photo credit: Bob Garlick
I learned the value of providing Provide FREE and Useful Information at a local ‘HootUp’ event hosted by #yvrbloggers, a group of bloggers located in or around Vancouver, BC.
The HootUp was at the Hootsuite ‘Nest’, aka their head office in Vancouver.
It was an amazing experience, with the opportunity to hear from many different bloggers.
The featured speaker was Jordan Behen, the lead storyteller at Hootsuite.
Jordan had amazing tips and tricks to give us, but one thing specifically stuck in my mind.
Although Jordan spoke very briefly on the topic, I have been thinking about his words ever since.
He mentioned the 80/20 rule.
Many social media and blogging gurus follow the concept of ‘giving’ 80% off the time and asking for something in return 20% of the time.
This is often referred to as a ‘call to action’.
Initially this makes sense, give, give, give and then ask readers do something.
In other words, provide useful, FREE content, tips or tricks and then 1/5 times try to sell them your e-book, refer a friend or schedule a webinar.
Free information then a sale.
It sounds like a great way to establish a relationship with your readers or followers as being useful to them, and not just wanting them as customers.
However, Jordan said he believed in 100/100.
Provide FREE and useful information but ALWAYS ask for something in return.
It could be as simple as asking for your readers to leave a comment (which we almost always do here at TOTS) or ask them to follow you on twitter, or sign up for your email list.
This stuck with me
With both the 80/20 rule and the 100/100 rule, some readers will not take any action.
People are busy, not interested in the topic, or just lazy.
BUT I could see that if you ask 100% of the time, you are more likely to encourage action, rather than only asking 20% of the time.
But, won’t people get tired of always being asked for participation?
If you are constantly trying to sell yourself, or something else, YES! I cannot tell you how often I unsubscribe when all I read is ‘buy my e-book, it’s awesome’.
However, when your call to action is a mix between the simple (and free) ‘follow us on Twitter‘ or ‘tell a friend about us today’ AND occasionally ‘check out these awesome reviews of my e-book on Amazon, you might have more success.
Ready for the call to action?
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I always try to give more than I ask for. To me, the 80/20 rule is just common courtesy. Unfortunately, what I think is commonsense is not so common anymore!
80/20 rule sounds like a good one!
Thank you for paying attention! It means a lot to know that my ideas hit home with someone. Cheers! Questions? Ping me: @jordanbehan
I love that rule & it is good to have an idea of how much to do of each. I love the ideas of giving things away for free, too- I think it is a great way to show people that you want to HELP them first & foremost. 🙂
Hmm, very interesting. Something to think about.
80/20 sounds like a pretty amazing rule! Great article very interesting.
I think this is really awesome !! A great tip for sure !!