Social Media: Useful Business Tools or Waste of Time?

[DragonflyProperties]

Hi all,I am aware of, but not too familar with, the Social Media and Social Networking Sites available on the Internet. I listened to a free one-hour teleseminar this morning by David Riklan, the founder of www.SelfGrowth.com, [which is apparently the #1 self improvement website on the Internet with over 1 million visitors per month]. David used to think that they were a waste of time until he saw how Barack Obama used them to his advantage to win the election. I liked his approach to the presentation - in advance he provided a downloadable handout consisting of the questions he was going to answer and spaces to fill in the blanks so that you could record the information that he wanted you to have. You could also follow the overheads via webinar. As those of us who attended the L.I.F.E. Conference on the weekend learned, polar opposite approaches to life and business can lead to the same results. Accordingly, you can achieve major success with and without the use of Social Media and Social Networking sites. For those of you who are interested in implementing these sites into your real estate (and other) businesses, the questions and answers from David`s presentation follow. This will give you some idea on how to proceed.Keith

USING SOCIAL MEDIA AS A PROFITABLE BUSINESS TOOL

Question #1: What are Social Media and Social Networking?

Massive information sharing and communication on the Internet.

Question #2: What are some examples of the major Social Media websites?

1) Facebook;
2) Twitter;
3) YouTube;
4) LinkedIn;
5) Digg; and
6) Delicious.

Question #3: What types of people or industries are succeeding with Social Media?

1) Major corporations;
2) Small/local businesses;
3) People who want to brand themselves as an expert in their field;
4) Network Marketing distributors for lead generation;
5) Individuals who are looking for jobs;
6) Entrepreneurs to help start their businesses;
7) People/companies doing market research;
8) Website owners to drive targeted web traffic to their websites;
9) People presenting live seminars/tele-seminars;
10) People in the publishing arena with a new book or product to promote;
11) Personal, life and business coaches looking for coaching clients; and
12) Business owners/sales people looking to build up a subscriber list.

Question #4: How can you position yourself as an expert using Social Media?

1) Determine how you are going to brand yourself and/or your company/business;
2) Create a profile that will match your brand and brand message;
3) Create (free) accounts at all of the major places where you can brand yourself;
4) Develop a social Bookmarking strategy;
5) Get your knowledge out there by participating in groups;
6) Interlink between sites or have them all crosslink;
7) Develop a strategy for using videos (can be simple and inexpensive);
8) Leverage the power of these sites for Search Engine Optimization (SEO);
9) Be active on these sites; and
10) Become a voice of your industry (Become a reporter on what`s going on. You don`t have to create the content; just do research, read articles and etc. and report on what others are saying. Become a reporter of the expert advice).

You don`t have to do all of these. Just select those that are applicable to you and your circumstances.

Question #5: What are the top 6 ways people are generating leads through Social Networking?

1) Start by growing a network of handpicked friends through Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc;2) Make a list of the top 25 – 50 people that you admire in your industry and reach out to them;3) Think relationships first, business second. Always be personable.4) Create your group or community of likeminded people;5) Give away stuff for free to entice people to give you their contact information; and6) Help other people – the Law of Reciprocity – always give before you take.

Question #6: What are the top mistakes that people are making using Social Media?

1) Starting with the mindset that using social media is not a business model itself;
2) Lack of a plan of what to do;
3) Using the wrong tools for the wrong purpose;
4) Overuse and abuse by not following the rules of etiquette for that site;
5) Facebook and Twitter fatigue – over activity; and
6) Failing to measure results against the stated goals.

Question #7: What are the top misconceptions about Social Media?
1) It`s a kids toy; it`s for teenagers;
2) It`s for social connections only;
3) It`s too time consuming (which it can be if you aren`t focused and become and "addict");
4) It`s too difficult to learn to use and do; and
5) I`ll lose all of my privacy.

Question #8: How do you use Social Media to generate massive income?

1) Develop a business strategy;
2) Develop a Social Media/Networking strategy;
3) Learn the basics and most important tools available to you;
4) Develop an integrated strategy;
5) Interact and develop relationships;
6) Let people get to know you. People buy from people they know, like and trust;
7) Leverage the overall power of the Internet;
8) Follow the rules of the Social Network you are involved with;
9) It`s not what you know or who you know, it`s who knows you; and
10) Don`t forget that you will eventually have to ask for the order.

Finally I (Keith) would like to add that Social Media and Networking sites are TOOLS to help you build win-win relationships; they DO NOT take the place of relationships themselves.

 

[Allie]

Thanks for posting another original, brilliant and thought-provoking summaries that put the spring into an otherwise banal day. Whoever labeled accountants as boring and dry should be reprimanded. If you find social media interesting, you would have enjoyed the Convergence conference in May. Speaking of the Obama campaign, David Plouffe, the "unsung hero" campaign manager was the keynote speaker.

I use Twitter to keep up on current events and keep an eye on trends. I signed up out of curiosity and was surprised that I liked it. Before, I was of the mentality that I wasn`t nosy enough to care about what other people were up to but I`ve found Twitter quite helpful. For example, I "follow" the City of Edmonton (who knew they were so progressive), clubs, news agencies for current updates and other people who are in tuned with what`s going on around me locally and internationally. I figure more eyes are better than one. Not too long ago, the US government apparently contacted Twitter to postpone maintenance so that tweets about Iran`s Election crisis were uninterrupted.

 

[ChrisDavies]

Good article! Social media can be a black hole, and needs to be measured appropriately. That said, I`ve been helping my clients use it very successfully for their businesses.

 

[mponte]

Great post Keith! Thanks for sharing.

 

[DaveAlbano]

Well done Keith, and thanks for sharing. I actually wanted to attend that webinar but couldn`t, so I found your summary very helpful. I too use Twitter and anyone who`s interested can follow me on the link below to see how. The cool thing about it is that with one update on Twitter, I can also update my Facebook status and my website simultaneously, keeping them fresh with content on an almost daily basis. There are apps available that can link to these other tools. The Twitter widget on my website is a good example.

 

[ChrisDavies]

I should put a plug in for two series of webinars that I`ve found helpful.

The first is Hubspot. I`m a little dubious on the value of their tools, as I think there are better/more cost effective, but the webinars are good and consisten.

And the Enquiro B2B Expert Series. Doing real estate investing is more of a B2B than a B2C excerscise, and I`ve learned a lot from them. I`m also biased as I work at Enquiro, but there`s always great insight from the panel members.

One quick tip: If you`re trying to use social media (i.e. twitter) and you mention your twitter profile, make it a link right there. Like, me, I`d mention the REIN Twitter Directory on my real estate blog right here, rather than saying `check my signature for the link`. People are actually dumber than you can imagine.

 

[DaveAlbano]

Good point Chris. People can Follow me here.

Also, I`d like to share with the group the recorded version of the webinar so everyone can access it. I just received it from David Riklan at www.SelfGrowth.com He says:

If you were unable to make the call, or would like to access it again, the complete multimedia presentation is available for a limited time here: http://www.selfgrowth.com/socialmedia/recording.html

I want to make sure that each of you is tapping into the power of Twitter today! To help you get on the right track, I am sharing the first five steps to get started with Twitter immediately:

** 5 Steps to Get Started with Twitter **

1) Signup for a free account at Twitter.com.
Simply go to the homepage ( http://www.twitter.com ) and click the green button that says "Get Started" to create your account.

2) Select a good username using keywords or a brandable phrase.
Your username is what people will use to communicate with you, so it`s important to pick something related to your field to better brand you as an expert. You can use your real name or your can use keywords to help you rank better in searches. It`s a 15 character limit. Remember, you can change your username at any time after signing up.

3) Start to update your profile by adding a picture of yourself and including some information about yourself to your page. You can add your picture by going to the Settings section on Twitter. 4) Follow people with the same interests as you (including us http://twitter.com/selfgrowthnow ).
The more people you follow, the more will follow you back. If you follow us, we will follow you back. Just go to http://twitter.com/selfgrowthnow

5) Send out your first tweet.
You can start just by saying hello. You won`t have many followers yet. The key is getting started.

Looking for more details on how you can be profitable using Twitter and other Social Media Marketing sites? Then our "Social Media University" might be for you!

 

[pjrein]

Thanks for the post, great info

 

[mponte]

Good point Chris. I`ve just started using twitter but if anyone wants to follow me I should put a plug in for two series of webinars that I`ve found helpful.

The first is Hubspot. I`m a little dubious on the value of their tools, as I think there are better/more cost effective, but the webinars are good and consisten.

And the Enquiro B2B Expert Series. Doing real estate investing is more of a B2B than a B2C excerscise, and I`ve learned a lot from them. I`m also biased as I work at Enquiro, but there`s always great insight from the panel members.

One quick tip: If you`re trying to use social media (i.e. twitter) and you mention your twitter profile, make it a link right there. Like, me, I`d mention the REIN Twitter Directory on my real estate blog right here, rather than saying `check my signature for the link`. People are actually dumber than you can imagine.

 

[Dan_Eisenhauer]

This is a thread with perfect timing for me. I had the conversation about social network sites last evening with my web designer. There are excellent points and suggestions here.

Thanks for starting it, Keith.

 

[DragonflyProperties]

Thank you to all of you for your feedback and additional insights and information. It is much appreciated.

Keith