There is much of social networking that I dislike. I see a lot of time wasting. But I do see remarkable uses of social media for business development. Social Media can be a powerful business builder.
First off we need to clarify Social Media types. This in not a comprehensive list- more for a flavor.
Blogging is a very powerful content creation system.
It is a very powerful tool for you to connect the problem solving genius of your key people to the community who has questions and problems- wants and wishes relating to your value producing business model. A blog is a great place for creating conversations. I highly recommend Blogging as an unsurpassed business development tool.
Facebook is a powerful tool for making friends and building community.
It is not a place to show how special your are- but a great place to start a conversation helping people with great ideas on how to use your products and services. Facebook is also a great place to help people watch out for problems that you solve. Facebook is a great place to have conversations, answer questions, do interviews and tell stories.
Facebook is not a place to pitch your products and push at people aggressively. You need to develop your attraction skills and rely less on your prodigious powers of persuasion.
Facebook is more than a tool. Everyone wants to show you how to use Facebook. Understanding the technology of Facebook is critical but it only puts you where you can be really annoying if you don’t know what you are doing.
Facebook is a perfect place to collect stories, and create points of attraction to gather people into a community. You are making friends not making sales. Of course, people buy stuff for people they like. Everyone needs to go visit Toms Shoes. This is the best Facebook page I have ever seen. If you don’t see the attraction here- call me because you have a vision problem. You need a Facebook vision checkup.
Twitter is where you can meet people and leave tracks to other content you create.
It is a promotion medium but promotion is not the right word. To many people promote to the point of spam.
Sharing sites are where people recommend and leave tracks to your great content.
You can give them easy technology to share your stuff, but it has to be interesting for them to pass it on.
Is Social Media a good place for you? For your employees?
I would put it on a priority list below well considered and compelling content and a robust conventional lead generating program. You need your prospect nurturing systems in place and working before worrying about Social media.
Beware: Social networking takes time. It can be attractive to those wanting to avoid what really needs doing.
You need a carefully thought out strategy for proceeding. But what smart activity doesn’t require a plan and careful consideration?
It all depends on how well you are doing with the fundamentals. Social Media is a great way to meet individuals and build relationships. If you have clear business objectives, know who you want to talk to and why and you know where the swimming hole is- well social media is merely an extension of rubbing shoulders and bumping into the people you want to meet.
Social Media is a great place to prepare an oasis where your colleagues, potential partners, prospects and customers can come and connect- it just requires a clear understanding of what they will find oasis-like. Too many create a bed of nails level of attraction. Or just hang up a sign in the sand. OASIS. It has to deliver value for your visitors or they just keep moving on… and mutter.
There is just a huge amount of talk about Social Media. An attempt to discover what might help you- is daunting. Social media virtues can be hard to pin down-particularly for your market niche for two reasons.
1. Each market segment has its unique flavor- and smart social media fits into its niche. A lot of information you see- needs translation into something that might make sense in you situation. It can also be misleading.
2. There is this huge blathering class making a living promoting social networking, promoting ways to invest in social networking- classes, seminars, webinars….
Plus a whole blaboshere of people who use social networking to talk about the role of social networking and every aspect of it… and
They connect to each other and add to and argue with and carry on…
and leave the busy guy trying to make a living stressed out and frustrated trying to cut through the crap and make sense of it.
Do not miss these 3 key principles to Social Networking. They will help keep you from pickpockets.
- When you know who you want to talk to
- When you know what they are concerned about
- When you have real value to offer them
Social media is a powerful tool to cross paths and connect with them
There are any number of ways to do Social Media wrong and a few ways that make sense for you.
Avoid dumbness . These behaviors waste time and chase people away. We need to know what doesn’t work.
Collaboration with chosen partners is a great leverage point with social networking. A few powerful partners can work together to better understand social media, leverage the benefits, share the load and make ocial networking activities more profitable, more enjoyable and much less frustrating. You can explore the power of Collaboration here.
Feel free to email me if you want to discuss whether a social networking foray makes sense for your business. An outside viewpoint can be enlightening. Reviewing the fundamentals would be useful. I don’t have all the answers but I can probably save you time and prevent frustration- filtering out gems from the great sand pit of the blaboshere.
Oh, and feel free to tell me where I am wrong about social networking 
