Showing posts with label Marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marketing. Show all posts

A Dirty Little Secret About Social Media...

Here's a guest post from my marketing mentor Dave Dee. Enjoy!

Just like my kids, I want every business I launch to grow
up to be strong, healthy, and well-rounded.

When it comes to marketing, you want a strategy that is
going to give you a steady flow of leads that are excited
to hear from you, buy from you, and tell their friends to
do the same. Luckily, that's what I specialize in, so get
out your notepad because I'm about to tell you a VERY
important secret.

What's the opposite of strong, healthy, and well-rounded?

Weak, fragile, and narrow-minded. I wouldn't want my kids
to grow up that way, and I sure don't want to grow a
business to have it crumble under its own weight.

The key to growing a robust business really comes down
to marketing. Without that steady influx of leads you're
likely to be hobbling along like all the other business
that will expire like a candle this month.

How do you make your marketing robust? Just like you want
your kids to eat from ALL the major food groups, and get
smart in ALL the types of intelligence, you want your
business to embrace ALL the best marketing strategies.

Here is a dirty little secret you will hear from neither
the Social Media gurus, nor the old die-hard direct-response
mailguys that I learned from:

You need both.

That's right. In this day and age, if you don't have a
presence on Facebook and Twitter, you're pre-historic. Yet,
if all you do is spend your days surfing social media looking
for clients, that's like swimming through the water all day
looking for a fish to net.

What you want is to attract and retain clients with a hybrid
marketing strategy that includes:

1.) A solid base of Direct Response Mail - postcards,
letter campaigns, and of course, a monthly newsletter (the
traditional stuff that WORKS)

2.) A regular email contact similar to the emails you
receive from me - at least weekly, as much as daily

3.) A consistent presence on the top social media sites -
Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn

The real power comes when you get them all working together.

Things really start cooking when someone finds you on social
media and signs up for your email list. Or when someone gets
your direct mail and follows you on Twitter because you list
that as a contact option. It's list building, but it's a more
interactive list.

The best is when someone signs up for your newsletter and
gives you their address on your landing page because they
followed a link you posted on Twitter or Facebook. I love
when that happens! Social media is just like a big mouth on
a marketing funnel.

Here's a great tip - in your emails you want to lead people
to your social media profiles so they can check you out and
really get a feel for you. Put links to your social media
profiles in your emails! It's a much more personal form of
communication, and people feel like they're getting "more"
of YOU when there are pictures and real-time interaction.

It's amazing how much of your personality and expertise can
be conveyed on social media. Prospects you gain there will
be some of your best because they've pre-screened themselves
to be a good "fit." They like you, know you, and want to do
business with YOU.

If you do all these together, each one of them, you will
have a business that grows up healthy, strong, and has a
well-rounded base to keep it stable when the storms in life
come a-blowin.

Here's your assignment for the week: Find me on Facebook
and Twitter. It's really simple, here are the links:

Facebook: http://budurl.com/DaveDeeFanPage

Twitter: http://budurl.com/DaveDeeTwitter

Can't wait to connect with you!

~Dave

PS - You may have to set up your profiles real quick. I
encourage you to follow through. I will be writing more
about this as I develop my own hybrid strategy and I want
to take you right along with me.

PPS - Check out my friends at the Social Media Profit
School. Craig and his team have an awesome questionnaire
that they personally review and tell you: How Close you
are to REALLY making money on Facebook & Twitter?

If you've been doing what I recommend, you may be a lot
closer than you think!

http://www.socialmediaprofitschool.org

PPPS - Craig will be at the Triple X Bootcamp in LA with
us. You can meet him there. Check out these great bonuses
we're offering to anyone who registers for the event
through my Fan Page:

http://budurl.com/DaveDeeFanPage


Cheers,

Craig


PS - If you know you need a social media presence and a strategy for attracting clients, then send me an email, or connect with me through the social media profiles I've listed below. We've got entire done for you packages that include a comprehensive strategy session, integration with your blog and CRM lead capture form, and a host of other neat tricks that would take you hours and hours to figure out on your own.

Craig Filek
Social Media Profit School
Read Blog: Social Media Profit School Blog
Email Me: Craig(at)SocialMediaProfitSchool
Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/SocialMediaProfitSchool
Twitter: www.twitter.com/SMProfitSchool

What's the Best Way to Add 1000 New Fans???

Is there a difference between adding 1000 fans through spam-like tricks, and authentically attracting and connecting, with 1000 genuine prospects?

We believe there is.


(scroll down for survey)

I'd rather have 100 genuine fans than 10,000 empty connections with folks who do not know who I am and who will never be interested in what I'm offering.

So... what's the best way to add 1000 new, genuinely interested prospects?

We'd like to get your thoughts on that!


As you can see on the right - we've just set up a fresh page for the Social Media Profit School. As promised, we'll compile the results of this survey below, test what ranks high on the scale of feasibility and report the results here to you.

If you're a Social Media guru, we'll only trumpet your idea if it's really a winner.


This is a great way to share in mentoring the Social Media Profit School Interns, and start to build a name as one of the SM Guru with ideas that really work for Attracting an Authentic Tribe that Buys!




Cheers,

Craig


PS - If you know you need a social media presence and a strategy for attracting clients, then send me an email, or connect with me through the social media profiles I've listed below. We've got entire done for you packages that include a comprehensive strategy session, integration with your blog and CRM lead capture form, and a host of other neat tricks that would take you hours and hours to figure out on your own. Contact me today!

Craig Filek
Social Media Profit School
Read Blog: Social Media Profit School Blog
Email Me: Craig(at)SocialMediaProfitSchool
Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/SocialMediaProfitSchool
Twitter: www.twitter.com/SMProfitSchool


Serial Marketing Entrepreneur - Bob Britton - talks about his Social Media Launch Experience

How Do You Profit from Social Media Profiles?

Return on Investment.

It's a tricky notion when it comes to Social Media.

What most business folk are used to is, "never spend a dollar unless you can make or save MORE than a dollar."

And this is terrific advice. I fully advise it on every business decision.

So, how do you get your Social Media profiles to pay off? How do you make your tweets and wall posts and friend requests add up to "more than a dollar"?

It's very simple. Since this is new territory for many business folk, I'll break it down into a few basic steps. Let's begin with the end in mind:

1.) Have a Marketing & Sales System that captures a prospect's attention, causes them to desire more information about how YOU can help solve their problem(s), and eventually converts them into a client. This is the KEY to making your Social Media investment payoff. If you don't have a system for capturing Leads and building value while further qualifying them and eventually converting the most qualified into sales, then you will not likely see the ROI. It's that simple. It's like fishing with a worm and a line, but no hook. You're not likely to land the fish, silly.

2.) So what is the "hook"? It's also known as a Lead Generation Magnet and looks like a Name & Email capture form that is connected to an auto-responder or CRM. Typically, a Free Report that promises some answers or vital information that a qualified prospect would desire and value make a great Lead Generation Magnet. Free consultations also work well, depending on your business model. The hook will be offered on your blog and your website, though not on your Profiles. Occasionally, you may post or tweet a link about it, but infrequently as this will turn people off.

3.) Funnel your prospects from your Profiles to your Lead Generation Magnet page. By integrating your Blog with your Social Media Profiles like Facebook and LinkedIn, you will be writing interesting content that is automatically disseminated to your Tribe (aka: list, herd, friends...) When people are interested in you, what you have to say, or what you have to offer, they will dig deeper into your information. They will click on your blog, or your website, and see the Lead Capture Form. They will enter their name and email in order to get your Free Gift. That's when they have raised their hand as a qualified prospect who you can begin to convert - to SELL to. All your Social Media Profiles are intended to funnel qualified prospects back to your Lead Capture Form. Trying to sell directly on the Profile is tacky and people will un-friend you.

4.) Profile Content is the final step in this system. It's such a broad topic that I am going to cover it in a separate post: Suffice to say, your Content is what people are most interested. Why? Because people do business with PEOPLE. Social Media is about PEOPLE. So, while your Lead Generation Magnet is about selling, your Profile Content is about YOU. Anyone interested in working with you will want to know more about YOU than your business vision and mission. They want to feel they can trust YOU and that means they have to have a window into your life. Your best, longest term clients will be the ones you have the most affinity with, shared interests and values. The bottom line on Profile Content is this: Be Authentic!

If you follow this simple formula, you will see an ROI on your Social Media investment. It will not come overnight, though. It takes time to get the swing of things with this new Marketing Channel, build a Tribe, get some viral exposure to new prospects via your existing Tribe, and perfect your Lead Generation Magnet.

In the next post I will delve into Profile Content and how to Be Authentic!

Cheers,

Craig


PS - If you know you need a social media presence and a strategy for attracting clients, then send me an email, or connect with me through the social media profiles I've listed below. We've got entire done for you packages that include a comprehensive strategy session, integration with your blog and CRM lead capture form, and a host of other neat tricks that would take you hours and hours to figure out on your own. Contact me today!

Craig Filek
Your Social Media Maverick
Read Blog: Social Media Maverick Blog
Email Me: CraigFilek(at)gmail
Facebook Me: http://profile.to/craigfilek/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CraigFilek
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/craigfilek

Why is Social Media So Important?

Without social media, there would be no Christmas. The sun would not light the earth, and the worms would not dig in the soil.

It's true, business has been done for millenia without even so much as an iphone, let alone all these new-fangled social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn and Blogger. It will not be the end of the world if you aren't using these channels to promote your business. But, for the return on investment, I'm going to strongly suggest you consider trying it out.

What is really important to understand is that people like doing business with people they know, like and feel a sense of shared values or affinities with. Business has always been done that way because humans have always operated this way.

What's unique about business in the past 2, or even 50 years, is how much information can be communicated, quickly, to and from any point in the world. We live in HIGH-TECH times, and it's made the pace of life and work just about maddening.

What people crave at any age, not just Millenials and Gen Y on their wacky cell phones, is a sense of connection. We call it High-TOUCH, to balance the High-Tech.

While it's easy to do business with someone we can see and touch and vibe with, it's not as easy to do business with someone 300 or 3000 miles away. However, with social media, I can learn a lot about a person before doing business with them, and this my friend, is why it's so important that you have a social media profile.

Even if you're a local professional and your clients live right up the street, unless they have a good feeling for you, they may not even come down to the office to meet with you in person. Your website may have a picture or two of you, mostly it's full of clip art, and phony models impersonating satisfaction with some semblance of your service work.

What people want to see is YOU! They want to know if you are a cool person, with a face and a name and a personality. Maybe a family, certainly some hobbies and a stance on issues or interests you are passionate about sharing.

You like Italian food? What about water-skiiing with your family on the weekend. How was that trip to Paris? The tabloid and gossip industry is a multi-billion dollar business.

People are curious, they want to know. Give yourself authentically to your prospects and clients on your profiles, and they will do business with you because they see you are like them. So they will like you, and they will like doing business with you.

That's how we work. That's how to work it with social media.

It's pretty simple once you get set up. It's the setting up that can be a challenge.

Let me know if you need any help ;-]

Cheers,

Craig


PS - If you know you need a social media presence and a strategy for attracting clients, then send me an email, or connect with me through the social media profiles I've listed below. We've got entire done for you packages that include a comprehensive strategy session, integration with your blog and CRM lead capture form, and a host of other neat tricks that would take you hours and hours to figure out on your own. Contact me today!

Craig Filek
Your Social Media Maverick
Read Blog: Social Media Maverick Blog
Email Me: CraigFilek(at)gmail
Facebook Me: http://profile.to/craigfilek/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CraigFilek
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/craigfilek