Explaning Niche and Community using the Reverse Maslow

I sat in a series of sessions of a co-professor who projected stuff from the Authenticity Book for his marketing class. Part of it had to do with understanding new media, the Internet — that sort of stuff, really. So I borrowed it. And it’s been a “formula” I use to introduce or summarize “new media” from a different perspective. Let me share this.

You may be familiar with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Before aiming for higher and more profound functions of self actualization, the basic needs need (food, clothing, shelter) to be addressed first. Today however, with the advancements of technology and the “fast paced lifestyle” seem to push people to want to be “accepted” first in order to function properly. An argument here is that every human being ideally needs to belong to a family. With new media, it becomes easier for individuals of similar niches to find one another: Star Wars forums, Macintosh zealots, Trekkies, Trekkers, food bloggers … the list goes on and on. There seems to be a community for everything. Seth Godin refers to this social structure as “Tribes.”

With that mindset, it becomes more apparent how communities work, and how authentic messages can be distinguished from those that are canned from press releases or below the line gimmicks. Authenticity is still key, and this is where the machinations of A-listers, authority figures, conversion and credibility come along. Forums, blogs, microblogs … these are all manifestations of this.

If you’re a marketer, do you believe you are treading on sacrosanct grounds when you wish to involve communities?

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So What Should the Performancing Hive be Really About?

We’re currently in the process of revamping the Performancing Hive, Performancing’s paid subscription community. Like the current sign-up page says, Hive “exists to provide you the help you need to increase the performance of your blog.” As we take steps to improve Hive and re-examine the focus of the community—not to mention Performancing itself—we would very much like to hear from you. [Read more]

Case: Measuring Word of Mouth via Bloggers

Back in 2007, I partnered with a PR agency that handled a french inspired fast food company serving mainly breads and pasta. They were looking into doing a “blogger meet up” and experiment with the idea of measuring word of mouth. They were in the process of launching a new product, which happened to be a special blend of spiked coffee; one of those amaretto or Bailey’s infused mixes.
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Blog Comments: Do they still bear the same weight?

I don’t know about your experience, but the real-time updates of Facebook and the massive Twitter community seem to have lessened the value of blog comments. Wait, scratch that. I’d be more inclined to say that Twitter and Facebook have made it easier for marketers to call for comments.

I say this under the premise that numerous PR agencies have “decided” that comments have been the most obvious sign of a strong following. Can’t blame them — as many blogs do not publish their feed count nor share stats publicly. Above the surface, it’s really just about the comments. But you’ve also noticed that ever since the social media echosphere was created, we’re seeing more engagement on these networks more than the blogs.

As a blogger, do you give a hierarchy to value depending on where you receive comments?

Of course, another way to look at it is that your social network demographic is different from your blog readership.

Do comments still bear the same weight as they did before? Or have they been saturated by the social echo chamber.

Or, is this writer approaching the question the wrong way?

Why WickedFire is a Great Forum to Learn Online Business and Marketing

Look, if you’re interested in joining a forum where everyone is polite but nobody is making serious money, try WarriorForum or DigitalPoint. Those two, for example, have very strict etiquette rules but only one “minor” problem. Simply put, lots of WarriorForum and DigitalPoint members talk the talk but few of them walk the walk.

Do you know why most people are extremely polite over there? The answer is almost obvious: it’s because a lot of them are trying to sell you something. Maybe an e-book, maybe a coaching problem, maybe some other semi-useless product.

WickedFire is different. Nobody’s there to sell you anything. Well, almost nobody and those who are just trying to sell you on something you don’t need, usually get “loved tenderly” (a commonly used WickedFire term, just like “making monies”, that represents anything but the pleasant idea the phrase conveys) by the community. This forum is what it is and there’s no other community out there that’s even remotely similar. Let’s try to look beneath the surface and determine what exactly makes WickedFire so special. [Read more]

EarnersTalk – New Community To Discuss Monetization

David Peralty who has a few guest posts under his belt here at Performancing.com has launched a new community of his called EarnersTalk. EarnersTalk.com is a community forum focused on you guessed it, earning money. The first thing you’ll notice upon visiting the forum is how great the design looks. I don’t think you can go wrong with a vanilla, blue and green color scheme. Everything from Display Advertising to Pay Per Click to SEO is covered on the forum.

There is even a marketplace where you can sell websites, domain names, or offer services to the community. I’ve recently become a member of the forum and I know that with Davids experience, I’m betting I’ll learn a thing a to concerning monetization as I don’t want to make the same mistakes he did.

David has told me that he has big plans for the site so if you get the chance, head on over and register your account. Lets help each other make some coin in this bootstrap economy.

Want To Be A Community Manager?

If so, you need to read Deb Ng’s post on Kommein.com entitled The Pros And Cons Of Being an Online Community Manager. In this article, Deb weighs in on the positive and negatives associated with being the star of your community. One thing, I’ve always wanted in my online adventure is to be the leader of a community. A place to call my own. With WPTavern.com I have finally accomplished one of my goals. I have to admit though, being a community manager is tough work.

You have to be available 24/7, need to be REALLY passionate about whatever your community is centered around, and last but not least you need to be a leader not a follower. At the end of the day though, being a community manager and having one of your own is worth its weight in gold. It’s a great feeling to know that I have a place on the web where I can hang out with like minded people to talk about the software I’m most passionate about.

So without weighing on the negatives, I’d like for you to tell me if you have a loyal community and if you do, how hard has it been for you to be the community manager?

Have You Mentioned Skittles Enough Lately?

Skittles is running a crazy marketing campaign right now, and it involves Twitter. Do click the Skittles link, and you won’t be led to a regular candy-colored website (although you’ll get a few candy-colored floating objects). Instead, you’ll see a Twitter search results page on just about any post that mentions Skittles, refreshing every few seconds.

Your Twitter profile can get its 15 seconds of fame if you mention Skittles now. Oh, did I mention you have to put in the keyword Skittles in the body of your tweet?

Twitter seems to be abuzz with Skittles talk right now. But is there any sense to their newfound popularity among the social media crowd? The mere mention of a keyword–not to mention a brand–might be enough to dilute the brand, particularly if it becomes overused. On the other hand, having it mentioned in a lot of places by a lot of people would surely be a big boost to popularity.

And now here I am finding myself craving for something sweet (and possibly a bit sour and colorful, too). Sadly, I couldn’t find a pack of Skittles inside my cupboard, or anywhere around the house, for that matter. I settle for some other piece of candy.

If you can get the attention of the likes of @Scobleizer and @ChrisGarrett to Tweet about you, then I would agree this is one way to go if you want your brand to stick in people’s minds–or between their teeth, or the roofs of their mouths.

People will *definitely* be linking to #skittles I guarantee it – absolutely works as media bait AND link bait, wait and see – @ChrisGarrett

But more importantly, if your Tweetbait is strong enough to lead the likes of myself to grab on to the nearest candy bar, mint or gumdrop, then you may have just artificially propped up demand, not just for Skittles, but for all things sweet, sour, or candylicious.

That probably beats any economic stimulus package. It’s inexpensive. It’s worldwide. And it’s sweet.

The Saturation of Top Tens and Lists

There is a men’s magazine I enjoy reading, and I’m sure you’re all familiar with it: Esquire. It has been around since 1933 and apart from having some of the best cover designs in the print industry today, by no fail I anticipate a particular feature that they regularly run — their lists. Be it the Worst 10 Men in Congress to teh 75 Most Influential Men in the 21st Century, I await these lists because I know that the headstrong staff put a lot of effort in building these lists.

I’m not sure if I can say the same for blogs. About a few years ago “Top 10″ lists have invaded the blogosphere not so much as an editorial feature, but as a tool for link baiting — and I must say that it still works to this very day, but with less effect. Truth is, with all the hype on link bait tips to score more traffic, the list seems to be the easiest to manufacture: choose a topic, pull out pop culture knowledge as reference, and there you have it — a list.

There’s a reason why Esquire succeeds in the list making:

1. they don’t do if often
2. they’ve got more than 70 years of credibility backing them up
3. their lists are well researched

Of the three, bloggers can probably work on number two and three — before building lists, maybe it would be a good idea to establish yourself first as an authority in something. Because of the way things work, people tend to categorize and remember you for one thing only. So ask yourself, if you want to be authoritative in something, what would that be? You can’t be good in everything.

Are You One Of The Select Few?

Here on Performancing and on various other blogs about blogging, the idea of making a good living from blogging has been described as fiction more than fact. Not to say that it isn’t possible however, the chances of it happening are not good.

ReadWriteWeb published the results of their own survey today in which they contacted 20 top-tier bloggers and social media consultants to figure out just how much money they are making. The survey figures out what the pay rates are for these individuals while also having them confirm what their counterparts make. The results should continue to provide hope for those looking to make a living from this field of work but keep in mind that the top 20 people in virtually any field of work will probably be well paid.

According to the survey, rates for bloggers who were paid per post ranged anywhere from $10.00 to $200.00 for long form writing. In-house/Full time bloggers reported being paid between $45k and $55k per year with benefits all the way up to the $90k a year bracket. RRW breaks down these annual rates:

Based on our experience and conversations in the industry, we can say that all of the people doing this work full time are putting in at least 50 to 60 hour work weeks, often longer. That means most are making the equivalent of $20 to $35 dollars per hour.

There are of course, a few bloggers in the wild who are making a six-figure salary. Naming those people shouldn’t be difficult. In fact, Walt Mossberg who writes for the Wall Street Journal is rumored to make seven figures per year.

Last but not least, those who are authorities are making a good living through consulting work. Based on the survey results, hourly rates ranged from $150.00 up to $300.00 per hour. Some consultants reported rates of $2k to $4k per job. To illustrate just how much of a disconnect there is between companies that get it and those that don’t, RRW reports that these consultants are probably doing one or more of the follow:

What are these people doing? They are advising companies on how to set up and run blogs, how to reach out to and relate to bloggers, how to use Twitter (seriously) and how to make advanced use of RSS. The SEO work is probably the most technical, but degrees of technical challenge are all relative. A lot of this work is about communication skills.

I’m currently making over $1,000.00 per month by producing podcasts and blogging for others. I can’t tell you how many hours I put in a week into blogging but I can confirm that it’s not just about writing the articles. There are many variables which I believe fail to be entered into the payment equation. For instance, administering the website, comment moderation, social media promotion, social interaction via Twitter or Friendfeed, conversations on Skype with people within your niche, conducting show notes for that next podcast episode, reading books in your off time that deal with the niche you write about, etc.

The bottom line is, it is entirely possible to make a living blogging for others or for yourself. However, it is a very tough road to travel and that is why here at Performancing, we will continue to provide tips, tricks and useful information to help turn the dream of making a decent income from blogging into a reality. Just be prepared to lay down a ton of elbow grease.

What are your thoughts on the RRW survey?