Make Social Media Your Slave
By: Sandi Krakowski
Sometimes you hear something online that is so out there- so ridiculous- so stupid actually that you wonder if the person who said it was joking. But if you're like me, I begin asking all the right questions to lead me to where I need to be in my business when this kind of thing arises.
A few months ago I heard a very popular business person say these words, "What the heck are you spending all that time on Facebook for? Go build your business."
Made me laugh actually. Because you see last year I started a little test with some marketing through Social Media. It earned me a nice 6-figure income over 12 months. Then we kicked it up a notch and began to compound our efforts. This year alone, in under 7 months, that amount has doubled.
But let me make one thing very clear- you do NOT make a 6-figure income on Social Media playing Farmville or Yoville or Craphead or any of those other games online. These were created by very smart marketers to lure people in who have too much time on their hands or who are trying to block sometime out in real life.
Before you send me hate mail about that statement look at it this way- if you haven't earned at least a 6-figure income in your business online you're trading game time for dollars. It's as simple as that. Unless you're making an income for every hour you spend online playing those games get off of them now. In my opinion they are worse than television and far more addicting.
But what about the core of Social Media? How can you use this very valuable channel and capitalize on it for your business?
In his best seller, "Socialnomics" Erik Qualman outlines who is using Social Media to do more than just marketing in our culture today. People like Barack Obama have used Social Media to connect with people he never would have previously. Tony Robbins gains insights into where his clients are today and can cater to their current needs with regular interaction.
What about the small business owner trying to break into the online market? How can Social Media help them?
Let's look at the impact Social Media is having on marketing, advertising and other ways people connect online-
1. An extremely successful copywriter who wrote a glazing article on how he thought Social Media was poo-poo and he had no intention of getting involved in 2009 is now using Social Media regularly in his internet campaigns.
2. While previously Search Engines were the prominent tool to use when seeking to find information or feedback on something Social Media is now an instantaneous input giver. No small wonder Facebook outpaced Google some 6 months ago and still leads the train for internet most popular sites.
3. Colleges are now embracing Social Meida to bring together roommates, give input on specific degrees and trends for top paying jobs. It's also being used as a tool that inside of the classroom. College Professors can take surveys, get interaction with students, create community and even direct students to potential employers as they move closer to graduation. Advertising to this crowd? Get on Social Media.
4. Social Media Marketing is hot topic at most internet marketing and offline marketing events. Guest speakers are often "Social Media" experts who have mastered how to use this tool for their business. (This tells you it is not a trend but a change in how business is done in the marketing world!)
5. Ads in newspapers and magazines are going down while Social Media marketing, PPC expenses and FB ad reports show a constant increase. In Social Media people no longer search for news- it finds them. Key newspaper statistics show that advertising revenue is plummeting with local newspapers while PPC ads, free communities and groups through Social Media are booming!
Here are some tips on how to use Social Media, make it your slave and not be left spending hours and hours online without making any money.
1. Make your focus connecting with people and bringing valuable content. Be personal and bring value. People will connect with you because of what you bring to them. To create rapid followers bring your best every single day. Go ahead and make a list of things you want to talk about each week if you have to but don't wing it, don't post only personal things and don't think your audience will tolerate just anything. (Read my past article on Creating Rapid Response To Your Opt In for more on this topic)
2. Talk with people and not AT them. The age of Network Marketing and Door To Door Salesmen Alpha-Syndrome are gone. Good-bye! People no longer respect people who just talk at them and tell people what to do. They seek someone to connect with. Social Media creates this connection in a way that no other channel or medium will. Respect your audience, permit them to disagree with you, be who you are and allow them to be who they are. Build a community and people will follow you forever.
3. Bring your personal life into the mix. This is something I discovered online back in 1998 when our kitchenware business grew rapidly. People want to connect with real people. Don't position yourself as someone who has ALL the answers and lives a PERFECT life and has everything color coordinated and organized and perfectly clean in your closets but be someone people can relate to. Share your life, share how you live and inspire others. I learn just as much from those who have a relationship with me through Social Media as they do from me. It's a beautifully beneficial relationship. Ironically it's one of my biggest USP's that can't be copied but it can be caught. Be yourself, be real and you'll have clients who make your life such a joy!
4. Serve and be in it for the long haul. On a recent call I had with Ryan Lee he said he was very happy to see that I had supportive tools for my clients like our Forever WordPress Community. When he heard that I meet LIVE with my clients on the phone one hour each week to answer their questions, serve them and build community with them he said that he was glad I wasn't just 'one more internet marketer who really didn't care'. Building your business with the long haul in mind will make it one of the best things you've ever done in your life. This is why it's so critical to have a mission statement in place.
MaryEllen Tribby mentored me for 90 days earlier this summer. One of the BIGGEST lessons she taught me and is helping me to really make a practice in my business is having a mission statement. This is the plumb line when it comes to JV relationships, changes in our marketing, switching of focus and our day to day activities. Make a mission statement with the long term vision in mind. This will protect you when the Internet Pimps come out and flatter you with all the 'great' things they can do with and for you. Here's a clue you've been pimped- They encourage you to leave everything behind and come follow your dream right where THEY are. A true business partner would have your mission in mind as they seek to aid and help you grow. Having this statement and vision in place will protect you from such vultures.
Social Media is a place to build rapport and connect on a daily basis with your clients. To prevent burn out and to keep things manageable use some of the following tools to make life easier:
1. Hootsuite– Pre-program tweets and posts that coincide with your Marketing Calendar. I don't recommend you pre-program everything but when you have particularly busy days use this to keep you on track and keep the conversation flowing. You can easily follow up on mentions, RT's and what others are saying about your company.
2. Friend Or Follow– This is a great tool to use! You'll be able to see who's not following you back on Twitter, who are YOU not following back and find out who are your mutual friends! I used this tool during our recent 12 hour giveaway! It made it easy to scroll through large groups of followers and pick a prize winner.
Giving just those two tools away will tick some people off. Every time I write a newsletter some wise guy writes me an email or a DM and asks me what the flip I think I'm doing giving all that stuff away. I recently received an email advising me to keep such content in my private classes or events.
It just goes to show you what I mean by GIVING AWAY your best. But let me just make this very clear…. those who attend our live event will discover just how much MORE we have to share! This isn't even half of what we're using and doing that has given us a serious understanding of how to monetize your efforts through Social Media. The big 'reveal' will take place in Indianapolis, IN Sept 17 & 18th.
Remember this- your customers and prospective clients are savvy. They are smart. They aren't dough heads. Anyone who is still using the same marketing strategies they used in 1978 at their Toast Masters meeting thinking they can still wow and impress their audience is scrambling to make a profit in today's marketing culture.
Social Media is a viable channel, an enormously profitable tool and one you should NOT be just playing around with. For serious profits, it's time to master this one. And….. make it your slave!
Sandi Krakowski spent 6 years in the Direct Sales industry building a $ 4 million dollar company that was run 100% online through eCommerce, building large sales forces in network marketing and home business industries. After earning $ 1.8 million dollars in a home based business market in 31 months, she went onto build a 7-figure marketing and copywriting firm in just 20 months. Currently she runs one of the fastest growing training venues teaching beginners to experts how to really use the internet to it's fullest capacity.
