OK, we have this new opportunity going on that everyone is doing, but not everyone understands. I’ve joined Linkedin, FaceBook, and Squidoo. I blog and I podcast. I’m working up nerve to get on YouTube. But wait. What am I going to get for all this? How much time do I need to spend? Where does this fit into my marketing strategy?

There is no question but it’s a happening thing

FaceBook is adding a million adults per week to their rosters.

YouTube gets over 50 million unique visitors per month.

FaceBook and MySpace have the equal daily traffic of Google and that’s going to double!

So how do you get in touch with all those people? How do you make social media work for you?

Social Media is about collaboration

It is said you already know enough people to network out to any resource you need. Social Media is about becoming a strong link in that networking web in which information, resources, ideas, friendship and inspiration are shared.

Casual vs. Purposeful Interaction

The easiest two places to start are Linkedin, which is focused on business and job related networking, and FaceBook, which seems more animated with people sharing everything from Karma Links to Groups for specific causes. Posting on forums is both causal and purposeful. For these versions of Social Media you just have to show up and participate. It’s all very casual and conversational.

It’s the blogs and podcasts and wiki’s that are more purposeful. They can be specifically targeted and used to actively build your business.

You need both the casual interaction and the purposeful content.

People are no longer willing to be sold

However, because there is so much hype, so many “buy now” urgent sales messages with “last-chance-to-buy” calls to action, we, as a buying public, are no longer listening to or being swayed by that approach. We are becoming immune. Internet readers want information from the internet. They don’t want advertising or marketing or some sort of pitch.

Don’t sell yourself - Be yourself

You know about the Law of Attraction, where your personal vibration attracts to you the essence of the energy you are emitting. Just be yourself and the perfect people will find you. Notice exactly how you are sharing. Are you helpful? Supportive? Friendly? Are you putting out the vibration that will attract the people you want as clients and customers? If not, get conscious about what you say, do, and write.

Hang out with your target market

Narrow your niche just as you have for your business. If you are in business go where business people hang out and relate to each other. If you are in health and fitness, join groups where people with that interest hang out, just as you would if you were joining a networking group in your area that you felt would lead you to new contacts.

Listen before you leap

Listen to what is going on in the social environment you choose to join before you start to post. Ease into the conversations. Keep your comments relevant. Offer suggestions and resources but do not promote yourself. Join forums that allow you to put your web site in your signature so people can get to know you more. Ask questions. Answer questions. Make friends. Build relationships. Keep listening for what other people in the social environment need to hear from you. Engage in conversation. This is not about you being a teacher or lecturer or even an expert. It is about engaging in a conversation. It is about building community. It is about establishing trust.

Get them to invest in your advice

So here’s the plan. You go on these social media environments and start relating with others. You post short supportive messages to friends and acquaintances you haven’t talked to in a long while. You post new discoveries you have made that others might like to know about. You share of yourself and your insights. And gradually you will establish yourself as a go-to person. And at some point, they will come to you to invest in your advice.

The bottom line is trust

Haven’t we been taught over and over that we need to build trust with our prospects and clients in order to see them purchase from us? Every time I offer a new teleclass or ebook, it’s the people who know me that purchase, the people from my list that I have been developing relationship with over the years. Sometimes they tell a friend but the major purchases come from people who trust me because we have built a relationship over time.

Don’t say it till you mean it

I have found a weight loss program that I really like. It is multilevel marketing and my upline was eager for me to get two people under me so I could get my product free. But you know what? I wasn’t ready. I was about ten days into the program and was getting results but I wasn’t ready to talk to anyone about it yet. My upline urged me to tell my prospects about what other people had achieved. But the people I want to reach, the people who know and trust me, only want to hear my personal recommendation.

After a month on the program I had results I was eager to talk about and share. I could come from my own heart, my own conviction and my own experience and really listen to and address the needs and concerns of my friends who I think might benefit from having information on this product. Please notice, I’m not going to sell them anything, I’m going to give them information so they can make an informed decision for themselves.

As one friend said, “Your word is gold with me.” What an honor. What trust. I want to always share from a place of personal integrity. I want everyone to know my word is gold with them.

Get yourself a platform for your passion

A blog can be up in five minutes. A podcast can be only 3-5 minutes long. Focus your content on something you care about, something you want to learn more about or help others do. Link that back to your web site where your services are listed.

Solve a problem

Look at your business. Look at your clients. What solution can you give them to a common problem that will bring immediate and noticeable results? Make a video with that solution and put it on YouTube, MySpace and FaceBook with links back to your main website.

Just having a blog and posting a video will help you establish more Web 2.0 presence than 90% of your competition. It’s that easy.

Social Media as a marketing strategy

Engaging in social media is both an Outreach Strategy and a Keep In Touch Strategy. You make new friends, develop relationships and support each other with your goods and services. After all, what are friends for?!

Cara Lumen, The Vision Distiller, helps proactive entrepreneurs translate their passion into a profitable presence on the internet. Her Magnetic Marketing Method guides you through internet marketing, content strategy, and signature product development and helps you become a true Success Magnet - http://www.caralumen.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Cara_Lumen

Three hundred million. That’s how many people live in the United States alone, and at least half of them - if not more - have some kind of access to the Internet. Getting five people to agree on something is difficult. Getting 150 million people to agree on something is, to put it mildly, impossible.

The point is: if you’re going to spend any time in social media marketing, with blogs, forums and other online communities, it’s not a question of if you’ll run into any controversy. It’s merely a question of when, and how bad it will be.

By the nature of community alone, a topic or blog post will surface that bitterly divides people on which side is in the right. Some people will only add more fuel to the fire, while others will try futilely to put out the flames.

If you want to remain a part of the social media community, you have to learn to weather the good times and the bad. Here are a few tips for handling controversy gracefully.

1) Don’t panic.

Douglas Adams wasn’t lying with that piece of advice. The upside of controversy is that it will get a lot of people talking, and they’ll all be talking about you. You’ll find the mantra “There’s no such thing as bad press” to be surprisingly true in this case.

People who would have otherwise never heard of you or your site will be showing up to see what the big deal is, which means you’ve just exponentially expanded your audience.

However, that’s not to say there aren’t downsides. If you don’t handle a controversy with professionalism and grace, online social media will eat you alive. While you’ll gain some respect if you handle yourself well, if you botch it too badly, the bad word will spread faster than wildfire in a forest that hasn’t seen rain in 20 years.

2) Don’t respond immediately.

It’s not a difficult scenario to imagine: you’ve made a blog post about something, and you knew when you made it that some people wouldn’t agree with what you have to say. What you didn’t expect was how viciously they would disagree. Not only are they attacking your argument, but they’re attacking you and your business.

You think what they’re saying is wrong, or you know how to disprove it, so you should jump on immediately and do so, right?

Well, probably not. The technology on the Internet makes it extremely easy to post responses in the heat of the moment, which can result in you saying something that you’ll regret later.

As much as it may pain you to do so, wait until you’ve cooled off and had a chance to get the feel of the other side’s point before you make an attempt to post. This lets you see what the other people are saying and consider it logically, not emotionally.

3) Attack the argument, not the person.

Argumentum ad hominem means “argument against the man,” and unfortunately it shows up in these situations more than it should. If somebody makes a comment you disagree with and you say something like, “Well, if you believe that, then you’re an idiot,” you’re attacking them personally, not what they’re saying.

That’s the quickest way to not only anger people, but drive the controversial discussion off-topic. Plus, you’ll come across as petty and inept at defending your own statements.

If you disagree with something somebody said, keep your comments restricted to just attacking what they said. For example: “You said X. I disagree with X because of Y and Z.” By not attacking them, you’ll gain a little more respect in how you’re handling the controversy.

4) Keep your responses simple and professional.

That’s not to say keep them so devoid of emotion that they read like corporate blather. People really hate corporate blather, and they’ll hate it even more if they’re looking for a straight answer in a controversy. But neither should you drive a point into the ground. Find the arguments to which you want to respond, quote exactly what that person said, and nicely point out what is right and what is incorrect.

When you’re pointing out something that’s incorrect, make sure that you’re only fixing facts, not opinions. For example, say somebody paraphrased something you put in your blog post, and paraphrased it wrongly. Quote their paraphrase and say why they’ve misunderstood you. Back it up with the exact quote from your original post, along with clarification of what you meant. Consider an apology if the original wording was unclear.

Remember: everything you say online, be it in a blog post or forum comment, will reflect on you and your business. Keeping your responses professional and to-the-point will let people know that even in the most controversial storm, you know better than to resort to emotional and petty attacks.

If you want to read a good article on dealing with social media controversy, check out this article at Search Engine Guide: Recovering from a Social Media Disaster.

Controversy is just part of the nature of the social media community. And when a controversial storm hits, it can feel like an unstoppable force is swarming over you, and you’re just fighting to keep your head above water.

But as long as you don’t panic and keep your responses professional without trying to spin people, you’ll still be able to hold your head high once the storm subsides. And you may find yourself with a new league of loyal customers and readers once all is said and done.

Jessica Cox and Michelle Pierce are graduates of the University of Oklahoma’s College of Journalism with a background in Internet marketing and writing for the Web. They currently provide PR services at Xeal Precision Marketing. Sign up to get crucial Internet marketing tips at Xeal’s free Thursday webinar.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jessica_F._Cox