Myspace Marketing
Right off the bat you may notice one thing you definitely need. You need
links to your site! You might do a great sales pitch for
your site, but if they don't know how to get to it, then it doesn't
matter what you say. You can use a basic text link or you can add a little something extra to your page and make a banner ad
for your site. I like to use both myself and if you notice I give
people the chance to promote for me. Using some html to make a
text box, I make the html code accessible to anyone who wants to put my
banner on their own websites or profiles. This is a simple way to
get some free advertising. The more ads out there, the higher
your traffic will be.
For the rest of the content, you just need to summarize what is on your site. Give them a taste of what you have to offer, but don't give them everything. You want them curious, which will make them want to check out your site. I think it's best to not do your actual business on Myspace; link them to another page to get that done.
If you make instructional videos or videos of any kind, then Myspace can be used there too. There's a section where you can upload your own videos. People can access them either by clicking your video link, on your profile, right below your display picture. Or, you can just post the video directly on your profile. Some people just don't like to read all that much, talk to them.
And lastly, let's take a look at your blog. If someone's already on your profile, then they're going to notice your blog entries; they're linked right up at the top of your profile. So, I think it's best to at least put something in there. Break your site into a few generalized sections, and give short summaries divided into separate blog entries if you like. And you should probably put a link to a section on your site and/or a link to your group, which we'll talk about in a bit. This gives the reader somewhere to go after they finished reading your blog entry. Another thing I like to do is to put my banner ad in the header of my blog. That way, no matter what blog they're reading of mine, the banner is always up top. Gives you yet another link to your site. You can do this, with a little simple html, when customizing your blog. I recommend that you customize your blog, add colors and make it fit a style you like, along with making a custom header to promote your website. Here's the blogs from the profiles I mentioned above, just so you can get an idea of what I'm talking about:
Now, once you have a decent amount of people join, your group will start to show up on Myspace's main group page. If you click the linked title above, you'll notice that they set the groups into a sort of searchable directory. If they find you by using the search, then it doesn't matter how many people are in your group. But if they're just browsing the groups, which is what most people do, then you need higher numbers to be noticed. Once people start noticing your group that way, and joining your group on their own, then you'll start to notice more and more people talking back and forth in your group. So numbers can be good for your group, until you notice your group higher up in the directory, but then let off and let people add themselves on their own. You want interested customers, not someone who just accepted your group invite to clean out their inbox.
The groups are pretty much just a forum with a separate bulletin board and the option to add pictures. And that's exactly what I'm using the group for this site, that you're on right now, for; a forum. I like to know what people think, what ideas they've come up with, what I could do to improve my site or anything else. It gets people talking and more people get interested in your sites this way.
Alright, well let's go over the set up process. When on your profile, you can click the groups link up on the top; it's off-center to the right a little on the blue toolbar. And then on the left there's a link that says "create group", click that. Alright now there's a bunch of information you want to fill in. You want to fill in your title, make it similar to your site or profile title, or completely different, but it has to give people an idea of what your group's about.
Then you want to pick the category that best fits your group, kind of like when you submit your site to directories. I'd leave it as open join, so that anyone can join, unless you want your group to be exclusive. I'd also not make your group hidden for the same reasons, you usually want people to be able to find your group.
I usually let the members invite people too, that way the numbers can go up a little quick, by allowing members of your group to add their friends. If you want complete control over who joins, then select No. I usually don't make it a public forum for a couple reasons. If you do that, then anyone can post a topic to your group and most of the time it's just spam. Also, if they want to post to your group, then they must have something to say about what others are talking about. So, if the forum isn't public, they have to join your group to be able to talk. And more members aren't a bad thing if you can get them talking.
The bulletins and the images are up to you. Usually I set it so only I can post bulletins, for updates and such, but that's your decision. Decide whether or not your group should be for adult eyes only and then you can enter your location details. The short description is what people will see when they're browsing and searching the group directory. So you'll want to be pretty, well, descriptive in a few sentences.
In the main description, I usually just put similar information to what's on my profile. Just give them an idea of what you want them to talk about and what's on your site that you're promoting. I've notice though, that it seems Myspace limits how much information you can put into the description, at least if your group is new. So, usually the code to modify the look and color of your group doesn't fit in.
The last part to fill out is the URL. You can pick a special URL for your group just like you can for your profile. I noticed that, if you made your group an adults only group, the URL you set won't work. You'll have to open the group and then go to the screen that says, "This group may contain materials of a mature subject matter. It is inappropriate for members under the age of 18. Do you want to proceed?" You'll want to copy that URL from the address bar above. That will link to your group then. And now you're set to start promoting your group. I'd definitely start with your personal friends; you know they'll talk to you about it if they're interested. You can take a look at the group I have for this site:
Some words for the wise; don't list any prices on your Myspace profile or group! You can't use Myspace as a storefront, your profile or group will get deleted. Also, affiliate links, for the most part, aren't going to work on Myspace; they block certain URLs from being listed. I know for a fact most Commission Junction links won't work and they just recently blocked Clickbank links, at least in groups. You can still use Clickbank links in bulletins, for now, just not in groups. So it might be smart, if you use a lot of affiliate links, to just link to your own pages and not try to post affiliate links directly on Myspace.
For the rest of the content, you just need to summarize what is on your site. Give them a taste of what you have to offer, but don't give them everything. You want them curious, which will make them want to check out your site. I think it's best to not do your actual business on Myspace; link them to another page to get that done.
Other Profile Features
Now let's go over a couple other things that come along with your profile; these can also be great marketing tools. First let's start off with bulletins. If you have a bunch of people added to your profile as "friends", then this can be handy. You can post updates and other things you're trying to promote every once and a while. And then, everyone on your friends list will be able to view your bulletin on their bulletin board. It's a great way to keep people coming back to your site and profile.If you make instructional videos or videos of any kind, then Myspace can be used there too. There's a section where you can upload your own videos. People can access them either by clicking your video link, on your profile, right below your display picture. Or, you can just post the video directly on your profile. Some people just don't like to read all that much, talk to them.
And lastly, let's take a look at your blog. If someone's already on your profile, then they're going to notice your blog entries; they're linked right up at the top of your profile. So, I think it's best to at least put something in there. Break your site into a few generalized sections, and give short summaries divided into separate blog entries if you like. And you should probably put a link to a section on your site and/or a link to your group, which we'll talk about in a bit. This gives the reader somewhere to go after they finished reading your blog entry. Another thing I like to do is to put my banner ad in the header of my blog. That way, no matter what blog they're reading of mine, the banner is always up top. Gives you yet another link to your site. You can do this, with a little simple html, when customizing your blog. I recommend that you customize your blog, add colors and make it fit a style you like, along with making a custom header to promote your website. Here's the blogs from the profiles I mentioned above, just so you can get an idea of what I'm talking about:
- Will B. Guilty Rags Blog - Note the added colors, background and the separate banners for my clothing store.
- Home Business Opportunities Blog - I toned this one down a little, just like these sites are, trying to fill your head with information not drive your eyes crazy.
Myspace Groups
Yes, I saved the best for last. This is the real reason I set up separate profiles for my sites. I wanted to create a Myspace group so that the people can talk about my site. They can tell me what they like, what they hate and what they'd like to see. I'm not like a lot of people on Myspace who add every person they see in hopes of seeming "internet popular". You can see how I really feel about those types of people at my Myspace Rant. What I want is for people to join my groups and then talk about my sites. Having a lot of "friends" can help get your site noticed, but most of the time, people will add you and never say a word to you. So what I like to do is, set up my group, join my group on my personal Myspace and then invite all my real friends to my group. If they want to, they'll join and start asking you questions about the group and the sites your promoting; that's the first step.Now, once you have a decent amount of people join, your group will start to show up on Myspace's main group page. If you click the linked title above, you'll notice that they set the groups into a sort of searchable directory. If they find you by using the search, then it doesn't matter how many people are in your group. But if they're just browsing the groups, which is what most people do, then you need higher numbers to be noticed. Once people start noticing your group that way, and joining your group on their own, then you'll start to notice more and more people talking back and forth in your group. So numbers can be good for your group, until you notice your group higher up in the directory, but then let off and let people add themselves on their own. You want interested customers, not someone who just accepted your group invite to clean out their inbox.
The groups are pretty much just a forum with a separate bulletin board and the option to add pictures. And that's exactly what I'm using the group for this site, that you're on right now, for; a forum. I like to know what people think, what ideas they've come up with, what I could do to improve my site or anything else. It gets people talking and more people get interested in your sites this way.
Alright, well let's go over the set up process. When on your profile, you can click the groups link up on the top; it's off-center to the right a little on the blue toolbar. And then on the left there's a link that says "create group", click that. Alright now there's a bunch of information you want to fill in. You want to fill in your title, make it similar to your site or profile title, or completely different, but it has to give people an idea of what your group's about.
Then you want to pick the category that best fits your group, kind of like when you submit your site to directories. I'd leave it as open join, so that anyone can join, unless you want your group to be exclusive. I'd also not make your group hidden for the same reasons, you usually want people to be able to find your group.
I usually let the members invite people too, that way the numbers can go up a little quick, by allowing members of your group to add their friends. If you want complete control over who joins, then select No. I usually don't make it a public forum for a couple reasons. If you do that, then anyone can post a topic to your group and most of the time it's just spam. Also, if they want to post to your group, then they must have something to say about what others are talking about. So, if the forum isn't public, they have to join your group to be able to talk. And more members aren't a bad thing if you can get them talking.
The bulletins and the images are up to you. Usually I set it so only I can post bulletins, for updates and such, but that's your decision. Decide whether or not your group should be for adult eyes only and then you can enter your location details. The short description is what people will see when they're browsing and searching the group directory. So you'll want to be pretty, well, descriptive in a few sentences.
In the main description, I usually just put similar information to what's on my profile. Just give them an idea of what you want them to talk about and what's on your site that you're promoting. I've notice though, that it seems Myspace limits how much information you can put into the description, at least if your group is new. So, usually the code to modify the look and color of your group doesn't fit in.
The last part to fill out is the URL. You can pick a special URL for your group just like you can for your profile. I noticed that, if you made your group an adults only group, the URL you set won't work. You'll have to open the group and then go to the screen that says, "This group may contain materials of a mature subject matter. It is inappropriate for members under the age of 18. Do you want to proceed?" You'll want to copy that URL from the address bar above. That will link to your group then. And now you're set to start promoting your group. I'd definitely start with your personal friends; you know they'll talk to you about it if they're interested. You can take a look at the group I have for this site:
- Home Business Opportunities Group - This is going to be the forums for the site that you're on right now. You can talk about any ideas you've had about making money online, talk of your successes, failures and so on. We can help each other earn.
Some words for the wise; don't list any prices on your Myspace profile or group! You can't use Myspace as a storefront, your profile or group will get deleted. Also, affiliate links, for the most part, aren't going to work on Myspace; they block certain URLs from being listed. I know for a fact most Commission Junction links won't work and they just recently blocked Clickbank links, at least in groups. You can still use Clickbank links in bulletins, for now, just not in groups. So it might be smart, if you use a lot of affiliate links, to just link to your own pages and not try to post affiliate links directly on Myspace.
| Myspace.com |
| Thomas' Myspace Editor |
| Nuclear Century Layouts |
| ImLive Video Chat |
| Will B. Guilty Rags Profile Blog |
| Home Business Opp. Profile Blog Group |
| Myspace Rant |
| Back to Website Promotion |
| Back to Main Page |
You can use all these ideas to promote on your
personal profile if you like, but I'm going to talk more about how to
set up profiles and such that are solely used for promoting your sites,
products and services. Separate business from your personal
"internet life". If you remember, I already went over some basic
ideas on Myspace marketing on the banner ads and link strategy pages.
Setting up your Profile
Alright to start off, I'd suggest you sign up
for a separate profile, if you already have one you use for your
personal friends. You'll need to use a different email address to
sign up and then fill in the rest of the information and you're ready
to go. At some point they'll send you an email with a link in it
that you'll have to click to verify your email address.
Next you'll probably be asked to enter some personal information and upload a picture. I usually set my display name to be the title of the site I'm promoting. And, if you have a banner ad, company logo or some other picture that goes good with your site, then that's probably what you should upload as your picture. What I like to do, if it'll fit, is put a link to my site as the caption on each picture I upload. That way, when someone looks at the pictures you have, they also have your link right there if they're interested in checking out your site. Something else I just recently thought of that might be handy is to add one of your pictures to be ranked. When you click to add/edit pictures, there's a button you can push for each picture which will add it to the ranking system. The ranking system is something people can view and just randomly go through pictures and rank them, by attraction I'm sure. But I think it'd be a bonus to add a picture you have that has your site's URL on it. It'd be just another way to have someone to possibly check out your site.
Then you're going to want to go back to the interests and personality section. This is where you input all the main information for your profile. The only sections that really matter in my mind are the first 3: Headline, About Me & I'd Like to Meet. For the headline, I usually put in a slogan I have for my site and/or a picture. You can enter your picture easily without running
Next you'll probably be asked to enter some personal information and upload a picture. I usually set my display name to be the title of the site I'm promoting. And, if you have a banner ad, company logo or some other picture that goes good with your site, then that's probably what you should upload as your picture. What I like to do, if it'll fit, is put a link to my site as the caption on each picture I upload. That way, when someone looks at the pictures you have, they also have your link right there if they're interested in checking out your site. Something else I just recently thought of that might be handy is to add one of your pictures to be ranked. When you click to add/edit pictures, there's a button you can push for each picture which will add it to the ranking system. The ranking system is something people can view and just randomly go through pictures and rank them, by attraction I'm sure. But I think it'd be a bonus to add a picture you have that has your site's URL on it. It'd be just another way to have someone to possibly check out your site.
Editing Your Profile
Now you can go through and fill out the basic information if you want. The most important parts would be your user name, display name, maybe if you want to enter your company information and then I think it's good to find 3 networking categories that best fit the overall idea of your site, products or services. That way, if anyone is browsing the networking categories, they may find your profile and then eventually take a look at what you have to offer.Then you're going to want to go back to the interests and personality section. This is where you input all the main information for your profile. The only sections that really matter in my mind are the first 3: Headline, About Me & I'd Like to Meet. For the headline, I usually put in a slogan I have for my site and/or a picture. You can enter your picture easily without running
out of space, because of a long URL, if you use an image hosting site like TinyPic.
If you view a normal page, it's pretty plain with a white background; looks like every other profile out there. So I like to spruce it up a bit and add colors and my own style to my profiles. One of the simplest ways to do this is to use an online profile editor, there are a ton of them out there. The one I like to use is called Thomas' Myspace Editor. It's pretty simple to set up. Also you can use a pre-made layout, which can be found on sites like Nuclear Century. Otherwise, you'll have to use html or some other type of coding. If you don't know how to code for the internet and you still would rather do it yourself, then here's a few sites that might help you out:
So I'm sure by now that you've tested and tried out a few different looks and feels for your profile. Find one you like? Alright then, let's move on. You still have to put some content on your profile, something that will give people an idea of what you're offering and make them take action. You've got to get them curious enough about what you're offering that they'll take the next step and click your link to visit your site.
Here I'll help you out some more. I'll show you some examples of profiles I've made for my different sites and you can see the kinds of things I like to put in my "about me" and "I'd like to meet" sections.
If you view a normal page, it's pretty plain with a white background; looks like every other profile out there. So I like to spruce it up a bit and add colors and my own style to my profiles. One of the simplest ways to do this is to use an online profile editor, there are a ton of them out there. The one I like to use is called Thomas' Myspace Editor. It's pretty simple to set up. Also you can use a pre-made layout, which can be found on sites like Nuclear Century. Otherwise, you'll have to use html or some other type of coding. If you don't know how to code for the internet and you still would rather do it yourself, then here's a few sites that might help you out:
- ImLive Video Chat Computer Help
- W3 Schools
- HTML Help Central Forums
- CSS Property Index
- Flash Tutorial
So I'm sure by now that you've tested and tried out a few different looks and feels for your profile. Find one you like? Alright then, let's move on. You still have to put some content on your profile, something that will give people an idea of what you're offering and make them take action. You've got to get them curious enough about what you're offering that they'll take the next step and click your link to visit your site.
Here I'll help you out some more. I'll show you some examples of profiles I've made for my different sites and you can see the kinds of things I like to put in my "about me" and "I'd like to meet" sections.
- Will B. Guilty Rags Profile - Promotes my online clothing stores.
- Home Business Opportunities Profile - Promotes this series of web pages (the website you're on right now).
I'm sure you've heard of Myspace
by now and may already have your own personal profile on there.
But have you thought about the marketing potential of such sites?
I'm not talking about spamming or harassing people on there, I
mean just casual advertising. Spreading the word, and if people
want to look, they'll look.
I'm going to go over a handful of different ways I try to promote my websites on Myspace. A lot of these practices can be used for other social networking sites too, but I'm not sure if they have all the same features. So I'm mostly going to focus on Myspace. I think this can help to make your marketing a lot more personal and give you a chance to talk to potential customers.
I'm going to go over a handful of different ways I try to promote my websites on Myspace. A lot of these practices can be used for other social networking sites too, but I'm not sure if they have all the same features. So I'm mostly going to focus on Myspace. I think this can help to make your marketing a lot more personal and give you a chance to talk to potential customers.