Two Missing Ingredients in Social Media

This month I had the opportunity to speak at Peggy McColl’s Author event in Sarasota and then, at the Wedding Event Suppliers of Ottawa event here at home. In talking to these two groups, I discovered an interesting tidbit of information.

When I surveyed the group and asked how many of them had blogged at least once a week consistently, it was less than 5% of the room. When I asked the group how many are doing video, it was the same, in some cases, even less!

Everyone is jumping on the Social Media Bandwagon to promote their business but they are forgetting a couple of very important things. I like to refer to them as Social Credibility.

You see, just because I have 5000 friends on Facebook doesn’t mean I am a great person with an awesome business. We all know that many people click add as friend as often as they hit send on an email – so what?! The ability to click a button on Facebook does not make them an expert in their field!

What people typically do when they see you on sites like Twitter, Facebook or Linkedin and they are interested in you is investigate YOU. Yup, they go to your website, they read your Blog and they watch your Videos.

So, if you are not writing at least once a week, and you are never doing Video, what do you think they are thinking about YOU?

This past week I have been researching the topic of Blogging like crazy because I am developing my Self Study Program on Blogging and how to use WordPress. So, like any info geek, I want to make sure I deliver incredible value to those people who buy the program.

What I am realizing through my efforts are the many, many ways in which you can use your Blog to really make a difference. And Video is one of the elements that really works!

Yesterday, a client of mine was running a few minutes late, so I took the couple minutes I had (bad hair day and all) to whip up a quick video. I uploaded the video to YouTube which automatically sent it to Facebook and immediately, I started receiving comments.

Now I am going to share that video with you. Why? Because I want you to see:  a) how quick and easy it was to do and, b) how doing a short video like this can actually be your blog post one week.

In my video I talk about two simple tips, the use of Klout and Gravatar. Nothing fancy schmancy, just some simple ideas for you. The power behind the video though is in linking it to my blog and telling a story. By doing this, I am giving the viewer something for free, driving traffic to my site and increasing my exposure.

What will you do today to increase your exposure?