Introducing my “social media starter kit”
09.13.07Ever since I got into this business, I've wanted to spread the basic tools at the core of what's changing the internet to as many people as possible. Today, my consulting services often end up being more substantial than is appropriate for people just starting to engage with new tools online. In those circumstances, I've been able to offer blog posts to share what I've learned and I often answer questions for people quickly and at no cost.
I've decided, though, that I need to offer something basic, simple and inexpensive (but still really substantive) among the services I offer. Thus my new "Social media starter kit." Here's what it includes (bare bones explanation)
- An OPML file of top feeds regarding your industry, gathered and created as needed
- RSS and email subscription for your website
- a custom search engine for the field you work in.
Cost: $1000. (Discounts available for nonprofits.)
For full details, and non-technical explanations of it all, see this page.
These are resources that I think individuals and companies in almost any industry can make use of. That's putting it lightly, this stuff is super useful. I want to help take these tools outside the limited places they're used so far, but readers here could find them useful too. I've packaged it all together for one small price because I think that can work well in conjunction with my other consulting. Also, putting things like this together is something I'm good at and enjoy doing. I've given a lot of thought to both the introductory explanations on this page and the advanced, more technical explanations.
Most of the services I'll use to compile these resources are free or low-cost. You'll learn how to use them yourself as a result of our work together and you'll get a starter package of particularly well assembled resources right away. If you'd prefer to put all this together yourself at no cost, just ask and I'll tell you what tools I use to do it.
Please let me know what you think about both the idea and the presentation. "Social media" may not be the best phrase, I'm not sure.
If this is a package you would like to buy, there's no time better than the present. I think it's a great deal and will come in very handy.
In regards to this package, I'm thinking of my blog's readers as potential customers, potential referrers and some of my most valued advisers. So don't be shy about leaving a comment or sending me an email (marshall@marshallk.com) with any thoughts on this.
September 13th, 2007 at
[…] Marshall Kirkpatrick rolls out a social media starter kit service. […]
September 13th, 2007 at
I think it’s a great way to get folks started and the price seems reasonable for what you deliver. I’m sure that once folks see the value in the services they’ll be back for more and want to purchase more consulting services. Like many products, the challenge will be to reach out and find the clients who can benefit from the services.
September 13th, 2007 at
Great idea Marshall - I have done something similar as part of prior engagements with clients, but packaging it like this is a really great way of offering it up.
September 13th, 2007 at
I think you’re on the right track Marshall. The pricing makes it accessible to those understand the value (often the first hurdle). I agree with you that the name: “social media starter kit” may have it’s problems. Terms like “buzz monitor” or “[some other word] + monitor” come to mind. Maybe “tracker” as a seed word?
September 13th, 2007 at
Great idea Marshall! I hope the idea takes off for you.
Rex
September 13th, 2007 at
Cool idea, Marshall. I’ve been struggling with the term Social Media as well. I think it works nice within tech circles, but when it comes to exploring other professional niches, I think it’s a term that can be easily misinterpreted or not understood at all.
September 13th, 2007 at
I like it! Very, very smart my man.
September 14th, 2007 at
Nice idea, but I’d strongly recommend being direct with your clients up front about the fact that they’re paying for your expertise, rather than the services themselves.
I could easily see some people questioning the price tag after setup, when they realize that the tools in the package are available for free (Netvibes, FeedBurner, IceRocket RSS builder, etc.).
September 15th, 2007 at
I agree the fee/services ratio is excellent. I’ve been recommending RSS feeds for client websites for ages and most say “Later.” What percentage of companies do you think are ready for feeds from their web sites, considering most of the info coming from them is in the form of press releases?
September 15th, 2007 at
Thanks everyone for your questions and comments. I’ll reply more later but for now I’ve added this paragraph:
Thanks for your comment, Kathleen. I just added this paragraph, btw
“Most of the services I’ll use to compile these resources are free or low-cost. You’ll learn how to use them yourself as a result of our work together and you’ll get a starter package of particularly well assembled resources right away. If you’d prefer to put all this together yourself at no cost, just ask and I’ll tell you what tools I use to do it. I highly recommend paying for my expertise, however, to kick start your learning and make these tools useful right away.”
Kathleen, your question deserves its own blog post, and I’ll make one of those asap. Off the cuff, though, I’d say that even if a company only puts out an occasional press release, an RSS feed is very important so that anyone can sign up to get them automatically. It might even be more important to have a feed in those cases because a very infrequently updated “news page” will very rarely be checked back on just casually by stakeholders. I can articulate this more clearly and think about it more over the next few days.
Keep the feedback coming everyone!