Monday, November 10, 2008
How do you do business on Facebook?
By Mike Lake
I recently saw a successful internet marketer explaining how he uses social media like YouTube, Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, etc. for his business. He asked, “You want to know how much money I make using those tools?” As he said, “This is how much money I try to make with social networking…”, he drew a big fat zero on his white board.
Now, I think it’s fair to say that we’re all trying to figure out the best use of social media for commerce. There are plenty of national brands with their own Facebook account and Twitter page, but the jury is still out on how well that actually sells their product. Clearly, the gentleman I spoke of above has a contrarian view, but I think it’s worth mentioning because he said some things that I thought were instructive.
This internet marketer drew boxes on the board, each containing Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc. and said, “I look at each of these as a party”. When you go to a party and introduce yourself to people, you don’t just start by… telling people all about the benefits of buying your product or giving them testimonials. Instead, you tell them some personal things about yourself. You’ll probably talk about what you do for a living, but it’s not a pitch. The point here is that social media, in this guy’s opinion, is a party where you are making friends. You’re telling stories, sharing experiences and getting to know people better.
He then said that his blog is like his home. It contains cool stuff that visitor might like to see and experience. Again, not a sales pitch. So after he meets people on Linkedin (a party), for instance, he invites them to his blog (his home). After getting to know him better by coming to his blog, people may be inclined to tell their friends about him. After a while enough people get to know him and trust him and perhaps respect his professional skills, they might choose to buy his product. But that purchase isn’t forced through his social networking or blog. Those purchases are a consequence of familiarity. Sound a bit like traditional brand marketing?
I’m playing right now with Twitter and trying to figure out my best use of it. I would suggest taking the plunge into one or more of the many available social networking and media sites to see what you might find – or who might find you. As my friend above said, perhaps consider it a party where you meet people and you each learn about each other. Don’t pitch. Meet and greet. If you’re nice, you never know how many parties to which he might invite you.
January 15th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
hmmmm… interesting concepts here… I’ve just recently joined FaceBook, much to my daughter’s dismay! She still thinks this is a cool site for teenagers and old people like me joining is just creepy! LOL At first I thought it was an interesting and inexpensive way to reconnect with old friends and one more place to surf… but slowly I’m starting to see the marketing possibilities on this site. Mike, one day you and I should sit down and over a cup of coffee, explore the potential here! Here’s my gmail info, if you’re on FaceBook, I would love to be added as a friend. paul.cabrera1@gmail.com