Social media marketing is the big thing now for network marketing, MLM, direct sales, and other home based business entrepreneurs looking to expand their connections and get more leads online for their business.
The social networking sites most often highlighted as the “places to be” are Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. These are the “big three” for most networkers right now. There are many, many other networking communities that are smaller and more focused on particular niches, and these can be very important too depending on your particular business and product.
I’m a strong believer in being a student of marketing, both online and offline. I’ve invested in many different ebooks and other training materials designed to teach people in network marketing and other home based businesses how to properly make connections and build relationships in these communities.
You probably know what NOT to do. Blatant selling and promotion is not appreciated in these communities at all, and this is not what effective social media marketing is all about. The key is to focus on being a contributor and leader, not a pushy salesperson who is obviously there to make connections solely to promote a business or product. This approach will fail, and many have learned this the hard way.
There is definitely a need to study social media marketing and learn how to do it effectively. The key is not going off in too many directions, trying to do too much at once. That’s what happens to a lot of people, they jump into everything and try to be active and effective in multiple communities. This might work for the person who can put in a lot of hours, but will not be so practical for those who are squeezing in their business building activities between job and family responsibilities.
Here is what I believe is the best way to master social media marketing.
First, don’t let yourself get overwhelmed. Let’s take the “big three” networking sites – Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. There are many fundamental principles for making connections and building relationships that apply to each of them. However, each of these communities is unique in its own way, and for maximum effectiveness you must dig in deep and spend some time learning about it in depth.
I recommend setting up accounts with all three, creating profiles on each, and participating in each. However, pick one of them to focus on and learn how to use it effectively. Focus on that one (most people would recommend Facebook to start) and work it until you are well established and start getting consistent leads from it. Then learn how to use another, in depth, and so on.
To put it another way, if you’re spending all your social media marketing time jumping from one to the other just doing a little here and there, you will probably never get a consistent stream of prospects and leads. Your time and effort is just too scattered. Pick one, spend most of your time there and learn it well (pick up a good course that shows you how to build a powerful profile and effective presence) and stick with it until it’s providing consistent leads for you.
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Eldon,
As you alluded to here, becoming a specialist on one of the big three can prove to be a very powerful tactic to making social media work for you, In my opinion the easiest way to “master” social media is to just start connecting with people and contributing to the different conversations. Learn by doing.
Dewane, jumping in and contributing is the way to go, I just try to caution people to leave their promotional shoes at the door, you know? It’s so tempting to put your opportunity out there in front of everyone, but being blatant will backfire on you.
I agree, engage the people and give value first way before the sales pitch. That should be left for one’s blog and other lead generation methods, not an open forum like social sites. You should always build the relationship before you need it.