Social Networking Not As Good As It Used To Be?
Ok, I have to say it. I have been hearing from lots of people recently that social networking web sites are not “as good as they used to be”.
By this people who are talking to me mean that social networking landscape has changed. Here is what I have heard recently:
– There is much more noise on social networking web sites than there was two years ago…
– It is not as easy to invite people to your calls, or to your newsletter anymore…
– No one on Twitter and Facebook is interested in coaching…
The good news is, while social networking landscape has changed dramatically in the last two years, one thing remained the same. The spirit of social networking stayed the same. When you use social networking web sites to share, help, educate, give, connect and refer on social networking web sites, you will get the same in return.
Now, I do want to clear one misconception that a lot of people ask me about. Should you market at all on social networking web sites? Should you let your connections know about your upcoming teleseminar, your coaching program or your new book?
Here is what I think. There is absolutely nothing wrong with marketing yourself on social networking web sites. There is nothing wrong with inviting your social networking connections to a preview call you are holding or letting them know about your book launch. As long as you are using your social networking presence to share, help, educate and give, there is nothing wrong with using a few of your status updates to let your connections know about your offerings. After all, if your connections don’t know what you are offering, they will not do business with you.
But what if you are experiencing what I described above, that social networking just isn’t working for you? Here are a few things to take a look at:
– Are you connecting with the right people? Even if you are doing everything right when it comes to social networking, you still need to be connected with the right people, people who are interested in what you have to offer.
If you are not connecting with people who are in your target market, you will still have fun on social networking web sites, but you won’t see the results you are looking for.
– Are you sharing tips and ideas? Sharing tips is the best and simplest way to promote your expertise. You can share short tips as a status update. To share a longer tip, right a blog post and share it.
– Are you letting people know what you have to offer? Sharing your offerings in an authentic and thoughtful way is a huge part of social networking. If you share about them too much, many people will tune you out.
On the other hand, if you don’t share at all, you are guaranteed that no one will take advantage of your offers.
Learn more about using social networking web sites effectively:
– The Simplest Strategy To Build Your List With Social Networking
– How To Get Leads On Social Networking Web Sites
March 10th, 2010 at 4:29 pm
What about YOU? Are social networking web sites less effective or more effective for you now than they were a few years ago?
Post a comment and let us know!
Biana Babinsky
March 10th, 2010 at 6:06 pm
It is hard to tell for me, as I only jumped on Twitter a year ago. I never used Facebook for marketing, just connecting with old friends. I am starting to use it more to connect with new people though.
I think as long as you are targeted and create relationships, it is still valid. In fact, just in the last couple of weeks I created a relationship on Twitter and gained a client.
With Twitter, the list and search features on HootSuite and other Twitter clients make it much easier filter out the noise.
March 11th, 2010 at 3:01 pm
Daphne, thank you for your comment! Yes, being targeted and building relationships is still working well. Congratulations on your new client – this just goes to show that when you build relationships, you get the results you are looking for.