Ever look at your favorite Youtube Star, read your favorite blogger's latest post and think "I could totally do that?" You figure social media is the easiest thing to break into so why not get your piece of the pie? Here's the thing, it's really not that simple. I mean, look at my human. Poor guy had made several previous attempts at launching video channels, blogs, his own website and so forth that went nowhere before I came along and the magic happened. And I mean, even then, as amazing as I am, I know good 'n God damn well I ain't Felicia Day. I ain't Chris Hardwick . I still got my own little niche in cyberspace though, and I figured, why not do a little "how to?" A little something on what humans should keep in mind, what services are best for what, and so on and so forth. So let's get started...
WHY?
This is really that question that shouldn't have to be a question, but it still does. It really does. A lot of humans think they're going to start writing a blog, film some youtube vidoes, post a few funny things on twitter and the cash will start rolling in. In the words of Sterling Archer's Baby Mama Lana, "NOOOOOOOPE!" Anyone in social media will tell you that's not how it works. At all.
My human and I are both fans of the content from doubletoasted.com, rageselect.com, and oneofus.net. Wonderful content on all of them, and a whole lot of regular content. But you know what I don't hear about? I don't hear about how they're rolling in money. Double Toasted was initially kept afloat by revenue sharing through their exclusivity and partnership with soundcloud, and is now in sponsorship deals with LootCrate and GameFly. Rage Select relies on Patreon to keep the lights on and even that isn't a guarantee. One of Us is funded through subscriptions and Amazon deals, and almost its entire cast still have day jobs. Hell, I been putting stuff out for three years and my human STILL takes a hit on this! I would KILL for a LootCrate deal!
So why do I do it? I do it because this is fun!! I love interacting with you people, throwing myself out there and just seeing what happens. This is entertaining as hell and I love every second of it. If you wanna be a content creator as well, hey, that's awesome. Just be damn sure you're doing it for the right reasons, because none of those reasons involve money.
My human and I are both fans of the content from doubletoasted.com, rageselect.com, and oneofus.net. Wonderful content on all of them, and a whole lot of regular content. But you know what I don't hear about? I don't hear about how they're rolling in money. Double Toasted was initially kept afloat by revenue sharing through their exclusivity and partnership with soundcloud, and is now in sponsorship deals with LootCrate and GameFly. Rage Select relies on Patreon to keep the lights on and even that isn't a guarantee. One of Us is funded through subscriptions and Amazon deals, and almost its entire cast still have day jobs. Hell, I been putting stuff out for three years and my human STILL takes a hit on this! I would KILL for a LootCrate deal!
So why do I do it? I do it because this is fun!! I love interacting with you people, throwing myself out there and just seeing what happens. This is entertaining as hell and I love every second of it. If you wanna be a content creator as well, hey, that's awesome. Just be damn sure you're doing it for the right reasons, because none of those reasons involve money.
PATIENCE KIMOSABE
Like I said earlier, lots of people think they can just put out a few posts, videos, what have you, and the audience will come flocking to them. It doesn't work like that. It takes time to build up an audience and even MORE time to get to a point where that audience will give you money willingly.
Me? I launched on twitter with almost nothing and it took three months of posting before I even saw my first follower. Three. Months. Think about that. I still kept at it because I was having fun and eventually people started coming on board to see what I was doing. Even now, as much as I'm not one of them verified accounts with tens of thousands of followers, I got a lovely 540 as of the last time I looked. I put out my stuff and watch that number slowly keep on growing. This leads into my next point ...
Me? I launched on twitter with almost nothing and it took three months of posting before I even saw my first follower. Three. Months. Think about that. I still kept at it because I was having fun and eventually people started coming on board to see what I was doing. Even now, as much as I'm not one of them verified accounts with tens of thousands of followers, I got a lovely 540 as of the last time I looked. I put out my stuff and watch that number slowly keep on growing. This leads into my next point ...
KEEP IT REGULAR SON
Probably one of the biggest challenges I've come across is simply getting stuff out on a regular basis. My #SenpaiSaturday segments alone are a challenge to get out each week and nine times out of ten, that only happens by staying up until 3 AM editing. It's damn sure worth it, but at the same time my human and I have insane schedules that can get in the way. If I were able to get more content out on a more regular basis, would I have more success? More than likely! I do what I can with what I got, and I basically achieve my fame by going the long way around.
As doubletoasted.com owner Korey Coleman has said in the past, if you aren't putting out content on a regular basis, your audience isn't going to stick around. And he's right. Set a schedule you know you can stick to, once a week, once a month, whatever, because if your audience doesn't believe what you're doing matters to you, then it ain't going to matter to them.
As doubletoasted.com owner Korey Coleman has said in the past, if you aren't putting out content on a regular basis, your audience isn't going to stick around. And he's right. Set a schedule you know you can stick to, once a week, once a month, whatever, because if your audience doesn't believe what you're doing matters to you, then it ain't going to matter to them.
IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME
Once you got your plan, and you got your idea for a product, you'll need a home base. There's a lot of great website builders out there. If you wanna start a blog, Tumblr's the obvious answer. The problem there is that Tumblr also has a, shall we say, a bit of a reputation. There's nothing wrong with the site, I used to use it myself (the Adiposean Archive is my Tumblr), and you can indeed do good things with it. The thing is, it's also got such a reputation for its users being Emo teens that ship everything with everything else (again, nothing actually wrong with that. Y'all ship away) that if you want to be taken serious as a writer, Tumblr might not be the best spot. Word Press generally has a good reputation amongst bloggers and is sometimes also recommended to people looking to build a free webpage.
No matter the form of content you're making, you'll need a webpage of some sort. YouTube is great if you're making videos because it gives you somewhere to host, but you can't display your content in a way that's uniquely you. Set up a home page though, and you absolutely can. To do that, you've got two main options. Wix and right here on Weebly. Both have limited options for a free home page, both require you to pay for the full service options, both are easy to use, so which do you go with? Personally, I'd say go with Weebly and not just because I'm on Weebly's service. Here's the thing, your webpage is first and foremost about you. Not your web host. Both sites force you to give them some sort of free advertising. It's annoying, but I get it. Nothing in this world comes easy or free. Weebly sticks their name in your web address (hence aditheadipose.weebly.com instead of the aditheadipose.com I'd be using if my human had more money) while Wix loves to stick a big old "page built by Wix.com" front and center at the top of your page! And I mean, they gotta make their money somehow, I get that, but your webpage should be drawing attention to you. Not your web host.
Trust me, go with either Wordpress or Weebly. There's probably other hosting sites that will do the job just fine, but those are the two best I've seen.
No matter the form of content you're making, you'll need a webpage of some sort. YouTube is great if you're making videos because it gives you somewhere to host, but you can't display your content in a way that's uniquely you. Set up a home page though, and you absolutely can. To do that, you've got two main options. Wix and right here on Weebly. Both have limited options for a free home page, both require you to pay for the full service options, both are easy to use, so which do you go with? Personally, I'd say go with Weebly and not just because I'm on Weebly's service. Here's the thing, your webpage is first and foremost about you. Not your web host. Both sites force you to give them some sort of free advertising. It's annoying, but I get it. Nothing in this world comes easy or free. Weebly sticks their name in your web address (hence aditheadipose.weebly.com instead of the aditheadipose.com I'd be using if my human had more money) while Wix loves to stick a big old "page built by Wix.com" front and center at the top of your page! And I mean, they gotta make their money somehow, I get that, but your webpage should be drawing attention to you. Not your web host.
Trust me, go with either Wordpress or Weebly. There's probably other hosting sites that will do the job just fine, but those are the two best I've seen.
So now, lets take a look at some of the various social media platforms out there and get an idea of who gets the most value out of them. Lets be honest, that's what you really came here for.
ELLO
The minimalist Facebook. The fact you have no idea what I'm talking about says everything. Don't bother.
GOOGLE PLUS
Google Plus isn't that bad. It's colorful, it has content, and it has a problem. Here's the thing about Google Plus. I don't know about you, but I have never heard anyone say "make sure to follow me on Google Plus." It doesn't provide anything other networks don't already do. I'm not going to tell you not to use it but ... yeah hell. Just don't bother unless you want to be really really thorough with your social media coverage. Humans get more use out of LinkedIn.
YOUTUBE
Now I don't use YouTube a whole lot simply because I don't do a whole lot in video. But if you're a gamer, an aspiring film maker, or just looking to create media in as many forms as possible, get a YouTube account. You'll still have to put a fair bit of work into getting your content out there but its a great starting point, a great content hub and has the best odds in terms of exposure. Now, if Google could just figure out how to administer content properly. Also, don't read the comments. Like, ever.
Now we hit the big time. Facebook is what Google Plus wishes it was, just with more ads. Facebook has its good sides and it's bad sides. Interaction with fans is easy as can be, but the administration is a joke. Whether you're an artist, musician, cosplayer, actor, YouTube content creator, whatever, a Facebook fan page is pretty much a must have. However, your interaction with fans is limited. A fan page can only respond to posted comments or post on other fan pages (and that's IF you get the option to switch between your fan page and your own profile. I still haven't figured out how to regularly do it. With a profile, you can of course interact with other humans any way you like, but eventually you're going to hit Facebook's friend limit. Plus, if you don't have a regular human sounding name, or if someone decides to report your profile as fake, Facebook will either spontaneously delete it or lock it until you provide them proof that you're you. Took me six profiles to learn that one. On the other hand, as I've learned from reporting people repeatedly for impersonating my #Senpai, anyone can claim to be you as long as their profile appears on the surface to be real. The Facebook world is still more of a Wild West than they wanna admit.
Facebook's a good "catch all" stop for your internet presence. There's options for live interaction galore, but it doesn't *quite* hit the levels specialized places do. That said, it's still a must have starting point. It'll cover most of your needs until you hopefully out grow it.
Facebook's a good "catch all" stop for your internet presence. There's options for live interaction galore, but it doesn't *quite* hit the levels specialized places do. That said, it's still a must have starting point. It'll cover most of your needs until you hopefully out grow it.
First and foremost, if you're a photographer and you don't have an Instagram account, what the hell? No, seriously, what. the. hell?! Instagram is basically a cross between Facebook and Twitter. It has Facebook's social connectivity (and is owned by them), Facebook's ability to share numerous photos (albeit one at s time) and lack of a text character limit. It also has the wider reaching hashtags twitter is most famous for. With those hashtags you can promote your work and attract people to your homepage. That's what I do with it anyway. Instagram is basically YouTube for photographers. Where anyone who creates video needs to have a YouTube account, if your media of choice is photography, get onto Instagram. Post all your work or post a sample and give your homepage so people know where to go to see more. Whether you're a photographer or cosplayer, Instagram might be limited in terms of options, but it's got a lot of potential to it.
🎶Hello Twitter my old friend...🎶 The thing with Twitter is that you can do an awful lot with it. If you know what you're doing. Most humans tend to think "140 characters? What am I supposed to do with 140 characters?" Or basically "I don't get the point of Twitter." And on the surface, they're right. Oh the surface. If you're patient, if you keep putting out content, and if there's a clear goal in mind, you can do an awful lot with Twitter. Frankly now more than ever.
Going on a photo shoot? Tweet a sample photo, or a behind the scenes photo of your shoot, slap a hash tag (I'll explain later) on it and send out a tweet. Love tweeting a popular movie on tv? Use the twitter handles of the cast and crew as you tweet! You can literally put out just enough of anything you want on twitter to entice people to look at what you're doing!
Hash tags are your friend. That little tic tac toe board is your key to fame and fortune! Everyone uses them. Tv shows, movies, events, they'll all have their own hash tag and it's there for you. The hash tag's job is to group every tweet relating to a particular topic in one place to make it easier for people to find and read them. When I'm at a Geeks Versus Nerds show, I use #GvNLive so they can find my tweets and then I win all the things. Live tweeting InnerSpace? #InnerSpace and suddenly all three hosts are fans of mine! Hell, a few years back I was tweeting my way through "Nazis at the Center of the Earth" when about half way through the movie this guy by the name of Joe Lawson starts responding to my stuff. We're going back and forth, he's giving me trivia, and after the movie finishes and the Netflix screen comes back up. Turns out I'd been making fun of the movie with the director of the movie! How? Hashtags. The right hashtag on the right post will bring people to you. Free promotion. Hash tags can also be used on Instagram and Facebook, absolutely true. In fact, they're pretty much what will bring people to you in Instagram. They're best used on twitter though, since twitter gives the most opportunities to use them to promote. It doesn't hurt that Instagram lets you cross post though.
Going on a photo shoot? Tweet a sample photo, or a behind the scenes photo of your shoot, slap a hash tag (I'll explain later) on it and send out a tweet. Love tweeting a popular movie on tv? Use the twitter handles of the cast and crew as you tweet! You can literally put out just enough of anything you want on twitter to entice people to look at what you're doing!
Hash tags are your friend. That little tic tac toe board is your key to fame and fortune! Everyone uses them. Tv shows, movies, events, they'll all have their own hash tag and it's there for you. The hash tag's job is to group every tweet relating to a particular topic in one place to make it easier for people to find and read them. When I'm at a Geeks Versus Nerds show, I use #GvNLive so they can find my tweets and then I win all the things. Live tweeting InnerSpace? #InnerSpace and suddenly all three hosts are fans of mine! Hell, a few years back I was tweeting my way through "Nazis at the Center of the Earth" when about half way through the movie this guy by the name of Joe Lawson starts responding to my stuff. We're going back and forth, he's giving me trivia, and after the movie finishes and the Netflix screen comes back up. Turns out I'd been making fun of the movie with the director of the movie! How? Hashtags. The right hashtag on the right post will bring people to you. Free promotion. Hash tags can also be used on Instagram and Facebook, absolutely true. In fact, they're pretty much what will bring people to you in Instagram. They're best used on twitter though, since twitter gives the most opportunities to use them to promote. It doesn't hurt that Instagram lets you cross post though.
HERE'S THE THING
In and of itself, social media ain't that hard a medium to work in, but you gotta be committed. Humans are always amazed by the success I've had, but the reality nine times out of ten, all I'm doing is asking myself "What's the stupidest thing I can put out there and how far can I send it?"
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