Social Media is reaching a critical mass in my thoughtspace. From participating in social activity like Blog Action Day to commenting on The Finer Points of Social Networking Sites to observing the profiles of the “socially” rich and famous, I am learning that effective use of Social Media requires a whole-brain approach.
I found a fantastic example of this whole-brain thinking on HubPages.com. While updating one my hubs, I noticed that I had a new fan.
solarshingles is an Internet Marketer, so his left-brain activity shapes the hubs for maximum effectiveness. His Solar Power Shingles -Tiles hub clearly shows that he provides valuable content, understands SEO, writes in a clear style suitable for hubs and makes use of nearly every tool provided by HubPages page builder.
What fascinates me the most is that his fan base has grown to over 800 in only seven months. It seems that one of his strengths is engaging his readers and commenters. That is the social aspect, which his right-brain handles admirably.
His self-deprecating profile puts a human feeling to go along with his pleasant photo.
This stuff is really starting to click …
Hm. Interesting thoughts. Now that I’m back to taking my own blog a bit more seriously, I think that social networking will HAVE to be part of what I do to take things to the inevitable “next level”.
Hey Mitchell,
I love your thoughts on the right-brain vs. left-brain on HubPages. There are definitely some parts of HubPages that lean towards one side of the brain over the other and the Hubbers that can write great content while still being able to maximize it’s SEO will hit the sweet spot of HubPages for sure.
Keep on using your whole-brain approach and you’ll be rockin’ the HubPages world in no time. If you ever have any questions, please let me know and keep up the awesome Hubbing!
Ryan Hupfer
HubPages Communicator of Awesomeness!
Hi Bush! Social media keeps us connected. Bobby is the glue that connects you and me. We’re like two guys who meet at a semi-annual convention: The last time we hooked up, we were gabbing about Zuma!
Thanks for stopping by. I’ll be checking out your blog!
Cheers,
Mitch
Thanks, Ryan!
I’ve decided to use HubPages for my technology articles. Your encouragement is motivating. It’s great to have a go-to person; I love that HubPages continually enhances the publisher experience.
Cheers,
Mitch
Hi, Mitch. You definitely have a good approach to social media. It’s definitely more than just putting your name out there, although that is important. Social media has done well for my sites as far as SEO, but I could be doing much better with interacting with everyone on the sites. I will take a look at HubPages to see what it’s about. Thanks for the well written info.
Hi Blake!
Actually, you seem to be doing great interacting. I don’t think it’s productive to keep up with <em>everyone</em>, if you are referring to more than three sites. You have a business to run, too
One of the cool things about Twitter is that I feel like I’m at a lively party, where folks pop into and out of my field of vision, leaving in their wake some random comment. A lot of this feeling is probably due to the fact that I’m using Twhirl. Before, when I was just grabbing the RSS feed, I felt more like a person who gets a second-hand update in the society pages – the day after the party.
See you by the snack bar!
Cheers,
Mitch
I agree about the interaction. Twitter and some of the other social networks are great for that. It’s nice to have places to find potential customers and collaborators where you don’t have to feel like you’re “stuck” with talking about business. It’s not out of place to talk about your weekend plans or the movie you just saw.
I’ve been more social in real life, lately, as I had to go out of state to a family wedding and was visiting relatives for several days.
I think I’m ready for some virtual interaction as a welcome change.
Hi Randy,
It’s good to get some sunshine in our daily lives!
Otherwise, we’d all have to drink more milk.
Cheers,
Mitch
Stumbled. I did take a look at the hubpage of solarshingles – he’s definitely responding and talking to people.
I definitely have a ways to go with responding to comments well. Which reminds me – my thanks for all the wonderful comments you’ve left recently. I just hope that some traffic is being sent your way by my blog.
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Whoa! I got a ton of visits to this post. Thanks, Ashok!
Every time I read something good on Hubpages, I’m tempted to add another one.
The editorial process makes me cry, though. I only wanted to get that blasted AdSense to $100. LOL
Cheers,
Mitch
Also stumbled.
How’s the Social Media thing working for you now? I’m only into it for a year and i already feel like bashing my keyboard on the desk till water spills out.
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Martin, your sentiment is the answer to your question. Only took me a bit longer to realize. If you refer back to Keep Your Ize on the Prize (with aspirin in hand), you’ll see my current attitude.
Basically, I’ve misinterpreted “Social Media”, even though this post implies otherwise. As you mentioned in “Ize”, engaging is a lot different than commanding some meaningless and ephemeral metric.
Not knocking solarshingles, as I have no clue what his goal was for writing the hub. However, it is clear that I misused the term engage, and he hasn’t even replied to comments more recent than two years ago.
Perhaps he, too, recognized the limitations of HubPages as a behavior modification tool.
Cheers,
Mitch