Social Media Marketing & Time Management

Dear Moxie Maven

So, here’s my question – do you every sleep? I think adding social media to marketing sounds like a great idea, but I really seem to have only a small amount of time to learn about what I need to do. That’s even before I start to blog, post links, or share photos. Besides, I guess I still am missing why all the above has anything to do with promoting my business, can you help me connect the dots?

Sleepless in Grand Junction

Dear Sleepless,

It is easy to be confused about using social media for personal reasons and using it for business reasons. When you see your target market online, they will usually be using social media for personal reasons. This is why it seems awkward to just interrupt the conversation about a recent vacation your friend had with a message about your business. So, don’t!

Social media is about building relationships on a very personal level with your potential market. It is about contributing to the conversations in a meaningful and helpful manner. This means that if you have breaking industry news, share it. Social media is not about closing the sale it is about generating interest.

If you have amazing photographs of the process you go through to make a product, share them. If you find a video that is by an industry expert, share it. If you find an article that you disagree with in your industry, blog about it. Finally, if you happen to trip on a really neat video or information totally unrelated to your business, share it.

To learn social media take it slow, don’t lose sleep over it. Learn one platform at a time, then move on to the next. There is no need to have a presence everywhere from the moment you begin online. Each and every platform will have its own nuances and even language to learn.

Above all have fun with your discoveries. You won’t break anything by clicking around and exploring. Think back to when you wondered, “What happens when I push this button.” Your dad may have yelled out, “Don’t push that button. Whatever you do…Don’t push that button!”

Now I’m telling you to click on every link, push all the buttons, turn all the knobs and really see what each social media platform can really do.

If you are on absolutely no social media platforms at all, and you really don’t have time to start learning one, I highly recommend you begin a blog. Make an appointment in your book to work on your blog at least three times a week, and just start writing.

If you are in a very specialized industry, you may quickly rise to the top of the search when you provide very relevant information to those that would be searching for it. (Hint: your potential customers)

Alright, let me challenge you. If you own a retail store that sells telescopes, what would you blog about? You would want to talk about space, what is visible by a telescope, the different qualities of telescope and the differences in what would be visible. Above all you would want to integrate your product line into the discussion about what can be seen in space by which specific telescope.

It really doesn’t matter what industry you are in, there are ways of applying that knowledge to a blog. Now, once you are ready to really turn on the flow of visitors to your site, start to learn your first social media platform. This is one of the best ways to generate free traffic to your blog.

Can you see how it all fits together, and how you can actually take it in much smaller steps?

Let me know when you have your blog up and going and I will stop by for visit.

Posted on 9/14/09 in the Grand Junction Free Press.