There’s always something to howl about.

Content is King: How do you crown yours?

I was quietly writing on a different post this morning when an email or two from my buddy Cal Carter kicked me in the butt and made me switch gears.

One of the first principles of internet marketing (and marketing in general) is that you follow the eyeballs. Preferably the RELEVANT (targeted) eyeballs of those who are mostly likely to use you product or influence those who will. Wherever they are find them. Target them. Starting with the highest ROI and working down the list until you have all of the business you can handle.

Why do we optimize for Google vs Yahoo or MSN?
More relevant eyeballs to be had at the least cost. Simple as that.

Why do we use facebook?
Brian Brady showed us in Orlando that you can HIGHLY target niche eyeballs using it. And those coming to Unchained in Phoenix will hear MUCH more about that I am sure.

Would it surprise you if I told you that for the last month or two, over 30% of the traffic to EricOnSearch has come directly from Twitter? (true story…).

That’s what I get for listening to Teri (thanks Teri!!) and finally trying to make solid business use of Twitter! 2 new customers, and much more traffic every day. (Hint: What’s your Tweet / Follower ratio?) That’s the key metric in terms of ROI in my world.

(side note: Do you have the authority (read: credibility) to send 100 people to your blog simply by letting them know that you posted? Here is the BEST question…when they visit, are they impressed enough to link to it? Maybe even to syndicate it?)

Pat Kitano and friends are promoting Social Media conscious marketing as “online marketing without blogging”. Of all of the things I think Pat gets right, this is a point I (humbly) disagree with. Blog is NOT a 4 letter word (contrary to popular belief).

LAZY is. (I don’t wanna blog is too often code for I don’t wanna put effort in. Time to face that truth and call it what it is.) Own that.

I totally agree with him that a LOT of new delivery vehicles for content are going to come to life. Where we part ways is marketing it in a way that says “No need to blog…”. It takes well crafted and attractive content to attract people AND it takes a distribution system to promote it. One does NOT replace the need for the other IMO. I do agree with MOST of his points…just not that one.

EXAMPLE:

I do believe that crowning your content King in 2009 will involve syndication as well…you are going to see more of RSS words like Homescopes and Scenius et al. These are brilliant ways of Top QUALITY content creators (read: BLOGGERS) working together to create bigger microphones for all.

I quote from Pat at Transparent Real Estate:

The Focus of News Will be Distribution over Creation

Before the Internet and citizen journalism, mainstream media owned the content it created (news, music and movies) and charged a lot for the consumption of that content. The social media now produces a lot of the online content and is disrupting the media industries by pushing the price for content creation towards zero. Online news sources are now positioning themselves to be the most comprehansive “news re-sources” and in 2009 will start steering their readership to authoritative sources who may or may not be their own journalists. Among citizen journalists, real estate bloggers and Twitterers will benefit from the exposure.”

This is right in line with my commentary about Citizen Journalism from a few months ago. I agree with that 100%. NICELY said.

Again though, here’s where I think Pat goes into slight oversteer:

Does that replace websites with listings? Nope. People who Google are NOT per se the same folks you connect with on social media. It does not replace SEO/M. It enhances it. It is simply another channel on the real estate marketing TV set.

Does that replace blogging? NOPE. It facilitates it!

Does it mean that you STILL have to create the best content? YES! (of course)

Social media IMO does not compete with SEO/M at all…except I guess in some peoples’ view that it competes for REALTOR time and dollars. But in the mind of the consumer, they are two seperate beasts. In terms of building authority, they promote each other. In the marketplace of 2009, my take is that you’d better be prepared to go “all in” on both fronts. They enhance, compliment, and help each other.

And should you blog? Yep. Like your marketing life depends on it. (It does.)
And should you participate (smartly) in social media that ACTUALLY has eyeballs? YES. Like your marketing life depends on it.
And should you build a distribution basis for your blogging? Yes. same as above.
And should you have a web presence that ranks well? Yes. It is and will remain the highest ROI activity you can do.

There is NO room for laziness in 2009. The competition will only get stronger. Here’s wishing you ALL a great year! (You included Pat. Please do not take my slight disagreements with you as a major deal. I really did enjoy the post! 😉 )