Posts Tagged ‘social marketing’

“Joe, how do I make money with Twitter?”

“Why can’t I make money with my Facebook account?”

“I’ve tried that social media stuff, and I can’t track any sales to it.”

And on, and on…

Folks, this ISN’T your first problem.  It’s also the wrong focus…

It’s the conversation about you, that you have to participate in, that’s the first thing you should worry about.

It’s also that very conversation which is the key to making money with social media.  Participate in it.

If that conversation hasn’t started yet (you do Google searches for your name, company, and products right?), and you’re foolish enough to believe that you will be able to build a business (for real) and choose not to participate in it…well…it will go on without you.

If it goes on without you, building your business will be like rolling the dice in Vegas.

So, start the conversation yourself if it doesn’t exist already!

Start to frame how people will view you and your business, start to develop key business relationships that would have never existed if you “chose not to participate” etc…

If you’re not searching Google for your name and your business name, you’d better start.  (you can set up Google Alerts to bring it right to your email)

It’s that very conversation that generates the money…not directly, but indirectly…and only if you’re there to collect it.

Until the next time we look in the mirror together,

How many conversations are going on about you?

I hear it from potential clients all the time (before they hear my fees, and feint).

“Joe, I tried that Facebook stuff, and it didn’t work.”

“Joe, what’s the fastest way to get number one rankings in Google by using Stumbleupon?”

“Joe, I can’t get any sales increases using the social media, you’re full of shit…that stuff is only for teenagers!”

Or a variation of the above.

<inside Joe’s head at that exact moment> SHIT, you’re kidding right?

<actually coming out of Joe’s mouth to the potential client at the same exact moment>

Easy now, you’re just going about social marketing and social media the wrong way…with the wrong mindset is all.  What do you expect?  The key concept surrounding these sites… is the word social. Nowhere in any of the concepts surrounding those sites does it infer “instant results that you can obtain because you’re using a different method of marketing”…come on now Mr./Mrs. Potential Client…what did you really expect?

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I love it when people think there is some sort of magic marketing media, message, or method that will bring instant results…doesn’t exist.  That’s why it’s called business building.

Granted, no one should ever tell you that it’s not possible to make money quickly…because it is…in fact it’s your responsibility to operate to obtain obscene profits in as short a time as possible…

But you’re missing the boat with social media marketing if you think for a second that you have the right media to directly market your products or services.

Bzzzt!  Wrong answer, thank you for playing your game.

But, before you close this post (not a good move)…and confirm your suspicions about sites like Facebook, Stumbleupon, Digg, Yahoo! Answers, etc… stop and think for a second.

They are social media sites people!  That means some form of social interaction must take place before you can even think of profiting.  And, the kind of profiting you are probably thinking of right now isn’t the main benefit of the social media.

When you ask some total stranger in a bar to go out on a date, which approach is better?

1)  Hey there stranger…you look sexy…wanna go out on a date with me?

Or…

2)  Hi, my name is Joe…what’s yours?  Oh, you’re from _______?  Wow, tell me a little more about that… (and on and on)…

Keep in mind I have been married for 17 years now…so my “pick up lines” are a little rusty…but you get the point… #1 is direct marketing, #2 is social marketing…and over a longer term, #2 will be more effective as you get to know more strangers right?

Look, if you want to try and peddle $7 ebooks on the social sites…you will fail…I guarantee it.  In fact, unsubscribe from this RSS feed right now, and subscribe to this one instead (you need to learn the basics first).

But…if you can now see the social media for what it really is…a chance to build a HUGE following…and resonate with the audience that will resonate with you (for more than just sales…how about JV partnerships that can bring you the cool money)…then you get it.

Nothing in business that is HUGE for your business comes without a little work.

Until the next time we look in the mirror together,

Joseph Ratliff - Your Partner In Internet Business Profits

It’s almost as if business owners are afraid to promote their businesses.

You look for all of the “simple” ways to advertise, probably paying WAY too much I imagine, then sit back and complain every time you turn the news on and see yet another small business closing its doors.

Some of the main complaints I am hearing from potential clients…

“Man, I wish I could figure out how to get more customers to my business.”

“Fuck, sales are down for yet another month.”

“If only I had seen this (the recession) coming, then I could have prepared for it.”

Blah, blah, blah…whine, moan, complain.

What’s really sad, one of the answers to your business growth dilemma is right in front of you, you’re just so snowed by “whoa is me” crap to see it…and probably too uncomfortable to actually use it.

Come to think of it, maybe I should just stop writing this post.

Nah, I’m not that much of an asshole.

One of the promotion secrets actually has nothing to do with the direct selling of products (most of you are probably going to click off this post right now, too bad for you)…in fact, it’s not about selling at all…

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It’s about the brand of you (or your business).

Are you using social media at all?  Have you tried, but failed, and think that social media is a fad?

If you’re not using social media to some extent to promote your online business, or an offline business that might extend that presence to the web…you’re missing the boat big time.

There’s more leverage than can possibly be imagined in social networking, social marketing, Web 2.0…whatever you want to label it.

Your mindset just has to be adjusted to think about social marketing the right way…that’s all.

It’s not about direct selling…in fact, if you sell directly via social media, and haven’t earned the right to…your results will suffer or be non-existent.  It’s the most common mistake made by 90% of marketers and business owners using Web 2.0 stuff.

So what’s the correct mindset?

First, you cannot have a hidden agenda.  When using the social media, your objectives have to be both transparent and pure.  You have to be genuine to yourself, and the results you want to obtain.

Then, you need to imagine the online social media like a giant seminar.  You don’t walk up to someone at a seminar and immediately begin to pitch them something, do you?

Then why the fuck would you do that when social marketing?

As with all people-oriented business building strategies…relationships are the key.  Relationships and people first, profits and money are a benchmark for success only (not, scratch that, never the objective).

So…when using social media…you need to develop the branding mentality.  I equate this with creating a magnet that will attract your following of loyal customers to you.  While creating that magnet will not result in direct sales immediately for the most part…over time you will create a “snowball effect” where more and more sales result from people referring other people to your business, and buying into your business.

And that my friends, is really the secret to business overall.  It’s a people oriented arena (especially with the level playing field of Web 2.0).  If you forget your people, you can forget your profits.

A prime example of this on the large company scale…is the automobile “Big 3″ …which don’t seem so big now, do they?    They forgot about their people…instead opting for direct sales and forgetting to cultivate relationships with their customers.  It’s not about the “mechanical things” like customer surveys any more Toto.

Does your business follow the example of the Big 3 Automakers?

If it does, and you don’t change, save yourself the stress and money invested…and just close the doors now.

Do you want to make a change?

Good.  Blueprint time!

Create a video blog, and on a weekly basis, create a video post for your market to enjoy (entertainment is a BIG reason people surf the web).  Once you start to develop a positive following of people, and not before, start to introduce your sites and business to that following (gently).

To submit your videos to other sites…you can use http://www.tubemogul.com

To look for a video cam and tripod to create your videos (along with a microphone) … look into Amazon.com.

And a good site to submit to as well, http://www.viddler.com .

One more thing you’ll need is Camtasia video editing software.

Brand yourself with your weekly content…make it interesting.  The best example I can find of this (aside from what I will be doing later this year) is Gary Vaynerchuk’s Wine Library TV.

Think about giving tips in a weekly format, or useful news for your audience.  Over a pretty short period of time, sales will start to increase naturally…without much more effort.  Heck, you might even be called to interview or show up on Oprah.

I understand that there are more ideas on this subject, and I will cover them in later posts…but get creative…I am sure you can do it