The Online Solopreneurs Guide to FriendFeed

FriendFeed officially launched on February 25, 2008 — and is quickly becoming the new Twitter for 2008. But what is FriendFeed and why the heck should online solopreneurs care? Is it just another tool that creates noise in the already busy life of the solopreneur or can FriendFeed actually provide value to the arsenal of tools used? A good question indeed. So, let’s cover what FriendFeed is, how it works, and what the benefits are for solopreneurs specifically…

TechCrunch covered FriendFeed perfectly — “The concept of FriendFeed is simple enough. You add disparate accounts across blogs and social networking services, and Friendfeed aggregates them so friends can follow what you’re doing. The interface is clean, not surprising given the company was founded by ex-Googlers, and using it is easy.” That’s it. Sounds easy enough right?

Here’s a screenshot of what FriendFeed looks like for the Web Success Diva:

Ok, so what’s the point?

As a solopreneur, the two biggest challenges you will face in marketing yourself online are:

1. Sorting through the noise online, and
2. really managing your connections.

You know exactly what I’m talking about…

You’ve got your favorite gurus, but who can keep up with them, they’re everywhere online. You’ve also got a huge problem in keeping up with information overload — a very common problem now that social media is in full swing.

FriendFeed helps you with both of these problems.

The problem?

You’re not going to increase sales with FriendFeed — well, at least until it becomes a tool used outside of the “early adopter,” online marketing niche. Mary Joe from your target audience of older women authors, is likely not on FriendFeed. Chances are, 99% of your money-audience, is NOT on FriendFeed.

But, and it’s a big one, you can start to filter the noise your surrounded with in following your favorite gurus. These guys use it and, for the most part, they all use it well. If you can get it set up, and remain selective of who you follow (unlike you did with Twitter and now your bogged down with way too much information about people) — it can be the most valuable tool you’ll need to keep up with the Jones’.

Now, slow down… If you’re just to the point where you can post your own blog without instruction, you might want to skip this one. NOT ALL SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS ARE NECESSARY, FEASIBLE, OR WISE FOR ALL ONLINE USERS. If you can’t keep up — stop drowning yourself to try! Your business will suffer and you’ll quickly get burned out as you spread your patience and sanity way too thin…

The Diva suggestion for solopreneurs? Get on Friend Feed, integrate it into your Twhirl tool for Twitter (for ease of use), and selectively follow your favorite gurus. You’ll be able to actually follow what they are doing, what they are reading, and who they are connecting to.

How do you think I do it? I’d have to be super, duper woman to keep up with all my favorite gurus… Or, I’d go crazy. In either case, our team has mastered the art of using social media tools to filter through all the crap and keep us focused on the knowledge that actually adds value to our business and online marketing efforts. We love FriendFeed.

So, who’s on FriendFeed that might interest solopreneurs and other online entrepreneurs?

Alejandro Reyes, The Success Fool — My distant cousin (LOL) rocks, solopreneurs need to connect to this guy. He’s connected to the who’s who of solopreneur gurus you need to be connected to.

Denise Wakeman, The Blog Squad — Of course, we all know the Blog Squad. Follow her and you’ll be connected to everything you need to know about blog marketing.

Ed Dale, The Thirty Day Challenge — If you don’t know Ed or the Thirty Day Challenge, your lame (LOL). Really, his Thirty Day Challenge is a pre-requisite for all Diva Private Pro mentoring clients. He’s that good. He’s always ahead of the curve and funny as hell!

Nancy Marmolejo, Viva Visibility — Super, duper chica with amazing expertise in pr, online visibility, social media and building your expert status while increasing your offline and online visibility.

Leesa Barnes, Podcasting Queen — Anything related to podcasting, videocasting, and how to use online marketing to market your podcast.

Dosh Dosh, Brilliant Online Marketer — He breaks it down, makes sense of all the noise online.

Mari Smith, Facebook and Relationship Building Expert — We all know Mari, she rocks. Skip all the “make 100,000 on Facbook” bs out there and get the real deal with Mari.

Warren Whitlock, Book Marketing Expert — Even beyond books, Warren tends to be ahead of the curve and really breaks it down for solopreneurs.

Here’s to your FriendFeed success!

Maria Reyes-McDavis

the Web Success Diva

Heh! Don’t forget me — http://friendfeed.com/websuccessdiva

Related Diva Posts:

• Get on FriendFeed with the Web Success Diva
• Check the Web Succcess Diva on FriendFeed
• Twhirl for Effective FriendFeed Management for Solopreneurs
• Use Social Media Tools to Put the Social Back in Social Media
• Are there any real uses for Twitter Grader from HubSpot?

---