Turnip: I’ll take “Name That Niche” for $500, Alex.
Alex: Answer is: This niche combines interaction with other people on the web, with the goal of attracting visitors to your site…
Turnip: Ding! What is “Social Networking”. I’ll take “Fake Marketing Feuds” for $500 Alex.
Sad but true, Turnipofpower.com has left the Internet marketing niche and entered the social networking niche. No longer can I brag about “Having the 43rd most popular internet marketing site on the net“. This change will have little effect at first. Think of it as the overall goal of the site. Marketing sites with “how to’s” are a dime a dozen. I will still be giving marketing and WordPress advice when I have something original or interesting to say. Also, my goal on the net is still to bring in some sort of income.
I realized the necessity of the change when all of my latest articles were about social networks. Reviews, discussions, comparisons; people responded to this sort of thing. Sure anyone can Google a list of 400 social networks, but that’s lame. They want to discuss the pro’s and con’s of each. When it came time to write a new article, I would think “what social network should I try next”, not “what ad program should I write about”.
Immediate changes: The tagline has changed from “All Things to Almonds…” to “The Social Networking Side Dish“. “All things to all men” was my very first tagline, but it sucked. I heard it in a Homer Simpson episode and liked it, but the reference didn’t transfer humorously enough. So I went with the almonds because I was in a nutty mood. You can now see a list of tags in my sidebar where each social network is referenced.
Long Term Changes: Eventually the list of networks I review will expand. I’d like to have a list where people can find the right network for them based upon various criteria. More on that in the future. Also, I was thinking about a question and answer format about specific networks. Like one day a week I would answer Entrecard questions, and the next week all the Blogrush questions. Anyone have any suggestions?
Your change makes sense to me (which might scare you). All these social networks are very confusing for the uninitiated, so what you’re doing is going to help a lot of new and old bloggers alike.
I appreciate how thorough you are in your reviews of these networks — it helps me to make decisions on joining them or not.
I wonder, though, what you’re going to do when you’ve reviewed them all — do you have another niche planned for 6 months down the road?
I think probably you do because you seem to be a pretty astute guy.
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I’m looking forward to your reviews. There are plenty of Social Networks so you shouldn’t have any shortage of material to write about.
Margaret: You are quick! The ink wasn’t even dry on this post. With over 400 networks and more arriving every day, I would never run out of networks to review. Not to mention how network add major changes. Entrecard alone has kept me writing for months on it. Especially strategies to maximize what you get out of it. I also plan a number of articles covering my theories about Social Networks in general, of which I have a few.
I have joined many, but I have only really used blogcatalog. I am looking forward to see what a social network really does. I know it is a lot of work. To me anyways.
Blog catalog is a social network, as is Entrecard. My next article will define this better, but you have 2 boundaries to social networking. On one side is a link exchange. On the other end is an online community. Everything in the middle is Social Networking.
Hi Turnip. I like the new tagline.I would surely like to see you talk about social networks and how to maximize them but I will surely miss your marketing posts. A marketing tip every once in a while would be nice. Cheers!
This is not a change but an evolution. Webmasters go to social networks to introduce themselves and their websites, gain some friends as well as prospects who will recognize them as experts or at least proponents in a particular field. Also to talk shop and discuss common issues as we do at Entrecard.
ToP is still a marketing blog, IMHO. It just branched out so that marketing the turnip way is easier and more fun. Social networking is just marketing yourself in a particular circle.
The tagline should be “Social Marketing” =)
Social Marketing is a good choice Woobie. What about Social Marketing Side Dish.
I’d suspect there are more searches for “social networking” than “social marketing”
I agree with the Woobster, it’s an evolution. I’d love to read your thoughts on cre8Buzz! It’s a startup social network that, aside from being one of the friendliest networks around, is a great place to market your blog/site/whatever. http://cre8buzz.com and it has a really cool feature, an Open Blog called The Anthill where anyone on “The Buzz” can be a blog author. As an expert on social networking and social marketing, I’d really like to know your opinion of the project. Keep up the good work, ToP!
Tim: For sure I’ll be checking that one out by next week. Might as well review the ones people think highly of first. Up Wednesday will be Scoutle. Ffiday some general post, probably Monday for Cre8buzz.com.
There are still Blogrush questions?
The Social Networking Side Dish… to tell you the truth, I love it. It’s true, yet funny, and actually quite catchy. Gratz on the move, it was definitely a smart one. Looking forward to your next post!
Thanks Mel: Catchy is what I need. Something people remember and link to.