Social Media and Going Viral…

I sent out this recommendation request via LinkedIn Profile… to see just how fast I could turn my 6  likes, into 1000.  I am going to preface this as well by letting you know that my LinkedIn connections are relatively small, and the majority of them had requested that I be “linkedIn” with them.   Here is what the request said:

I’m sending this to ask you for a brief recommendation of my work that I can include in my LinkedIn profile.  I am also sending this as a bit of research to see just how fast social networking can turn something viral.I am a bit in the dark ages when it comes to this stuff, right now i have all of 6 people that “like” my facebook link to FIITFU.. How fast do you think I can turn that into 1000 “likes”?If you have any suggestions on how to increase that please let me know, and I will also let you know how long people think it will take me to get to 1000 LIKES and then test their predictions!.

 First off the responses that i got for recommendation where amazing!  Thanks to all of you that sent in such kind words and recommendations for me, that was so unexpected but I loved every minute of it.

Then people also shared with me some amazing information on WHAT TO DO to increase your exposure and where you can research information on this… I will highlight these for you at the end as well

I also had one very honest person give me feedback which provoked me to think of the “purpose” of LinkedIn and facebook.  She wrote:

“If you don’t mind my being honest, you are ‘out to lunch’ with this approach, and definitely with the 1000 likes hopes…  Do you know how hard it is to get 1000 likes? Do you even have 1000 facebook friends, let alone strangers willing to “like” some link of yours?  And did you know once people “like” your page (please tell me you’re promoting a business page and not a group or link…!) they probably never come back and never seen your messages in their feed?  It’s a popularity contest (in a good marketing sense), but not a follow up strategy.  Your e-mail newsletter is where the money is at.
Some points:
1) You’ve asked me for a recommendation of your work….but I’ve never experienced your work, nor do I know which type of work you want me to recommend.  Mass e-mails like this won’t help.
2) What is FIITFU? Don’t assume anyone knows.
3) My top suggestion, if you really want to utilize social media for business purposes, is to learn the ropes. 

So I appreciate this gals honesty, but it makes me wonder:

#1.  Why did she ask me to join her LinkedIn group if she doesn’t even know anything about me?    Do you feel that LinkedIn should be used just to increase your numbers on your page, or should you know someone more before making the request

#2. Is getting Likes on Facebook really just a popularity contest?  Don’t you think that you will get higher exposure AND awareness if you get more likes… and in turn would this not help your business?

#3.  People have said that it will take me 7 – 10 days to get 1000 LIKES.  I will keep you up to date on this, right now i am now at 15 likes!  So it doubled… perhaps it will double each day!  wouldn’t that be cool.  If you want to take a guess at how long it may take me to get to 1000 please let me know.

So here are some of the COMMENTS I GOT on ways you can learn more about Social Media and OR  how to promote your company on Facebook and other areas.  PLEASE NOTE THESE ARE WORDS FROM THOSE THAT EMAILED ME BACK… I AM NOT SURE IF THEY ARE GOOD SUGGESTIONS YET OR NOT… but I did want to share with you the recommendations that I did get back:

 #1.  Pay for a link on Facebook. 

#2. In order to get likes on facebook, you have to send an email to every friend on your list and ask them to “like” fiitfu.  Ask each one of them to ask their friends to do the same.  You should also try and gather as many friends as possible by going through the suggestions and friend requesting them.  You might also want to try linking your twitter to the facebook  page using tweetdeck or a similar app and then actively update your twitter so it will appear on your facebook page.  Also adding pictures and content to the facebook page will help draw people.

#3. check out www.PeterShankman.com  and his book customer service for social media… great info on what you are wanting to do with social media etc.

#4.  I want to direct you to a very good “eye opener” book on social networking. http://www.sociablebook.com/ I attended a Vancouver BOT meeting with the authors of this book about 1 year ago and found how easy it was to utilize social media. They are local vancouverites too. One thing I think would be very relavent for what you do is to have meetups. (explained in book) As you probably already thought of this, your product transcends industry boundaries, you could reach appropriate sales people at different organizations…Real Estate, High End retail, media sales, etc. Give free seminars on how to use your product too!

#5.  …course I have seen on this subject is called Connectonomics and it is by Web Friendly (ok, my brother’s company, you will soon figure out, but quality speaks for itself, so if I’m biased you’ll be able to see through it quickly).  Contact learn (@) webfriendly.ca and sign up for the next round of seminars asap!  I’ve taken the course twice and it is the best way to get the latest and freshest on business tactics.  He doesn’t recycle the same material over again  – every workshop is updated with new research and info.  Details on the company’s “basics” course is here: http://webfriendly.me/  but there is an advanced course called Connectonomics.

Try some of these suggestions out… I sure will be!  If you also have MORE ideas on how to increase your social media exposure please let me know so I can share it with all the people that come to my new blog.

In the meantime i hope you LIKE my page!  www.fiitfu.com  1000 is the goal… lets see how fast we can get there!