| Why Care? | | | | sites with the most concentrated group of prospective |
| 1. Social networks can amass like-minded people | | | | customers. You should only have around 5 sites to |
| around shared interests with little external force, no | | | | deal with, so choose among all the sites you find your |
| organizational center, and a group sense of what is | | | | target market hanging out on wisely. |
| important and what comes next. | | | | 2. Set aside another block of time weekly to research |
| 2. Blogs and wikis encourage conversations, sharing, | | | | new places to set up accounts and test them for |
| creation | | | | interest. Interest is measured by the amount of traffic |
| 3. Social software, like Flickr and Last.fm and even | | | | you can pull out of these sites with the least amount |
| Amazon.com, promote human-mediated information | | | | of interaction. For example, how many visitors can you |
| sharing. Similar mechanisms inside of larger | | | | generate from a site by blogging there once a week? |
| organizations would be just as effective. | | | | Or once a month? |
| 4. Social news sites show the popularity of certain | | | | 3. Over time you will build a pretty sizable network of |
| information, at least within certain demographics. Would | | | | places you feel you need to visit often. This is where |
| roll-your-own voting within the company be useful? | | | | people usually break down. And this is where the Zen |
| 5. Social networks are full of prospecting and lead | | | | approach comes in handy. |
| generation information for sales and marketing. | | | | 4. For sites that are moderate to "unknown" traffic |
| 6. Social networks make for great ways to | | | | producers, just let them be. Give them what time you |
| understand the mindset of the online consumer, should | | | | can and stay focused on your main traffic earners |
| that be of value to you. | | | | with a concerted effort. |
| 7. Online versions of your materials and media, | | | | 5. Let email notifications from sites you interact with |
| especially in formats that let you share, mean that | | | | only occasionally be your reminder to step back into |
| you're equipping others to run with your message, | | | | them and do a little blogging, posting, voting, friending, or |
| should that be important (like if you're a marketer). | | | | commenting. Otherwise, keep them off your "must do" |
| 8. Online versions of your materials and media are | | | | list. |
| searchable, and help Google help you find new visitors | | | | 6. Pay attention to your stats and only spend time on |
| customers / employees. | | | | sites that are producing traffic for you. You will find |
| 9. Social networks contain lots of information about | | | | some of your top 5 sites will change over time as you |
| your prospective new hires, your customers, your | | | | find new sites that offer more potential. That's okay, |
| competitors. | | | | but you must keep your top 5 list at 5 sites. Many |
| 10. Blogs allow you to speak your mind, and let the rest | | | | people's top 5 list expands to 10 or 20 and, again, this |
| of the world know your thought processes and | | | | leads to burn out and frustration as they try to keep |
| mindsets. | | | | up a demanding schedule of social marketing. This |
| 11. Podcasts reach people who are trying out new | | | | inevitably leads to something else suffering in your |
| gadgets, like iPhones, iPods, Apple TVs, Zunes, and | | | | marketing plan. And it will cause many to question |
| more. | | | | whether the whole social marketing thing is worth it at |
| 12. Tagging and sharing and all the other activities | | | | all. |
| common on the social Web mean that information | | | | 7. Be like water and flow through social sites. Let the |
| gets passed around much faster. | | | | activities each sites "wants" you to participate in flow |
| 13. People feel heard. | | | | around you and don't freak out thinking you must |
| Now take the Zen Approach to Social Marketing | | | | interact with every site you are a part of just because |
| 1. Break off a dedicated amount of time each day to | | | | you can. Many times are not the right times to drop |
| focus on the sites you've isolated as the "core" social | | | | what you are doing to go answer friend requests. Do |
| sites to interact with. These will include the biggest | | | | it when you can do it. |