Expand Your Income Potential Training - Day 6

Effective Relationship Building through social media

(Seriously, this is exactly how to benefit from social media)

 

From under the Twitter whale,
Leonardo Saraceni, Outer Banks, NC

 

Dear Social Networker,

Let's set the record straight, before we go any further: There is NO Social Media Marketing. If any "guru" out there says differently, they're after your money.

Recently, on American Express' Open Forum, marketing genious Seth Godin made it clear:

"If you're on Facebook, you're probably my friend [...] and it's worthless!"

Get past the hype, look beyond your twitter scoreboard, and ask yourself: what am I accomplishing with Social Media?

And DO NOT think that because you're able to send 50, 60, 100 people to your website with a 140 character post, you're generating results, because website hits means nothing.

Even professionals such as Guy Kawasaki, Chris Brogan, and Perry Belcher are not selling anything online. They exercise their incredible Social presence to increase brand awareness and create relationships.

Before we get to nitty gritty, I want to give you a more general overview:

Vaporizing barriers - social media will bring me new business partners

The impact of the exponential increase in Social Networking eliminated geographical boundaries once and for all, which made our life as internet marketers much easier, because we now have immediate access to markets accross the globe, and we're able to conduct business without a phone, if so desired.

However, the process of creating a business partner continues to be just as delicate and complicated as it was 100 years ago. It involves mutual respect and credibility, plus interest, all of which are conquered over time.

The beauty of Social Media is that it allows you to share those values in a passive, non-salesy way. Previous to having access to this social content, where would a potential partner find your brand's values? Through your advertisement, which are always subjective.

Noticed I've differentiated social content from advertisement? Key factor here!

Relationship Building - Create and promote values

Imagine all social networks as one big party: you strike up random conversations all the time, meet lots of people, but at the end, whose names do you remember?

And why would you remember them? Were they particularly interesting because...?

I guarantee you it wasn't because that person tried to sell you something 5 minutes after meeting you.

So, what do you do?

Here are some basic guidelines to position your brand using social networks:

Do your homework.
Facebook is an environment that oversteps the boundaries between personal and business lives. It is a place where you can piece together your colleagues' personality. That said, do some research! Find out your prospective business connection's interests and preferences.

Make meaningful connections.
Quality always beats quantity. Remember you're in a party. You make connections because you are fun and interesting to interact with. If your connections ever become business colleagues, that is wonderful but it should never be your primary motive. Above all, you want to create meaningful relationships!

Use your toolset.
You do not have to install dozens of fancy applications to make an impact. By default, your Facebook account has a number of basic tools you can use to help others get to know you. Write notes, post photos and links, and make an impression. You have to participate in social media for other users to interact with you and develop a connection.

Toss the agenda.
Avoid trying to market yourself immediately. You want others to see you as a person. Just posting links to your blog and sending messages with clearly ulterior motives will alienate others irreversibly! Focus on being real and developing connections.

Maintain.
This may seem like common sense but its often forgotten. Once you create a connection, you need to maintain it. That is, keep in touch even if lightly. Check up occasionally and see what is new. Read notes and statuses, exchange information, and help others out whenever possible.

Of course, the purpose of this course is to get prospects to come to you, using smart attraction marketing, so

How do I take a more active role in Social Media?

One word: CONTENT!

Let's go back to the party analogy: would you attract anybody at a party without having an opinion on wine, food, politics, beer, or sports?

Your brand will experience the most social benefits when the community you're in is getting a lot of value as well. Share your opinion regarding Google™, marketing, personal development, politics, beer, wine...

And interact - ReTweet, respond, comment, share, laugh, shout - by doing so, not only are you increasing your credibility with potential partners, but you're opening communication channels!

The easier it is to find you, the more you'll be found!

Now, take a 10 min break and enjoy this video, which summarizes our discussion.

Here's Perry Belcher on Social Media:

The Missing element...

Tomorrow, you're going to enjoy the power of Blogging!

We'll finally make the connection between your social media efforts and your sales page.

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Name Email Phone# My Immediate Goal Is... We Absolutely Hate Spam. We'll Never Sell or Trade Your Data

 

To Socially Interactive Brands,

 

 

P.S - To jump over the competition, have access to the full, no punches held course, plus all the one-on-one training you'll ever need to succeed online, get the full training:

http://www.yourincomepotential.com/letter.html