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@bradjward
How true! And don't forget, nothing beats face-to-face networking: talking to everyone you know, being yourself and letting them know you are there to help them. I opened up shop earlier this year and have been quite busy with mostly word of mouth business. And when I get a referral, I find those people are researching me on the web in advance. When they see me talking about issues they are facing, they can see we could be a good fit. So, the networking and the visibility online are working hand-in-glove.
Cheers,
Connie
Just my 2 cents.
Apolinaras "Apollo" Sinkevicius
As I work with clients, I find I have to consciously start simple. My problem is that I like to give them the explanation of what's going on under the hood (not just RSS, you want feedburner, here are the accessibility implications of using Flash or Javascript), and often people just want something they can drive off the lot.
It's like being a butcher and marketing to vegetarians, or an exotic dancer trying to score a week's performing at the local church - you have to know your audience and when something is simply a bad idea.
Offering real-time examples are great as well. Want to impress a (potential) new client with Twitter, for example? Ask them to spare some time and then search out people that are talking about their brand. Get the company online and involved in these conversations while you're explaining the benefits of that small interaction.
Then show them how that interaction has just led to a spike in interest in their brand because they're actively using social media to converse with their customer base.
It's a game of show and tell in reverse - tell them what you can do and then show them the proof. Cost of that proof is then easier to justify.
Great stuff!!!
Thanks. This is the path I am taking as I am starting to develop my new blog A MAUI BLOG. I still have a lot of do, but reading this post help me a lot to be on the right path :)
Thanks for all the other great links in this post as well. I'll probably be using those resources and this post as a guide to work off of for the coming year of business.
Keep up the great work!
If the client starts to ask more curious questions then fine, buzz away. But start with plain dollars and sense. @jesseluna on Twitter
Great points. I can tell you from the perspective of someone still on the outside you hit the points well. I started to participate in the whole SM thing just to keep current. I own a computer support firm as my "day job" so I need to be able to speak intelligently about all these things. This is especially important since I position myself as a trusted advisor. Can I show them how to leverage and grow their network? Not as much as I like. I am finding people I would feel comfortable pointing out as examples and I think that is probably one of the greatest strengths of SM.
Also I am learning by watching and reading how I can leverage this all to my advantage as well. While I do love being a computer support person there are other passions I want to pursue and will be better able to make those a reality thanks to the great words and work people like you are doing.
If that doesn’t work, try something else- has been a part of my mantra for awhile now. Glad to see it isn't "old" media.
Keep up the great work and thanks for the time.
Alyx
Twitter @smartalyx
Were u talking to me or its possible that you read my mind. That's absolutely what I was thinking about.
I conduct workshops on social media for my clients n their employees, as part of my services. But if I start looking for more clients, I need to find people who looking for my services.
A wonderful marketing principle my dad taught me when I was young, "Sell salt in the forest and firewood near the sea. Not the other way round"
I have commented and blogged about this for a long time and am usually howled down as if I am trying to kill the messiah. The real art of this post is presenting the idea of simple and efficient selling like you, with the help of new forms of social media, invented it.
Fabulous!
Nice job of helping shake some of us up. New theme is strong btw.
(found this via a tweet)
You have to reach out to communities that may need your services. You have to go out an sell yourself.
Thanks. I'm trying to build my own consulting gig right now focused on helping old school business development professionals leverage all these new tools. I think you made an important point when you said, "It’s amazing how the basics of sales and marketing still work."
I see so many people who have already bought into social media become entranced with the technology itself. The old rules of the networking game still apply - meet as many people as you can, bring whatever you can to the table without expecting anything in return, and build human relationships.
Social media just makes this happen much faster and more efficiently. Clients I'm targeting are old pros at selling and are just in search of someone to teach them a better way to do what they already know how to do.
But with all the buzz these days on the social web, selling the concept as a valid approach is getting much easier.
One key things to remember is that most people don't actively participate in blogs, post youtube videos, interact on twitter and so on. There are many potential clients that realize this could all be important to them but don't know where to start. They need simple, basic education and providing that is great way to get going. You don't have to be Chris Brogan to do that :).
It is possible that some of this initial education happens for free (though not necessarily) and that builds a relationship which could lead to business. For example, I was recently approached by a film/t.v. producer that is working on a very exciting project and they need some basic help initially. What is a blog? What is twitter? What is slideshare? Then the questions evolve to: How can I use these things in my business? How can I use facebook as part of launch.? What tools can I use to monitor how things are going? Can you help with all of this?
Based on this, I put together a very simple slide deck for my clients to walk them through this stuff and a simple 5 step process I can take them through, starting with simple stuff and moving from there. So far, so good.
"Why do you rob banks?"
"Because thats where the money is."
The whole Twitter world seems kind of introverted and self-serving... these are some great tips to break out of the shell!
As a "traditional" marketer now blending in some of this social media stuff as an independent, I WAS the client for a long time. And the one thing that's killing me is the idea that everyone wants to be the leader, the glamour shot, the one standing in front of a room killing it with some uber powerpoint deck.
Truth is, I see few SM "experts" in my sphere that are willing to sit down and do the grit work: writing the social media press release. Launching the blog, including working with the developers to implement it and train people. Do research and write reports. Develop content, and lots of it. So even if they're selling it to the right people, it's all about being and looking smart and not so much about being useful and impactful (much less accountable).
If you write me a proposal, I need to see what you're going to deliver, in concrete terms, how long it's going to take, and how much it's going to cost. Those are the things that matter to me as a marketing director, because I am counting on you to ease my burden and shoulder real workload. That's what I'm paying you for. If you're providing social media services, you'd better be able to tell me what that means to me on a day to day basis, not just in terms of standing up in our boardroom and talking theory for an hour to our executive team. Soundbites aren't going to improve my business. Real work will.
Thanks for the reminder and gentle kick in the pants.
As always great advice. I love the idea that SM people are pitching to other SM people, perhaps they think that is easier as those people already understand SM. I completely agree with Richie. Be prepared to educate for free first. If they dont understand what it is you are trying to sell, then your potential customers are not going to buy.
Simon
I am launching a new website in 2009 with an integrated blog and my game plan is to start writing some simple DIY type of posts designed to help some of my target customers get motivated and see the value in branding. Hopefully this may give me more visitors who are customers instead of colleagues.
My point here, is that I can get good at this SM stuff on my own, and I don't need an expert, such as in this case, you. So, I'm guessing your point has been made, and that I need to find what makes me unique, just like everyone else :)
And, I have to say, it drives me a crazy to here SM "experts" talk in absolutes. In this space, there is nothing absolute. Just a whole lot of gray. A LOT of gray. Yes, there needs to be goals and objectives, strategies, etc, but in the end, it has to support a business. Only one thing is absolute - profitability. Or, else the biz will die.
You
Shaun
http://twitter.com/EndTheRoboCalls
They don't know or care what a lot of the social media "features" are, they just want to know why paying you is going to make them bigger, badder, more competitive and richer. If you can't answer that, it's game over.
1. A Headline that matters - to your ideal client!
2. Media that proves you deliver! ie: a web presence, Regularly updated samples of your best Photos, Audio, Video, Words - easiest to do through blogging or commenting on blogs (if that's where your ideal client will see them).
3. Calls to Action - keep just a couple great ones and focus on the engagement level of action - ie: follow me on twitter.com, subscribe to my feed.
Things not to worry about:
1. your logo
2. a standard web site
Great post!
Thanks, Chris.
into your business. Especially if your first profits come
from free advertising. I suggest you upgrade to some paid
advertising programs, so that your next profits come faster. Or
buy software that will help you promote your business more
effectively. If you decide to spend some money at the beginning
of your business, you should keep some of your earnings, let's
say 20-40%, but no more. Spend the rest on upgrades and tools to
build your business faster.