and emotions of your fans and target market.
8. Be Responsive. You don’t want your page to become stagnant and empty. Always respond to fans who bother to write to you on the Page Wall. Join in the conversations and interact. Every time they post, it is displayed on their friends news feed, so be responsive and you will avoid a dead page.
9. Avoid spamming. Many marketers make far too many posts and don’t realise that they are clogging up their Fans News Feed. This is a sure fire way to lose fans and attract negative comments on your page.
10. Remember the power in Facebook is in its leverage, so if you are running an event be sure to ask other friends to share the event. The more people you can invite, the better your results will be. You can even offer incentives for people to share the event. Again, it’s all about being creative.

That’s it for now from the SEO Goddess. Check back more often for more tips.

Can you think of more ways to use Social Media for marketing?

Its been too long and I have been too busy with website development and optimizing other sites that I have neglected my own sites. Its a sad case but not a rare case, a lot of developers I’m sure are in the exact same predicament. We just don’t have enough time to do work for ourselves. But I am slowly going to change that, starting with BeThumbed. I know I have my work cut out for me but I have to at least try and reclaim the title that I once had before – SEO Goddess.

Its a personal thing, but its something that makes me happy and I really have to do it. I love mythology and I just finished reading Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, its a fantastical tale with an elaborate network of little tales that ties the whole story up nicely together. Its a story about Shadow – an ex-con with an unexplained background who does coin tricks, his dead lively wife Laura, his employer Wednesday and a whole lot of characters – real, imagined, gods, humans and unexplainable beings. I’ve always made sure to finish a book in a day but American Gods made me change my mind – it is a strange, psychotropic mind drug best taken in small doses and never in one sitting. But nonetheless a mind drug that you could never get enough of until there’s nothing left. But I digress…

Having read the book, I came to realize that I had something that I really needed to do before I can move forward  (much like Shadow felt when he went back to see Czernobog) and that is to get my title back. I really am the SEO Goddess, whether people believe it or not. I may not get to prove it but I might as well try.

I just checked my ranking for “SEO Goddess” and I have somehow slipped a few notches although still in the first page for SEO Goddess searches. I have been lying low in SEO for now because I am concentrating more in designing and developing websites although of course I still have to make sure that every website I do have the onpage SEO well placed.

I do love my work and it gets challenging as more and more work request comes in. I also have to keep up with the SEO stuff and make sure that I am still in the game. What with the SEO Goddess placing down and Google taking a point out of my page rank, I do have to brush up on my SEO skills. So, lets see if I get the first place again in the SEO Goddess play or rather how long would it take me to go up to one… One day? hmmm… Anyway, I just want to say that The SEO Goddess is back on track and is here to take back the ball game.