You might have heard of my friend and blogging consultant, Chris Garrett. He wrote the Problogger book with Darren Rowse.

Well he has a new ebook out that tells you everything you need to know to get quality authority links and a boost in traffic, all through a quick and easy approach to guest blogging.

Right now he is offering it for the crazy low introductory price of only $7! This price is sure to go up within days as the reviews and testimonials start to pour in, so make sure you grab your copy and check out all the bonuses fast.

Check it out here: Guest Posting Workbook

Watch this video from Honda:

Discuss: Leave a comment.

This is the fourth post in a series about Social Media Strategy. You can read all of the posts here: series one – social media goals and tactics. Dosh Dosh ran a series on the Fundamentals of Social Media Marketing late in 2007, and I believe that it is worth taking another look at it in light of the changes that the Social Media marketspace has undergone since then.

Search has become vital to every business interest, from marketing to sales to customer service. Using social media networking tools is one of the best methods for improving the results for your business. In fact, real-time search is the newest concept that marketers and news organizations are looking at:

Real-time Search Results

…take a simple example of how Twitter Search changes everything. Imagine you are in line waiting for coffee and you hear people chattering about a plane landing on the Hudson. You go back to your desk and search Google for plane on the Hudson — today — weeks after the event, Google is replete with results — but the DAY of the incident there was nothing on the topic to be found on Google. Yet at search.twitter.com the conversations are right there in front of you. The same holds for any topical issues — lipstick on pig? — for real time questions, real time branding analysis, tracking a new product launch — on pretty much any subject if you want to know whats happening now, search.twitter.com will come up with a superior result set. [Silicon Valley Insider]

People are talking to each other about your business and you. What does this mean for your business?

3. Improved Search Engine Rankings. When considered within a larger SEO and link building framework, content can be creatively developed and promoted for the purpose of obtaining links from the members of the social news websites.

This means you should primarily target social sites with the highest potential to give you links, instead of smaller-sized communities which only offer interested traffic. While important, your site’s profile need not be entirely relevant to the social media website in question; content can be created specifically to appeal to different audiences. [Dosh Dosh]

Your social media strategy is about creating a connection with other people that leads to a relationship. Building these relationships is the number one thing that you can do to build your business. The internet is a fantastic tool for doing business, but it is only a tool. It is a cheap and easy way to get your name and brand out into the world, but you still have to be there in a very real sense. It is up to you to use the social media networks out there to engage the people that find you online with your friendliness and authority on the topic of your business.

I am not going to dig too deeply into the idea of friendliness, as that is something that you should be pretty familiar with. Essentially it boils down to one concept: Be nice. Authority, on the other hand, can be a little trickier.

How do you showcase your authority?

Give value first, prove your reliability second. It is as simple as that.
Well, there is a little more, but those two points are a good start. Let’s begin with “Giving Value“.

• What value is involved when people meet you?
• What value do you provide with your business?
• What is in it for the people who visit your website?

Take a moment to consider the answers to these questions. While you are at it, think about how you feel when you meet other people. What do you like to get from them? I have found that total strangers generally have at least one thing in common with me, whether it is geography, background, work, skills, hobbies, or interests.

It is your job to find that common ground and plant a seed of interest there. The relationship that grows from that seed will provide the backdrop for many of your future interactions with that person. Even if the relationship begins with something as basic as a common interest in a hobby, you will always have something to talk about before you start talking about business.

Hold the conversations in public

The key to harnessing the power of the social networks is in the fact that these conversations are open to everyone. The topics of these conversations become search results, search results that point back to you or your business!

Mark at M-T Hacks has put together “a Greasemonkey user script that does exactly this. It displays the most recent 5 tweets for the query that you are search for, giving both real-time Twitter search results and Google results on the same page:”

Twitter Google Mashup

Get realtime Twitter results on your Google searches:

1. If you don’t already have it, install the Greasemonkey add-on for Firefox.
2. Click the “Install” button on the “Twitter Search Results on Google” page on userscripts.org.

This is a fantastic tool and I highly recommend that you install it and start using it to guide your social media marketing.

From Website Magazine, a short list of very valuable link- and authority-building techniqes:

In the eyes of search engines, it’s both the quality and quantity of recommendations that matter. It’s not about making sure your site is worth a link (it is expected that our sites satisfies even the most critical user), it’s about going out and getting them. That concept understood, let’s look at few basic link building tactics you can (and perhaps should) employ in 2009.

Write and Distribute Press Releases Frequently

You very well might have the next great idea or that next amazing product that everyone needs to have, but if no one knows about it then you’re pretty much spinning your wheels. One way to spread the word is through the use of press releases… In 2009, resolve to send out press releases to your list directly via email or using services such as PRWeb, BusinessWire or PRleap.com.

Become a Guest Blogger

One of the easiest ways to get attention on the Web (regardless of the industry you are in) is to work for free. Now I know that this idea might go against every fiber of your business-savvy being, but the value of doing something (which in itself is extremely valuable) for someone else works and it works well. Guest bloggers have a captive audience and an unmatched opportunity to build a viable relationship with an audience that is not their own. … Identify blogs or email newsletters which you think your message would be valuable to and offer to share your expertise (for free of course) in exchange for a link or even some advertising.

Share Your Insights Through Commenting

One of my favorite down-time activities is writing comments on blogs that I find using the StumbleUpon toolbar… Search the service using individual keywords and couple that effort with comment tracking services such as CoComment for the purpose of measurement. The benefit of course is that you are identified as a participant in the conversation, which positively impacts your future link building prospects.

Do Something Nice

…for example [if] you write a weblog on music like WM’s Senior Editor Mike Phillips; why not consider writing a post on how to give back to music charities – someone will notice and grant you a link! Resolve to reap what you sow in 2009 and you’ll be that much closer to Web success at the start of 2010.

Create Authority Documents and Share Socially

An authority document is one that people look to for guidance on a) how to do something, or b) how to do something better. Content does not exist in a vacuum however – it won’t pull people on to your site on its own merit. You must share that information through an active network of Web friends and colleagues to make it stick in the Web’s sphere of influence…Resolve in 2009 to develop one well-thought out authority document each month of 2009 and, build out your social profile and share your content on as many social networks as possible, encouraging you friends to do the same.

I have used all of these tactics (except press releases) in the past and have had a very good success rate with them. Consider adding at least two of these activities to your marketing plan for 2009, and it will build toward your success. Finding good press release services and using them regularly is in my plan for this year.