The 4 Most Important Activities That Lead To Social Media Gold for Businesses & Professionals

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Listening

Search for terms that are relevant to you for example, if you type in ‘online marketing’ into these search engines, you’ll tap into the best resources, relevant real-time discussions on those topics and lot’s of people to connect with that interested in the same things you’re interested in. It beats the heck out of trying to connect with anyone and everyone just to build up numbers. For businesses, numbers are important; but they need to be RELEVANT. Chasing numbers is also a waste of time. It’s better to develop 10 strong meaningful relationships rather than a have a thousand followers or fans who don’t know you exist.

Another important conversation to tap into is folks who you can help — like your customers. Do you know what your customers are saying online? Do you speak in there language? Are you sharing and creating content that resonates with them?

One way to find out is visit the #1 competitor’s in your industry who are rockin the social web and tap into conversations they’re having with their customers. You will gain some great insight on how social is done properly and learn an incredible amount about the customers you desire to serve.

On the social web, those who find success are speaking directly to their customers in their language.

Giving & Serving

There’s nothing negative that comes from giving to others. Karma is always at work and investing yourself into the lives and work of others ensures a future of rewards. It’s an investment of yourself that only nature can repay – and nature never misses a payment. Beware; these payments work both ways – whether you’re just taking from the community and trying to profit from selling stuff, or if you’re motivation is to contribute value and enhance the lives of every person you have the privilege of serving – rest assured you will reap good or bad things from your actions and intentions.

There’s lot’s of folks always on the take. Spamming, selling, pushing themselves on folks they don’t know or haven’t built a relationship with. This short term thinking can have adverse effects on long term business plans.

This self-centered behavior will eventually kill you on the social web. It may be profitable in the short term, but this mentality just won’t work in the long run. It’s not all ‘you’ and the money you can make; its about ‘them’ and how you consistently solve problems, contribute value and make life better and/or easier for your customers. This is a solid long-term line of thinking that can lead to a sustainable and profitable business.

Build, Build, Build Your Social Footprint!

The social web will enable you to build your business, relationships, your future and in the end, your legacy… You leave behind crumbs of ‘you’ all over the web and the more people see your crumbs the more they’ll start to see the whole loaf of bread.

Hopefully they decide to eat you for lunch on a regular basis!

Business owners and professionals need to be ‘virtually present’ on the social web and first & foremost be listening! That will eventually enable you to add real value to conversations, solve problems and be where people can experience who you are and understand how you help them before they make a buying decision.

Staying the Course

Nothing worthwhile in life is easy. It takes commitment and hard work. The social web is really about the long distance run, and most folks aren’t prepared nor committed to the amount of work and follow-through it takes to get the desired results. It’s not about the amount of content or work that’s created and invested over the next month or quarter… but over the next year or two years, if you consistently focus on the things discussed above, you will have something valuable that can benefit your business or your professional career.

Okay, over to you… What are the most important activities you focus on to build a rockin’ social media footprint?

Category : Blog &Social Media