Choosing the right network

Magazine Journalism MACity University, Wednesday 12 October

This course is not about...

Being "on Twitter"

Or having "a blog"

It's about a mixture of different media and profiles

But which ones?

This is about reaching readers

And finding out

● Who they are● What they do● What they talk about● Where they talk about it● What resources are out there that can help you● And how your journalism can into existing networks

Case study: theMediaBriefing

TMB's audience and networks

● UK - 60% / US 30% / everywhere else 10%● Media professionals - many very senior, at board

level● Intelligent, literate and (some) are digital natives● Interesting in how the industry is changing● Biggest traffic spikes at 7am to 9am - reading on

commute or at their desks.● Tend to be aged over 30

● Email newsletters: Aggregation and original analysis - more than 3,000 sent a week

● Twitter: 2,500 followers - growing rapidly, v important● LinkedIn: 500+ group members - lively debate● YouTube: 1,000s of views - good marketing platform● Facebook: 200 likes - but we're not a consumer site.

-- Some networks work better for professionals than others

-- Think about age: TMB average reader age over 30, with many over 50, so lots of people aren't on Twitter / Facebook

-- Our readers don't tend to use forums and chatrooms but yours might

● If you’re targeting a local area, is there a healthy online forum? (sometimes you’ll find a lot of news discussion on a local football club site) Are there keen local photographers who use a photo sharing site like Flickr?

● If it’s a profession, are they using LinkedIn or a niche professional networking site? Has anyone compiled a Twitter list? Is there a hashtag that they use for regular discussions or themes?

● If it’s a hobby or interest, is there a specialist wiki? (My personal favourite is Brickipedia) Or pages on Wikipedia and people who edit those? A YouTube channel?

● If it’s a cause, is there a Facebook group, mailing list, and/or e-petition

● Are there key bloggers in the network? Do they have Twitter accounts? Delicious or Digg? Google Plus? Search for their username on Google.

Task 1 - existing versus new

Think about your chosen community/target audience and decide

a) What already exists

b) What you could build to add to that network and increase your brand footprint

Task 2 - Choose your platforms and tools

● A central blog● Social media presences● Shared email account

A few tips

Think about your personal and group biog: describe what you do

Think about tone of voice: is it appropriate for your audience

Think about the time of day you publish: morning, noon or night?

Start following lots of relevant people in your network now

Even better, why not start talking to them?

You should use the time before your next formal lesson to do the following:

● Continue to experiment with web platforms - Wordpress, Blogger, Posterous, Tumblr, Facebook Pages, etc. Don’t wait to be taught to learn technical skills - it is better to come with experience and questions than a blank piece of paper.

● Let the objectives of the project dictate your learning - if you need to learn HTML or CSS to achieve a certain look, then you’ll have a target to hit. If you need to host your own site to access particular functionality, then there’ll be a reason for you learning that.

● Continue to listen to your network and connect with new members. Make yourself useful and build social capital - it will pay off later on.

Contact me

patricksmithjournalist@gmail.com

@psmith

07904587050