There is no denying that the Social Media field is highly competitive and hundreds of companies are looking to get into the game. Experts in social media are therefore in high demand and landing a social media gig means you can make some good money. So what does it take to get started into this field and hopefully help you score a job? Here I highlight 10 steps to take:

Establish an Online Prescence

This is one of the most important steps to take when starting out in Social Media. Getting familiar with the space you will be working from and working with is essential if you are going to have any tangible results in your Social Media strategies. In addition, you will learn of the opportunities available in Social Media once you get familiar with the territory.

Be Proficient in all Social Channels

Being proficient or knowing your way around as many Social Sites as possible as opposed to sticking to your one favorite stream is another step you can take towards learning about Social Media marketing. Of course the big 3: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn should be at the top. However others like StumbleUpon, Tumblr, YouTube, Google+ and many others should also be at your fingertips.

Be Creative, Resourceful and Relevant

Every post you share online contributes to your image. Your creativity and resourcefulness is reflected in what is contained on your blog and social streams. One way to create an image that reflects positively is post content related to your industry and that reflects your knowledge in the business.

Be Professional

Your professionalism on Social Networks should be devoid of photos or discussions that are demeaning, vulgar or embarrassing situations of comments. Keep your social profile clean and this will increase your chances of being respected and possibly landing a job in social media.

Know The Industry / Know The Company

If you are interested in landing a gig in Social Media, then a solid understating and passion for the industry as well as your engagement in the community will reflect positively on you. Since online communities are interested in an authentic voice and will interact with content that exhibits this quality, it is vital that you learn and understand the industry’s ins and outs.

Network and Build Relationships

Social Media relationships are like real-life relationships – the more influential people you know and interact with, the better your chances of landing a great gig. Use your social presence to meet and engage with others in your community, especially the trend setters or influencers in the industry. These relationships are real assets that can help you advance and thrive in the Social Media arena.

Learn the Skill-Set

Often-times you will need to edit and post pictures, dabble with some HTML and access the back-end such as in WordPress. Having even some basic knowledge of these areas will help you do a great job in Social Media in addition to making you more marketable to potential employers who are looking for an all-round Social Media personality.

Learn the Lingo

Every industry boats a lingo or some type of business-speak and Social Media is no exception. Familiarizing yourself with the words and acronyms unique in Social Media will not only make a good impression on others but will also help you understand and interact with your peers in the industry who are valuable resources.

Help a Business Out Pro Bono

The best way to get experience under the belt is to get experience under the belt. While starting out, look for opportunities to help out a friend’s business with some Social Media presence by creating accounts for them and adding content. In this way, you will learn what works, what doesn’t and what can be done. This hands-on experience can later prove invaluable should be hired to work for a company in that industry.

 Learn How to Juggle

Working in Social Media requires the ability to withstand constant updates, pop ups and  onslaught from the all sides. Learn to be an expert multitasker, learn the shortcuts and still get work done. You will need to keep a number of tabs open and assimilate the large influx of content that is shared across these networks at any given moment without losing your mind.

 Written by DavGit

How important is a website or company blog? Well look around at companies like Google, Apple and Microsoft – giants in their fields. They each have a regularly updated official blog as the main channel of communication. The corporate blog is also the cornerstone of your social media strategy and is used by visitors to rate you as either a thought leader or a thought follower. The blog is therefore the social media homebase for social networking outposts where core content for your company or business is located. Granted, it takes effort, time and commitment to realize these objectives. So what are some reasons why should you blog?

Blogging demonstrates true commitment and passion for your industry – something that cannot be faked. If you lack interest or passion for what you do or write about, it will not be possible to sustain it. Alternatively, you may be able to pull it off but the frequency of your posts will give you out.  With infinite choice and infinite content, it can seem almost impossible to stand out, but if you got passion and interest in your field, you will likely have the best resource of information and eventually claim your spot in your niche.

A blog can also be regarded as an archive of valuable content that will live on indefinitely. While tweets and facebook posts can sometimes be archived, they will likely not be used by people searching for old content. A blog, on the other hand, remains a permanent resource for archived information. In fact, most company blogs have content that can be referenced over and over again and used by search engines effectively breathing new life to a company blog.

A blog can is an end product. Since most tweets and wall posts link to content on the open Web, your blog can be one of these links thereby focusing attention on your brand. When people are redirected to your blog through a social link, you in effect, have control of your audience and thereby gain recognition and stand out as an authority. As you add more content to your blog, each post incrementally adds value to your site and helps you rank higher on search engines.

While Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are important channels to get you out there on the Web and be noticed, your blog is the final authority that contains the main content – your opinions, thoughts and experiences. There is simply no substitute to a blog.

 Written by DavGit

There are many blogs with great information – but it’s those that are able to draw in and build up a community of passionate and energetic people that often go to the next level.

Readers are no longer satisfied just to consume content – they want to participate and belong.

Successful bloggers don’t always actively participate in or lead the community aspect of their blogs but they do have an ability to attract other community builders and to empower them to build a community around the content on the blog.

“Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family: Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.” – Jane Howard

Each month, the SocialShare Analysis, powered by the BrightEdge SocialShare Engine, provides an important window into the ways social tools are used by the world’s most popular brands and allows marketers to see the true impact that their social strategies have on SEO and the value it can garner for campaigns and for consumers. In this latest edition the SocialShare engine examined over 4 million tweets and 10,000 web sites.

The recent report released by BrightEdge, shows the correlation between social buttons and social shares.  Data showed that pages that display the Tweet button have 7x more social media mentions via social media.

“It’s clear that social sharing buttons can drive real social traffic that will inevitably drive sales, brand awareness or even affinity but it’s also clear that many brands are not taking advantage of this simple, cost free tool,” said Jim Yu, CEO of BrightEdge.

The report also showed that in August 53.6% of the largest 10,000 sites have social widgets or buttons on the front page, up from 52.8% in July.  The Facebook buttons and widgets led the way in popularity with 50% usage, while Twitter buttons were  featured on 42.5% of these sites and Google +1 on just 8.5%.

Sites that take the modest step of simply installing social plug-ins significantly lead to greater exposure to millions of additional consumers. “These are simple, free tools that can drive real ROI for any site,” notes Ryan Sarver, Director of Platform at Twitter.

By DavGit

Successful bloggers are often quite addicted to the gathering of information and ideas.

What sets them apart from other information gatherers is their ability to filter the vast quantities of information that they collect and to identify and communicate that which applies to others.

“What sets Mavens apart, though, is not so much what they know but how they pass it along. The fact that Mavens want to help, for no other reason than because they like to help, turns out to be an awfully effective way of getting someone’s attention.” - Malcolm Gladwell (Tipping Point)

Guest Blog by David Smith

Blogging is free; anyone can blog anytime of the day or night. Opinions expressed in blogs, if stated with authority and clarity tend to circulate on the internet. With the social media revolution, blogs get talked about, voted and forwarded. It’s possible to totally influence the outcome of any aspect of life or business using blogs. Companies are waking up to the power of blogging and are leveraging this power to grow their businesses. Here’s how you can do it as well.

Don’t Directly Promote Your Business

Why do blog readers visit blogs and subscribe to their feeds? It’s because these readers enjoy and appreciate the content that is published. They’ll definitely not be interested in joining a blog that does nothing except promote its backend business! So if you want to gain people’s attention and establish a dedicated readership, take the focus off of your business, and focus on your readers. People who use their blog purely as a promotional tool find that they don’t get the best results. Focus on publishing high quality content and let the content do the promotion for you!

Become a Valued Source of Information

When you publish knowledgeable and useful content on aspects pertaining to your industry, you’ll soon be seen as an expert source of valuable information. When you accomplish this, the perceived value of your product or service offerings will be higher. It’s possible that other people in your industry are also providing the same kind of offerings, but they might not be blogging. If you’ve proven your worth to your blog readers through your blog, you’ll be the preferred provider.

As you know, the amount of business you can generate depends to a great extent on the reputation you build for yourself. By blogging, you can build yourself an excellent reputation.

Don’t Hold Back Valuable Information

Most bloggers feel that they should hold back the best goodies for paying customers only. There’s nothing wrong with this line of thought, other than the fact that holding back will prevent you from creating an outstanding blog. It’s always possible that other bloggers will share more than you do. If you want your blog to be the industry leader in your product or service domain, then you need to go all out and offer your best and most valuable information to all.

Yes, it’s quite understandable that you might not want to share some specifically valuable info publicly. While you should maintain privacy there, you still need to share some valuable information for free to keep your readers loyal to you.

Plan Your Blogging Schedule Ahead of Time

It’s best to set a schedule to visit your blog regularly. You can choose to spend a few hours on it every day, or every alternate day. If you focus on quality, you don’t need to publish content every day. Plan your schedule based on how many posts you want to put up in a week and how much time each post takes you. Note that no one expects you to follow a rigid posting schedule. At the same time, your audience will have certain expectations of you. By sticking to a schedule, you will be letting them know that you are reliable.

Use Social Media to Gain More Readers and Audience

Blogs and social media work hand in hand to promote everything from opinions to goods. If you decide to use blogs to promote your own services, don’t forget to also get involved in social networking sites. With several social media networking sites out there, you’ll be spoilt for choice. Social media sites are great tools to quickly promote your blog and gain unprecedented exposure. These sites will also build a strong reputation and a strong network for your business within your industry.

Participate Actively in Other Blogs

To establish yourself as a blogger of value, you need to actively participate in other blogs as well. You can choose blogs within your industry to keep your blog specific. Leave comments, write guest posts, do interviews, network with other bloggers and generate back links from other blogs and websites. The blog world wants to work with those it sees as subject matter experts. Make an effort to be seen at other blogs as well.

Consider Your Blog as a Valuable Part of Your Business

Invest in your blog; note that you’ll get returns on your investment. If you invest less effort, time and dedication, you won’t get much out of it. On the other hand, the more you invest in it, the more you’ll get out of it. Therefore it’s important that you consider your blog as a valuable part of your business and treat it as such.

Maintain Content Focus

Remember your blog is meant to promote your business eventually and help you as an industry expert as well. It’s required therefore, to maintain core content focus, targeting your topics and content at people who may become your potential customers and clients. This approach differs greatly from what you would do with a personal blog. Make an impact with each post.

Target Everyone, Not Just Potential Customers

Your blog can be manipulated to become a great promoter of your business. However, always remember that not all your readers will become your customers. Many of your customers will visit your blog just to enjoy your content, and won’t intend to make a purchase at all. However, these readers are still very valuable, since they can help develop and popularize your profile in the industry, so don’t ignore them.

Maintain Your Blog on Your Own Domain

When you start your blog, don’t use a separate domain for it. If you have an existing product website, build your blogs on it. In time, as your blog grows, it will attract links and search engine traffic. The rest of your site can benefit from the search engine traffic as well.

Many successful bloggers that I’ve interacted with have an insatiable desire to connect with as many people as they can.
They have an ability to connect not only with their readers but other bloggers and key people in both the online and offline world. Their networks are often far reaching – enabling them to draw on all kinds of relationships when needed.

“It’s not what you know but who you know that makes the difference.” – Anonymous

Recently while  walking out on the street having ice-cream, I came across two street performers/buskers.

The first one was set up 15 meters to one side of the ice-cream shop I was visiting. He had a guitar and had his guitar case open in front of him to collect the loose change of those walking by. He was pretty good and we stopped to listen to him for a moment or two before walking on and leaving $1-$2 in change in his case.

After buying our ice-cream we noticed another performer a little further down the street. This guy was something of a one man band with honky tonk guitar, harmonica, bells on one foot and a homemade kick drum/box on the other. He too had a case out for donations/tips but also was doing something that in my estimation pulled in at least 10 times the money that the other performer was making – he had two CDs for sale.

You could get one of his CDs for $15 and both for $25.

Not only was this guy pulling in tips like the other guy – but every 10 or so people to approach him was buying at least one of his CDs.

In the 15 minutes that I stopped to listen to this guy I was fascinated by his act and he pulled quite a big crowd. I saw him sell 8 CDs. He was obviously pulling in some decent money in comparison to busker #1.

Having a CD to sell was great for revenue but interestingly it seemed to also play a part in his overall act. People seemed to take him a bit more seriously than the other guy – I heard at least a few people comment to one another about the fact that he was obviously serious if he’d recorded a CD – it gave him credibility as well as giving him a talking point when chatting with people.

The Power of Having your own Products

As I tucked myself into bed that night, it struck me just how powerful having a product to sell can be.

As bloggers trying to make a few dollars from our online activity many of us get stuck thinking about making money by slapping ads on our blogs – but in doing so perhaps we’re doing the equivalent of busking for tips (not the perfect illustration I know). I know I’ve fallen into that trap myself over the years but in working to develop products to sell I’ve seen a variety of benefits including:

1. Revenue – Obviously selling a product (whether it be a book, ebook, membership site, consulting, coaching etc) has the potential to make you money. The cool thing about it is that you’re not splitting revenue with an ad network or someone whose product you’re promoting with an affiliate promotion – but it’s all yours.
2. Credibility/Authority –  You will discover the power of having something of your own to sell when you launch an e-book. Suddenly people not only start to refer to you as a blogger – but an author. While a hard cover book does carry weight in some circles more than an ebook – any quality product gives you another thing to list as the creator of in your CV/bio and can lend weight to your authority and credibility.
3. Opportunities – When you have a product of some kind people in your industry and niche tend to take notice. It shows others in your industry that you’re serious and able to produce more than just a blog and it shows you’ve got initiative. People are attracted to that and all kinds of opportunities can emerge.
4. Deepen Relationships with Readers – when someone buys something from you once there’s an increased likelihood that they’ll buy something else from you at some point in the future – IF you keep in relationship with them. Keeping a list of those who’ve purchased something from you opens up future profitable interactions. While it’s great to have an email list of readers – it’s a pretty powerful thing to have an email list of people who are proven ‘buyers’ of products in your niche.
5. Lengthens Relationships with Readers –Weeks after my street experience at the beginning of this post, I’m listening to the CD ( I bought one) and every time that happens the experience I had a few weeks back is reinforced. When people download something from your site or blog, they are reminded to also check out your latest posts on your blog everytime they use or see the downloaded product – something they might not have done otherwise. The download is drawing visitors back to your blog on a regular basis.
6. Accelerated Learning –  I’ve read a lot about how to launch products online, I’ve talked to a lot of people who have done it and I’ve viewed a lot of case studies of successful launches – but there’s nothing like DOING something to learn how to do it. The theory and past conversations and case studies are helpful – but on the job training is the best. Developing and launching a product will teach you so much about many aspects of blogging, business and yourself – it’s the kind of experience money can’t buy.
7. Traffic – When you launch an e-book or something similar more of your regular readers hit the site to check it out thus creating a buzz around the web as other sites link up and as people pass on word of the launch via Twitter. Similarly – RSS and newsletter subscribers will likely go up by more than normal in the few weeks after the launch – launching the product will find you new readers.

Successful bloggers know that it takes time to grow a blog and look past those initial awkward months (and longer) after a blog is launched to motivate them to persevere.

They do know when to give up when something isn’t working but also have an ability to develop their blog’s with focus and discipline and unswerving conviction over the long haul.

They know that key to their success is persistant usefulness.

“If at first you don’t succeed, get a bigger hammer.” – Alan Lewis

@DavGit

Blogging is simple. You produce quality content, react to commenters, watch your stats grow, rinse, repeat.

Blogging is also labor-intensive, time-consuming, and tiring. Producing quality content regularly can be draining, managing comments can get exhausting, and don’t even get me started on dealing with spam.

Fortunately, blogging doesn’t have to be a solo affair. In fact, quite the opposite is true, and many of the biggest blogs are written and managed by teams of bloggers, not individuals.

One problem, of course, is how to build and manage of team when you don’t exactly have a ton of resources to throw at your blog. One solution: get a virtual assistant (or a bunch of them) to help you blog. The general consensus seems to be that VAs are great at administrative tasks for your blog, but have you ever considered having a VA write for you?

It might seem like a strange thing to do, but trust me, it’s not that uncommon. In fact, it’s something I’ve been doing, or rather, something I’ve been hired to do, for quite a while now. You see, I work as a virtual assistant, and one of my jobs, on top of administrative duties, is to produce content for some of our clients’ blogs.

Of course, you can’t just hire somebody to blog for you, leave them to their own devices, and expect great results. You need to do a few things to help us serve you better. Here a few things that, from my experience, you need to do in order to build an effective virtual blogging team.

Set your expectations

Are you looking for a team of bloggers that will churn out a half-dozen posts a day? Perhaps you’re searching for somebody to contribute one or two posts a week. Maybe you’d like to keep your blog a mostly solo affair, and you just need somebody to help moderate comments, do research on new topics, and handle a few other tasks. Whatever it is you want, you need to communicate it to your team.

Explain who you are

If your blog were a person, how would he or she sound? Is he a snarky, sarcastic, snob, or is she a bright and cheerful optimist? Does he jump from one idea or topic to another, or does she ramble on and on on specific topics? How does he like emphasizing certain points? Does she like lists?

Hundreds of different questions can pop up, but the main idea is to set the tone, or voice, of the blog. Each individual writer should still have a different personality, but it should be consistent with the voice of the blog in general.

Go for a test-drive

When you’re shopping around for a car, you don’t buy a car without going for a test-drive, do you? The same idea applies to your blogging team. You don’t hire a team until you have an idea of what they can (and can’t) do.

One way to test prospective members of your team is by inviting them to guest on your blog. Their guest posts tell you a few things: how well they write, how readers react to their voice or style, and how well they interact with your readers. I wager some people can learn a few more things about potential writers for your team, but I think most will learn about these three things.

Be an editor

If you find talented writers among your guest bloggers, you can promote them from guest bloggers to regular contributors. With a team of writers working for you, you now have a new role: editor. As editor, you need to make notes on your team’s writing, and advise them on what they’re doing well, as well as what they need to change.

Don’t forget the little things

Even if you’re not very comfortable with hiring other people to write on your blog, you can still benefit from having a virtual blogging team. Some of the simpler tasks my team has handled include doing research for new posts and monitoring trending topics. Even if your virtual team doesn’t produce new posts for your blog, they can still help you create fresh content.

This guest post is by Luis Cruz of Pepper Virtual Assistant.