Investing In Social Media

Investing in social media IS investing in yourself.  I’ll pause for a minute and let you re-read that sentence.  It is that important.  Investing in social media IS investing in yourself.  No matter if you are a business owner or a sales rep, you are making several investment decisions every day.  You invest in the clothes you wear to a business meeting.  You invest in the tools of your business, your computer, your transportation, even the pictures on your office walls.  There is a story you are wanting to tell to your potential customers.  You invest in your story.

What better way to invest in your story, than by telling it on social media?  This is an investment in time, thought, and even training or support.  The choice is yours, but I am reminded of one of my favorite lyrics.  “If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.” (“Freewill” by Rush)  When a potential customer goes looking for you on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, or other social media outlets and finds nothing (or even worse no activity for over a year) what does that tell them about you and your business?  Are you still wearing bell-bottoms, or a suit from the 1980’s?  You have invested in yourself and with the changing times.  It is time to take a hard look at your social media investment, and what story it is telling everyone you want as customers.

Although social media sites are essentially "free" to create an account, social media marketing as a program is worth the investment in your business.  The results you receive are equivalent  to the investment you put behind them. 

~ Social Media is changing the way people do business.  Don't get left behind ~ 

Jeremy Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a social media manager, trainer and consultant in  LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+ , Pinterest and the tools to manage them.
  
Sign up for your Free Social Media Analysis 

Utilizing Social Media to enhance Face-to-Face Networking

If you are like me, you have met many people through face-to-face in networking meetings and events.  It is a wonderful resource to be able to meet someone, talk about mutual interests, exchange business cards and . . . then what?   

Do you intentionally connect again in person to dive deeper; talking about each others specialties?   

Do you load their contact information in your contact list or maybe send an email or two talking about the things you do in hopes there is some mutual benefit? 

If you have tried this in the past, chances are the relationship quickly ends after your first email or exchange of business cards.

How can you build on that initial meeting and maintain the business relationship?

First off, the initial meeting doesn’t provide enough time to really dive into all of the skills, services and specialties that your connection has to offer.  Even in 10 minutes, it is difficult to breakdown a list of the reasons why each of the service offerings can be of benefit to someone. Taking the time to really get to know this person and ideally the best way to refer business to them would require many meetings, discussions and examples of how they have helped other clients in the past.

One of the best ways to get familiar with the additional information that should be shared is a mutual exchange of relationship building through social media.  Here are some starter ideas of how to get that conversation in the right direction.

(1)    Connect with that person on LinkedIn

     a.       Connecting on LinkedIn shows your contact that you are interested in continued networking past the business card exchange

     b.      Depending on how they have their profiles configured, if they have their contact information loaded right into their LinkedIn profile, you export your connections into Outlook (for example) and it will populate there for you.  

(2)    Send a personal message thanking them for the connection

     a.       Messages in LinkedIn can be searchable in your Inbox, the same way names / titles / industries / specialties are searchable under People, Company and Group sections of the platform. 

     b.      Include questions they can respond to in your message; such as asking them more about their specialties or some other interest such as personal goals or their favorite book.

(3)    Ask if they connect in other social spaces and send them your social links as well.

     a.       If you are a Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+ or LinkedIn Company user, a great way to build followers and pages you are following is by connecting to those you are connected to in your network.  Due to space in most cases, the easiest way for those to be shared mutually is through a personal message.

     b.      Sharing of content in the social profiles provides a great means of communicating your services

Because social media is a great social medium for sharing business experiences, life events, service offerings, relatable story telling and promotions, your new connection will have the opportunity to not only share with you, but will also have the opportunity to learn from your sharing and contribute questions and reciprocal discussions in return.

By taking your business card exchange to a new level utilizing your social media resources, your relationships can continue to grow past the initial meeting and hopefully lead to another face-to-face discussion about other things you are mutually interested in.

It takes commitment, time and care; but then again, any good relationship takes work to maintain.  Give it a try and see if you set the trend in your network with relationship building.

~ Social Media is changing the way people do business.  Don't get left behind ~ 

Hollie Clere, of The Social Media Advisor is a social media manager, trainer and author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+ , Pinterest and the tools to manage them. Click here for her Social Media Links

Sign up for your Free Social Media Analysis 

LinkedIn: Unlock the Potential

LinkedIn just might be one of the most misused “multi-tools” on the net.  A quick look on Wikipedia just illustrates my point.  Most people are using LinkedIn as an address book of professional connections, a site to post a resume in search of a new job, a place for employers to “head hunt” to fill spots in their company.  Let me take a minute to say that those that use LinkedIn for these purposes are having great success.  With over 58 million members in the United States alone, many business owners are missing out on the great potential of LinkedIn.

Throughout history many of the things we use every day, were actually created for an entirely different purpose.  One example is a spring that was designed in 1943 by a naval engineer to help stabilize sensitive equipment on ships.  If the potential of this spring wasn’t unlocked, then there would be only a select group of people that would have any use for this spring or even know what it is.  Because the potential of this spring was unlocked, there have been more than 300 million sold and you would be hard pressed to find anyone that doesn’t know what a Slinky is.

Any business owner or salesman should be chopping at the bit with the thought of tapping into a market of over 147 million worldwide.  Imagine being able to reach out to this many potential customers in a place they are already visiting, and allowing these potential customers to build a relationship with you and your company.  If that wasn’t enough, the Basic LinkedIn account is FREE!  I have never seen such a pool of potential customers that you can access for free, that are already spending on average 8 – 21 minutes a day, but is being used by most to search for a job and NOT customers.  Even the paid versions of LinkedIn provide so many additional options to enhance your connection experience.

 The bottom line is that the tools are all around us.  If you are not unlocking these tools, you are getting left behind.  In a climate where millions of small businesses are closing each year, can you afford to not unlock this potential?  If you don’t know how to unlock these tools, then I would suggest finding someone with a key before it is too late.

~ Social Media is changing the way people do business.  Don't get left behind ~ 

Jeremy Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a social media manager, trainer and consultant in  LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+ , Pinterest and the tools to manage them.  

Sign up for your Free Social Media Analysis 

Why choose Social Media?

To understand the question, “Why social media”?  You first have to understand America and how Americans decide where to spend their money.  The foundation of this country has always been about “the guy next door” or “the mom and pop” businesses.  Even if you don’t consider your business one of these, it’s not about your business but about your customer. 

Your customer wants to do business with someone they “know”.  It has always been that way.  Due to the big box stores and advertising prices through the roof, the “little guy” has gotten lost.  It’s not that customers prefer these shops, because of advertising; they just know them like they used to know Tim’s Hardware down the street.  Most people will tell you that there is something missing.  Shopping from Mrs. Large Hardware Chain or Mr. Just As Large Hardware Chain just isn’t the same as when they could walk into Tim’s, get greeted by name, and put their money into the pockets of someone they actually knew.

Even if your potential customers have never known anything other than the big box stores, there is still something buried deep within their DNA that makes them want to spend their money with someone they know.  Bottom line is that your customers are looking for you!  If they can’t get to know you, they will still spend their money, but it will be with whom ever the media has told them to do business with.

Most business owners will tell you that if they could just sit down with a potential customer and talk to them about their product or service, they would be closing deals hand over fist.  With social media you not only allow your potential customers to get to know you, but you get to know them as well.  No matter what “widget” you sell, you will sell much more if people have a chance to buy them from “Tom” or “Jill” instead of a website or cold store front.



~ Social Media is changing the way people do business.  Don't get left behind ~ 

Jeremy Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a social media manager, trainer and consultant in  LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+ , Pinterest and the tools to manage them.  

Sign up for your Free Social Media Analysis 

How do I secure my username on multiple social platforms?

Please ask us all of the time where and how to secure profile names that match the website address.  It is important to secure these as early as possible when reserving your domain name.

There is a great site available called: Knowem at http://knowem.com which allows you to search for a specific user name (ex: abccomm) to see what sites may have it available. It is a great tool where you can streamline a single user name through “all” of the different social media platforms and reserve that name moving forward. The key to this is build your branding and your company branding effectively by presenting the same URL user name throughout all platforms and mediums.

We have used this tool in the past and it is very helpful.

~ Social Media is changing the way people do business.  Don't get left behind ~ 

Hollie Clere, of The Social Media Advisor is a social media manager, trainer and author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+ , Pinterest and the tools to manage them. Click here for her Social Media Links

Sign up for your Free Social Media Analysis