Well you have heard it all along, probably for the past 3 years or so, that if you want to grow your Network Marketing business then Social Media is the way to go, the way of the future to grow any business. All you have to do is to get a website, get on Facebook or Twitter and “Viola!! you will make millions on the internet” and then – go lay on the beach!! Okay sounds like fun, right? But how many have done this? Well not many considering the millions attempting to get on the internet and using social media everyday. So what is everyone missing? Well from what I have learned we need to not only socialize and build trust but we also need to provide our targeted audience with some type of valuable information or what the industry refers to as valuable content. This is so key to your success and if you learn this and master this it will enable you to create and write your own ticket for the success that stands before you in the great business of Network Marketing.
So the Basic question is: What is Social Media?
Social media can be describe as the tools (media) designed to share ideas and interact with people online. The way you capitalize on this is by offering value to your targeted audience through these media outlets or tools.
The next thing to understand is: What are all the different forms of Social Media. Well you have your video content, that you would find on sites such as Youtube, Metacafe, and literally hundreds of other video sites. Then there is your written content which would be shared on blogs sites such as Better Networker, Hubpages, Squiddo and your blog, if you have one (hint). And then you have your Social Bookmarking sites, which is also a form of Social Media with sites like Digg, Delicious, and StumbleUpon. And lets not forget your Microblogging form of Social Media with sites like Twitter. Along with all of this you can also use other social media tools like Podcasting and Powerpoint Presentation to teach and share your valuable and knowledge. All these site can be used to connect with people and share valuable information so that they will choose to get to know you and do business with you.
Next you have Social Sites which are places you go to post your media and content and interact with your targeted audience. Sites such as the most popular Facebook, Myspace, Twitter,and one of the newer site Yournight. The most common element of these social media sites are the ability to create a profile, share content, comment, follow people and interact – your basis networking. All these site can be used to connect with people and share valuable information so that they will choose to get to know you and do business with you.
Some of these site are not necessary used to connect direct with people but instead are used to drive traffic to your website or blog where you can present them with more valuable information to deepen the relationship by building trust which will ultimately lead to your prospect doing business with you. Learning how to use these sites to attract your targeted audience and drive people to your website is also very important.
Another thing to note is all these site have built in exposure mechanisms. As you use these sites you will not only be building inbound links which will help you with your Search Engine Optimization(SEO) but these sites will also deliver your content to people who just happen to be visiting the site. To clarify, a person may be visiting one of these site like Hubpages to read a blog post or they may be visiting YouTube to view someone else s video content. They may also see your valuable article or video listed in the Related Content area. They can then click on your information which will engage them and may even entice them to visit your website. Your target audience is already there – all you need to do is provide them with value and they will come.
All this social media interaction will end up as a endless source of Free Leads. One thing that you may not realize is that you will experience residual return on your time invested. What I mean by this is that once the media or content is out there at these social sites that information is there forever and can be providing free leads for a day, a week, a month, and even years to come. Just from the work that you are doing today. In essence providing residual returns on your work.
If you utilize SEO and keywords optimization within your content this can lead to high rankings in the search engines and allow people to find your content through natural search within Google, Yahoo and MSM.
Using the Social Media Environment also makes it easier to network with potential partners and prospects along with their networks – which can lead to expanding your business. Networking with successful people, “make it happen people” can lead to partnering up with their influential people and networks, which will intern allow you to grow your business quicker.
Social media is also a higher leveraging way to “Presell” many people at once. Initial effort can pay off big. As you solve people needs and their problems by providing value to people for free, they will eventually want to do business with you.
The absolute best place to learn about marketing is online in the Social media arena. Pay attention, watch people who are successful and begin to network with these people. You can learn who your target audience is and what their needs are. You can then begin to provide content that will assist them and solve problems for them. Knowing who your target audience is and what your target audience wants and then give that to them will ultimately lead to your success. This can all be done for free through social media. Instead of spending tons of money on advertising and doing things like PPC to get to know your target audience you can do this through social media. Social Media forces you to ask the right questions and learn the right things about your targeted audience so that you will meet their needs and create real valuable relationship. You can do all this without advertising cost – it only takes time.
So here is the basis flow for using social media. You go to a social site, you deliver value through networking or by Broadcasting a piece of content. This will lead to either a conversation and/or sending them to your blog/website. At this point they are somewhat pre-sold. Now it may not happen on the first encounter, remember you are also establishing trust. At your blog you provide them with more value through relative content and continued networking. This can intern lead to a phone conversation or to them giving you there information through your optin form, leading to them doing business with you.
This is the basics but solid formula for making it in the social media environment. This formula will work when using Social Media to grow your Network Marketing business or any business.
