Cameron Olthuis

I appreciate my good bud Cameron Olthuis taking the time to answer some questions about social media that many of my readers have either sent me via email, or are always asking me.  Also, this is a great opportunity for me to ask an expert some of the social media questions that have been on my mind.  Cameron owns his action sports media network, as well as a action sports online community – 5ones – where he blogs about, and interacts with others as passionate about surfing as he is.  For those of you that may not know much about Cameron, he is a regular social media expert speaker at conferences like SMX, SES, Pubcon and others, so this is a treat today!

1.  How do you know which social networks to focus on, and which ones do you focus on?

This is a tough question to answer because there’s no cookie cutter social network that works for all people for all things. A social network that might work great for one site, might not work at all for another. Also, depending on the goals of your marketing campaign, the social media sites in which you would use to reach those goals will vary. I’d say focus on the ones will bring the best ROI for any given campaign. I do a lot of stuff on StumbleUpon, Twitter, Facebook, and Digg.

2.  What would be your best tips for someone brand new to social media? (how to grow in the communities etc.)

The best tip I can give anyone brand new to social media is to actually use social media. Before you jump in the pool you need to learn how to swim. Take some time to understand how certain social media sites work the way they do. Watch and learn from others marketing campaigns. Get to know how the social media crowd works, how they think, and what interests them. Expect a fair amount of trial and error before you hit a home run.

3.  How much time would someone expect to put into social media? (if they are planning to do it right)

I guess that depends on their desired results. I can tell you that you’ll get out of it what you put into it. If you only give a half baked effort, you’ll only get half baked results. I would say that you should plan for a solid 6-12 months before you will really learn the ins and outs of social media, build up your accounts, and be successful and marketing through these channels.

4.  What are the top 5 social networks for getting the most results? (SEO, traffic, buzz, etc. – in your opinion)

1. Digg
2. Facebook
3. YouTube
4. Twitter
5. StumbleUpon

5.  Which social networks are the biggest waste of time?

The ones that are ghost towns and don’t have a decent sized audience.

6.  If I am brand new to Digg, what is the best tip you can give me to creating powerful account?

Provide value to the community. This means submitting articles that will be useful to the community and lots of them. This doesn’t mean submit your own articles that are good, submit from a wide variety of sources. Providing value to the community can also come in the form of digging the right articles and leaving thoughtful and insightful comments.

7.  Do you see any up and coming social networks worth spending time at?  For example; Tipd? What are your thoughts?

I think Tipd is a great one if you have a site that is financially related. There are a lot of niche networks that keep popping up so I’d recommend that a person watch for these in their verticals. Pay attention to which ones seem to be catching on and get on that ride as early as possible. The sooner you can establish your site(s) as an authority source on these sites the better. Before you know it other people will be submitting your content and you won’t even have to do it anymore.

8.  What do you feel are the long term benefits of Social Media Marketing?

• Links for SEO.
• Buzz.
• Branding.
• Creating trust in your brand.
• Traffic.

All of these add up to increased business, which should be the long term benefit of any marketing campaign. A marketing campaign that has no ties back to long term value in your business is just a waste of
time.

If you want to get specific, I think trust in your brand and increased word of mouth is number one. Studies have shown that majority of people base their purchasing decisions on word of mouth. So interact with your consumer base online. Be honest and genuine and you will build their trust. Then they will spread word about you. Of course, the content (products, services, etc) has to be there to back it up.

9.  Any other tips you can offer that we might have missed here for people new to Social Media?

Get started. Don’t wait around to jump in and start learning this stuff. Every day you wait is another day your competitors are gaining ground on you.

When I am teaching clients (or consulting new to Internet business owners) about social media, and starting to dive deeper into social media marketing with them, the very first thing I try to help them understand is the “social” side of it.  If you are not able to be social with individuals, or are worried about what people will say or think of you, then you will not do very well with social media.  Being social is the most important key element to any successful social media marketing campaign.

I know this sounds kind of no duh, but you would be surprised how often these concerns come up with clients, especially the new ones that have never done any kind of online marketing – including social media marketing.

I guess the real reason I bring this up, and wanted to post about it, is because last week I did a Webinar (on social media) that had about 20 people on it, and one of them sent me a private message telling me that they did not know if they would be able to do anything with social media marketing.  I thought it was odd considering they were on the Webinar, and knew what they signed up for.  They said they had a fear of being rejected, and were very fearful of how people would interact and take them in the online communities.  This is a problem, and I tried to address it with reasons you MUST be social in order to be successful.

9 Reasons You Need To Be Social:

1. You will have to approach, and befriend other bloggers related to your industry.
2. You will need to leave useful and real comments to gain trust in blog authors (who you might connect with).
3. It is a must to grow your social media accounts by adding friends, and asking people to add you – I don’t think I have ever done a post about Twitter without asking someone to follow me – Follow Me? (heh)
4. You need to vote and participate in the communities – again leaving comments in all the elements of the community (ie post you voted on, in their comments area – anything they allow).  You help people get to know you by doing this, and in turn gain trust.  You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours!
5. New friends will help you grow your business and market it for you, and give you unbiased feedback.
6. New friends will link to you, thus helping out your online presence.
7. You will learn from new friends.
8. You will meet some amazing people that you normally would not have had the chance to.
9. Other people WANT to connect with you.

Do not fear the “SOCIAL” in social media:

You need not fear people not wanting to connect with you.  Most people you find are wanting to grow a bigger group of people around them too.  I realize not everyone you connect with is going to be golden, but you will find some amazing people that almost alone will be enough.

I remember when I first started getting serious about social media, blogging and making connections I thought some of the bigger names in the game would be unapproachable, and not want to talk to a nobody like me.  I went ahead and “took a chance” when Chris Bennett and I attended the first ever SMX in Seattle together, and ended up meeting probably one of the coolest people in the social media industry – Cameron Olthuis and we have since become great friends.  Through the relationship we have gotten each other business, made each other money and helped each other grow even more.  The best part was gaining a cool new friend.  Chris even went on to create a high action sports social community with Cameron that involves (among other things) what those two are most passionate about – Surfing.

Matt Siltala, Cameron Olthuis, Rebbeca Kelly, Matt Cutts - SMX Seattle

You never know what is going to happen with social networking unless you just go for it.  I have learned great lessons in social networking and all of them have paid off in the long run.  Lose the fear, and realize that the social community is the best industry period to be a part of right now.

Now That You Are On Your Way:

If you do end up meeting a jerk, or if someone is not nice to you, then just move on because there are plenty of awesome people out there that ARE willing to hook up with you.  Just remember, the more social you are, the easier things will be for you when it comes to social media marketing and using the networks for pushing your products, services or whatever it is you are doing.

If all else fails, talk to me – please feel free to connect with me online, and let me know how I can help you!