This social media marketing video is part 1 of Day 1 in a 7-day series I did for Jara University. The main points in this social media marketing tip Day 1 video series is to set the stage for beginners that, it's okay to think about doing business online. There's more acceptance these days of marketing and business / lead-generation through social media marketing than there used to be. But, that's not to say that we can all now do a "free for all" and start hocking our inventory online for a few bucks. There's still an underlying philosophy that you have to bear in mind. That philosophy is still based on principles of trust. (Not a bad way of conducting business, if you ask me.)
In this social media marketing video, I hit on the points under New Media Philosophy. In follow-on vids, I'll hit on Content, Relationship building, and Brand Building.
This video is one of the dozens of free training vids I've created for Jara University. The whole site is jammed-packed with hours of free training content, including: LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Blogging, Content / eMail Marketing, professional/expert seminars, the whole videoBook and much more. You can register now for free by signing up for my free newsletter: Social Media Marketing Tips. AND, when you do, you can also get the 133 page / 20-video mini-course on Social Media Marketing Essentials For Small Businesses. (Um, also free.)
[Transcript of the video is available below.]
Transcript
Hi, Mel Aclaro here. Welcome to day 1 of my training series that I endearingly call Taboo: Cashing in On New Media Properly
In this video today, I'll be talking about 4 main topics.
- New media philosophy.
- Content
- Relationships you build
- Your brand
First off, let’s talk about philosophy. This is very important to grasp... b/c if u screw up here you'll be kicking yourself in the foot for a long time. As a matter of fact, it could be really had to recover from if you mess this part up.
The philosophy we’re talking about is having the mindset of relationship building.
Now, don’t get me wrong. At the end of the day, you have to put food on the table. I get that, you get that. And, actually, the social media community is increasingly coming around to that, as well. Contrary to the conventional wisdom you may have heard, the social media community isn’t as hard-nosed as it used to be about conducting business through social networks.
But, there’s a “way” about how to do it. Just like you don’t want to be “that guy” at your brother’s wedding who does nothing but hand out business cards and talk about himself and his business all day long, you also don’t want to be “that guy” in the social web.
So, yeah, we will bring it back around to the mutual benefits of relationship building, but for now, let's start by forgetting your business opportunity for a moment... let’s pretend that money isn’t a factor for the time being.
Of course, it's important, but for now, pretend that all that matters is building relationships.
People understand that relationships, in order to be successful, are two-way interactions. I mean, by definition, a relationship implies more than just value going to one person. There’s a reciprocity that’s in play, and it’s built on providing mutual value, trust and transparency. And what I mean by transparency is being open and honest about your intentions.
When you get out there in your networks, you have to come from a place of wanting to build relationships. If you make it all about you, then you'll be more of a repellant than an attractor.
So, make it about the relationship first, the money or business building second.
So, what I suggest is to approach with an 80-20 ratio. That means 80% of the time, you're giving. And then 20% of the time, you might be asking for something in return. This might be an affiliate agreement for a product you believe in, a strategic partnership in services, or a loose network of people agreeing to help each other on projects. The more people trust you, based on the value you give to the relationship, as the theory goes, then the more they’ll be willing to give in return. It doesn’t always happen, but think about it, giving is an abundant resource. Why not just spread it around anyway?
But, here’s the thing. You know how a lot of times, people stand around wasting a lot of time because they’re waiting to see what the other person’s going to do? Whether or not the next guy is going to start being generous first. Take the initiative. I mean, we’re talking about being generous. How bad can that be?
Check out their web site. Provide information. Comment on their blogs. Repost their Twitter tweets. Join their Facebook fan page. Make them heroes by talking about them on your blog or in their social networks. Give recommendations for their product if you believe in it. In a word, we’re talking about Giving.
Out of all the things you have in your power to offer to other people, your spirit of generosity and helpfulness is something that’s fully within your control to give away.
All that’s required is that you stand up and take charge of that endless fountain and direct it outwards.
Enough said on that for now. There’s a lot to talk about. Let’s move on to content... (continued in the next video).
