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by Sussa Bailey

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SMM sounds very erotic, and it is! It can powerfully red-bull-fly the hits to your website. But is the Social Media Marketing (SMM) buzz, which propelled out of control since early 2007, just a fly-by-night? You make up your own mind, I will just dot down a few quick facts:
* Google bought YouTube (video sharing media site) for a staggering $1.65billion in October 2006;
* Staggering Web2.0 and Internet Stats;
* Amount of active Facebook users;
* The following results from a study done on users that create video ('The emergence of an alternate media universe', 2005): 350 magazines launched; 26 million blogs launched; 40,000 radio stations;48,000 podcasts; 5,000 original TV shows; 50,000 clips uploaded to YouTube per day.
But before you jump on the bandwagon and take advantage of this marketing phenomenon be warned: it is jam-hot, don't get burnt! The hype is real, but you cannot just jump in and start SMMing, it is an unmeasurable and unfamiliar substance.
The consequences of not knowing how to SMM organically, can be catastrophically to your and/or your business' reputation. It is crucial that you first familiarise yourself with the rules and strategies of the SMM game. And then there are the 'rules' to consider of the specific network (site) you belong to.... rather be safe than sorry! Sites like Digg can ban you for life. SMM is not a quick-fix, it demands hardcore commitment, skill, creativity and most of all: sincerity. Your community must get to know you, accept you, and recognise you as a resourceful and credible source that does not just have his/her own interest at heart but that of the community too. So, in fact, you are applying the same positive social networking skills that yo triplifyu will apply in your physical life (community) to your virtual relationships (community).
Now that was the negative bit, the positive is that if you master SMM, and you are a harmonious blogger following sound SMM procedures you can have amazing marketing results, and getting that ideal client entering your world, without major marketing expenses.
So where do you start? It is complicated, the start is hard to determine and there is no end, so consider the following as a sketchy outline to give you a jump-start:
Get your own house in order. Does your website offer visitors great and detailed content, worth visiting? Just imagine the waste of valuable, positive chi and time spent in media sites when you send your fellow community members to a D-grade site.
Read as many articles as you possibly can on the tips, rules and strategies of blogging and SMMing. Here are some: SMM Strategies(by Rick Ord); Digg and Social Marketing Strategy (by Scott Boyd); The five pillars of SMM (by Ben Willis).
Set yourself some solid SMM goals(keep your target market in mind - see step 4). What do you want to achieve? You might want to increase the traffic to your site; increase brand (or corporate) awareness; or improve sales of a product and/or service?
Choose your target market, in other words choose your Media Site. Where do you want to blog, with whom? Base this on your SMM goal (step 3), your corporate identity (image), as well as the image of your product and/or service. Do this with utmost care. Yes, I know your ears are bleeding, and I am repeating myself, but this is where it gets complicated as this IS the most important step. Big sites (MySpace, Facebook, Digg, etc.) might not rock your business' boat. And a major consideration: choose your 'medium' of choice. Media Sites use various technologies, not limited to: audio (lastFM, metacafe); forums; message boards (ie CraigList); weblogs; wikis (ie Wikipedia); virtual worlds; podcasts; photos/images (ie flickr, photobucket); video (YouTube). Your niche market might be blogging in a micro-community, and that is the best sites to make your debut in. Or your market might be in Europe - Bebo is the largest social media site in Europe (63%). Orkut is a favourite for Latin America and Asia. Choose the media (and medium) site that most appeal to your product and/or service and core business.
Find a blogging platform, Content Management System (CMS), for your site/blog. WordPressseems to be the most favourable, but more tricky to install. I've read a few articles on once-upon-a-time Joomla fans that moved to WordPress. Tip: work smarter not harder from the word GO.
You've done the ground-work, now you can start blogging. Make your debut (as previously noted) in a 'local' site. Refine your blogging skills, get good at creating content that fascinates, address, intrigue and always offer the reader something valuable. Remember: be yourself, keep it real, keep it organic! Heavens above I do hope you don't 'hard sell' at a BBQ party, as you'll soon be the freak that nobody wants to associate with! Hard selling is a mega turn-off to social media users. What should you do? Work on your strategies, see what works, rather write an informative article (thread) on ie the 'Top-10 Hotels of Choice in Dubai and list yours somewhere along the line, than talking about yourself and your hotel.

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