Recently Courtney Seiter of Raven Tools picked my brain on this very topic. It ended up being featured on MarketingLand (with a few people who are a whole lot smarter than me). In the discussion that myself and Courtney had I ended up going a bit off topic and listing more ideas that she used!
For this blog post I have cherry-picked the 'best of the rest' that I sent over to her - before they ended up at the back of the dustbin that I call my brain!
Re-purposing content is a strategy that I have written about on Search Engine People before and should be on your list of things to do 😉
1. Be different
If you want to get on the radar of someone with a significant amount of followers clicking the tweet button on their articles or posts isn't going to get you noticed. Simply adding 'via @influencer name' isn't going to cut the mustard either - there are going to be dozens if not hundreds of people doing the same. Set yourself apart from the crowd. Use a quote from the post rather than the title (easily done if you use buffer or hootsuite by selecting the quote and right clicking). Better still add your own insight - it takes thirty seconds and can make a world of difference!
"Obviously I read the whole book seo-chicks.com/3136/a-review- because I was reviewing it here" @hannah_bo_banna
- Anthony Pensabene (@content_muse) February 8, 2013
2. Be patient
It doesn't happen overnight. Strike up conversations, ask them questions, and answer their questions (if you have the knowledge!). If you develop a real (emphasis on real) relationship it will go both ways - but remember this is only if your content and what you share are of similar high quality! If you are pumping out sub-standard content you can really expect anyone to share.
3. Do your homework
Know what they like without being creepy. You know that they love their work; they wouldn't be so active on social media if they didn't - but what do they share that is non-work related? If you can find common interests then you can foster better relationships. As humans we gravitate to those that have similar interests or values. The people who can help you spread your content are more likely to bond with you if you have multiple interests. I have been cc'ing others in on non-work related content for some time, be it music, books, back to the future timelines, memes or strange pictures. Those that you want to connect with are more than one dimensional.
Steven Wilson - The Raven That Refused To Sing: youtu.be/n8sLcvWG1M4 via @youtube << oh! cc @juliejoyce
- Alessio Madeyski (@madeale) February 9, 2013
4. Be around
Don't force your content on them without laying the groundwork. Cold outreach can and does work, but a solid relationship built over time will mean that they may come looking for your work. They will look to your social streams for new and interesting content.
5. Don't be a robot
Variety is the spice of life - don't just tweet or retweet, leave comments on their posts, interact on Google plus - show up and participate. They don't owe you anything, add value to see reciprocation. How many people do you start following only to find out that they share the same content as everyone else - or worse they are using software to pump out a tweet straight from an RSS feed.
6. Be yourself
Don't be afraid to inject your personality into all that you do. Don't be a 'great tweet' or 'great post' person. If you have a daft sense of humour when you are at the pub why not use it to help you make connections. If you have an odd turn of phrase, use it - it can spark up a conversation. Colloquialisms are often a good way of getting on someone's radar - don't be the same as everyone else.
Why did you tell me it would help on our skype call? RT @content_muse: we dont have to take our clothes off to write epic content
- Chris Gilchrist (@hitreach) February 8, 2013
What are you doing to set yourself apart from the crowd?
