Doug Firebaugh asked:


Social Media.

Social Media Marketing.

THOSE 2 things has been written and talked about the last 2 years a LOT. But believe it or not, not a lot of small businesses or home businesses are using this powerful business and marketing “Zone” yet. Many people, because it is on the internet, shy away for it as if it were the plague.

“I am not a geek” people tell me. Well, we have “ungeeked the geek” for many small and home business owners, and made social media make sense to them

But there are exceptions.

I was talking with a business owner the other day and she made the comment, “I don’t go to those kind of sites. I don’t have time to do that as my business is struggling and I need to go and find more customers.”

That says it all.

That shows a total lack of understanding of what social media/web 2.0 is really about, and what it can do for the average small business and home business -even on a local basis. If people really “got it” about social media marketing, they would be running to the social media zone and staying there.

There is a lot of talk that it is not “proven” as it is too new and the jury is still out on it being a viable marketing process.

I totally disagree. The social media marketer is paving a path for those to follow through a jungle that has never been explored, nor walked. People like proof. People like results. But it is the social media marketer that will create the way that will birth new millionaires with business folks who do “get” the Web 2.0 world. It is not that hard to understand either.

If you can send an email, you can “do” social media marketing. You can master twitter, facebook, myspace, blogs, wikis, podcasts, article marketing, and all the other parts of the new media, if you can send an email. Yes, there is a learning curve, and yes, it does take a little effort-but what doesn’t? We have expanded our business tremendously with social media tactics, and everyday, we wake up with dozens of new leads for our training and consulting business in our email box. How would you like to have that happen to you?

You can. You can tap into an endless pool of leads that will just keep increasing, if you decide to jump into the Social Media zone. And we will be glad to teach you how to maximize for maximum Success with your Social Media efforts.

All you need to do is make a decision that you will take the time and study and learn social media a little at a time, and learn the culture, and the processes of each website.

Here are 7 websites that you must register with to get started in social media if you have a small or home business. Each have “help” tutorials or videos about how to use them properly, and also there is a LOT of information on the web as well on “how to”:

1)
3″ title=”http://www.twitter.com

3″ target=”_blank”>www.twitter.com

3) www.mashable.com (A GREAT website for learning generic social media.)

4)
6″ title=”http://www.digg.com

6″ target=”_blank”>www.digg.com

6) www.socialmediatrainingnetwork.com\’ (A GREAT social website for learning social media tactics for small and or home businesses.)

And then do three things after learning how the site works:

1) CONNECT.

2) COMFORTABLE.

3) CONSTRUCT.

1) CONNECT.

The main thing you need to do is connect with people on these sites, and become a friend with them. Most of these sites have a process to befriend folks. Follow their process. Sound easy enough? But there is a type of friend that we teach that you must become. An “Addition Friend.” This is simply a friend that ADDS to people’s lives, not takes.

On the social media scene, most people are looking to Add, Enhance, Increase, and Enlarge a part of their life. YOU must help them do that with connecting with them and showing them new information about what you do, and how what you do can help them and change them for the better. It MUST not ever be a sales pitch, but simply information that will impact them enough that they may want to connect with you further about that in their life.

If you are a real estate agent, give them info on the 5 Biggest mistakes made while buying a home. If you are a CPA, give them some info on the 3 biggest mistakes made on tax returns. If you are in skin care, give them the 7 best ways to keep your skin healthy. You get the idea. You can find this type of information all over the web. Just send them the web address (url) to the article or blog post with a short note saying you thought of them when you ran across this.

We call it “Connection Marketing” and it WORKS when you allow it to.

CONNECT with the person –> CONNECT with their goals –> then CONNECT them to valuable information that will help them achieve them. Then most of the people Will then connect with your interests and be willing to help you with yours.

2) COMFORTABLE.

You must get the people on the social media sites COMFORTABLE with you.

How?

Talk about them, and how you can help them reach their goals and dreams- either with what you do, or with what you know. We call it “Comfortable Conversation(TM).” You must hold online “conversations” with people and get them comfortable with you, and comfortable with staying connected with you. You do this by talking about what THEY are interested in, and then you PROVE to them you are serious about adding value to their life.

It is ALL about Value in the social media arena. People expect Value in your messages and communication, and if you give them things that will help them in their endeavors, (blog posts on their industry, articles on doing what they do better, etc,) they will get very comfortable with you, and even helping you with YOUR endeavors. They will be moving towards you quickly if you practice that focus in your social media efforts.

3) CONSTRUCT.

Simply, in Social media Marketing, you must Construct a bridge between you and the person that eventually leads OFFLINE and onto the telephone.

THAT is the secret to Success in social media marketing. We call it the “TIO Factor.” Take It Offline and let the personalization begin.

You have connected with the person- in person-at least in voice.

You have gotten them comfortable with you by your interest in helping them achieve their goals.

Now you must construct a path that allows you to say, “What is your contact number? I would love to chat with you for real over the phone.” Then just do that. It may take a few days or a couple of weeks. But if you could pick up 10 new customers with this conversation would it be worth it?

Of course it would be. And how would you do that?

Ahhh–That is another article on Social Media Marketing Success.

blessings…doug



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Barry Byers asked:


At a social media marketing training session I recently attended, I overheard another attendee talking about the challenges she faced in attempting to tackle social media marketing. The owner of a small, home-based business based in the Toronto area, she was trying to find inexpensive ways to market her business. She had heard about this new way of promoting her company and decided to jump in with both feet. After a few months, she felt completely overwhelmed and decided that she needed training in social media marketing.

She is likely not alone. The temptation to take advantage of the virtually free marketing opportunities in social media is pretty strong, but without an effective plan, you will find yourself in the same position as that Toronto business owner.

Social Media Marketing – Why So Much Choice Can Be a Bad Thing

There are many kinds of sites that fall under the heading of “social media.” These include social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn, social news sites like Digg and Reddit, and social bookmarking sites like Delicious. Social media also includes the “microblogging” site, Twitter.

The key to using social media for marketing is to offer people something of value so they will want to connect and interact with your business. For most businesses, this thing of value is a blog, series of articles, or other content of interest to their core audience.

Here’s where it gets tricky, and where our Toronto business owner got tripped up – deciding which social media sites to use and what kind of content to create.

When I heard that business owner talk about her challenges, I entered the conversation to see what she had bee trying. Here’s a summary of what she said:

• She started a blog but after a month or so had run out of things to talk about.

• Everytime she posted to her blog, she would add a link to the post on Digg and Delicious.

• She had also investigated Reddit and Stumble Upon and set up accounts on both sites but left them pretty much inactive.

• She set up a profile on Linked In, at the suggestion of a client, but promptly forgot about it and rarely used it.

• She added a personal profile to Facebook but, beyond that, had no idea how to use this profile to promote her business. She eventually found a way to create a business page, which seemed to suit her needs.

• She just recently joined Twitter and was having trouble keeping up with it and finding things to say.

After listening to her, I concluded that the main problem she was having was content-based and I reassured her that the social media marketing training course would help her.

What she needed was a comprehensive plan to get her started. She needed to focus her efforts on a few sites, and ensure she had content to share. She needed a schedule for her writing and she also needed to learn how to optimize her content to draw the traffic she wanted.

Fortunately, the social media training course we were both attending covered all of those points and more.

I spoke to her at the end of the course and she said she felt much better, and much more ready to tackle social media marketing. The training had helped her immensely.

If you own your own business and you are interested in marketing through social media, I recommend that you start with social media marketing training, so you can avoid wasting months of time and energy like our Toronto business owner did.



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