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Are You An Employee or a Person?

September 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Business social media is not just an opportunity. It’s also an obstacle. Many businesses have rules, regulations, policies, and barriers that may preclude you from using any and all forms of social media that include their business name.

ACTION: Continue as an employee, but divorce yourself from the company as a person. There are no rules that preclude you from participating in any of the social media as a human being.

If you’re in banking, insurance, pharmaceuticals, or any other business that has a legal department that begins with the word no and ends with the word no, then take the business name out of everything you do.

You can tweet about, and you can blog about, and you can Facebook about aspects of your relationship that customers and prospects deem significant, never mentioning the name of your company, or your affiliation with it.

There is no rule against telling people the best place to take a weekend vacation, how to keep your front yard safe, how to reduce costs of heating and air conditioning in your home, or your personal philosophies and insights about life.

NOTE WELL: Leave out offers to buy.

Rather, create opportunities that will allow you to connect and opportunities to get together and meet. A seminar, a networking event, even a party.

Make the information valuable, and I guarantee it will get forwarded. Business social media is an opportunity for you to build your personal brand, build personal awareness, build your personal network, and build your personal reputation.

Yes, it takes a little chutzpah, but it will save you the embarrassment, and loss of ground, of not doing it at all.

CONSIDER THIS: Suppose you left your job tomorrow, or get laid off, or get fired. The first thing your prospective new employer is going to do when considering you for a position is check your online status and your Google ranking.

In today’s employment world, you don’t even need a resume because your Google rank, your social media presence, and your overall online presence speaks way louder than what your high school gym teacher (from 20 years ago) thinks of you.

There is a big difference between reference and reputation.

And if you’re in sales, the only people I’m going to call for a reference are your prior customers.

FINAL PIECE OF ADVICE: If you’re frustrated by what you can’t do, start doing what you can do.

Filed Under: business, customers, sales, Social BOOM!, social media Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Send These Videos To Your Boss (Who Just Doesn’t Get It)

September 9, 2012 By 2 Comments

All bosses that are against social media are the ones who don’t know how to use it.

The next time your boss tries to fight you on using social media, send him or her one (or all) of these videos:

For even more ammo, click here.

Filed Under: business, customers, General, sales, Social BOOM!, social media Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

How To Be Successful In The World of Social Media

September 4, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Here’s the big secret: How you position and promote yourself in the NON-social media world is critical to your success in the social media world.

Your writing, your website, your blog, your e-zine, your personal brand, your reputation in your marketplace, your perceived value in your marketplace, and your Google rank are elements of attraction that affect your social media status—and surely your success.

And then there are the charlatans, and those trying to take unfair advantage of others. Like anything else in business, there will always be a small percentage of idiots and zealots doing the wrong thing. Ignore them. Don’t let the actions of a few spoil your outlook to advance and grow.

REALITY: The cold call has been part of the selling world for more than 100 years. And it’s over. Technology guards, gatekeepers, voicemail, and the overall sophistication of buyers and executives, have forever changed that landscape. This is GREAT news.

GET SOCIAL: By implementing the free opportunities afforded on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr and ESPECIALLY LinkedIn, you have an incredible opportunity to attract and connect with prospective buyers.

There are billions of dollars of new business being generated by making social media connections. How much of it will you get?

Filed Under: business, customers, General, sales, social media Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

To Serve Is To Rule! | Apply These Lessons To Your Business Social Media Marketing Plan

August 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Service is what occurs between one sale and the next sale. If you’re looking to close the gap between customers that order from you and customers that don’t order from you make certain your service in the middle of those orders ROCKS. Learn more:

Want to learn more? Click here: http://www.youtube.com/BuyGitomer

Filed Under: business, sales, Social BOOM!, social media Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

5.5 Basic Rules of Relationship-Based Networking

August 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I wanted to share with you the 5.5 rules of relationship-based networking from my Little Black Book of Connections, because they can also be applied to networking in business social media spaces as well. They are as follows:

1. Go where your best customers, probable purchasers, an prospects go.

2. Give value first. Be known as a resource.

3. Dig in. Be committed or it won’t work.

4. Be consistent, Once you get involved, seek a leadership position.

5. Get to know people on a friendly basis.

5.5 Go slow. Relationships are not built in a day. They’re built, with value, day-by-day.

People tend to do business with people they trust. Be sincere, be yourself, and over time, you will win their business and more.

These rules can apply to your business social media efforts as well as your business networking efforts. In business social media, you have to, above all, provide value. You have to be consistent. You have to be committed. You have to recognize that building relationships online takes time. It’s worth it though.

Want to learn more business social media strategies? Click here.

Filed Under: business, customers, General, lead generation, Social BOOM!, social media Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

23.5 Characteristics of Trusted and Trustworthy People

August 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Business social media is all about trust.

From my personal life experiences, here are 23.5 characteristics that I have discovered in other people that have led me to trust them:

1. To get trust, first give trust.

2. Surprise (genuine) helps leads to trust.

3. Trust grows slowly over time.

4. Giving value first leads to trust.

5. Questions that differentiate, especially in matters of money, lead to trust.

6. Competency and superior skill leads to trust.

7. Straight-forward truth leads to trust.

8. Creativity leads to trust.

9. WOW! leads to trust.

10. Giving trust leads to getting trust.

11. Superior knowledge and genuine help lead to trust.

12. Superior service leads to trust.

13. Understanding leads to trust.

14. Willingness to help leads to trust.

15. Truth and honest dealings lead to trust.

16. Respect and reliability lead to trust.

17. Desire to serve with a grateful heart leads to trust.

18. Dedication to serving and enlightening others based on heartfelt belief leads to trust.

19. Random acts of kindness and the desire to do the best job possible lead to trust.

20. Accurate advice over time and friendship without condition or expectation lead to trust.

21. Superior performance with passion over time leads to trust.

22. Dedication to personal excellence and mastery of a craft leads to trust.

23. Friendship based on respect, mutual admiration, truth, and fun leads to trust.

23.5 I trust myself first.

Study this list, and add to it. I hope it helps you become a more trustworthy person, and helps you find trustworthy people to connect with in life.

Are you a trusted source on your business social media sites?

Filed Under: business, customers, sales, Social BOOM!, social media Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

The Social Revolution and Your Evolution

August 7, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The social revolution has changed the way you sell forever. Only problem is, most salespeople have no idea of that – YET!

As business social media evolves and matures, all salespeople, executives, and entrepreneurs will expose themselves for who they are and who they aren’t WAY BEFORE a sales call or sales meeting of any kind takes place.

Think about the impact of that.

I’m gonna Google YOU.
I’m gonna Facebook YOU.
I’m gonna find you on LinkedIn.
I’m gonna look you up on Twitter.
I’m gonna search you on YouTube.

And you can’t stop me.

I’m gonna find out EXACTLY who you are – the same way you’re trying to find out stuff about me.

Two years ago, it would not have happened that way. At least on the social media side. Maybe five years ago for Google.

Today, ALL systems of selling are preceded, and even precluded, by your online reputation. Before I ever call you, before you ever call me, before you ever meet with me – I already know everything I need to about you. Or, I can look you up in ten seconds WHILE you are on the phone.

Here are the NEW standards by which you’ll be evaluated, granted appointment time, decided upon, measured, branded, and talked about (whew!):

Your Google presence and ranking.
Your online reputation.
Your business social media presence.
Your personal website (present or absent).
Your blog (present or absent).
Your Facebook presence.
Your LinkedIn connections and recommendations.
Your Twitter followers.
Your tweets.
Your YouTube channel.

Feel a little overwhelmed? That’s because you’ve been asleep at the wheel waiting for the economy to “rebound.” Or you think the internet is about your company, not you. Or you’re waiting for your attorneys to figure out a “corporate plan” for social media, while your competition KICKS YOUR ASS.

Wake up and smell the Internet, Sparky!

Here are a few things you should do, and can do – that if you don’t do, you’ll be “doo doo”:

  • Look at your competition and their people. Study their online presence and their social media presence.
  • Talk to your customers IN DEPTH. Find out what they would consider valuable to know, and make a plan to deliver that information, whether it pertains to your sales or not. HINT: If you provide valuable information, it directly pertains to your relationship, and their loyalty to you.
  • Allocate more of your time to learning what you don’t know about “online.” At least an hour a day. If you’re behind by your competition’s standards, that’s one issue; but if you’re behind by your customer’s needs, that’s THE issue. If you don’t know what to do, start studying, and start getting involved.
  • Set achievable goals and measure your results. Start with LinkedIn. Get 200 connections and expand your network from there. Create a few videos on YouTube that feature your customers talking about how great you are.
  • Communicate value messages, not product offerings. The purpose of your presence online is not just to sell, it’s also to attract people who want to buy. Especially on social media.
  • Seek professional help, BUT BEWARE. Get personal one-on-one references BEFORE you spend a dime. There are a lot of people who can help you, but many more who CLAIM they can, but cannot.
  • Waiting is more expensive than starting. Whatever you budget for online and/or social media presence, it’s cheap compared to doing nothing while others pass you by.

Social media is not going away. My bet is that your business social media presence is lacking. And there is not one good reason for it, other than your foresight is limited by your insight.

Hopefully this will help you kick-start what you’re doing online – especially your social media participation – so you’ll have no regrets (also known as hindsight).

Filed Under: business, Social BOOM!, social media, twitter Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

A Quick Reminder [VIDEO]

July 24, 2012 By 2 Comments

Here’s a quick reminder for you:

Filed Under: business, Social BOOM!, social media Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Business Social Media Self-Test

July 4, 2012 By Leave a Comment

BUSINESS SOCIAL MEDIA SELF-TEST:

  • Make a list of your last 10 Facebook postings. How many people like your page? Do you even have a business page?
  • List the last 10 actions you took, or messages you sent, on LinkedIn: Anyone join you or want to link as a result of them?
  • Make a list of your last 10 tweets. Are they relevant to your business success? Did they help others in any way? How many got retweeted?
  • List the last 10 videos that you posted on your YouTube channel. Are you posting value messages that your customers and prospects would watch, learn from, and think of you as a resource? Any video testimonials posted on your YouTube channel? (Short testimonial videos will help prospective customers buy and reinforce your own belief system.)

How did you do? Keep in mind:

There are all kinds of books and seminars available on social media and business social media. I recommend reading as much as you can and attending as many as you can. And my biggest recommendation is: START NOW.

Filed Under: business, Social BOOM!, social media Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Your (Personal) Business Social Media Game Plan

June 25, 2012 By 2 Comments

Regardless of where you are in the construction or operation of your business social media outreach, I’m asking you to relook at and rethink about the process because the odds are you started it with the wrong motive: money and sales.

In regard to your business Facebook page, your Twitter account, your LinkedIn connections, and your YouTube channel — ask yourself these questions (for each of the four individually):

  • What am I hoping to achieve?
  • Who am I wanting to attract, engage, and connect with?
  • Who will help me design?
  • Who will help me launch?
  • Who will help me post?
  • Who will be in charge of this process short term?
  • Who will be in charge of this process long term?
  • Do I need professional help?
  • How much time am I willing to allocate each day?
  • How often am I committing to update?
  • What type of value messaging am I going to offer?

The answers to these questions (written down) will create both structure and architecture for your entire business social media game plan. It will also determine your strategy for attracting, engaging, and connecting.

Luckily for you, most people started a Facebook page because their neighbor did or one of their friends did. Don’t do that. Start (or restart) your business social media outreach with purpose, plan, and design. And start (or restart) it with an understanding of what you want to achieve. Not just a goal to launch, but also a goal to attract, a goal to engage, a goal to connect, and a goal for what you want the OUTCOME to be.

Whatever you do, do not follow the ill-fated “Begin with the end in mind.” A more bogus, meaningless statement has never been written to the world business population.

It should say “Begin with the outcome defined.”

If you don’t begin knowing what you want to achieve, and how you intend to achieve it, then don’t begin.

Business social media is far different from, and far more powerful than, social media. Business social media will allow you to keep existing customers loyal, attract new customers, build your reputation, and create more brand awareness than you could ever do with a full page ad every week in Time magazine, or a full page ad every Sunday in The New York Times.

MATH: Those ads will cost you millions of dollars a year, and guarantee you NOTHING. Business social media is free, and a million times more powerful, more authentic, and more valuable.

And if done correctly, business social media puts you in direct one-to-one contact with paying customers. That’s a game plan you can take to the bank.

Filed Under: business, customers, lead generation, sales, Social BOOM!, social media Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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