Social media success is not a hard thing to accomplish. It is definitely an important thing for small business owners to strive for. Social networking has made it so that even with a small advertising budget, an entrepreneur can make a big impact on the target market they have chosen. You will not experience the results you want if all you do is join a few social networks, throw up a profile, and then ignore it. In order for social media to work, you have to actually be social. The rest of this article will give you tips on how to have success with social media and get the results you want to see for your small business.
1- Don't use a canned invite
If you don't learn anything else from this article, that will be okay with me. Please take the time to write an introduction that is unique to you. "I'd like to add you to my network." doesn't tell me anything about you. A canned invite doesn't tell me why you want to connect with me or how you found me. When you use a canned invite, you are basically telling your prospective contact that you are lazy. People will assume that if you are this lazy with your networking, you will be lazy with your work as well.
2- Put up a decent photo
This is an absolute must. Your photo is the first thing people will see when they click on your profile. The worst thing you can do is not include a photo at all. Most people will not connect with someone who doesn't have a photo on their profile. A photo helps people feel like they know you. That is super important when trying to make a connection with someone via the computer.
3- Create an interesting profile
There are literally thousands of people using social networking sites. Many of them may be doing the exact same thing you are doing. Put something on your profile that makes it different from the other profiles. Have you written a book? Talk about it on your profile? Have you been in the Guinness Book Of World Records? That's something people will find interesting. Don't makeup stuff if you don't have anything interesting to write about. Sometimes your hobbies will strike a chord with a potential social networking buddy. You never know, so be sure to put everything that you can think of to make your profile stand out from the other profiles.
4- Share information your target market will find useful
Social media is primarily about sharing. People expect to find information, not sales pitches on social media sites. It's okay to promote things, within reason. You should strive to post a few messages that are just information before you start telling people about your service or product. Did you read a great blog post about a topic your network is passionate about? Share it. This sort of interaction will brand you as an expert in your field. It will cause people to remember you first when they need a service you provide or know someone who needs a service you provide.
Social media success is something small business owners must have if they want to survive in this competitive marketplace. It really just comes down to remembering that there is a human being on the other side of that monitor. If you wouldn't say what you are about to post to that person's face, you probably should not post it. You won't gain success with social media overnight. It takes time and effort to get positive results from social networking. So what are you waiting for? Get out there and start networking.
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