How to Create Strong and Lasting Relationships with Your Readers

This article was originally published on MyMark’s Corporate blog. MyMark is a professional social networking website. For this and other original MyMark blogs please visit http://www.mymark.com/blog

With the focus of social media marketing being the creation and maintenance of relationships with customers and associates it is important to understand the basics of interpersonal communication. Interpersonal communication is social dialogue taking place between two or more individuals. Think of yourself and your customers as being communicators.

According to the American Psychological Association, “During the give-and-take of discourse, the communicators exchange facts, ideas, views, opinions, emotions, and intentions in such a way as to enhance or impede social relationships; create, maintain, and adapt identities; and create or resolve conflicts.” When you are creating social objects for the use of interacting with your associates and customers, remember that the content of these objects is crucial in defining those relationships and identities.

Start the Dialogue with Valuable Content

The name of the game is creating good content. If you want to establish your identity or brand as a credible and valuable resource, make sure that the content you are creating in your social objects reflects that objective. You don’t want to spend the vast amount of your time simply marketing your brand, but rather building your brand’s credibility so that outbound marketing becomes almost unnecessary.

Building your brand’s credibility, or inbound marketing, creates a two-way communication with your customer as opposed to the one-way information dissemination of outbound marketing. In order to accomplish your goal of building credibility with your customer, your communication needs to include factual, well-thought-out, and/or innovative ideas and opinions.

Keep your customers’ objectives in mind. You can maintain your objective of becoming a valuable resource by actually aligning your content with your customers’ objectives. They are looking for something. Give it to them. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes and ask yourself if you are giving them what they want and need. Doing this will help you identify the information you can give that will be most useful to them and, in turn, keep them coming back for more.

It’s All in the Presentation

In addition to the content of the communication, take into account the format of the content. A delicacy served on a paper plate isn’t worth as much as it is when presented on a china plate with a garnish. It’s all in the presentation. You may have extremely valuable content but if it is just thrown together without much effort put into the final presentation of the content, the social object you have created isn’t worth as much as it would have been with an enticing format. This isn’t to say that the content has become entirely worthless but it won’t be recognized as something of great value without the proper presentation.

It is human nature to be attracted to aesthetically pleasing things. Simplicity plays an important role in aesthetics. The general public is not interested in something that is over-complicated and time consuming. You can simplify your content without losing any of its integrity by presenting the key points of the subject matter and leaving out anything that doesn’t directly support the key points and doesn’t provide an element of entertainment.

Social objects can be, and quite often are, both informational and entertaining. Keep the entertainment relevant to your objectives. Hubspot has an excellent example of multitasking their social objects by providing information and entertainment with their web series, Foursquare Cops. When combining the element of entertainment in your social objects be careful to keep a good balance of entertainment and information. Your audience should still feel like they got some valuable information from your entertaining content.

Distributing Your Valuable Content

Focus your distribution efforts. Much of marketing, whether inbound or outbound, is trial and error distribution. Keep track of which communities your social objects are most successful in. Cater to the needs and desires of your customers. If your customers in one community seem to like one type or format of social object better than another, provide more of that type or format to the community in question.

Continually monitor the success or failure of your social objects. Social media is constantly changing and so are your customers’ wants and needs. The former appeal of one type of social object may be replaced by another. Keep up with the changes by keeping a close eye on the response to your social objects. Monitor your bounce rate, feedback and any other important analytics to your brand closely. You don’t want to be hung out to dry because you didn’t accommodate quickly enough.

“If at first you don’t succeed, Try, try again.” (1840 T. H. Palmer Teacher’s Manual 223) This old adage is appropriate for the world of social media marketing. If you don’t find immediate success, persevere until you do. This may mean changing some of your strategies or finding some innovative way to reach your customers. One positive aspect of social media marketing is that you don’t have to follow the crowd. Be adventurous and find the most effective combination of content, presentation and distribution for your brand.

For this and other posts by Anne M Lee please visit http://www.mymark.com/blog

Friday Finds - Again

And these just in...

Friday Finds

Wow!  It's a busy time at Feathered Quill!  Here are the latest books to arrive.  Reviews will be posted soon.

Betty White - Pin-Up Girl?

MEET AMERICA'S  NEWEST PIN-UP GIRL Betty White to Star in Her Own Calendar Proceeds to Benefit The Morris Animal Foundation New York, New York, July 7, 2010  - The 88-year-old Betty White will be available all year long with THE BETTY WHITE  CALENDAR, a 24/7 tribute to one of America's most beloved actresses, comediennes, and winner of multiple Emmy Awards. From her new hit television comedy - Hot  in Cleveland (TV Land) - to her #1 Super Bowl commercial (Snickers) with the not-dead Abe Vigoda - Betty is classy, earthy and unassuming . She's also got a fantastic sense of humor about herself - and that's our idea of a centerfold!  The last surviving member of The Golden Girls cast - Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty died between 2008 to 2010 - Betty White has also starred on Life with Elizabeth, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and The Carol Burnett Show as well as Mama's Family, That 70s Show, Boston Legal and Malcolm in the Middle. Deemed the "First Lady of Game Shows" by the entertainment press, Betty appeared on What's My Line?, To Tell the Truth, I've Got a Secret,  Match Game, and Password, among others, in the 60s, 70s, and 80s.  Earlier this year, Betty hosted Saturday Night Live after a grassroots Facebook campaign called "Betty White to Host SNL (Please)" attracted 500,000 fans and Betty became their oldest host ever. Ratings were SNL's highest since 2008 and a show hosted by Ben Affleck.  The Betty White Calendar 2011 is priced at $12.99 and will go on sale in September.  Betty White has dedicated herself to improving the lives of animals and this calendar is no exception: All of Ms. White's proceeds will benefit The Morris Animal Foundation based in Denver,  Colorado. www.morrisanimalfoundation.org

The Women Have it!

By: Amy Lignor (one of Feathered Quill's reviewers)

Guy writers are just fine, ladies, but some new authors have spun on to the scene in the past few months that are quickly making a name for themselves. I wanted to tell you all about one. Her name is Amy Ferris, and she's the author of the fantastic book, Marrying George Clooney: Confessions from a Midlife Crisis. It IS all in the delivery. That's how I feel about this absolutely outrageously perfect book. Yes, I said perfect. Because the beauty of each and every chapter is literally in the imperfections that life throws at us every day. Is a midlife crisis a mixture of tears, humor, pain, and hilarity? You bet it is. At least, it is through this author's eyes.

Erma Bombeck, I still believe, did this best. She told the truth. Not since the death of Ms. Bombeck have I read an author who could literally "nail it"...until now. In this fantastic book, Ms. Ferris offers up, without apology, everything she feels, sees, and does during this most frustrating part of a woman's life. Yes, the inevitable Menopause. The writing is raw and sweet, as she delights the reader with paragraph after paragraph detailing her 3:00 AM experiences. I haven't gone through Menopause yet, but I, too, have wavered between jumping off a bridge in order to end all the stupidity surrounding me, or pushing someone I love in front of a car. With every troubling thought that rushes through the female mind, the most frequent conclusion that we arrive at is that someone's life has to end.

I want to share a couple of revelations that hit me right between the eyes. The author wrote that it was her obligation and responsibility to acknowledge and hold dear the privilege of her own life. I have to say...Bingo! Yahtzee! She called 'Midlife' a reinvention of the wheel. And I learned a great deal. So much so, that I will keep this book on my bedside table when 'Midlife' hits, so I can always know that someone else once felt as bad as I will.

The author talks about her father, who died far too soon. That, unfortunately, is something I do share with her. She also speaks volumes in very small paragraphs about her mother - a wonderfully brilliant woman who, unfortunately, didn't really like kids but had them anyway - who is now suffering from Alzheimer's. This, thankfully, is something I do not share with the author. But her words brought tears to my eyes when she wrote candidly about the regret and resentment that beam from her mother's eyes. She also asked a question that really struck home for me...How do you retire from writing? Can you just log off one day and say "I'm done?" I hope not. Without that release - the freedom of imagination - I think I'd cash it all in and call it a day. Even though the author admits to having writers block for four years, she still continued on and has produced a sweet, satisfying, hysterical book.

I want to do this author and this book justice. So I'm going to do something she asks in her pages. Early on in the book, Ms. Ferris writes that she wants readers to find their view...tell their story. So...I will. And I'm going to pick one of my favorites that comes from motherhood: One day the television was on. My daughter was about five years old at the time. A commercial came on and, unbeknownst to me, my child found the ad fascinating. After it was over, she ran into the kitchen and asked me what reptile dysfunction was? I responded as fast as my poor, tired brain could..."Well, honey, it's an alligator with a limp."

I would love all of you out there to comment on this post and tell me and Feathered Quill a story that is absolutely hysterical from your real life. Share with us. God knows...we ALL need some humor nowadays.

The latest news on this book is that it will be coming to the Off-Broadway CAP21 Theatre in the fall. If you live in New York (I despise you). I mean...you're extremely lucky. Go see this and send me a ticket stub or program so I can drool (and hate you even more) :)

Author Interview with Linda Gould

Today we're excited to talk with Linda Gould, author of Let's Play Ball.

FQ: - First the obvious, you must be a huge baseball fan. It certainly shows in the scenes where games are being played but also, in many other spots where antics on and off the field are described. Tell us about your baseball background.

I fell in love with baseball at about the age of seven, when my father took me to my first game at Griffith Stadium. I saw the Yankees clobber the Senators, 11-2, but at least I got to see Mickey Mantle in his prime. My dad was a huge fan who remembered the Senators' last appearance in the World Series in 1933.

Washington baseball fans have been through the ringer since then. We lost that Senators team to Minnesota in 1961, just as they were improving. A bad expansion team took their place, and quite a few Washington fans never returned to the sport. In my family, interest started to revive when Frank Howard arrived with his tape-measure home runs. Still, there was only one respectable season for that team, Ted Williams' first year of managing in 1969. That team decamped to Texas in 1971, and we were bereft for the next 34 years. As two-time losers, most of us lost all hope of ever getting another team, although we were often teased by other teams threatening to move to D.C. if they didn't get new stadiums in their cities. Many of us adopted the Baltimore Orioles temporarily. Major League Baseball finally relented and moved a dying franchise, the Montreal Expos, to Washington in 2005. (My dad lived to see it, and was able to attend two games that year.) Our Nationals continue to struggle in their sixth season here, but I still pinch myself sometimes to realize that the sport has returned to our city.

FQ: Many female authors would shy away from using a male dominated sport as the backdrop for their books. Did you consider other sports/topics first or did you know from the start that it had to be baseball?

I'm just a huge sports fan! My first novel, Secretarial Wars, featured pro football, and my second, The Rock Star's Homecoming, dealt with college football. However, baseball has always been my favorite sport. In Washington, the Redskins tend to dominate all sports talk, even during their off-season. I'm a Redskins fan, but I'd like to see more balanced coverage. Many football fans in D.C. are so obsessed with their team that sometimes I wonder if they've noticed we have a baseball team.

FQ: Miranda and Jessica have some issues that could easily tear sisters apart. Yet their bond remains strong. Was it important to show a strong sister bond?

I don't have a sister, so for the most part I had to imagine the relationship. I did watch my mother interact with her two older sisters. I remember jabs being thrown about her being the youngest and prettiest when they were growing up (and their dad's favorite). Yet the three of them were close. I made Miranda and Jessica fraternal twins as an extra assurance that their essential bond could never be broken, no matter how much they fought.

FQ: You touch on a very hot, and very emotional, topic in your book, that of racism and in particular, of hatred towards Hispanics. Was this topic hard to write about and what do you want your readers to take away from reading about such blind hatred?

The immigrant issue has become even more sensitive since I started writing Let's Play Ball. I would like to see less attention given to tracking down and punishing illegals, and more to addressing the forces that brought them here in the first place. It can only be desperation that causes people to leave their homes, often risk their lives to get to the U.S., and once here, perform the kinds of jobs that are too "dirty" for most of us. Some form of amnesty must be offered to those who are established here.

If anyone wants examples of how well immigrants can succeed, through talent, hard work, and dedication, they have only to look at Major League Baseball. The Hispanic presence there is strong and growing all the time. It takes tremendous skill and discipline to play the sport at that level. Some of them are among the most talented players in the game, and others are struggling to find their place. But it seems to me that even those with limited English skills are striving to assimilate and play the game the right way.

FQ: Whether good or bad, the women characters in your novel all had very strong personalities while some of the men, like Petie Jansen, were wishy-washy at best. As a woman, I found this refreshing as so many authors do the reverse. Was it important for you, as a woman writer, to create very strong female characters?

I have a guilty pleasure. I'm a big fan of the four Real Housewives franchises on Bravo TV, and am now eagerly awaiting the D.C. version. I admit to loving a good catfight! Most of the women featured on those shows are admittedly shallow, petty, and dependent on men to fund their extravagant lifestyles. Let's Play Ball features a few catfights as well, but I hope the fighting women in my book come across as strong personalities who wield real power, and are in fact driving forces behind their men. I also intended to show that men are not above engaging in their own petty fights.

FQ: As mentioned in the review, Guadalupe Ramirez was a character the reader will love to hate. Was she fun to write? Which character did you most enjoy?

You're not the first reader who liked Guadalupe the best! My critique group tended to have the same reaction. I'm glad she came across as three-dimensional, despite being a villainess. When I imagine a possible sequel to Let's Play Ball, Guadalupe is the character I tend to focus on most. She did not totally disappear at the end of the book, but is presumed to be still lurking in the background, capable of causing more mischief. She has paid a high price to become the first lady of Cuba and live in what she calls a "gilded prison," when she could have had a prosperous life in the U.S. as the wife of a successful ballplayer. Her new husband mostly expects her to keep producing children in support of his political dynasty, despite her lack of maternal instincts. That will never be enough to satisfy Guadalupe, who is ambitious for political power of her own. Her jealousy and bitterness will continue to grow, maybe provoking another international incident or two!

To learn more about Let's Play Ball, please read the review at Feathered Quill Book Reviews.

Silly Thought of the Day

Last night, female author and reviewer, Amy Lignor, opened her front door to receive her normal evening delivery of Chinese food, and was met by a mob of angry authors who wanted to slice and dice her for daring to give them bad reviews of their ONE MILLIONTH book about vampires. The group of murderers was armed with pitchforks and copies of their horribly-written novels. Even though the team of Nelson and Schecker tried their best to save the poor woman, Amy was pummeled to death by the mass-market robots that were created inside Frankenstein’s laboratory (located just off to the side of Stephenie Meyer’s famous Twilight theme park.)