Slideshare: 5 ways to use this new & improved fame boosting tool

With the major social media sites being swamped by marketers and paid promotions, are you wondering where an aspiring A-Lister can go to get a little love online?

I gotcha covered here:

It’s Slideshaaarrre! (Please read in Oprah’s announcing voice.)

Now, maybe you’re thinking that Slideshare.net is the ugly stepsister in the online fairy tale, but you’ve got to give this hidden beauty another chance. What started out as a place to share powerpoint presentations is growing into a bona fide media hub.

Here are a few reasons to give ‘er another look:

• Slideshare is one of the top 150 sites on the internet. Lots of smart people visit the site to find information about topics they’re interested in.
• With Facebook becoming a pay-for-play gated community, Slideshare is still a playground with plenty of open space for you to run.
• Uploading presentations or documents to Slideshare increases your digital footprint, increasing the chances of someone finding you or your message.
• Slideshare lets you build up love for your brilliance. Views of your uploads compound over time. Yesterday’s tweet, Facebook post or LinkedIn update might be in the digital graveyard, but Slideshare keeps your uploads fresh and visible on your profile, no matter when you uploaded them.

And the numbers just keep growing the longer your work is on the site.

One of my clients has been on the site for five years and has 25 uploads. Altogether, these presentations have been viewed by 53,760 people.

One presentation alone is about to break the 10K mark. That’s no small feat, when you consider that these are not just 140 characters, they’re entire presentations, packed with your ideas and advice.

And now it gets even better.

Slideshare is owned by LinkedIn, which is investing resources into making this site bigger and badder by the day. New features were just announced and will be rolling out one per month, starting in September.

• Analytics – So you can who’s viewing your slides, how they found them and where they are.
• Tricked out profiles – customizing your home base on Slideshare used to be a premium feature, but soon everybody will be doin’ it.
• Multimedia – while it used to house Powerpoint presentations, you can now (or soon) upload video, documents (hello, magazine articles and blog posts) as well as infographics.

Wondering just what the heck to upload on this wunder tool?

Here are five ways to use Slideshare for your business or platform:

1. Explain an industry term.

This does two things for you: it helps potential customers find you and it shows them that you’ve got something valuable to share. Don’t assume that everyone knows what you know about your field or industry!

This example explains two related terms that architects use all the time, green building and LEED. It’s fantastic because they’re industry-specific terms, but plenty of potential clients find them confusing.

2. Publish a How-To Guide

A Powerpoint/Keynote presentation is the perfect delivery vehicle to give step-by-step visual instructions.

3. Post a List

The top ten superfoods.

The five habits you must cultivate to live to 100.

The 25 most influential people in [insert your field here.]

Everybody loves a list. Fact.

4. Post a presentation you’ve already delivered.

Easy peasy. You’ve already made the preso, right? So use it again!

It boosts traffic and generates links to your website. Because Slideshare automatically creates a transcript that appears right below the slides for every presentation you upload, it’s a great SEO (search engine optimization) boost for those keywords you want to “own.” Snaps for simplicity.

5. Post your blog.

You’re gonna like this one, people. All you need is a freebie tool from PrintFriendly.com and you’re 60 seconds away from posting your blog to Slideshare.

And why not? Slideshare averages 60 million unique visitors a month and 215 million page views. Need help? Jump over here for a quick tutorial.

What are you waiting for? Get over to Slideshare and let your light shine, A Lister!

Your Fame Boosting Assignment:

Set up your free profile on Slideshare.net. If you’ve got a presentation you’ve already delivered, upload that baby!