On Mondays I post an interview with a social media marketing expert. My blog focuses on using social media to promote books (particularly self-published books), and I believe authors can really learn a lot about successful social networking by following the experts.
This week we meet David Risley, successful online blogger. You can read all about David on his blog here: http://www.davidrisley.com/about/
KS: Tell me about your company – how it was created and what you do.
DR: I am a long-time online publisher. Many people call me a blogger. 🙂 I got my start as a technology blogger and I managed to build that tech blog (PCMech.com) into a six-figure business. In 2008, I decided to start helping people do what I had accomplished. So, I started DavidRisley.com to fulfill that mission.
Today, through a number of products and about 1,000 freely available blog posts, I help bloggers turn their passions into a solid, profitable business.
KS: Who do you feel can benefit from a social media marketing strategy?
DR: Anybody. It doesn’t matter whether a business is primarily online or offline. Thing thing is… social media is basically just a big platform where people are talking. They’re just talking. They’re talking about anything and everything in their lives. Not only that, more and more of our lives are going online. Even what happens offline is being drastically affected by what happens online. Social media is just a modern method of what’s been going on since cavemen first carved on walls. So, with that in mind, anybody can benefit from it.
KS: How long have you been blogging and what is the primary focus of your blog?
DR: I’ve been blogging for about 13 years – a long time. 🙂
KS: What is your favorite social networking site? Why?
DR: I prefer Facebook these days. Secondarily to that, perhaps Google Plus.
Facebook is where all the people are, simply put. It also has a lot of different ways to interact rather than the 140-character limit of Twitter.
KS: What is your #1 piece of advice for social networking newbies?
DR: As important as social media is, don’t make it your ONLY promotional strategy. Just because it is the “in” thing doesn’t make it the only thing. At the end of the day, none of what you do on social media will matter at all unless you have the fundamentals of “old school” marketing in place: a solid offer, decent marketing, and a list. Yes, an email list. Email is still way more important than anything “social”.
So, keep social media in persepective. Don’t think you can spend all day on Facebook and you’re going to magically have clients beating down your door. It doesn’t happen that way. Social media is one of MANY promotional strategies you should be looking at.
To find out more about David Risley and PC Media, Inc., visit:
Website: http://www.davidrisley.com
Twitter: @davidrisley
Google+: http://gplus.to/davidrisley
