Supposedly there’s some ultra-mega-super-awesome secret to social media marketing. FACT! That’s not really, 100% true. It’s a lot simpler than that. While kicking ass at social media requires an investment of time, effort, and ambition (maybe even passion). I wanted to give you three easy ways to get ahead on social media and make it an effective outlet for your brand and marketing efforts.

Be valuable

(I give the worst, best advice, ever.)

Your network looks to you for a reason, or vice versa. Whether you are creating content, aggregating from other sources in order to provide a hub for valuable knowledge and thought leadership, or you’re simply driving thought provoking conversation, your network has a certain expectation of you.

If you’re providing value to your audience you know what they want. Whether it’s articles relevant to marketing, entrepreneurship, small biz, or how to create awesome web designs you will know. Nurturing relationships online is one of the most valuable things you can do for yourself and your network online.

Automate some stuff, not everything.

I automate.

The bane of existence on social media. It’s supposed to be personal, and engaging, and stuff……right? Well, it is. There’s no harm in posting an interesting article that you found the night before, or during the day for a later time. Allow people to engage with content you have found on your time & schedule. Or, even better, automate to match your audiences schedule. Use tools like Argyle Social, or Crowdbooster to monitor interaction levels with your tweets an to find the best times to tweet according to your audience.

Embrace competition

You’d be surprised, or not, at how much content is recreated, repurposed, rephrased, reused…the list goes on. Your competition is a source for many things. Amongst others they can be a news source should you not be the leader. I read other blogs and huge content creators every day. As a matter of fact this blog post was an amalgamation of thoughts from multiple blog posts. It happens, but the thoughts and opinions are still mine. I still tell you how I think about them and I choose which ones I believe work best, and recreate them here for you.

There are three easy ways for you to kick ass at social media. If you have any more, please add them in the comments, I’d love to hear from you.

Image Credit - Tattoo_Lover

Personal Branding, the ever elusive title.

I use my personal brand here with the self-titled blog: GregdeLima.com for a few purposes:

• Networking
• Sharing Ideas
• Giving other people a place to learn
• Share my thoughts whether you like them or not

The purpose of using my Personal Brand as a money making opportunity, whether though ads or affiliate marketing is not my priority, nor is it even close to being one. But some people see their personal brand as an opportunity to reap the benefits of “twitterati” status, to keep making more money than the amounts they make as consultants.

A personal brand for me, is a way of self-promotion, making a name for yourself, and proving your worth in whatever field you focus on. If you are a marketer, a scientist, a camp director, whatever; your personal brand is a form of expression and proof, not a lucrative money making machine.

Granted, if they have the traffic they deserve it, without a doubt. But I find there to be a problem when making money from your personal blog, is your priority. Business and personal should be separate.

But that’s just me… What do you think?

With all the hype on blogs, and the mild fact that there are literally hundreds upon thousands of blogs, begs the question can blogging really make a difference?

As the answer to many other questions I try to answer it is simply, Yes.

There are many different types of blogs, they fall in to Opinions, Rants, Reviews, Informational, Productivity, etc.  But among the ones that really grab attention are the ones that give attention to what people WANT to hear. This brings me to the Blog of Colby Buzzell. As a soldier in Iraq, he posted from Iraq for people to read. His blog stirred such controversy that it really did make a difference. He posted so truthfully as to what happened in his daily life in Iraq that the government threatened to remove him from service due to his blogging activity. The difference he made was that the media and the everyday person began to understand what was really happening overseas. His blogging eventually led to the release of his book My War: Killing Time in Iraq.  The book furthered the everyday person’s knowledge of the Iraq war.

On a lighter note more common blogs on Economics, Personal Finance, Life Hacks and many others, are really beginning to make a difference in many lives.

For those who really have a hard time organizing themselves these blogs have been a steady access from average to professional advice. What comes from these blogs helps people in ways that have really been limited in access. Some blogs like SOCOM Sales even help with many salesmen and women do their jobs more efficiently and more productively.

The blogging world goes so far that Blog posts are even being related with major magazines like Esquire. When you subscribe to their RSS feed, it becomes exactly like a blog. Their posts change and you receive the updates.

Blogging has 100% made a difference in the information age we live in. People have access to more information than ever, and are learning more and more. For a great list of blogs and other information visit Popurls, or Alltop.