Business Opportunities Weblog

October 7, 2010 by Rich Whittle | 3 Comments

Attempting social media marketing without a well-planned strategy is like jumping into the deep end of the pool when you can’t swim — not a recipe for success. At Entrepreneur’s Winning Strategies for Business conference, Starr Hall revealed three things you must do to be successful with social networking.

1. Build social proof: Social proof is just that, proving online that you’re worth doing business with. Your reviews, testimonials and recommendations are what convince people you are worth building a relationship with.

2. Choose quality not quantity: The more people you know, the less you know them. Hall asks; if you have 50,000 friends online, how can you possibly manage those relationships? The answer is, you’re not. Stop thinking about the numbers! The whole point of social media is to cultivate relationships with your market, it’s not a popularity contest. Concentrate on developing a rapport with people who engage with your brand online, the numbers will take care of themselves.

3. Have a plan and procedures: Imagine hopping in your car to take an out-of-state road trip, only you don’t take a map. That’s the analogy Hall used to illustrate a common mistake among small-business owners; participating in social media without policies and procedures.

Photo by Photofunia.

In Featured | 3 Comments
Tags: Social Media, Social Network, Strategy