As I was scouring the many Tweets I get for good information, I saw that @redheadwriting posted one of her Bitchslap articles. These are one of my must reads whenever she posts one. She was ranting about a blogger who deleted her comment since it was not supportive of his blog. You can read it at The Bitch Slap: This Is Not How You Run a Blog. She wrote about poor Michael's handling of her comment regarding his blog: 50 Most Influential People in Blogging 2010. Of course, I needed to look at the list to see what all the fuss was about.
Me being new to the blogger world, I wasn't familiar with any of the names listed. I noticed that only 1 of the top 20 bloggers was a woman. Her name is Katie Freiling. I checked out her site and read her story. She offered 7 days worth of Social Media training free, so I signed up for it. You can too at www.katiefreiling.com. I noticed that each of her pages offered the ability to retweet the page to all my tweet followers. One of the things she advises is to advertise someone else 80% of the time and yourself 20% of the time. I thought, OK I'll retweet her 7 days of Social Media training. I read her About Me story and found that she has become very successful with her online marketing skills. She started out with $30,000 of debt and now has a 6 figure income. She even states she made $160,000 in two weeks.
As I was trying to fall asleep, I was thinking about ways to get more followers and ultimately have more people see my art work. Than I thought about something. Katie has 18,000 followers and nearly 5,000 following her Facebook page. She makes a 6 figure income. Why does she need someone like me retweeting her stuff. She's doing fine on her own. Why don't I find someone who has some success, but is still struggling to make it. Of course, I don't want to spend too much time on someone new, but somewhere right in the middle. I wonder how many people think the same way I did. When you decide to "like" someone on Facebook or "follow" someone on Twitter, how much of your decision depends on the number of "likes" or "followers?" Are you ever turned off when the numbers are too big?
Believe me, I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to have this problem. What do you think? Do you read someone's blog or buy their product, just because they are super popular or do you go onto the next person, because they are too popular? I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to hear your comments.
You are too successful when your life becomes unbalanced and your personal life falls apart.
ReplyDeleteI don't follow people because of popularity, it's because I like them. I don't try to get people to follow me for any reason.
I'm not pushy, I don't like trying to get anyone to do anything, it makes me a bad salesperson...I know, but that's how I feel about it.
Thank you Anonymous for the comment. I like comments that are written from the heart.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Amy!!!! I am the person that will usually follow someone because somewhere, somehow I can relate to them and vice versa. Sometimes I will follow people simply because of an interesting profile picture or a comment or picture that catches my attention. I beleive those out there with 18000 followers must haveinvested a great amount of time and most likely have been doing so for years. If you would have asked me what Twitter last year...I would not have had a clue, other than I knew it was a social network site. I feel like many other talented people out there may have just begun their social marketing journeys and why not help those who are struggling. I say if you like what they have to say or like the person then "like" them "follow" them. Those with many followers and fans...well we all could learn something from them, but I wouldn't expect them to interact to much. I say why not help those you can relate to and lets all help eachother reach success!
ReplyDeleteThank you Amy for your thoughtful comment. I am embarrassed to admit that I make my decisions from the small picture attached to their profile. For example, one guys who claims to be a social media expert has a picture of himself with a hat on backwards. I can't take that person seriously. Do you have a twitter sign. I would like to follow you.
ReplyDeleteAmy:
ReplyDeleteI like the thought behind your question and agree with Amy Marie and most of annon. I am new to twitter so I am doing a pupu platter of following with the intention of cultivating a group that hopefully will help me think quicker, and better, about my business. I view social media as a facet of business strategy but not my strategy per-se. In the end you want to sell more stuff...I am not sure how that will come about via Twitter, so I am exploring. Like annon I don't really follow people because of their following but there is truth in the marketing concept that a crowd draws a crowd...so I do think people with big followings will draw more following. I don't necessarily have a desire to have a huge following, but I would like to have the right following so Twitter is productive instead of distractive. I get silly around these tools and my business objectives can get lost in the shuffle. I am following you because I am interested in art...am drawn to people with distinct talent (and you got some of that)...and I liked your bio. Pretty random process, ehh?
RJ Stribley
Now if I were to post that via Twitter I would have to get much more to the point. Maybe it will teach us all to be Cliff Note writers!
I'll post an abridged and revised version of what I said earlier today:
ReplyDeleteIt's called a pyramid scheme, except instead of moving money up the pyramid your moving attention and promotion, so there's less of the threat of actual tangible damage.
For all intents and purposes, it works as a business model, at least for those in the upper echelons. The principle is sound, albeit unsavory. I personally endeavor to avoid such shenanigans, and never join anything under the promise of recognition and exposure, because more often than not, they're gaining more out of the people clamoring to learn these treasured secrets than the people who believe they are benefiting from it.
I'll tell you what the secret is: The secret is to lay claim to having a secret to success that is more often than not a bunch of common sense stuff that you're probably already doing in some capacity, but reworded and repackaged to make chumps scramble for it. The very secret IS the secret. It's the same formula used by get-rich-quick programs that you can buy...the people who actually get rich are the ones selling the programs.
V-I love your post. It brings a different light, albeit darker light, to all of this. I enjoy reading a lot of your stuff. Your post has helped me stay grounded and focused to not chase something that is not me. I enjoy writing (blogging) and making art. Hopefully I'll do both well enough to bring some success in my and my families world.
ReplyDeleteHi Amy! Love the blog! I'd like to think that I follow or "like" someone because they have something of interest to me or because that connection may put me in the path of someone/somthing of interest to me. I used to be so concerned with how many facebook fans I had, when, in truth, it's not the quantity that's of importance, but rather the quality of their interaction w/me. I still haven't been able to get the swing of Twitter, so my interest in how many people follow me haven't had any importance thusfar.
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