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07.23.10 How To Succeed With Social Media  By Rich BrooksThere are a lot of social media experts out there-including the ones who claim there's no such thing as a "social media expert"-that are telling us how social media works, how it doesn't work, and how we all must behave in the social media arena. Much of this advice is framed as "universal truths" that every business must follow. Unfortunately, a lot of it is based on the expert's personal experience that may not be appropriate for you. Even the most well intended advice is often off the mark when it comes to your business. There's nothing wrong with sage advice, but when guidelines become rules they need to be re-examined and scrutinized. What follows are some of the oft-quoted "rules" that you need to question as you use social media for your own business. Social media has changed everything. Balderdash. Yes, we've got shiny new tools, and consumers can give more public, vocal feedback on your products and services. However, leads still need to be generated, sales need to be closed and invoices need to be sent; no business survives otherwise. Furthermore, networking didn't start with LinkedIn. Before there was social networking there was real world networking. And you know what? It came with drinks and hors d'oevres, so it wasn't all that bad. In fact, arguably the best book on social media marketing predates social media marketing: How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. Go and (re)read that book; everything he talks about is still true today, it's just that now it happens on Twitter. You can't sell in social media. This statement is the mantra of early adopters who remember "the good old days" of social media, before Facebook had ads and all the spammers realized how powerful and inexpensive the medium could be. It's well documented that Dell has sold million of dollars of PCs and accessories through Twitter promotions. Local coffee shops take orders through Twitter that are ready when you arrive, or promote themselves using location-based apps like FourSquare or Gowalla. (In fact, if you'd like some advice on how to sell in FourSquare, check out Why Foursquare Drives Business.) Now this doesn't mean that you should go out and spam everyone you can reach through social media. In fact, that's probably a quick way to lose followers and even get banned from popular networks. However, when you put the right message in front of the right person in the right social medium, sales happen. You have to stay on message. This is preached by many of the most successful social media experts out there. But you know who stays on message? Politicians and boring corporations. If you don't count yourself in either group, then staying on message isn't for you.  Continue reading this article. About the Author: Rich Brooks is president of flyte new media, a Web site design and Internet marketing company in Portland, Maine. Flyte works with small businesses to build professional Web sites that often include e-commerce, Flash and content management systems. They promote their clients' sites through search engine optimization, e-mail marketing, business blogs and social media. You can follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/therichbrooks. |
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