What Darren Rowse Says About Social Media Marketing

Posted on 15. May, 2009 by Nate in Interviews, SMO

Darren Rowse is a full time blogger making a living from blogs like Digital Photography School and TwiTip.  In 2002 he stumbled upon an article about ‘Blogging’ that changed his life. Within 24 hours of reading the article he had started his own Blog.  As Darren’s blogs have grown in popularity and now generate substantial income, blogging has grown from a hobby, to a part time job, to a fully fledged business.

ProBlogger.net is dedicated to helping other bloggers learn the skills of blogging, share their own experiences and promote the blogging medium.  It started in September 2004 mainly to keep a record of what Darren was learning about blogging for money. Since then the blog has grown to well over 3,500 articles, tips, tutorials and case studies.

Darren Rowse, like the other online marketing specialists I’ve interviewed, is a perfect example of someone who found an area of interest, developed a passion for it, and then persisted and worked hard over time to fully monetize and grow the business.  This diligence has turned in to big blogging revenue and a knowledge that Darren shares with all who are serious about blogging as a business (or hobby).

Darren Rowse on Social Media Marketing

In regards to social media, where is the best place to start if you are new to online marketing?

The best place to start is by researching WHERE the people you want to connect with are already gathering. The problem with social media is that it’s not simply enough to get on facebook or twitter and start sending marketing messages randomly. Different groups of people with different demographics and interests are gathering on different sites. Research where your market is and then spend significant time investing into building genuine relationships in that site before even thinking about marketing directly.

Why is social media marketing such an important part of success with a new online business? or is it?

I’m not sure that social media has to be a part of a marketers mix but it can be a powerful factor for a number of reasons including:

• the volume of people online
• the ability for messages to spread virally throughout networks

What are some of the main tools all new social media marketers should learn how to use if they plan to survive?

I’m hesitant to recommend any one tool simply because each one will relate to different marketers differently depending upon their goals. However I think tools that allow marketers not only to ‘broadcast’ but to ‘listen’ are definitely worth investing into. For example – on twitter there are more and more tools that enable us to set up watch lists and monitor what is being said on different topics. These kinds of tools are powerful.

Is social media marketing at all tied to monetization? If so, how? If not, why not?

Not directly. I actually think that social media has as much potential in many other areas such as customer service, branding, deepening relationships with customers, building trust etc. All of these things can have an impact upon monetization but indirectly.

Please share one specific social media marketing experience that you attribute to financial success.

When I launched my book (ProBlogger the book) last year to be able to talk about it before it was released and then as it was launching using tools such as Twitter was responsible for creating a big buzz. To have a network of tens of thousands certainly gave it a head start over many other books in terms of sales and saw it sell out on many online stores such as Amazon within hours of release.

Where do you see social media marketing going in the next 3 years?

I’m not really sure to be honest. I think we’re seeing networks converge more and more and people seem to be finding more and more ways to access them via a variety of devices – I guess this will continue.

Is social media marketing taking over the world of organic search engine optimization as we once knew it?

Not sure it’s taking over from organic SEO just yet – while there are a lot of people in social networks there are many many others who are not. The day my mum gets on facebook or Twitter will be the day that I think there’s been a take over!

Follow Darren on Twitter @problogger and check out all of his Twitter Tips at TwiTip.com.

Thanks again, Darren, for the interview on Social Media Marketing!

Other Social Media Marketing Interviews

• Mat Siltala
• Chris Bennett
• Aaron Wall

Upcoming Social Media Marketing Interview

Stay tune for Part 4 of the Social Media Interview series with Muhammad Saleem, the Social Media Maven!