MORE #SocialNetworking Commandments

You may be reading these online fan base building tips going, "Okay - if you're such an expert how come you don't even have 1,000 Twitter Followers yet?"  

Fair question.  

My biggest struggle is obeying my own Commandments - especially number Four.  Oh number Four... you always get me into trouble...

 THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT

Thou Shalt Be Consistent – especially at the beginning.

I follow a number of named celebrities on Twitter who go sometimes weeks, sometimes months without posting a dang thing.  That’s okay.  I’m going to keep following them because I’m interested in what they post when they post again.  You do not have that luxury. Be sure to post a few times a day. A few equals 3 – 5.  Too many and people will delete you for taking up their whole feed.  Too few and they’ll ‘clean’ their contacts and figure since you don’t tweet anymore, they might as well ‘unfollow’ you.  Sure – there are exceptions.  Tonight I must have posted about 8 posts or so in a one hour span coming up with new #OtherStarTrekFilms.  (The most successful was A SpockWork Orange…)  For an hour, I was part of a community of people I didn’t even know, but I was doing something that reinforced my brand and gained several Retweets and about 6 new followers in one hour.  If I hadn’t checked my Twitter tonight, I would have missed that fun game and the opportunity to connect with fellow Trek geeks!  Good thing I was consistent!

I dare you to tell me this mash-up isn't "Highly Logical!"

THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT

Thou Shalt Do Unto Others…

People follow you?  Follow them back – or at least mention them and thank them for Following.  People comment on a Facebook post?  Like it.  See a blog link from one of your followers? Read it/comment/share - repeat! Why would anyone put out content and ask others to participate without doing the same for them? It shows reciprocal appreciation to those who interact with your posts.  I mean, God has been credited with answering the occasional prayer, and even Ron Howard ReTweets fans – so what makes you too good to respond to the feedback your audience is giving?  Got a friend asking you to join a Band page, Modeling Page or Movie page?  Do it!  Then when you invite them to join your page/read your blog/share your video they’ll be more likely to show you the same support you just showed them.

#SocialNetworking... Commandments #2 and #3!

For those of you that missed the first blog, I'm offering a few helpful hints to my Actor/Writer friends who operate under the false assumption that Twitter, Facebook and similar sites are just for staying in touch with people they already know. 

Social networking plays into publication, distribution and even casting!  When I've suggested various niche actors for projects, producers and directors have asked me how big their Twitter Following is.  If you're the one directing an actor, that's something you might want to check out too!  On to the tips...

THE SECOND COMMANDMENT

Thou Shalt ENGAGE with your audience.

Engage – it’s not just a word that Picard uses to power upthe Enterprise.  It’s YOU interacting with your Followers/Friends and those you Follow.  And don’t just engage with people you already know.  The secret of Twitter is engaging with people more famous than you and hoping that they Favorite, Reply to or Retweet one of your comments to them.  You need to make a little effort.  Use your @ button and tag some people.  Use your imagination and get ‘quippy.’  Check out what’s trending and play Hashtag (#) games. Will each Tweet result in increased publicity?  No.  But those who do not try are those who will not succeed – ever!

After playing #OtherStarTrekFilms, I had several 'Favorites, Retweets AND New Followers!

“But I post things and no one ever comments back,” you whine.  Okay.  Yes – that happens.  Try tagging people in the post that you think will be interested in your comment.  Also, try asking questions.  People love to give their opinions.  They sit around ALL day waiting for someone to ask for it, and when no one does, they post it on Facebook anyway (usually in the form of a Meme that they really, really relate to…) Beat your audience to the punch and ASK them for an opinion.  And here’s another hint: The more benign, the better. 

“Do you think we should have stronger gun control laws?”  Well – this may elicit a large response from people who read it, but it will also turn into a cyber blood bath as your Blue State and Red State friends duke it out online. 

Hamburgers or Hotdogs?  Which go faster at your cookout? – MUCH Safer – just watch out for venomous vegans…

THE THIRD COMMANDMENT

Thou Shalt Stay True to Thine Brand…

If you don’t understand how this works in social networking, check out George Takei.  You don’t need to know or care about Star Trek past, present or future.  But that man understands his brand.  90% or more of my friends follow him because he posts funny, nerdy and poignant things daily.  Some of my most successful posts are things I’ve shared from his updates. 

He's even written a book on how he's conquered SocialNetworking's #FinalFrontier! http://www.amazon.com/Myyy-There-Goes-The-Internet-ebook/dp/B00AHP5NY6

 Now, if you’re branding as a horror writer, this wouldn’t work for you.  You’d have to find someone who is known/respected in your genre’s community and follow his or her lead.  YOU are a complex individual with a wide range of talents, skills and interests. Your online BRAND should be a very simple, predictable, tapered down version of you that represents your preferred working genre.  It’s a single facet of you – nothing more.  It’s your ‘announcer voice’ – big, two dimensional and easy to understand.  That’s why it’s good to maintain separate accounts for professional promotion and ‘just your friends.’  Don’t muck up your interactions with too much stuff from the ‘inner’ you when what you need to do if focus on your brand.

#SocialNetworking… The First Commandment (of Possibly 10)

There is a disconnect for ‘Creatives’ when it comes to marketing.  Not ALL creatives of course.  Top YouTubers, Bloggers and successful film producers have understood it for years.  But some of us like to think, “The Really Big clebs/writers/actors don’t even run their own Twitter/Blog/Facbook page.  Why should I?”

SMH… (That’s short for ‘shaking my head’ for the uninitiated.)

It’s true – there are those whose fame and success predated the days of MySpace, Facebook and Tumblr, who never have and never will lift a finger to promote themselves online.  But those were the days of analog. Welcome to the digital world, Baby!

The best way to get noticed is online.  When I tried to sell my first film, I was working with a partner who insisted we DIDN’T develop an online presence.  

ACTION!!! - the funniest film you STILL haven't heard of (now available on Amazon.com!)

“The distributor does that for you,” he told me.  I was only one person.  I was doing a lot of work without very many hands to help me – so I listened. 

I wish I hadn’t.

We took the film to a festival and scheduled meetings with several distributors.  We had a mostly finished product and a great pitch.  People loved the concept.  They loved the fact that the hard work of production was complete.

Then they asked me who was in it.

My answer included a couple local celebrities, but no names with real ‘draw.’  So they asked me what kind of fan base we’d built on Facebook, Twitter and our website.  My partner proudly spoke up.

“Well, we figured we’d let the pros at your company come up with a marketing plan…”

They said without a solid online fan base, it was too big a risk to sign a comedy with only unknown talent. 

So I went back, all by my little self, and tried to build an online presence.  But I really didn’t understand how to leverage social media.  I also discovered that it’s practically a fulltime job.  Back in the days of MySpace, everyone would ‘Friend’ everyone all willy-nilly.  It was the ‘Free Love’ movement of the Internet.  But with tighter privacy controls on Facebook and even Twitter, it was almost impossible for low-profile people and projects to get much attention.

So my next couple blogs will include tips I’d like to pass on to my fellow Creatives about using Facebook and Twitter.

"Online Privacy" is an oxymoron - get used to it!

THE FIRST COMMANDMENT…

Thou Shalt Accept Requests and Follows from Everyone (who isn’t a ‘porn-bot.’)

“But I don’t know those people,” you scream.  “I need to protect my precious online reputation and privacy!”

Get over it!  Success bears with it a certain level of notoriety – celebrity even. Don’t DO anything online that doesn’t enhance your brand or represent you in a way you don’t want people to see.  Just because your friend took a great photo of you passed out in your own vomit after a party doesn’t mean you should post it for all of your online friends to see – ever! The events (Snowden) of this past year should stand as more than adequate evidence that nothing online is ‘private’ in spite of your preferred settings on Facebook.  Wanna be successful?  Get noticed.  Wanna get noticed?  Get online – and do your best not to make an a$$ of yourself!

(PS - You might want to be careful about using words like 'a$$' in public online posts too...)