#aka i may respond to one (1) of the asks but. rest are getting deleted yall need to touch grass

[raayllum]

anyway given that i got 5+ asks of people whining in my inbox about aaravos being a Main Central Character it just goes to show you'll never know when a character's fandom is Interesting, to say the least

[jjsjuiceboxx]

LIFE IS UNUSUAL

PART 1: Dramatics on the dock

Summary- Y/N has just moved from California to the Outer banks because her father James Amber is going to be the new District Attorney, what will happen when a certain blue eyed pogue and you cross paths both having lots in common even though you have money and he doesn’t? Will there be drama surrounding that or not?

⚠️WARNINGS⚠️- drugs, cussing, possible sex? Abuse. ( only cussing in this chapter. )

✮︎A/N- Yes I deleted this part and now I’m reposting it ( if you read this it’s still the same! ) I’m just revamping my stuff I want to put more of a effort into these ( I meant to list edit it but I accidentally deleted it, but I have it in my notes ) anyway happy reading :).

☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎

Hey my name is Y/N, Y/N Amber I was born in raised in Huntington’s Beach, California. To live in California is difficult because prices for stuff is a lot higher then most places, my Dad is well off he is the District Attorney in Huntington’s he makes enough where my mom does not have to work at all but she does. She is a designer she makes her own clothing pieces she isn’t some big huge brand that you would know of, she is a small business so far it’s just her she is just starting it up she wants to have a boutique to sell her pieces that’s her dream. As for me I’m just trying to have a good time as much as possible you only live once right? So live it up.

Y/N POV:

“So Y/N are you excited for Friday’s big charity surf event?” My best friend since birth asked me on the way to dropping me off at home, “of course I am” you said hopping out of the car “you know I love helping” you bid your goodbyes and walked to the driveway only to see a moving car in the drive way you walked fast into your house “what’s all this about?” You asked confused “oh Y/N I must have forgotten to tell you we are moving to the Outer-banks” your father James said.

That was yesterday now you were currently in the outerbanks your parents went back to California to end some business so it was just you for a while, you were at this restaurant called The Wreck you chose to go there cause it was the closest to your house and it also had everything on the menu. Your parents had bought a piece of land 8 months ago it was on the cut your father wanted it to be in figure 8 but your mom said the cut had a better view and your dad was all for the saying happy wife happy life.

You were eating your burger and fries with a dr. Pepper, when your phone buzzed you looked to see your best friend Maia texted you saying she can no longer be friends with a liar, your heart sped up and your hands sweaty you texted back saying you had no idea that you were moving you found out right when she dropped you off. You hit send and she replied back 3 mins later saying she knows how your father is and how he can do terrible things but not telling his daughter about a move wasn’t one of them.

You went to respond back saying that you really had know idea you didn’t know if your dad genuinely forgot to tell you or just chose not to till the very last second, literally and that you wouldn’t miss the charity surfing event for anything. You hit send but it failed to deliver meaning one thing, your best friend had blocked you. You looked around the restaurant and saw 3 boys and a girl eating and laughing they looked very close with one another. Like family. And here you were in a brand new state in a new town with no one not even your friends back home.

You were so overwhelmed you dug in your purse grabbed at 100$ bill slammed it on the table jumped out of the stool so quick it fell to the ground, it was like the whole restaurant silenced and looked over to the noise you felt like a deer in headlights frantically looking at the people watching you making you feel so much worse you didn’t bother picking the stool up and you ran out of the restaurant tears streaming down your face.

JJ’S POV:

Me and the rest of the pogues were eating at The Wreck like always because kiara’s family owns it and we get free food, it’s scrap but food is food. Kie was trying to keep us quiet so her dad doesn’t yell at her when a loud bang went off. we all looked in the direction of a girl who wore black ripped jeans, maroon tank top, with a plaid blue flannel on top. She looked frazzled and not by her stool hitting the ground usually I would have looked away but I’d never seen this girl before and I could tell she wasn’t a touron because she was alone, I looked closer and could tell she was trying to hold back tears and then she ran out of the restaurant.

“I hope she paid for her food or atleast left a tip” kie mumbled “hey maybe someone should check on her” pope said moving his stuff around, “yeah I’ve never seen her before, wouldn’t want her to get lost or run into a kook” John b said. I got up out of my chair “where are you going?” Kie asked confused “did you not hear the conversation someone should make sure she is ok or at least make sure she knows where she is going” I said like it was the most obvious thing ever “yeah I heard but why you?” She challenged.

“Because I have to go to work in like 15 mins, I’m already on the way out might as well. Oh hey tell your dad I said foods great I’m coming back tonight for more” I said heading out the restaurant, I quickly found the girl with her knees to her chest I made my way to her the closer I got I could hear and tell she was crying. She had long strawberry blonde hair that was very curly and she had a blue feather earring that hung to her shoulder. She is definitely a pogue probably a new one us pogues all know each other whether we are close or not.

“Hey uh I saw what happened in there just wanna see if you’re ok, or if you knew your way around you look new.” I said trying not to startle her, she looked up and me and smiled softly “yeah, um I’m ok just a tough 2 days is all, thank you for checking in though” she said looking back out to the ocean I decided to take a seat next to her I have 10 more mins to lose anyway “hey you’re the first girl I’ve caught crying to never wipe the tears away quickly and pretend as if they weren’t there” I said laughing.

She laughed too, “I guess it’s just stupid to hide something obvious, why pretend?” She asked looking at me her mascara and eye liner I think kie told me once what it was. I personally think it’s an eye marker but whatever Floats your boat. It was smeared all over her face from her crying and probably wiping it i motioned to her face and hand to let her know “uh your face stuff is well on your face, but like all over your face” I said she looked at her hand and touched under her eyes pulling them away and seeing more had transferred to it. Most girls would have tried to fix it but she didn’t. “I guess it is, oh well” she said wiping her hands on her jeans.

This girl was different then all the girls I’ve met you could tell she cared because she was crying about something but when it came to herself or rather so her appearance she didn’t care one bit, “I’m sorry about disturbing your meal, I just moved here from California. The move was surprising my parents had to have known for months maybe even a year but they didn’t tell me till yesterday, and now I’m here while they’re there wrapping up business. I’m upset because my best friend didn’t believe I just found out and she blocked me. Which I know sounds SO stupid, but I’m all alone here in a town I’ve never even been before I know no one and my best friend left so I can’t even talk to her about it. Life just fucking sucks right now” she rambled and wiping some tears that fell. In a way I can understand that.

“Hey don’t apologize I was done eating and I have work soon so you saved me from getting bitched at for being late, and I’m sorry about that, that does suck but

Maybe this will help” I said sticking my hand out “I’m JJ consider me your new friend” she took my hand and shook it “I’m Y/N thank you for being my friend” she said smiling a real smile this time. That made my day knowing I could

Make someone smile after they were just crying.

“Oh anytime, here I’ll give you my number so we can plan sometime to get together and I can show you around, also show you the best spots” I said giving her my phone. She put her number in and I took her phone putting mine in hers of course mine is “JJ🏄🏼‍♂️🚬” I gave her phone back and saw that she put her name as Y/N🦋 (AKA dramatic girl who cries) “you know Incase you forget you won’t now” she laughed making fun of herself which I admired a lot.

“I won’t forget, In fact after work the first thing I’ll do is text you” I said standing up and pointing to her she stood up too “you better you’re my only hope” “did you just quote star wars at me?” I asked “yes I did and I don’t regret it” “oh we are so best friends now” I said looking down at her she was a lot shorter than I was it was cute my own personal arm rest “I’m serious though text me! You’re my only friend now and the only person to text. My fate is in your hands young jedi” Y/N said putting her hands together and bending slightly I did the same back “may the force be with you, and I’ll text you don’t worry. You’re the only person to quote Star Wars at me and it’s now my favorite thing” I yelled as I continued to walk away smiling to myself.

[nora-reads-homestuck]

"Fan" Album, old archived posts by Hussie, some videos, and two actual Fanworks!

(SkaiaMechanic) Another Fanfest Post! What Nora responded to here was actually done back in December. However, various parts were incomplete (for reasons you’ll see) so this just sat around in the Google Doc for months. It’s getting to a point where it’s just clogging up the shared document, so I’m posting what’s here and will make additional posts based on the rest of the content when/if she gets to them. Enjoy!

brrrrrrrrd submitted to nora-reads-homestuck:

Visual art has never really been my thing, and other people have been far better at sharing pre-Act 6 art than I could be, but I can submit a few things you may have missed.  They’re all somewhat dubiously labeled “fanwork” being that most of them made by either members of the music team or Hussie himself, but I don’t know of any better time to post them.  

———————————————————————————

Before we get into the meat of this post, there is one more “fan” album you are current on.  It came out just a week after Act 6 began and has no songs about anything from it.  It’s called Tomb of the Ancestors and is by Kalibration (aka Robert Blaker) who also wrote Upward Movement (Dave Owns), Skaian Flight, Play the Wind, and Ira Quod Angelus, among other things.  https://homestuckgaiden.bandcamp.com/album/tomb-of-the-ancestors-unofficial-album 

There’s nothing more recent than Nov. 17th, 2011 on that page.

(Past!Skaia) As a single person fan-album, it’s not necessary to review this, at least not now. If you were going to, I would suggest holding onto it for later, when the amount of music albums in the story dramatically drops off.

(Nora) I agree, and will hold off for now! Album reviews actually take me a while to get finished because I can only listen to things at certain times, and I want to save my steam for meatier posts right now.

———————————————————————————

Most of this stuff is stuff that has previously been deleted by Hussie or hidden by the original poster, so if that’s not kosher then feel free to skip down to the section below this one.  A little background:  Hussie at previous points in time had both a Formspring and a Tumblr on which he would talk about various things Homestuck, and other various things.  He also has a nasty habit of deleting old things, meaning a LOT of his old posts are gone and most of them only exist as archives.  Here’s some of that stuff, most which was posted before Act 6 or if it was posted during only very early on and not referencing events of Act 6.

To start things off, the origin story of Hussie’s horse painting.  This one actually still exists, but the images are broken:  https://web.archive.org/web/20140408053025/http://andrewhussie.blogspot.com/2009/01/need-for-steed.html

(Nora) I’ve seen this one before, but I read it again and I think I guffawed just as hard, if not harder. Hussie has quite the way with words… and homoeroticism.

Hussie’s infamous trip to Olive Garden: https://web.archive.org/web/20130312060633/http://mspandrew.tumblr.com/post/12963616983/land-of-souls-and-olives-a-conclusion-pasta-la-vista

Olive Garden part 2: https://web.archive.org/web/20130312060012/http://mspandrew.tumblr.com/post/13585722775/land-of-souls-and-olives-a-conclusion-plmfers-part

(Nora) Trix once suggested I audio react to these. Would that be a good idea?

(Past!Skaia) Nah, just read them through. It’s definitely worth a read, but nothing more than that. (Current!Skaia: As of 3/5/17, there’s no indication whether she’s gone through it or not. I’ll keep it in the GoogleDoc just in case though.)

The post-Cascade recap part 1, in which he talks about the the process of creating it and then the content of it.  Really great insight into his creation process:  http://web.archive.org/web/20111028175330/http://mspandrew.tumblr.com/post/11938555890/about-eoa5-part-1

Cascade recap part 2: http://web.archive.org/web/20111028222551/http://mspandrew.tumblr.com/post/11941710181/about-eoa5-part-2

Recap part 3: http://web.archive.org/web/20120801112223/http://mspandrew.tumblr.com/post/11960418585/about-eoa5-part-3

Recap part 4: http://web.archive.org/web/20111029142442/http://mspandrew.tumblr.com/post/11975241895/about-eoa5-part-4

There are more posts on his tumblr if you go to the archive and and mess around with the Wayback Machines captures, including a reddit AMA that for some reason only collected the questions from reddit and answered them on tumblr.  But that’s for a point much later in the comic.

(Nora) Huh! Fascinating read-through. I enjoyed him talking about the process in particular (he makes it seem deceptively simple, doesn’t he, considering the lion’s share of the comic was a completely solo project banged out at a nearly inhuman pace). It hadn’t occurred to me that [S] Descend was actually scored, as opposed to simply animated to existing music, which is a bit embarrassing since it is obviously a medley. I also like what he says when he clarifies Doc Scratch’s means and motive—it’s basically exactly what I’d surmised from reading all his conversations. That tricky, tricky bastard. I am however still mystified by the Horrorterrors, and neither does Hussie seem keen to provide a real explanation for their actions:

The dark gods helped chart their course through this spacetime maze to deliver them to this location, at this time. Take that for what you will

(Nora) Also… why the hell did I not ever realize that Lord English is literally a giant green space pimp??? He’s got the gold tooth, the horrible gaudy coat, the pimp cane cue stick peg leg…

First of all, [Jade] didn’t actually conjure the 4th wall out of thin air. Remember when Karkat told her to turn the wall off, and then draw it? He was asking her to captchalogue an undamaged copy using her Pictionary modus, for this exact purpose. The eventual getaway. So she had it on standby, waiting for the right time to use it.

(Nora) Ohhhhh. OHHHHHHHH. Wow, this whole plan was even more convoluted than I thought, and with the whole password system and all, it was already pretty damn convoluted.

What’s waiting for them on the other side, beside a big ugly coat? Recall the setup I had with the two 4th walls facing each other, separated by one yard. They will break through the wall on the right, traveling nearly the speed of light, and presumably, break through the wall on the left to enter another reality. If you were thorough during Seer: Descend, you might have caught this excerpt on a bookshelf. “Though we adore Him we shall never enjoy His beauteous Croak. We spill our blood on acres of black and white so they may cross the yellow yard. At last in Skaia’s reflection through broken glass He may find the pond in which He’s meant to squat.”

(Nora)You may recall that when I played through the minigame, upon coming across that excerpt I said the following:

(PastPast!Nora) ….’They’ may cross the ‘yellow yard’? This must be referring to Hussie’s aforementioned interference with the story. It’s pretty abstruse, but I feel like it’s telling me something that I’m going to come back and go ‘OHHHH’ over, when I’ve seen more of the story.

(Nora) Consider me motherfuckin’ OHHHH’ed.

However, speaking of AMAs, Hussie’s Formspring was essentially a year and a half long AMA and most if not all of the questions answered there have been compiled here:  http://irratio.org/andrew_hussie_formspring_archives.html

Most of the early questions are inane, but after a while (after he stops answering everything that comes across his message box) there’s some really great responses in there (and some really funny jokes.)  Only thing is, it is *LONG* and will take a really long time to get through.  It went on from late February of 2010 to early October of 2011, with the last responses being around the beginning of the pause during work on Cascade.

(Past!Skaia) It truly is long. Kinda worth it though, and amusing to see Hussie’s actual trolling. 

(Nora) Hahahaha, Hussie is a troll and I love him.

Who do you think should be the next president of the United States?

dumb

(Nora) Welp, consider that one prophetic.

Once there is a reasonable number of strips, is there any chance of a Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff book with commentary by Dave Strider?

yeah

(Nora) That one too, I guess.

When do you think HS will be over?

ive been considering ending it on 8/26/10.

but who the hell knows if that’ll pan out.

(Nora) AHAHAHAHA. HAHAHAHA. AHAHA. HA.

(Nora) I’m going to leave it here for now, as there are SO MANY DAMN QUESTIONS and I really ought to finish my text post.

(Past!Skaia)Sounds good. Once you finish the post above I’ll set up a queue for your responses to the messages above.

(Current!Skaia) This was the main reason I held onto this post. It’s no telling when she’ll get back to this though, so I’m posting what I have. I’ll keep the link in the document, and if she ever does go back to read and comment more I’ll make some more posts!

———————————————————————————

Enough decidedly *not* fanworks, here’s some things you might possibly call fanworks!  If you can call things made by Bowman or Toby Fox fanworks.  And bonus actual fanworks!

(Current!Skaia) I have not shown Nora any of the below. I think…they’re not really necessary? Except Savior of the Slamming Jam, obviously, but that’s also in a submission she hasn’t gotten to yet. If enough people think she “needs” to see them I’ll pass it along but otherwise I’m just leaving it here.

A concert in someone’s front yard!  http://www.nospoiler.com/y/HRT758PTmpw

Toby Fox’s Homestuck Abridged!  [Removed for Giant Spoilers!]

An actual fanwork, Savior of the Slamming Jam! http://www.nospoiler.com/y/CKrO8kS8D6g

Chorale for Jaspers & Pony Chorale, Live! http://www.nospoiler.com/y/o0Z0oopPGpM

I’m a Member of the Midnight Crew, Live! http://www.nospoiler.com/y/xR5vN0ve4lY

How Do I Live, live! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDSEXd4KyO8

Actual fanwork, Club’s Deuce’s Homework! http://www.nospoiler.com/y/dLo22lvynNg

And two shitpost videos by Bowman:

1) Cascade announcement (can’t no spoiler link to this one, but comments are disabled: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3o4NvBz8xac

2) “Toby Fox” is now on YouTube (can’t no spoiler link to this one either, unfortunately.  Still, comments disabled):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=WL&v=pA9uy3KdeEU

———————————————————————————

I don’t think I have anything else at this time that either definitely has spoilers or possibly does due to having come out squarely in 2012 or later.

[bizmediaweb]

7 Strategies for Effective Influencer Marketing

One of the keys to effective influencer marketing (aka getting real results) is by doing it authentically.

But just what does that mean?

Being authentic in your influencer marketing efforts means investing the time to learn as much as you can about each influencer you want to reach out to and then communicate with them in a personalized manner that works to establish and then build a real relationship with that person.

Influencers get countless emails, all wanting something from them and most of them coming in the form of a generic, template email that can be spotted a mile away.

Now consider that these influencers are people just like you and me, also with an inbox full of spam and junk mail on top of receiving a hefty amount of these (often impersonalized) influencer requests. Is it any wonder that they rarely respond to them?

The odds are definitely not with you if you are contacting an influencer, regardless of how good the business opportunity is that you are offering. That is of course, unless you can find a way to ensure that your request stands out, gets their attention and makes them way to know more.

I am going to share seven key strategies to help ensure that you stand out in the inbox of your desired influencer and then works to build a solid, mutually beneficial relationship with them.

7 Key Strategies of Effective & Authentic Influencer Marketing

1. Know your goals

It is extremely important when communicating with influencers that you are concise and to the point.

It is hard to get to the point, when you are not sure what the point is. In fact, how can you even be sure you know what influencers you should be reaching out to, if you don’t know what you are trying to accomplish.

Step one is to figure out exactly what you want to accomplish using the help of influencers. Example goals might include:

Drive traffic to your website

Promoting a new product

Brand awareness

Generate sales (such as affiliate marketing or promotions)

Attract new target market

Increase social media followers

Customer retention

Additionally, knowing your goals is vital so you know how you are going to measure the success of your efforts, which will help you determine how to be more effective with your influencer marketing in the future.

2. Choose the right influencers

Now that you know what you want to accomplish, you need to select influencers that both:

Reach your desired target market (demographic) and

Can help you accomplish the goals you have determined.

Start by looking at the demographic they appeal to. Is it similar to the demographic that you serve or is it one you would like to branch out into?

Then look at how they interact with their audience and what kind of content they create. Do they make YouTube videos, or post Instagram Stories, live stream on Facebook or post articles on LinkedIn?

The social media platforms they use and they type of content they create will heavily influence your decision. If they are using a platform that your customers don’t use or create content in a format they don’t prefer, quite simply, it will be an effective alliance.

Ask yourself how that influencer would make best use of your product or service. If you can’t see them finding value from your product or service and being able to share that with their community, they are probably not a good fit for you.

3. Research the influencers

After you have selected the influencers you are interested in reaching out to, be prepared to spend as much time as necessary to thoroughly research each one of them.

Be as detail oriented as you can in your research, as this can help you identify not only what is important or of interest to them, but can also help you to determine the best way to reach out to them.

Influencers are a trusted authority on their topic. They consistently engage their community and provide helpful knowledge and guidance. Be sure to look for these characteristics when choosing your influencers.

Start by looking through their social media profiles. Check out their bios, photos, videos and most recent posts. Check out their website if they have one. Spend time familiarizing yourself with their content.

Also look at their community. What kind of following do they have? How does their community interact with them? Even if they have a smaller community, if they are loved and have a large influence over their community (which is your targeted demographic), it can be well worth the time to approach them.

On the flip side, if they have a huge following but very little interaction with their community, they might not have any real influence within their community and may not be worth your time.

4. Set the stage

As I mentioned previously, Influencers email boxes are often overfilled, so even if you write an attention getting subject line, your email can still get lost in the noise.

You can help increase the chances of success of your first email request by setting the stage. You do this by familiarizing them with your name and the name of your brand.

So how do you get on their radar?

You already know what social media platforms they use and the kinds of content they create from your research. Start by connecting with them on each of their platforms, in a manner appropriate for each platform.

For example, follow them on platforms like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook (don’t try to friend them immediately). Subscribe to their YouTube channel or send them a personalized connection request on LinkedIn.

Once you are familiar with their content and community, make meaningful comments on their posts. Ideally you want to work toward creating a discussion. While the occasional “awesome” or “great post” comment is appropriate, these types of comments will NOT get you on their radar.

Your overall goal for these interactions is that your name will be somewhat familiar to them when it pops up in their email box. Combined with a great subject line, this will make them much more likely to take the time to open your email and read it.

5. Send your email request

The subject line of your email request can determine the success of your outreach to influencers. Even if your name seems familiar, if your subject line is ineffective, they will skip over it with the rest of the junk in their inbox and delete it.

Ensure your subject line stands out.

Whether you go for an attention-grabbing subject line or one that perhaps references some of their past work, keep it short and informative so they know what to expect.

The body of your email needs to be equally short and to the point.

Good etiquette never goes out of style. Start your email off with a personal greeting that includes their name. Add a persona touch by complimenting them on their work. For example, you might mention that you regularly read their blog posts and find them extremely insightful and well written. Perhaps mention your favorite post and why you like it.

Next you will want to dive into your purpose. Tell them why you are writing to them. This should be only a sentence or two. You don’t want to go into a lot of detail here. Your goal is not to lay out your whole vision but rather to find out if they are interested and a good match.

Go on to explain in a sentence or two exactly what you want from them. Clarity in this step can help prevent wasted time on both sides.

Then you need to let them know how they will benefit from this partnership. Briefly explain why they should agree to your request.

Finish your email by letting them know they can reach out with any questions and add an appropriate closing salutation. It can often be helpful if you include your social media profile links as part of your email signature, so they can easily research you and your brand.

The entire message shouldn’t be more than five to ten sentences long. Make it easy and quick to read.

If you don’t hear back right away, wait a few weeks before writing again. You may need to try several times before you get a response. Be patient and keep in mind that they receive hundreds of emails every day.

6. Build the relationship

Once they have responded that they would like to work with you, the effort doesn’t end here.

Now the process of actually building a relationship with this person begins. Like all relationships this takes time and effort. Some ways you can do this effectively include being quick to reply to any communication with them and by taking the time necessary to answer any questions or concerns they may have.

Reciprocity can be a valuable tool when building relationships with influencers.

Look for ways to add value to your relationship with them. As an example, is there some kind of free gift or offer that you can give to them to share with their community? Make sure that the gift will truly be valued by their community and doesn’t not come across as gimmicky or salesy.

7. Measure your success

While it may feel like a success just to find and start relationships with the appropriate influencers, it is important to track the success that each one contributes to each of the goals that you first determined for your influencer marketing initiative.

It is only by measuring and analyzing the success of each of your influencers in attaining your goals that you can make timely choices to modify your influencer marketing strategy to get the best results and with the right people.

Wrapping Up

Influencer marketing is one of the most effective and efficient ways to connect and gain credibility with your target market, if you do it correctly. Done incorrectly, influencer marketing can waste large amounts of time and money and potentially hurt your brand image.

The secret to effective influencer marketing is that it is all about connecting with individuals who share the same overall values and ideals as you. In addition, you want to build a mutually beneficial relationship and partner with each other in ways that make you both more successful. The key ingredient is to be authentic and personal, just as you would in any other meaningful relationship.

Have you tried influencer marketing? What was your experience? Let me know in the comments below.

The post 7 Strategies for Effective Influencer Marketing appeared first on Top Dog Social Media.

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[unifiedsocialblog]

7 Strategies for Effective Influencer Marketing

One of the keys to effective influencer marketing (aka getting real results) is by doing it authentically.

But just what does that mean?

Being authentic in your influencer marketing efforts means investing the time to learn as much as you can about each influencer you want to reach out to and then communicate with them in a personalized manner that works to establish and then build a real relationship with that person.

Influencers get countless emails, all wanting something from them and most of them coming in the form of a generic, template email that can be spotted a mile away.

Now consider that these influencers are people just like you and me, also with an inbox full of spam and junk mail on top of receiving a hefty amount of these (often impersonalized) influencer requests. Is it any wonder that they rarely respond to them?

The odds are definitely not with you if you are contacting an influencer, regardless of how good the business opportunity is that you are offering. That is of course, unless you can find a way to ensure that your request stands out, gets their attention and makes them way to know more.

I am going to share seven key strategies to help ensure that you stand out in the inbox of your desired influencer and then works to build a solid, mutually beneficial relationship with them.

7 Key Strategies of Effective & Authentic Influencer Marketing

1. Know your goals

It is extremely important when communicating with influencers that you are concise and to the point.

It is hard to get to the point, when you are not sure what the point is. In fact, how can you even be sure you know what influencers you should be reaching out to, if you don’t know what you are trying to accomplish.

Step one is to figure out exactly what you want to accomplish using the help of influencers. Example goals might include:

Drive traffic to your website

Promoting a new product

Brand awareness

Generate sales (such as affiliate marketing or promotions)

Attract new target market

Increase social media followers

Customer retention

Additionally, knowing your goals is vital so you know how you are going to measure the success of your efforts, which will help you determine how to be more effective with your influencer marketing in the future.

2. Choose the right influencers

Now that you know what you want to accomplish, you need to select influencers that both:

Reach your desired target market (demographic) and

Can help you accomplish the goals you have determined.

Start by looking at the demographic they appeal to. Is it similar to the demographic that you serve or is it one you would like to branch out into?

Then look at how they interact with their audience and what kind of content they create. Do they make YouTube videos, or post Instagram Stories, live stream on Facebook or post articles on LinkedIn?

The social media platforms they use and they type of content they create will heavily influence your decision. If they are using a platform that your customers don’t use or create content in a format they don’t prefer, quite simply, it will be an effective alliance.

Ask yourself how that influencer would make best use of your product or service. If you can’t see them finding value from your product or service and being able to share that with their community, they are probably not a good fit for you.

3. Research the influencers

After you have selected the influencers you are interested in reaching out to, be prepared to spend as much time as necessary to thoroughly research each one of them.

Be as detail oriented as you can in your research, as this can help you identify not only what is important or of interest to them, but can also help you to determine the best way to reach out to them.

Influencers are a trusted authority on their topic. They consistently engage their community and provide helpful knowledge and guidance. Be sure to look for these characteristics when choosing your influencers.

Start by looking through their social media profiles. Check out their bios, photos, videos and most recent posts. Check out their website if they have one. Spend time familiarizing yourself with their content.

Also look at their community. What kind of following do they have? How does their community interact with them? Even if they have a smaller community, if they are loved and have a large influence over their community (which is your targeted demographic), it can be well worth the time to approach them.

On the flip side, if they have a huge following but very little interaction with their community, they might not have any real influence within their community and may not be worth your time.

4. Set the stage

As I mentioned previously, Influencers email boxes are often overfilled, so even if you write an attention getting subject line, your email can still get lost in the noise.

You can help increase the chances of success of your first email request by setting the stage. You do this by familiarizing them with your name and the name of your brand.

So how do you get on their radar?

You already know what social media platforms they use and the kinds of content they create from your research. Start by connecting with them on each of their platforms, in a manner appropriate for each platform.

For example, follow them on platforms like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook (don’t try to friend them immediately). Subscribe to their YouTube channel or send them a personalized connection request on LinkedIn.

Once you are familiar with their content and community, make meaningful comments on their posts. Ideally you want to work toward creating a discussion. While the occasional “awesome” or “great post” comment is appropriate, these types of comments will NOT get you on their radar.

Your overall goal for these interactions is that your name will be somewhat familiar to them when it pops up in their email box. Combined with a great subject line, this will make them much more likely to take the time to open your email and read it.

5. Send your email request

The subject line of your email request can determine the success of your outreach to influencers. Even if your name seems familiar, if your subject line is ineffective, they will skip over it with the rest of the junk in their inbox and delete it.

Ensure your subject line stands out.

Whether you go for an attention-grabbing subject line or one that perhaps references some of their past work, keep it short and informative so they know what to expect.

The body of your email needs to be equally short and to the point.

Good etiquette never goes out of style. Start your email off with a personal greeting that includes their name. Add a persona touch by complimenting them on their work. For example, you might mention that you regularly read their blog posts and find them extremely insightful and well written. Perhaps mention your favorite post and why you like it.

Next you will want to dive into your purpose. Tell them why you are writing to them. This should be only a sentence or two. You don’t want to go into a lot of detail here. Your goal is not to lay out your whole vision but rather to find out if they are interested and a good match.

Go on to explain in a sentence or two exactly what you want from them. Clarity in this step can help prevent wasted time on both sides.

Then you need to let them know how they will benefit from this partnership. Briefly explain why they should agree to your request.

Finish your email by letting them know they can reach out with any questions and add an appropriate closing salutation. It can often be helpful if you include your social media profile links as part of your email signature, so they can easily research you and your brand.

The entire message shouldn’t be more than five to ten sentences long. Make it easy and quick to read.

If you don’t hear back right away, wait a few weeks before writing again. You may need to try several times before you get a response. Be patient and keep in mind that they receive hundreds of emails every day.

6. Build the relationship

Once they have responded that they would like to work with you, the effort doesn’t end here.

Now the process of actually building a relationship with this person begins. Like all relationships this takes time and effort. Some ways you can do this effectively include being quick to reply to any communication with them and by taking the time necessary to answer any questions or concerns they may have.

Reciprocity can be a valuable tool when building relationships with influencers.

Look for ways to add value to your relationship with them. As an example, is there some kind of free gift or offer that you can give to them to share with their community? Make sure that the gift will truly be valued by their community and doesn’t not come across as gimmicky or salesy.

7. Measure your success

While it may feel like a success just to find and start relationships with the appropriate influencers, it is important to track the success that each one contributes to each of the goals that you first determined for your influencer marketing initiative.

It is only by measuring and analyzing the success of each of your influencers in attaining your goals that you can make timely choices to modify your influencer marketing strategy to get the best results and with the right people.

Wrapping Up

Influencer marketing is one of the most effective and efficient ways to connect and gain credibility with your target market, if you do it correctly. Done incorrectly, influencer marketing can waste large amounts of time and money and potentially hurt your brand image.

The secret to effective influencer marketing is that it is all about connecting with individuals who share the same overall values and ideals as you. In addition, you want to build a mutually beneficial relationship and partner with each other in ways that make you both more successful. The key ingredient is to be authentic and personal, just as you would in any other meaningful relationship.

Have you tried influencer marketing? What was your experience? Let me know in the comments below.

The post 7 Strategies for Effective Influencer Marketing appeared first on Top Dog Social Media.

7 Strategies for Effective Influencer Marketing published first on http://ift.tt/2rEvyAw

[bizmediaweb]

7 Strategies for Effective Influencer Marketing

One of the keys to effective influencer marketing (aka getting real results) is by doing it authentically.

But just what does that mean?

Being authentic in your influencer marketing efforts means investing the time to learn as much as you can about each influencer you want to reach out to and then communicate with them in a personalized manner that works to establish and then build a real relationship with that person.

Influencers get countless emails, all wanting something from them and most of them coming in the form of a generic, template email that can be spotted a mile away.

Now consider that these influencers are people just like you and me, also with an inbox full of spam and junk mail on top of receiving a hefty amount of these (often impersonalized) influencer requests. Is it any wonder that they rarely respond to them?

The odds are definitely not with you if you are contacting an influencer, regardless of how good the business opportunity is that you are offering. That is of course, unless you can find a way to ensure that your request stands out, gets their attention and makes them way to know more.

I am going to share seven key strategies to help ensure that you stand out in the inbox of your desired influencer and then works to build a solid, mutually beneficial relationship with them.

7 Key Strategies of Effective & Authentic Influencer Marketing

1. Know your goals

It is extremely important when communicating with influencers that you are concise and to the point.

It is hard to get to the point, when you are not sure what the point is. In fact, how can you even be sure you know what influencers you should be reaching out to, if you don’t know what you are trying to accomplish.

Step one is to figure out exactly what you want to accomplish using the help of influencers. Example goals might include:

Drive traffic to your website

Promoting a new product

Brand awareness

Generate sales (such as affiliate marketing or promotions)

Attract new target market

Increase social media followers

Customer retention

Additionally, knowing your goals is vital so you know how you are going to measure the success of your efforts, which will help you determine how to be more effective with your influencer marketing in the future.

2. Choose the right influencers

Now that you know what you want to accomplish, you need to select influencers that both:

Reach your desired target market (demographic) and

Can help you accomplish the goals you have determined.

Start by looking at the demographic they appeal to. Is it similar to the demographic that you serve or is it one you would like to branch out into?

Then look at how they interact with their audience and what kind of content they create. Do they make YouTube videos, or post Instagram Stories, live stream on Facebook or post articles on LinkedIn?

The social media platforms they use and they type of content they create will heavily influence your decision. If they are using a platform that your customers don’t use or create content in a format they don’t prefer, quite simply, it will be an effective alliance.

Ask yourself how that influencer would make best use of your product or service. If you can’t see them finding value from your product or service and being able to share that with their community, they are probably not a good fit for you.

3. Research the influencers

After you have selected the influencers you are interested in reaching out to, be prepared to spend as much time as necessary to thoroughly research each one of them.

Be as detail oriented as you can in your research, as this can help you identify not only what is important or of interest to them, but can also help you to determine the best way to reach out to them.

Influencers are a trusted authority on their topic. They consistently engage their community and provide helpful knowledge and guidance. Be sure to look for these characteristics when choosing your influencers.

Start by looking through their social media profiles. Check out their bios, photos, videos and most recent posts. Check out their website if they have one. Spend time familiarizing yourself with their content.

Also look at their community. What kind of following do they have? How does their community interact with them? Even if they have a smaller community, if they are loved and have a large influence over their community (which is your targeted demographic), it can be well worth the time to approach them.

On the flip side, if they have a huge following but very little interaction with their community, they might not have any real influence within their community and may not be worth your time.

4. Set the stage

As I mentioned previously, Influencers email boxes are often overfilled, so even if you write an attention getting subject line, your email can still get lost in the noise.

You can help increase the chances of success of your first email request by setting the stage. You do this by familiarizing them with your name and the name of your brand.

So how do you get on their radar?

You already know what social media platforms they use and the kinds of content they create from your research. Start by connecting with them on each of their platforms, in a manner appropriate for each platform.

For example, follow them on platforms like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook (don’t try to friend them immediately). Subscribe to their YouTube channel or send them a personalized connection request on LinkedIn.

Once you are familiar with their content and community, make meaningful comments on their posts. Ideally you want to work toward creating a discussion. While the occasional “awesome” or “great post” comment is appropriate, these types of comments will NOT get you on their radar.

Your overall goal for these interactions is that your name will be somewhat familiar to them when it pops up in their email box. Combined with a great subject line, this will make them much more likely to take the time to open your email and read it.

5. Send your email request

The subject line of your email request can determine the success of your outreach to influencers. Even if your name seems familiar, if your subject line is ineffective, they will skip over it with the rest of the junk in their inbox and delete it.

Ensure your subject line stands out.

Whether you go for an attention-grabbing subject line or one that perhaps references some of their past work, keep it short and informative so they know what to expect.

The body of your email needs to be equally short and to the point.

Good etiquette never goes out of style. Start your email off with a personal greeting that includes their name. Add a persona touch by complimenting them on their work. For example, you might mention that you regularly read their blog posts and find them extremely insightful and well written. Perhaps mention your favorite post and why you like it.

Next you will want to dive into your purpose. Tell them why you are writing to them. This should be only a sentence or two. You don’t want to go into a lot of detail here. Your goal is not to lay out your whole vision but rather to find out if they are interested and a good match.

Go on to explain in a sentence or two exactly what you want from them. Clarity in this step can help prevent wasted time on both sides.

Then you need to let them know how they will benefit from this partnership. Briefly explain why they should agree to your request.

Finish your email by letting them know they can reach out with any questions and add an appropriate closing salutation. It can often be helpful if you include your social media profile links as part of your email signature, so they can easily research you and your brand.

The entire message shouldn’t be more than five to ten sentences long. Make it easy and quick to read.

If you don’t hear back right away, wait a few weeks before writing again. You may need to try several times before you get a response. Be patient and keep in mind that they receive hundreds of emails every day.

6. Build the relationship

Once they have responded that they would like to work with you, the effort doesn’t end here.

Now the process of actually building a relationship with this person begins. Like all relationships this takes time and effort. Some ways you can do this effectively include being quick to reply to any communication with them and by taking the time necessary to answer any questions or concerns they may have.

Reciprocity can be a valuable tool when building relationships with influencers.

Look for ways to add value to your relationship with them. As an example, is there some kind of free gift or offer that you can give to them to share with their community? Make sure that the gift will truly be valued by their community and doesn’t not come across as gimmicky or salesy.

7. Measure your success

While it may feel like a success just to find and start relationships with the appropriate influencers, it is important to track the success that each one contributes to each of the goals that you first determined for your influencer marketing initiative.

It is only by measuring and analyzing the success of each of your influencers in attaining your goals that you can make timely choices to modify your influencer marketing strategy to get the best results and with the right people.

Wrapping Up

Influencer marketing is one of the most effective and efficient ways to connect and gain credibility with your target market, if you do it correctly. Done incorrectly, influencer marketing can waste large amounts of time and money and potentially hurt your brand image.

The secret to effective influencer marketing is that it is all about connecting with individuals who share the same overall values and ideals as you. In addition, you want to build a mutually beneficial relationship and partner with each other in ways that make you both more successful. The key ingredient is to be authentic and personal, just as you would in any other meaningful relationship.

Have you tried influencer marketing? What was your experience? Let me know in the comments below.

The post 7 Strategies for Effective Influencer Marketing appeared first on Top Dog Social Media.

7 Strategies for Effective Influencer Marketing published first on http://ift.tt/2u73Z29