Welcome - This appears to be your first visit to Buzzoodle

Sign up for our FREE fast start - email Internet Buzz course - and get a fast start on creating buzz. Click here and get started
    Primary Blog Topics
  • Employee Evangelism
  • Buzz & Word of Mouth Marketing
  • Web 2.0 and Social Media
 RSS - Never Miss a Post

Anatomy of your Online Presence - Part 5: The Ear

November 23, 2007

The Ear:  This is part 5 of a 13 part series on anatomy of your online presence.

Anatomy Internet Marketing EarIt used to be that when you left the room and people started talking about you, you would never find out - unless someone else told you about it. Idle chatter was not documented and archived for your convenient review later on.

That has changed.  People are talking about you, and as you build a more robust online presence, they will talk about you event more.  Your ear is your ability to hear what is being said.

There are two types of communication to pay attention to. 

1) Messages directed at you
2) Messages about you but not intended for you

Direct Messages

Direct messages may seem obvious, but this is a big issue for many people.  Surf around a few blogs and look for basic contact information.  It is sometimes hard to find, and many times non-existent.  You must make it as easy to contact you as possible, and ideally through a variety of means.

Do you have an email clearly listed?  Your full name?  Your phone number?

If you are worried about SPAM, set up a free email account at one of the big search engines.  They do a good job of filtering out SPAM and that way you do not junk up your main email address.  Plus, if you change jobs later, your alternative email goes with you.

Other ways you can let people communicate with you:

  • Skype
  • Comments on your website/blog
  • Forms for specific requests
  • Mailing Address
  • Instant Messaging

I do not use all of these, because they can interrupt your day if you get contacted all the time.  However, if you are using them already, why not publicize the additional ways people can reach you?

Indirect Chatter

Now it is time to open the can of worms.  What are people saying about you, but not to you?

It is an incredibly good thing if there is a lot of positive chatter online about you.  This means you are being noticed and being talked about.  This is one of the ways marketing experts measure word of mouth, which is an important factor in your success.

Here is a list of tools that will help you see what is being said.

Google Alerts - http://www.google.com/alerts - This great tool will email you a list of new things said about you each day.  You can monitor your name, your company name, products and general industry terms you care about.  The more specific and unique your name, the more effective this is at sending you only relevant stuff.

Google Advanced Search – Did you know you can use the advanced search features of Google and see only new pages where your keyword appears?  Click here to see new talk about Buzzoodle in the last week.

To do that, you just go to www.Google.com, choose advanced search and set the date range.

Technorati and Google Blog Search – Both of these sites are excellent for just looking at blogs, which is where you are going to find a lot more idle chatter about you.

Reporting – Another way I frequently find out people have linked to me is keeping an ear on my stats package.  Whatever good traffic tracking you are using will have a referring site report, and if someone links to you, it will show up in your stats the first time someone clicks one of those links.

Keeping your ears open will help you hear what people are saying, where they are saying it and who is saying it.  With this information you can fan the flame of positive discussion, address the issues around negative comments and feel good about the progress your online presences is making.

Read the rest of 13 part series on anatomy of your online presence.

[tags]Buzz Marketing, Internet Marketing, Branding [/tags]

- Thank You!

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog, Internet Marketing, Word of Mouth Marketing 

Are people BUZZING about you?

Sign up FREE today and you will get:

  • 99 Websites Where You Can Create Buzz Now

  • Buzz Marketing Email Course
    20 Lessons on Building Buzz

  • Buzzoodle eBuzz!
    Buzz and Internet Marketing News and Tips

Rate This:

Comments

One Response to “Anatomy of your Online Presence - Part 5: The Ear”

  1. Do you have a living, breathing web presence? | Buzzoodle Buzz Marketing on November 23rd, 2007 1:01 pm

    [...] Ears – How sharp are your ears?? Are people able to send you messages in lots of ways and are you receiving them?? Conversations are going on all around you.? Do you hear what is being said about you on the web and are you making it easy for people to contact you? [...]

Got something to say?