BUSINESS ARTICLES - Marketing
Social Media and the Contractor
Social Media can waste your time. Facebook, MySpace, Twitter. They'll suck your time dry. Unless you use them correctly. Too many business owners jump into the Web 2.0 fray employing traditional marketing strategies. But these media aren't about marketing; they're about building a community.
The good news is that if you can build a vibrant community, you can have a very, very powerful marketing tool. Here's what it takes.
1. Forget about the tools. All the websites are just tools to build a community. Focus first on the community and then the site. Suggestion. Start with an event, such as a charity golf outing, that brings people together and use your FacebookTwitterMyspace exposure to manage the event. Then build that core into a community that expands.
2. Content, content, content. It is essential to provide content of value to your community. Just opining endlessly or posting funny videos won't get the community you want. You have to listen to what the community wants, then deliver it.
3. Don't do it yourself. Social media is like running a magazine. You can't do all the writing, designing, and editing yourself. You have to bring in experts to make it work for you. A business owner is far more valuable out selling or managing the business not managing content for social media.
4. Bring your personality. This is tough. You have to deliver your personality through these media, but if someone is ghostwriting your material, that becomes difficult. So, provide an overall strategy that fits your personality. Get the right mix of information and entertainment your audience wants. Then devote some time to speaking to the group personally. That's where your voice will shine.
Once you have an engaged community, you have put your hands on a very powerful tool that can be directed. Use it wisely!
The good news is that if you can build a vibrant community, you can have a very, very powerful marketing tool. Here's what it takes.
1. Forget about the tools. All the websites are just tools to build a community. Focus first on the community and then the site. Suggestion. Start with an event, such as a charity golf outing, that brings people together and use your FacebookTwitterMyspace exposure to manage the event. Then build that core into a community that expands.
2. Content, content, content. It is essential to provide content of value to your community. Just opining endlessly or posting funny videos won't get the community you want. You have to listen to what the community wants, then deliver it.
3. Don't do it yourself. Social media is like running a magazine. You can't do all the writing, designing, and editing yourself. You have to bring in experts to make it work for you. A business owner is far more valuable out selling or managing the business not managing content for social media.
4. Bring your personality. This is tough. You have to deliver your personality through these media, but if someone is ghostwriting your material, that becomes difficult. So, provide an overall strategy that fits your personality. Get the right mix of information and entertainment your audience wants. Then devote some time to speaking to the group personally. That's where your voice will shine.
Once you have an engaged community, you have put your hands on a very powerful tool that can be directed. Use it wisely!
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| Todd F. - 12/01/10 at 07:07:17 MST |
| robert r. - 12/09/10 at 13:37:57 MST |
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