Content is King … or is it?
image credit: pixieclipx via flickr
Have you watched the Gary Vaynerchuk BEA video yet? If not, please do. Really. It’s not only motivating, Gary brings up some controversial topics that I would love to see debated and discussed among booksellers. If those things are being talked about somewhere, would you please let me know where?
If you have watched the video, would you mind leaving a comment so that others who are doubting will hear your thoughts? I know it’s a huge time commitment, but I know of at least two booksellers who have watched it and told me that they found it inspiring and worth the time.
Speaking of comments: in Gary Vayenerchuk’s BEA presentation, he made the statement:
“Content is king, but marketing is the queen and she runs the household.”
A twist on this idea appears in a fantastic blog post from Mack Collier at The Viral Garden, titled: ‘The Idea that Content is King in Blogging is Total Bullshit.”
It’s one thing, Mack says, to have a well-written blog, but, he says:
Every day I read hundreds of blog posts. And every day, I see dozens of truly GREAT posts that get no comments. Every day I see dozens of pretty good posts that get dozens of comments and have vibrant conversations.
The difference? Most of the bloggers that write those pretty good posts are also pretty good about leaving their blog and interacting with people on OTHER sites. They comment on their reader’s blogs. They tweet their links on Twitter. They are ACTIVELY social with social media.
Commenting on other blogs is something that is overlooked in discussions about social media. I know that we neglected to mention it in our BEA panel for booksellers. It’s the “social” part of social media. Every time you comment on someone’s blog, if you include your URL, that comment will link back to you. People are curious. They will want to know who you are. And if you leave comments of value, they will likely become readers of your own blog. It sounds simple. It is simple. And it’s important.
Now, you might feel that you need some practice commenting. Feel free to start here. Leave a comment, and see what happens.
Bryan says:
June 7th, 2009 at 10:19 am
After watching the Vaynerchuk video (and getting inspired), I found a flip-camera on sale for $49. The next day I recorded a two minute “commercial” for our Kids Summer Reading Kick-Off celebration. I then posted the video to our facebook page, created a Youtube channel and posted it there, and posted it to our website. All of this took about two hours tops.We got several comments on our facebook page. It was just a test really, but we plan on doing a video about once every two weeks or so. We see how it goes!
Ann Kingman says:
June 7th, 2009 at 10:23 am
Bryan, that is fantastic! I love that you are natural and not rehearsed, and I think your video is really effective at getting across the fact that your store is alive with exciting things happening all the time. And explaining the summer reading program via video is great — easier than trying to write out a description, that’s for sure. Great job, and thanks for sharing with us!
(to everyone else, if you want to see what Bryan has done, just click on his name in the comment he left).
jake the girl says:
June 7th, 2009 at 10:33 am
Haha Bryan, I did the same thing! Except I paid full price for my Flip Video and I’m still waiting for it to come in the mail. Still, I was totally inspired by the panels on multimedia and social networking. Also, Ann, thanks for linking to this on Twitter. I wouldn’t have seen it otherwise.
Natasha @ Maw Books says:
June 7th, 2009 at 10:38 am
There was a big to-do after the book bloggers panel about comments. Do they matter? Do they not matter? Comments are not always indicative that the posts are being read, but I like what you’ve said here that comments are usually a sign that the blogger is social within social media. It’s a great clarification.
Ann Kingman says:
June 7th, 2009 at 10:44 am
Natasha, I can’t take credit for that, I poached it from Mack Collier’s blog post. But yes, I think it’s a distinction that shouldn’t be overlooked (and one that I am trying harder to do myself).
Kristen says:
June 7th, 2009 at 10:57 am
Thanks for the reminder that commenting on others’ blogs help get a conversation going on my own. Sometimes I need to have that reiterated so I slow down and stop just skimming through all the blogs I appreciate, instead taking the time to engage with the ideas as written and to offer my own small voice to the conversation.
Guy LeCharles Gonzalez says:
June 7th, 2009 at 10:59 am
re: comments, Fred Wilson noted at last week’s CM Summit that the primary social media channels are Twitter, Facebook, Blogs and Blog Comments (http://bit.ly/JsNKS).
Comments = conversation; for booksellers, the ability to have a conversation with customers is priceless, in-person and online, and is often seen as the primary differentiator between indies and chains. Amazon’s success is partly due to their facilitating conversations between their customers — via reviews, discussion forums, widgets — and it’s something new media tools make easier than ever for indies to replicate.
Jennifer says:
June 7th, 2009 at 11:03 am
I love the statement about “content is king, but marketing is queen and she runs the house.” So true. I need to work on this part too. We all have to remember that this is about engaging others. To read and run is rude. It is not like a book that sits idly waiting for you, but a conversation (or perhaps a cocktail party in the case of twitter) where it is about interaction.
Ann Kingman says:
June 7th, 2009 at 11:17 am
Guy, thanks for sharing Fred Wilson’s statement. It does appear that when talking about various social media channels, we mention Blogs, Facebook and Twitter, but should indeed separate out “blog comments.” I am putting together a presentation now, and will make that distinction.
And I agree with you about Amazon. They grabbed significant market share because they did indeed enable conversation between their customers. Thanks for pointing that out here.
Jen, I’m not so sure that to read and run is “rude” per se, but it is robbing yourself of making valuable connections and dialogue. Of course we all have limited time, but choosing to comment where there is truly something of value to you is also a recommendation to others that you value said content.
Loving these comments so far!
mack collier says:
June 7th, 2009 at 9:30 pm
Ann thanks for the mention, especially alongside Gary!
Owen says:
June 9th, 2009 at 11:13 pm
For me, one of the best things about independent bookstores is reading recommendations from staff members throughout the aisles. These have often influenced my purchasing decisions. Would you booksellers out there consider tweeting and/or making videos about staff recs?
Ann Kingman says:
June 10th, 2009 at 5:53 am
Owen, I think that’s something that booksellers would not only find to be successful, but that they’d enjoy doing it as well. For most stores, staff picks are the bread and butter, and are the titles that “define” the store’s personality. Great idea. Thanks.
Becky Dayton says:
June 11th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
Damn, Ann, how do you have time for all this?
Ann Kingman says:
June 11th, 2009 at 10:46 pm
Becky – I don’t cook much, and I don’t clean my house as often as I should…. But really, it’s not much time if it has value to help you do what you are hoping to accomplish.
socialnerdia says:
June 24th, 2009 at 10:31 am
Nice little post. It’s true. Content is not king in blogging. You can write the best post ever and get no comments. And then you can write about your friend’s dog and suddenly he and all his friends write in. Blogging is weird.