This evening a friend shared a video posted on Streetdirectory.com Singapore Facebook page. It's the video of the flying wanton mee man in Johor Bahru.
The video garnered 488,000+ views, 6,796 Shares, 1,700+ Likes, and 213 Comments.
I watched the video and soon realised that it was my video - copied without my knowledge from Johor Kaki YouTube channel.
Before you read any list of Singapore top bloggers, please note that it is very inaccurate.
Third party estimates like SimilarWeb (and Alexa) have many sources of inaccuracy.
One of them is under counting the traffic of bloggers using the free blogspot platform due to a unique Google feature known as "country specific redirect".
Note: This list is outdated. Get the latest list of top Singapore blogs here <- click.
Before you read any further, please note that third party estimates like SimilarWeb (and Alexa) used in this ranking are very blunt tools.
Social media has changed how publicity and marketing work in business.
Social media gives small players like hawkers the power to reach up to 100 thousand potential customers with just USD200.
This is something unimaginable just 5 years ago.
Do-it-yourself social media is also easy to do and most hawkers can do it on their own. If not, a bit of guidance from someone who has done it before will do the trick.
Here is a simple 3-step social media action plan anyone can use right away.
Step 1
Set up a free business Facebook account and a free YouTube account. Just follow the simple instructions when you sign up online.
Step 2
Get your stall mentioned on the World Wide Web.
The most common way is to invite bloggers to visit your stall.
Don't know any bloggers? No problem. Check out this list of Singapore Blog Award 2014 finalists, some of Singapore's finest.
You don't even need to get a blogger to get your social media marketing plan rolling.
Take out your handphone and grab a quick video of your regular customers talking about your stall. Or, you can record yourself speaking about your stall.
Upload the video directly from your phone to YouTube. I have done it many times and it takes at most 20 minutes to upload a video (usually about 5 to 10 minutes).
This is a video I recently did with Lau Ah Tee bak kut teh stall using my handphone (2013 model). It was uploaded to YouTube within 5 minutes.
You can do it easily too. Do it as often as you like.
There is no need to be too slick. Sincere and authentic is probably more credible than fake and over polished.
Step 3
Post your YouTube video on your Facebook page.
Boost your Facebook post so that more people can see your YouTube video.
For USD100 (at current rates), Facebook will serve your post to 20,000 to 50,000 targeted Facebook accounts of your choice.
This is the most cost effective way to get your message across to the right people - far less than traditional media like TV, radio, newspapers and magazines.
Facebook lets you target your audience, so you can choose your customers based on where they live, age group, hobbies, profession and so on. There is less waste of sending your message to bogus or ghost accounts.
You can do it. Most people regret not starting earlier.
Notes:
Three years after starting my mission "to put every hawker on the world wide web", the job is still far from done.
Blogging one hawker at a time, progress is steady but too slow. Many hawkers are still not reached.
So on top of blogging, now I would like to also show hawkers (and other small businesses) how to do their own social media marketing with simple, workable action plans. It is easy to use the simple plans I share. Every hawker can be their own do-it-yourself social media marketeer.
It is easy. Anyone can do it.
If you still prefer face-to-face guidance, you can contact me at johorkaki@gmail.com.
More on social media marketing for hawkers.
Tony
7 Sep 2014
Jeremy, owner of Two Wings is a savvy user of social media
Social media is a game changer.
Social media gives small businesses instant reach of 100s of thousands at a mere fraction of the cost of traditional media like TV, newspapers, and magazines.
At current rates, it costs USD100 to reach 20,000 to 50,000 targeted customers of your choice (i.e. not random).
Now, even the smallest hawker stalls can use social media to reach out to potential customers.
Step 1 - Set up your Business Facebook Page.
Log in to Facebook and sign up for a free account (if you haven't already done so). Just follow the easy instructions online.
Step 2 - Invite a blogger to visit your food stall.
Who to invite? If you do not know any good blogger, you may start with the list of Singapore Blog Award 2014 finalists.
Check out their blogs and see which blogger's style and content suits your business. Some bloggers blog for cash, while others blog purely for passion and pleasure. Choose bloggers that suit your budget. Fortunately for hawkers in Singapore and Malaysia, there are many outstanding bloggers who blog for passion and pleasure only.
Step 3 - Post the blog post on your own Business Facebook Page and boost it.
If the blogger blogged about your stall and you feel the blog post is helpful and reflected positively on your stall, you may post the blog post on your own Facebook Page.
Boost the Facebook post so that more people will be able to see it.
USD100 Facebook boost will send the post to 20,000 to 50,000 Facebook users (of your choice i.e. you can choose their profiles like where they live, age group and what they like etc).
Repeat steps 2 and 3 as many times as you want :D
The 3 steps are really very easy to implement. Most people are able to pick up the skill on their own, or after just a little bit of simple guidance from someone who has done it before.
Do it! And see your business pick up.
Most hawkers or other small business owners regret not starting earlier.
All the best for your business :D
Jabez, owner of Soon Huat Bak Kut Teh is an effective user of social media
Additional notes:
Marketing, whether by social media or traditional means will cost some money. But social media has brought the cost of marketing to an all time low, and made it easy enough for any small business to do it cost effectively and do it well on their own.
Based on research, of all the social media platforms (such as Instagram, Twitter, etc), Facebook is still the most cost effective in terms of targeted reach i.e. both quantity and quality of people reached. That means the business can actually choose the specific locations and preferences of the people whom s/he wants to send his Facebook post to. Facebook is cost effective because it is priced lower than traditional media, and furthermore, it is not a random mass blast in the dark, which is old school and very wasteful. Choosing your target audience personally also avoids wasting money on inactive or bogus social media accounts.
The 3 steps are really very easy to implement on your own.
Go ahead and try it. You will be surprised how effective it is and how little it costs you.
It is also fun :D
However, if you are new to social media and still prefer face-to-face guidance, you may contact me at johorkaki@gmail.com.
Tony
2 Sep 2014
Screen grab on 17 Jun 2014
The purpose of this post is to share what I might be doing right, so that other bloggers may also achieve higher Google views.
When I first saw the number of views on my Google+ page, I didn't pay it any attention as I assumed that everyone gets the same "inflated" views.
It's just another useless vanity figure, I thought.
But, when more and more bloggers start to draw attention to their numbers, I realised that the numbers vary widely from blogger to blogger.
And, there are some useful indications behind the numbers.
First, what are Google views?
According to Google's official help page, "This number tells you how many times your content has been seen by other people, including your Photos, Posts, and the page itself".
(Note: To view your Google views on your G+ page, you have to turn it on as bloggers have the option to turn it off from public view.)
So, back to the question "How did Johor Kaki get more Google views than Lady Gaga?"
The truth is, I really don't know for sure.
After all, Google's algorithm is secret.
All I do know is what I did. And, I can only speculate how the following might have helped Johor Kaki's Google views.
Use Keywords
yawnz
Come on Tony, everyone knows that :P
Use keyword in titles and the first paragraph - all bloggers should know that.
Actually, using keywords was the only "SEO" thing I did.
Everything else was just me trying my best to create the most helpful and easy to use food guide for food lovers.
So, it must be the other things that I also did right that made the difference.
Google Maps
Finding one's way around Johor, or for that matter any new place, can be a daunting experience. So, I added a Google Map (and GPS co-ordinates) to all my food reviews.
So, when someone looks for the location of a hawker stall or restaurant in Johor using Googe Map, Google serves up relevant Johor Kaki content.
This adds Google views for Johor Kaki blog.
Use Photos
I am passionate about photography besides being a foodie.
I like to tell stories with drool worthy photographs, so Johor Kaki food reviews often have over 10 photos.
I tagged my photos with keywords, so when someone uses Google's Image Search service to look for photos of Johor food, Google serves up relevant Johor Kaki content.
This adds Google views for Johor Kaki blog.
Use Youtube
Most of us know that Youtube is actually the second largest search engine in the world (second only to Google web search itself).
I post some videos because I found them fun to make and to watch.
So, when someone looks for something in Johor using Youtube, Google serves up relevant Johor Kaki content.
This adds Google views for Johor Kaki.
All these Google views add up with Johor Kaki getting more views than Lady Gaga.
Lady Gaga has a tremendous number of G+ followers, and rightly so as she is a top global Super Star. Johor Kaki, in comparison, is a tiny blogger with a minuscule G+ following.
How is it then that Lady Gaga has fewer views on Google than Johor Kaki?
Lady Gaga is big on Youtube, Images and direct views from her 8 million plus G+ followers.
I can only speculate that as a top global celebrity, many people searching for Lady Gaga on Google are diverted to numerous other media outlets providing news about her, besides her own official platforms.
Lady Gaga's negligible presence on Google Maps might also be a factor.
In conclusion.
I am new to blogging and am still trying to figure out what really went right.
Please also share with us your valuable insights on Google views :D
I will update this post regularly to share my findings with everyone, so that everyone too can also have higher Google views.
So, what is the main take away from this sharing?
It is simply this.
* Create helpful content on all of Google's services thus creating multiple paths to your blog.
Have fun blogging, and let everything else follow.
Tony
Return to Johor Kaki homepage.
First edition: 17 Jun 2014
