Whenever you talk to successful business people you tend to hear the phrase… “It isn’t about what you know son, it is about who you know.” The people you know and network with have a significant impact on your success or failure. This holds true for anything you do in life, from working your 9-5 all the way to launching and promoting your own business. The question I ask is again, How Social are you.
Social media on the internet is blowing up big time. What was once deemed as being downright silly is now driving sales, traffic, and public perception to levels never before seen. At no other time in history could the praise or complaint of a single customer reach millions in a matter of seconds. Are you prepared to respond appropriately in the face a of a twitter uprising? Unfortunately most small to medium sized businesses still haven’t realized the power of social media, and most don’t even understand what options they have or how to capitalize on it. Let’s take a brief look at the two biggest players in social media today.
Twitter is a micro-blogging service that allows individuals, or companies, to post 140 character updates to their timeline which their followers can then see and respond to. Initially adopted only by tech geeks looking for the next best thing Twitter has grown into one of the most widely used services on the internet. The power of using Twitter to drive traffic to your website and drive sales is unbelievable. By building a follower base of interested individuals you can take people who are already interested in your topic and drive them to your website. Take for instance my blog SuburbanDollar.com, every time a blog post goes up a notification is posted to my Twitter account @SuburbanDollar. Through that account my notification reaches over 1000 people, INSTANTLY, and for free. No print media is going to provide you those kind of results at that cost.
Facebook started off as a college social hang out, since then it has grown to astronomical proportions. Odds are good that out of 5 people you know 4 of them are on Facebook, don’t be that one left standing on the outskirts. Setting up a personal Facebook account may not be huge on your agenda, no worries there but setting up a fan page for your business should be on the top of your list of things to do. I launched this business on Monday of last week, I already have 34 fans on Facebook. That is 34 people who are aware of my business and can, if given the chance, recommend my services. The more awareness you can bring to your brand/business the greater the likelihood of your success. Facebook fan pages is just another avenue for you to get your brand out there and noticed.
Bringing It All together
No matter what form of social media you choose to pursue you have to execute it appropriately. No one is interested in constant self promotion, whether it is on your blog, your Twitter account, or sitting at the dinner table. When you are at a dinner party you will drop mention of your business to the people who it may interest the most but in general you are having regular discussions which provide value or humor to the group. You wouldn’t shamelessly self promote yourself all night long because you would end up looking like a tool. The same principles go for social media. You need to contribute to the community and interact with your followers without spending all day on shameless self promotion. The more genuine you are with your interactions the more likely people are to follow you. Keep it real and interest in and awareness of your brand will grow. With that will come business and sales, and you can take that to the bank.
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