Why Sharing Content Online Is Critical
By now, you understand, to some extent, the importance of not only providing excellent-quality content but also sharing your content with as many appropriate people as possible. The more you share your content, the greater your chance of getting noticed.
Human beings (at least most of them) have a need to exchange information with other people. People don’t live in isolated places where nobody else exists. People have relationships with each other and they interact and exchange ideas, which makes their relationships progress. It is no fun to get excited by an idea (or perhaps having good news about something) without anyone to share it with. With technology being as advanced (and evolving on an extremely regular basis) as it is, it is easier than ever to exchange all sorts of exciting and valuable information online. The more valuable your content is, the more people will be willing to give it to other people. Shareability is an extremely critical factor for your business.
The power
When you give content to other people, you are strengthening your relationships with them. The more you give them, the more they will understand your trustworthiness and credibility. Your online interactions are successful because the relationships that you exchange with other people are at the heart of that success. There are many different reasons why people have a need to exchange information and the approach that they use when sharing.
Why people feel compelled
- Defines you in the eyes of other people
- Exposes other people to valuable and interesting content
- Helps to strengthen and sustain relationships with others
- Makes you feel good about yourself
- Helps you to make other people aware of your business’s products and services
In addition to why people have a need to exchange information, it is also important to be aware of the different types of online sharers and to understand a little bit about their motivation for sharing.
- Selfless people: Selfless people (or altruists) are people who help other people for the sake of helping. It feels good to them and fulfills a need that they have to do so. Email is a common communication tool to altruists and the more helpful they are to other people, the better they feel about themselves.
- “Right back at ya”: People who have this motivation want to get a response as a result of their exchanging information. They have a wish to be validated and are very comfortable using Facebook and Twitter as their social media tool of choice.
- Work is top of mind: People who are most motivated by work (or careerists) are the most interested in exchanging information that will in some way allow their business to progress and become even more successful than it already is.
- Cool people: These people tend to be creative in nature and really want to take charge of how and what they give to others. Sharing feels natural to them and interaction in person is an easy and comfortable thing to do.
- People who want to connect with others: This motivation makes those people want to plan ahead when it comes to interacting with people with whom they are in a relationship. They will often use the popular social media channels (such as Facebook) to connect with other people.
- Discrete people: Discrete people are very careful about who they exchange information with. Their main motivation for exchanging information is the benefit that it has for the person or people on the receiving end.
Conclusion
When it comes to sharing valuable information online, it is critical to the success of your business that you approach other people in the most appropriate way possible. You need to make sure that you are able to motivate other people to connect with you and with each other. It isn’t about business, it is about people and their feelings. Remember that trust must be a huge part of your interactions. Without it, people will not regard you as valuable and will not be willing to pass on what you are offering. Your approach should be simple, clear, and concise. The last thing that you want or need is for anything that you are sharing to be misconstrued. If you share your content in the most exciting and appropriate manner, people will have a positive reaction and will want to help your business because they understand the value in what you are doing. Remember to keep your content interesting and humorous and always make the fact that what you are sharing is valuable and very important to others as well as to you. If you do all of that, everyone will benefit.
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I’d love to pass chapters or sections of a book I’m writing along to experts in the field for their crtiques and insights.
However, have you ever heard of a major publisher balking at signing a contract for a book because so much of that book ultimately has become part of the public domain, after so much of it has been swimming around much of the Internet?
Parry
Via LinkedIn Groups
• Group: Informed Ideas For Writers
• Discussion: Why Sharing Content Online Is Critical
Within limits this is true. I have, however, noticed that a summary of my first book online is drawing sales from the actual book. I expect this to be less of a problem and more a sales promotion once my other books in the series are published, but for now it’s something of a problem. I’m in a bit of a bind because the site won’t take down the content temporarily and, frankly, the summary preceded the book. I wouldn’t have done it this way if I had known what I was doing, but there it is.
Posted by Peter Rogan
Via LinkedIn Groups
• Group: Informed Ideas For Writers
• Discussion: Books and Writers
Agreed. With book shops now few and far between, the only way for the reader to be able to ‘view’ books is if you give them tasters.
Posted by Lesley Ann Sharrock
Via LinkedIn Groups
• Group: Advertising Production Professionals
• Discussion: Why Sharing Content Online Is Critical
Sharing some content online can act as your P&A fund so as to bring the content into the public domain much quicker.
Posted by Matt Lawford
Via LinkedIn Groups
Group: Music Industry Forum
Discussion: Why Sharing Content Online Is Critical
Well there’s no point leaving your recordings on your computer or workstation or that old school tape recorder so your are kinda stating the obvious here.
I’d ad that from a protection of copyright standpoint the more places you have uploaded your new tracks to the more proof you have of ownership if there is a dispute. If the only proof you have is one copy of the recording which you never play anyone then you better have good proof of the date of creation. Fortunately computers date the file when you first create it so as long as you keep the original file you have some proof but i’m not sure how courts handle computer dated files.
But even in the old days before online music I”d always advise artists to send their new works to as many industry people as possible, never just one. Because if one rips you off you have others who can confirm the date you sent it to them. Sending unsolicited to people or companies that don’t accept unsolicited submissions is of no use though because they’ll probably be returned without opening or destroyed on receipt with no record.
But I’ve gone off on a tangent the point you were making is more about exposure right?
Posted by Rokk Lattanzio
Via LinkedIn Groups
• Group: Informed Ideas For Writers
• Discussion: Why Sharing Content Online Is Critical
From what I can tell, all writers struggle with the desire to draw their own specific audience, as in “create a popular platform” while also selling their books or e-books.
We need to be careful not to get too drawn into increasing our blog statistics, at the expense of selling more content. I’m still working hard on finding that balance.
Posted by Laura Lee Carter, M.A. Counseling Psychology