Rob Hendrickson

Lexington, Kentucky Trip - AHP 2010

Growing up in South Dakota and having spent most of my life in the mid-west where we pride ourselves on the few number of people and the many numbers of cattle and horses, I forget that agriculture also thrives in most other parts of the country.

It’s our nature to be somewhat myopic about what we consider a unique upbringing of haystacks and open pastures. But I was pleasantly reminded that agriculture can be found everywhere and continues to be an important part of our existence when I traveled to Kentucky for the American Horse Publications Council annual conference this last weekend.

Lexington is a countryside patchwork of robust farm ground thick with deep green crops like tobacco fields stitched with miles of endless horse fence. This is definitely horse country.

Being back in the graces of a society who respects country life and worships the horse was also a refreshing bonus. The common bond of equine passion and responsibility made everyone instant friends and allowed us to openly share and listen.

I must admit I was nervous about presenting to the group. I am not a professional speaker, but have had the opportunity to amass some experience in key areas of interest for the publishing community. The topics which I covered were:
Using Social Media for Marketing and Sales;
Social Media 101: How to monetize (Which could have been called - Using social media for marketing and sales.);
40 Ideas in 40 Minutes;
Selling Integrated Media Packages for the Small Publisher.

I was prepared least for the last topic but believe it went the best. A smaller group, we were able to share ideas and asked questions early. I’d much prefer a big Q&A session anytime over a lecture setting.

Overall, feedback was positive (at least to my face.) And there were some common questions posed that I’ll try and provide some answers for in this and a few other supplement columns.

First, monetizing the social media and how it can be accomplished. I was somewhat elusive to direct monetization techniques. I feel if you haven’t set up a Fanpage or Twitter account you should not have this at the forefront of your plan - it’s a recipe for failure. This is a community, a party, that you’re inviting yourself to and stepping right in trying to push an agenda makes you a Social Media Poser and you’ll soon have a bad reputation.

If you’re chomping at the bit for more revenue streams and need them fast, consider improving your ecommerce play and leveraging some retail strategies first. By the time you create a strong foundation in the SM community and have gained trust enough to pitch you’ll be ready.

There are great examples of people who did not do this and made millions. WineLibrary.TV is one of the most talked about examples. However, Gary was reviewing wine and sold… wine. He was not a publisher trying to act in the best interests of a readership base, he was pushing red. Very successfully.

He knew giving away three minutes worth of content in the form of wine reviews would provide him the credibility and give people a reason to return. He’s also highly entertaining and great on camera. There is hardly a written word on his websites and he leveraged traditional PR and advertising methods to really make his splash.

SM educated him and gave him a fanbase to launch from. He worked long and hard at it and was honest in his presentations. The guy is a battery in human form.

Monetizing social media should not have been the topic. It should have been how to create new revenue streams where we could have looked at a variety of ways you can bring in money outside of advertising.

My favorite way is saving money by migrating your customers to digital correspondence. Printed and mailed renewal, event and sales notifications replaced by email, web calendar and social media can save you money. A dollar saved is like three earned. Keep track and you’ll be surprised.

Web video was also a hot topic. Especially the mechanics. If anyone has some good ideas about a cheap and reliable camera with external mic functions, please pass it along so I can pass it along. I’m currently using a Kodak Si8 and have found the audio to be somewhat shitty. You can have low quality video online but the audio needs to be good.

I’ll upload a list of SM tools that can be used to make your life a little easier and your program a little more robust.

Please contact me if you have questions or shiny new things you’ve found for Internet marketing and publishing.

Until next time.

Robo