Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Tsū: A new social network you can take to the bank.


People are flocking to Tsū today - and why not? It is a brand new social network with $7 million in backing led by Sancus Capital that claims it pays users to be social - and it just got a ton of media coverage today from Re/code, Billboard, VentureBeat, Examiner and the New York Business Journal. Tsū launched last Tuesday so if you have ever wanted to "be first" on a social network - now is your chance. I've only been there three days and you can see that my stats are pretty awesome already - and my network is now growing exponentially by the hour.


How Do You Make Money?
Tsū aggregates advertising, sponsorship and partnership dollars and pays you for clicks and views of ads around your content and the content of those in your network. Tsū keeps 10% of the revenue, the original content creator keeps 45% and their network shares the remaining 45%. The more interaction you can get around your content and increasing the size of your network will effect your ability to make money. In the first day, I earned $0.17 for just being social.

You are laughing? It's ok... but I will be laughing all the way to the bank...
Seventeen cents. I know that's not a lot. But let me tell you - try to earn seventeen cents on YouTube. I wish I would have taken Adsense more seriously and built out more websites 10 years ago. Those couple cents a day from websites I did put Adsense on have increased to a couple dollars a day and have almost reached $10,000 in passive income over the years. Perhaps this will too. I think it will and I am all in. I will let you know when I cash out my first $100. Read more about Tsū’s algorithm here: http://www.tsu.co/faq
Pennies Add Up! I have earned nearly $10K on Adsense to date in passive income.
So You Joined To Make Money?
Actually, no. Before joining Tsū I also joined Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Instagram, and most recently Ello - I like being social and social media platforms in general - if they all paid me, I would like them even more. I tested out Ello a few weeks ago, but it didn't feel "finished" enough to me and it didn't have a mobile app - a deal breaker for me. I may become active there again in the future if they add one. Tsū has a very nice UI, a familiar look and feel and it's new, so I want to try it out. If I make money in the process - even better!

How Do I Join?
Tsū is invite only. You can join today with my "short code" (http://tsu.co/ChristineDeGraff) and then create your own - your URL is your code. I also created a bit.ly link to make mine even shorter/easier: http://bit.ly/JoinTsu. Once you sign up you can give out your own URL to sign up your friends.

What Should I Do First?
After you join, upload a profile photo and a cover photo under settings >> profile. Fill out your bio and add your website. You can also include your YouTube, Tumbler and Pinterest URLs. Connect your Facebook, Twitter and Instagram social accounts under settings >> social accounts. Set your privacy settings under settings >> privacy to determine whether friends or public can see your posts, send you messages, etc. If you do not want to receive friend requests, uncheck the box and people will be able to follow you (one-way stream - they see your posts, you don't see theirs) but not request friendship (two-way stream - you can see each others posts.). Finally, be sure to check your notification settings under settings >> notifications to set up how you want to be notified.

Start Tsūing!
Now that you have set up your account, search for friends or hashtags and start following people so you have content in your stream. Create a few posts and go like, comment and share other people's posts. Invite your friends to join your "family tree" which is your network. Spend some time learning the platform, download the mobile app (click here for Tsū Android app) (click here for Tsū iOS app) and just be social. Help those that you invite get started to grow a strong, active, engaged network that will be both fun and profitable. Tsū is great for musicians, writers, photographers and anyone who creates and shares content - which is just about everyone!
Is There A How To Tsū Guide?
Not officially, but it is soooooo easy you won't even need one. If you can Facebook, you can Tsū. Just go have fun and learn along the way! If you really do need a guide, +Wade Harman is working on one at http://bit.ly/1sLcj14 and the official FAQ is at http://www.tsu.co/faq.

Tsū Offices in New York
Follow me on Tsū by signing up with my code http://tsu.co/ChristineDeGraff and feel free to leave your URL in the comments below so others can connect with you (or sign up under you)! See you at the bank!

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

A Closer Look at the New Google "My Business" Insights for Pages


Brand pages on Google Plus just got better! Today Google announced that page owners now have access to some basic stats that can help them learn more about their audience and view trends in their follower count and the +1s, comments and reshares of their posts. New businesses getting started with Google and current users of Places for Business will have access to the new Google+ Dashboard. 

Below are a closer look at the new Insights (analytics) for my client's brand page, +Naturally Colored, after clicking the new "My Business" tab. Insights were previously only available for local pages.
New Dashboard for Google Plus Brand Pages

New wording under the Share section indicates that "Posts you share here will appear on Google+ and Google.com." According to the information on the "Learn More" page, posts "will appear on the Google+ stream for your page and may also display across Google on Maps, Search, and more." While this information is not new, the placement under the Share section will likely make more users more aware that Google Plus is Google.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Best Tools to Find Fans for Your Google + Brand Page


Building a following for a brand page on Google + is not easy - and building a following that is targeted, interested and engaged in your brand, product or service may seem next to impossible; however, there are tools that can help you identify and follow potential fans in your niche.

I manage several brand pages and have observed many others; I am convinced that there is a "tipping point" that you need to achieve before your page will begin growing organically. I also believe that this "tipping point" cannot be achieved (or at least would be much more difficult to achieve) by following people at random or simply by being included in shared circles. While your follower counts may increase, long term success depends upon increased engagement so that your posts will extend beyond your followers via plus ones and reshares to help attract new followers. Until that happens, you need to actively identify and follow potential fans, as well as unfollow those that are not actively engaging with your brand. The goal is to build a targeted fan base which will help your brand reach a larger audience by engaging with your content (plussing, resharing, etc.).





Getting Started - Benchmark/Track Progress & Manage Circles w/ Tools for Google +
If you plan to use your Google + data for reports and/or analysis, it is important to note that some tools will only begin to track your data from the date you set them up. I recommend setting them up now so you will have the data available when you need it.
In addition to the tools above, you can use Google+ Search, Hashtags and Ripples to find people and pages to follow.


Monday, March 31, 2014

PostPlanner's New 'Super Feature' is 'Guaranteed Facebook Engagement' says @IanCleary


+Christine DeGraff from the +HOA Street Team sat down with +Ian Cleary, founder and CEO of RazorSocial, to interview him the day before his presentation at Social Media Marketing World 2014. RazorSocial.com has been named one of the Top 10 Social Media Blogs by Social Media Examiner in both 2013 and 2014.

Sunday, January 26, 2014

#TNTBootcamp - Series Kickoff Review


Last week +Ronnie Bincer and I launched a new series Influence Marketing Tools N' Techniques aka #TNTBootcamp, which airs on the 1st & 3rd Mondays each month at 11:30am PST / 2:30pm EST in a live hangout on air on Google Plus. #TNTBootcamp will help you learn to identify and engage with key influencers in your industry and to understand how to "get on the radar" and become influential yourself. Here's a recap of our first show.
Audience member, +Robyn Adams, shares her thoughts on the show: