Have you ever thought about the power of a story?
I was sitting around listening to some kids talking yesterday and one was telling a story about his recent camping trip with his parents to a few other kids. As I listened it hit me that social media marketing is a story dressed up as marketing.
In [...]
I just finished talking to a new client of mine that was interested in advertising their online business through social media and social networking. He was very excited about the whole idea, but was really hesitant to get started.
I see this as a common occurrence with the new clients I have been working with [...]
Unfortunately, a lot of people see social networking as a burden. I have talked to many people who have started with a few different social media websites only to abandon them because it was too hard to keep up. While there are some ways to keep your social media working for you, as in [...]
While this is not a formal part of The Story of Social Media Marketing series I am going to be starting here in the very near future, I thought I would expand a little bit on the concept and give you a little teaser.
This entire concept came to me as I sat and watched one [...]
I just finished talking to a new client of mine that was interested in advertising their online business through social media and social networking. He was very excited about the whole idea, but was really hesitant to get started.
I see this as a common occurrence with the new clients I have been working with lately. They’ve heard a ton about social media marketing, but are not quite sure how to get started. Or, even why they should get started. Let me expand on that last remark.
The obvious answer is to strengthen your brand, build your network, and drive traffic to your website. That is the real reason that people are spending so much time developing their social media strategies, hiring experts, and hanging out at Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and any of the other thousands of social websites. But, is that the reason why you should think of social media marketing?
I do believe that these are all important parts of developing your brand and elevating it to the place where it is readily recognizable. But, is that the real power of social media marketing?
I am going to try and use my son as an example of what I am going to say. My son is a very energetic 11 year old. He is homeschooled and picks up things very, very quickly. For instance, he should be in 5th grade, but we are doing 7th and 8th grade work this year. He began reading at about 3 years old and by the time he was five he could read the same kind of books that I read. I am not saying this to brag. I am using this as an example of what I think social media marketing is all about.
Development
I see, and work, with a lot of people on the Internet. And I love to see what is going in their business, their relationships… in every area of their lives. They are developing. They are becoming much better through the process of social media marketing. They are developing… growing.
I see them developing on many levels. Much like my son is. One of the things that I have been teaching my son, and my other two daughters, is really two things. First, to think in a constructive, critical, and transcending level. I have been using our curriculum to develop not only their math, reading, science, writing, and other subject skills, but to also think in a way that they can get past any difficulties. For instance, my son is currently doing Pre-Algebra for math this year. He is starting to see some things that he hasn’t seen before. Instead of standing over him and teaching the lesson. I give him time to look over the examples, look over the instructions, and try to figure it out. Sometimes he does, other times he doesn’t. But, with each different problem, he is developing.
The most important part of social media marketing is not the way you can build your business. It is in the very fact that you develop through this medium. I have found that people develop in many different ways, but there are three that are the most prominent.
Communication Skills Are Highly Elevated. I still think that email marketing is a pretty powerful way to get a message out there. However, real time communication like with Facebook, Twitter, and even Google Buzz require different types of communication skills. By immersing themselves in social media and networking, I have seen a huge growth in they way many people communicate today.
People Are Seeing Answers Before They Have Questions. One of the things that my son, and especially my eldest daughter, is seeing now in their studies is that they have already answered any questions they may have about a particular subject. As a matter of fact, a lot of the times they will stop in the middle of their question and give me a big smile while saying, “I just answered my own question, didn’t I?”
What I am seeing today in my interactions, and just watching people as they interact, or I am working with them, is that they are now seeing answers to problems before they even form the question. When it comes to the point where they begin to ask… they already know it. I see a lot of the questions I use to receive are no longer there. They are figuring out these things now for themselves. They are developing.
There Is A Much Larger Acceptance Of Risk. This is something that has always been present online, but I see it taking a much larger presence in people’s lives and businesses. What use to cause a little bit of hesitancy will not be done without much thought. Partnerships, new business focus, providing a service, learning something new; all things that require risk. People have developed now, through the use of social networking and marketing, where they accept a certain amount of risk without hesitation.
Social media marketing is a very powerful way to build a business. However, should it just be looked at as a business builder? Should that be the main focus? I think a paradigm shift of sorts is called for here. I think that before we begin talking about how powerful social media is, we should talk about it as a developer of people.
Instead of teaching people to build their business, teach them how to develop their skills.
What do you think?
If you are not using Twitter yet, what are you waiting for?
Twitter marketing should not be your sole reason for using the service, but it does happen naturally. Here are some Twitter success tips from Twitter-Marketingonline.com.
Social networking is a very powerful form of advertising today. In fact, if done correctly, a social media marketing campaign can be a very powerful, effective, and inexpensive way to promote your new product, initiative, or charity. The applications for social networking is really endless.
I just saw this video about using social networking for businesses. It explains to business owners, professionals, and bloggers to get get their message out through a social media – networking strategy focusing on leveraging LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, You Tube, Flickr, and Business Blogs. There is a lot of useful information. Well worth the 5 minutes.
If you are a power Twitter user, you know full well the potential of this microblogging service. But, what about the future?
Here is a great video, put together by Loic LeMeur, that outlines 30 future predictions for Twitter.
What do you think about Twitter?
Social networking on online is about connecting with two three groups of people.
First, people who you already know. These are your current friends and connections. Connecting with them on your social networks will help you keep in touch better and build stronger connections for referrals and introductions.
Second, your target audience. Your target audience is the people who will be most receptive to your message, your brand, and your products or services. Networking with your audience means that you are not only broadcasting links in your social updates, but also real information and a high level of personality, and approachability.
Third, those you want to get to know. This is a very powerful group of people to network with. These are the people who you would term as those above you in terms of success, reputation, and following. Getting to network with this group will help you solidify your networking in the other two groups.
Are you trying to connect with these groups? If not, then you are missing out on your entire social networking program.
Many people are being told, and taught, that they should just try to connect with everyone and anyone. This simply is not true. Just reaching out and trying to connect with everyone is not going to accomplish the goals you have for your social networking and telling your story.
The other part of networking online has to do with your interaction. You’ve probably heard it said a thousand times by now how you should be interacting online. The sad thing is, not many people are actually doing it. I am constantly bombarded with DM’s with links, status updates with links in it, and a bunch of different offers through various means. It is almost overwhelming at times.
That is the wrong way to network. The right way is to actively engage with the people in your social media streams. Talk, ask questions, give solutions, chat about life — this is how to network.
Go beyond that introduce people to others, compliment on great work you’ve seen them do, ask for opportunities to work together — this is networking also.
So, how is your social networking? Is it about networking?
