Get started learning social media marketing basics by visiting these five bloggers, consultants, and educational websites.
Trying to get started with Social Media marketing for your company? The vast amount of information and expert advice on the internet can be confusing and daunting. To learn how to get the most from Facebook marketing, Twitter communications, and blogging, check out the top social media learning sites below.
- Social Media Examiner: "Your Guide to the Social Media Jungle." This free site is run by media expert Michael Stelzner, and regularly features other well-known social media mavens such as Mari Smith, author of The New Relationship Marketing: How to Build a Large, Loyal, Profitable Network Using the Social Web. Social Media Examiner has both credibility and usability. It features good search functions for the hundreds of how-to articles and videos about social media marketing, and does an excellent job of practicing what it preaches - check out Social Media Examiner on Facebook for some good examples of a custom landing page and ways to encourage followers. Social Media Examiner also offers conferences and online education for a fee.
- ProBlogger. Run by professional author and blogger Darren Rowse, co-author of ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six Figure Income, ProBlogger is a must for people trying to monetize their blog and grow their online community. Full of informative and well researched posts, it has a good search function and a lot of free material to read through. ProBlogger also offers a fee-based forum and other educational products.
- Chris Brogan. Social media superstar Chris Brogan is a great example of how to generate a social media following. The author of several books, including Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust, Chris Brogan is also a partner in a successful social media consulting business. While his blog posts are frequent and eclectic, the "How To" tab on his blog makes finding the more practical items for a beginner convenient and easy. A prolific Twitter user, @chrisbrogan frequently points out other articles and bloggers worth visiting. Most material on the website is free, but Chris Brogan also offers a fee-based email subscription service offering blog topics and advice.
- TenGoldenRules. CEO Jay Berkowitz is a social media consultant who made the news for accurately predicting the outcome of the 2008 presidential election based on the candidate's use of social media - before the primary! While the site is primarily a marketing site for the TenGoldenRules consulting business, it also offers a free blog, podcasts, and several downloadable white papers that are worth looking for. Finding these on the crowded site can be a little tricky, but the valuable content is worth the search.
- Laura Roeder. Social media consultant and blogger Laura Roeder specializes in helping small businesses utilize social media to market their businesses. The site offers useful blog articles and how to videos on all kinds of social media subjects. In addition to some fee-based educational ebooks, Ms. Roeder offers the "Dash" program (under the "Free Stuff" tab on the website) that is a free subscription-based email service offering guidelines for getting started marketing small businesses with social media. Good research and clear writing throughout make this a must-visit site.
Copyright Miriam McNabb. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.
Miriam McNabb - Chief Strategist at Spalding Barker Strategies, a marketing consulting practice specializing in introducing social media tools to ...
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