I think its fair to say that there is so much conflicting information on the net on how to build a massive following. Like any topic on the net, ‘experts’ insist on voicing their input no matter how ridiculous the advice sounds.
Countless blogs exist stating that learning how to use twitter, face book, Google + more effectively is the key to becoming rich and famous, personally I disagree. I have been in countless bands, businesses, charities etc all using face book, twitter, my space, Google + etc and here I am still poor L .
The problem with all these ventures was the content. The band was shit, many of the businesses were invisible, and the charity… well basically its in the same boat as the business. These ventures have taught me quite a bit, manly that there is a lot more to building traffic that just using face book or twitter well.
I think as the paradigm shifts more focus is being placed on content rather than promotional strategy. In Jun 2011 we conducted a 3 month experiment. Essentially during this time we contacted some of the biggest blogs, sites, stores etc as well as looking at our own site and marketing plan to explore what percentage of traffic is due to your promotional tactic. Out of the 100 businesses we contacted we found out that <20% referrals are due to social network campaigns. Well it was actually 9.8% of total referrals.
So ask yourself with this info, is it really worth wile injecting all you time into building that ultimate promo campaign, or will you look at the bigger picture?
The shift now is on being EPIC
. Personally I now think we are on the right page. So essentially in the word of the great Corbett Bar, if you aren’t building a blog, replace the word ‘write’ for ‘create’ either way the formula is the same.
By making note of the things that inspire people, change lives and create value you can tap into your epic-ness. All the promotion in the world wont help if your site is shit. This includes, but is not limited to ‘eye candy’. Keep your layout sharp and your content amazing. Obviously however, every saga has a beginning. One cannot expect to start writing epic overnight. Check out,
Publishing articles even if they are shit, we have a few reasons why you should for more.
There is no point wasting time writing the same shit that thousands of other people write about every day. One of the greats for writing epic shit in my opinion is Steve Pavlina. He has amassing a monthly traffic of 700,000 and many other impressive stats all because his writing oozes epic-ness.
What about design, branding, promotion and all the other stuff?
Of course, it all helps give your site the edge over the millions of others out there, however if your content isn’t ‘golden’ then your bounce rate will be ridiculous. By making the content of your site as good as it can possibly be, then you can worry about all the other stuff. The focus should defiantly be on the content. It has to be said that ‘eye candy’ can give you the edge, especially with regards eCommerce. A tastefully designed site can not only build a following, but build trust, always remember that you content will do far more than design any day.
“Great content can promote itself but even the best promotion can’t create great content“. – Corbett
It is important that you don’t confuse epic with long. There is an abundance of long, boring dribble out their, which serves only to age us terribly. Usually more time and a higher word count is needed to create something truly moving, however not always so. Don’t get caught up into thinking that just because you spent a week writing a 5000 word post it we become an overnight sensation. Be inspirational, entertaining, quirky, useful and honest.
Experience and Epic content.
Writing or creating epic content doesn’t just come from imagination, or an epiphany overnight, it typically comes from real life experiences. Once again I direct you attention to the great Steve Pavlina who’s epic-ness drawing from real life experiences know no bounds. Steve published an article ‘how to build a high traffic site (blog)’, in this article he explains how he uses his own life experiences to create his epic content, fearless of peoples thoughts… and they love him for it. Once again reflecting on my last post ‘publishing articles even if they are shit, we have a few reasons why you should’.
So with the new Year drawing near, what is my planning for the blog? Well simple… I’m going to try me best to write epic shit.
So I leave you in the words of Corbett;
“The next time you start wondering why you aren’t getting tons of new readers, visitors or subscribers, the next time you wonder why no one is sharing your stuff, don’t start looking to Twitter or Facebook or StumbleUpon or Digg for the answer. Instead, start by asking yourself one simple question:
Am I writing (or creating) epic shit?”
— Tony
Thanks for reading, please comment and follow us on twitter/face book or whatever you into.. More than likely we’re there too. J
Armadillo Music Technology.com 