Latest posts from Danny Brown

Enjoy the latest posts from Danny Brown, and feel free to add your own thoughts in the comments after the post.

Is Blogging Dead? Yep, That Old Chestnut Again

Almost as regular as Tila Tequila’s shameless self-promotion efforts, the question of blogging being dead keeps springing up. I’ve spoken about it before (my take – most definitely not dead) as have many others.

One of the best posts I’ve read about it, though, is by Grant Griffiths, where he takes “Steve Rubel and his cronies” to task about claims that are often contradictory.

It’s a great read, and the comments add some excellent insights. Check it out now, and be sure to leave your views in the comments too.

Obviously…

A new study by the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada comes up with some amazing facts:

Teen girls who smoke marijuana are much more likely to be sexually active
Getting drunk more often correlates with an increased likelihood of sexual activity

Um… no shit, Sherlock. (To be fair, there’s also an alarming statistic about suicide).

Studies that report what we already know aren’t studies; they’re merely expensive validations of common sense. How about reporting what we don’t know? Or is that too much like common sense, too?

The Real Cost of Social Media

Social media is free. Social media is inexpensive. You don’t have to outspend your competition. Social media saves time. Social media will save your business thousands, if not millions.

These are all quotes I’ve seen from various voices recently. Each one pretty much agrees with the other – that social media is a great tool for you to implement into your business because it’s so cost-effective and will give you quicker results.

Sadly, it’s not true.

Yes, you’ll save on equivalent costings from a traditional media advertising push. Yes, you can see instant results and measurable returns on your investment. But cheap and quick? Not quite. Particularly if you’re looking at implementing a strategy and social media campaign (and yes, social media purists, you can have a social media campaign).

It Costs Money to Plan

Let’s say you have a new product or service. Let’s also say that you’ve seen competitors enjoy success using social media to launch a similar product or service. You know yours is better, so you know that social media (used properly) would further see you outshine your competitors. So, easy, right? You just set up a Facebook page, a Twitter account, maybe a video sharing channel and off you go.

Stop. Back up a little. Have you asked yourself the right questions before you start?

Have you thought strategy?
Have you carried out a social media audit?
Have you set measurements in place?
Have you determined where you’ll be and who’ll be there for you?
Have you set aside the right budget?
Will you be using internal expertise or outsourcing?
Do you have to build anything?

These are just some of the immediate questions you need to be asking before even starting. Getting the answers is going to take man hours. Lots of man hours. Multiply that by the payscale of the person/people doing that research and your costs are already starting.

Social Media is Cheap. Uh… No, It’s Not

It doesn’t matter whether you’re coordinating a social media campaign internally or externally, you’re going to have to allocate budget to it. This includes costs for strategy, community management, mobile app and moderation/maintenance. Let’s see how that might pan out (based on a 12-month campaign and with earnings based on survey results).

Social media strategist: 10 hours per week @ $100 per hour = $1,000 per week. Total for 52 weeks – $52,000.
Community manager: 30 hours per week @ $60 per hour = $1,800 per week. Total for 52 weeks – $93,600.
Micro-site build (if not using existing platforms) – $15,000.
Mobile application (more than 70% of social web browsing is via mobile phone) – between $20,000 and $150,000 depending on functionality.
Ongoing moderation and measurement using third-party specialists – between $30,000 and $80,000 depending on frequency.
Total = $390,600.

Now I’ve given you worst-case scenarios, since you probably won’t need a social media strategist for the whole time during the campaign. You might only need a community manager half the time mentioned above. You can also build micro-sites for less; the cost will depend on how interactive you want the site to be.

But even if you halve the total cost used in my example above, you’re still looking at $195,300. Almost $200,000 for a year-long social media campaign.

Compare that to a print ad that may cost anywhere between $50,000 and $100,000 for one run, and yes, it’s clear that social media offers a comparably cost-effective solution. But to say that it’s cheap and quick? That’s setting you up for a flawed approach from the start and will only bite you in the long run.

How about you? How expensive (or inexpensive) have you found social media, both from a financial and time management angle? I’d love to hear your experiences.

It?s Not Rocket Science. A Retrospect at One Year of Community Building

This is a guest post from Matt Cheuvront and is part of the Guest Blog Grand Tour over at Life Without Pants ? an epic journey of over 75 guest posts.

Want to learn more about Matt & see how far the rabbit hole goes? Subscribe to the Life Without Pants RSS feed & follow him on Twitter to keep in touch!

I?m still a newb to this whole blogging thing.

Those of you who know me might think I?m talking crazy, but no, seriously, this is still a relatively new scene to me when I think about the fact that a year ago ? I wasn?t here, I didn?t have a blog, I knew none of you reading this, and I was at a completely different place in my life.

But in the past year ? some pretty amazing things have happened both on and off my blog. I?ve met some amazing people, established a steady secondary income as a freelance designer and consultant, and have developed a fully interactive and thriving community of readers who genuinely push me to be at my best.

Recently I?ve had the pleasure of sitting down with a couple of people I really respect who wanted to interview me as an ?up and coming? thought leader. It?s extremely humbling to be considered in that light ? and in each of our conversations, I?ve been asked one common question: ?How did you build your community??

That?s the $100 question isn?t it? As bloggers we all want to know how to get people talking, how to get more RSS subscribers, more followers on Twitter, and so on. For most of us, we establish a niche, and they we start thinking about how to grow our community and spread our voice to a wider audience.

Now first and foremost ? while flattered by what some may think ? I?m no thought leader in this area. I have no professional credentials to back anything up ? but a little bit of real life experience can go a long way. Looking back as I approach the one year anniversary of my blog ? here are seven things I?ve done to build and nurture my blog community.

I set out to create ?more than a blog? from day one

This was imperative for me. I?ve had my share of blogging flops in the past ? with Life Without Pants, in what was maybe a desperate initial attempt to not become TOO specific in my overall theme, I set out to create a platform that was free form ? much more than a blog ? but rather a pedestal for people to come and share ideas. My style of writing actively promotes discussion ? even going so far as to objectively ask questions in every post to get people thinking about a response. A blog should be a learning experience for both you and your readers ? thus the more you can promote that level of engagement, the better.

I?ve found ways to relate personal experiences to applicable scenarios for my readers

At the end of the day ? your readers care much less about your actual blog and much more about the person behind it (that would be you). I recently wrote a post on the topic ? but in a nutshell, while you need to find ways to relate your content to the audience, you should never forget the one thing that makes your blog unique ? YOUR perspective. Share personal stories, be opinionated, take a stance, use real life examples ? and then open the floor for discussion.

I?ve replied to 99% of every comment received

From day one I told myself that I would respond to EVERY comment I?ve received and, for the most part, I?ve stayed true to this mantra. Even on posts that have had 100+ comments, I?ve invested the time into responding (thoughtfully) to every comment. The goal? Not to say ?thanks for the comment? ? but to take things a step further ? ask another question, get people thinking even more. If you look through my archives ? the comments section is always much more valuable and interesting than the post itself.

I actively promote the members of my community

Promoting, appreciating, and thanking the people who take the time to visit your blog is so important, yet often forgotten. We are absolutely inundated with the amount of content that is thrown at us from every direction, so for someone to pick YOUR blog read out of the million other ones out there should mean a lot. Take time to go the next step OFF your blog ? send a personal email, follow up with your readers ? visit THEIR blogs and get involved in their communities. Building a community is much easier when you have a group of readers who know you actually care about them.

I?ve gotten everyone involved with projects and ideas

E-books, video projects, guest posting ? just a few of the things I?ve done over at my blog to involve my community. A community isn?t led by one dictator, but rather should be a place where many people can come and share ideas ? not only in replying to comments and being good readers, but in creating some of the content itself. Share the wealth and volunteer your blog as a place for community to assemble and collaborate. It?s a 100% win-win situation for everyone involved.

I invent new ways to share content

Traditional blogging is still the way to go most of the time ? people like to read and respond to blog posts ? but I have integrated new media into my scheme as well. By using video and podcasting, I keep the content fresh and offer unique ways for people to enjoy the things I?m doing. Plus it challenges me as the manager of my blog to think of new ways to share perspective.

I see my blog as an investment

This is THE bottom line when it comes to blogging. A blog is a commitment, a community is an investment. You get what you give. You can still have a life outside of these online walls, but building a community comes down to being present and engaged in what?s going on throughout this space. Budget time every day to work on blogging initiatives, without distractions. Make it a real investment and when you do ? the results will speak for themselves.