I know, I know, it sounds weird saying that especially when I am a social media consultant. The truth is, what I meant to say was; don’t use social media as a marketing tool. Instead use it as a means to start a conversation.

If you go in to the social media space, blasting your web site, and screaming how your business will meet all the needs of your prospect, plus meet every desire that they might have, then you’re better off not using social media at all. Why? Because if you go in with that mind set, you will be slaughtered!

Sam Brace talks about this in his recent post.
“Social media is fast and exciting, so much so that businesses want to leap in without looking at the environment around them. For every success story, there are companies and agencies that have hurt themselves by not investing the time and research required before entering the social media environment.”

So, what does this mean to you? Simple, don’t just jump in to the social media space with out a clear understanding of what your market is talking about, and figuring out how best to reach them with out getting labeled a spammer. In future posts I will show you how you can do this.

In the mean time, please tell me what your experience has been with social media marketing, and if you have heard what your market is saying about you, how are you responding?

To your success,
Teresa Blaes

In my last post I told you about some awesome power tools that you can use to ramp up your twitter experience.
However, as I sat back and thought about it, I realized that if you don’t know how to use twitter, then how will you know what to post?
So, here are a few guidelines when posting to twitter.
1. Be relevant.
You want to post things that will interest your market, such as industry news, perhaps thoughts on a new product, who you are meeting with etc.
2. Don’t post just your own stuff.
That appears very self-serving and will turn people off.
3. If you want people to follow you, follow them first.
Nine times out of ten, they will reciprocate.
And finally, you’re probably wondering, ok, but how do I find people to follow? Well, start by using this tool,
http://search.twitter.com
Just type the keyword related to your market, and see what people are saying. Then if you find something cool, just follow them.
Trust me, it works.
So with that, here are two things that you need to do right now,
First, if you haven’t joined Twitter yet, what are you waiting for?
Then use search.twitter.com to find people and follow them.
To your success, Teresa Blaes
PS.
I almost forgot another tip, be sure to fill out your profile so that when people come to check you out, and they will, there is something for them to walk away with.
And also, don’t forget to put your website on your profile. If people like what you have to say, they will reward you with a click to your site.
PSS
Be sure to follow me on twitter, and leave a comment on the blog to tell me what you think.

Twitter is a powerful marketing tool. However, what you may not know is that there are some killer applications that can make your twitter experience even better.

Here are my top 3 picks.

Jott

With jott, you can update your twitter feed using your Cell phone, this is awesome if you are on the phone all the time, and don’t want to peck out a text message. Jott lets you use your voice to record a tweet, transcribes it and sends it to twitter. This is a huge time saver. Next let’s talk about a service called tweet later

TweetLater

Don’t have time to tweet? Then set them up in advance with tweet later. This service allows you to schedule your tweets. It will even let you automatically follow the people who are following you.

Google Reader.

Google Reader allows you to keep up with what is going on in your market without having to visit individual sites. You simply add the RSS feed to your account and anytime that feed is updated, it will automatically add it to your reader. So why am I including this as a Twitter application? In order to use twitter effectively, you have to be aware of what is going on inside your market. Google reader keeps it all organized and at your fingertips.
With these three tools, you should have no problem taking advantage of twitter and using it to keep in touch with your market. So, take action, and use these tools to grow your business.

To Your Success,
Teresa Blaes

PS, If you have any other tools that you want to recommend, please let me know, I am always on the look out for stuff that will make things easier.

PPS If you read this and it was helpful, please send out some social media love by tweeting it.

Take a text message, instant messaging, and social networking, throw it all in a blender and what do you have?

Twitter!

What the heck is Twitter? Imagine this for a moment, with one message, you can talk to your prospects, communicate with your customer base, make deals with JV partners and so much more. But that’s not where the real power comes in.

Twitter gives you a 140 character window in which to post your thoughts, known as a tweet. This is a good thing because it forces you to get to the point of your message with out all the fluff.

Twitter is a social network that revolves around the idea; what are you doing right

Now? Plus it all happens in real time so you can keep up on what is going on in your market.

And the best part, you can tweet on the go! After you sign up with Twitter, you can link up your cell phone and send tweets from there.

If done right, it is a huge time saver, and it can ramp up your marketing in a big way.

It only gets better from here, and in my next post, I will give you three tools that will help you kick up your twitter experience another notch.

So stay tuned for that.

However, in the meantime, come follow me on twitter, and I will follow you.

To Your Success,
Teresa Blaes

Ps, After signing up with Twitter, leave your questions or thoughts below.

Hey, Teresa here, and I have a marketing lesson for you.
As you know, Mike and I are huge on providing value to our clients, and thus far, we have. However, this thirst for client prosperity has come with a price, and it led to one of the biggest mistakes that you could ever make in your business. We forgot our own marketing needs! Meaning that we did not post as often as we should to our blog, and we simply dropped the ball. Consider this for a moment, here we are, two marketing consultants, so intent on the success of our clients, that we neglected our own marketing and let the public outreach of our business grow stale! And that’s why I am writing to you today, to let you know that you will be seeing more informative posts from us more often,
And to warn you against making the same crucial mistake in your own business.
While I understand the need to maintain your customer base, or keep providing what your clients are looking for on a regular basis, it is imperative that you work to maintain the very life blood of your business, your marketing! When you break it down to brass tacks, the equation is simple:
If people don’t know about your business, then they won’t buy from you. And if they don’t buy from you, then you don’t have a business: period!
So here’s what you need to do right now. If its been a while since you’ve posted to your blog, or created any new content, then get on it! Because the truth is, the longer you wait, the more cash you leave on the table.
If you don’t have a blog yet, or need some guidance on where to start, or don’t have a clue of what I am talking about, then contact us. We look forward to serving you, and helping your business to grow.
To your success, Teresa Blaes
PS.
If you can relate to this post, please tell us your biggest marketing setback, or struggle. Also, if you found a way past the marketing barrier, please let us know that as well You can do so by leaving a comment below