Is helping others the best way to market your company?
How social media can drastically affect your brand image, position and growth potential.
There is a country song I sometimes hear called the Chain of Love by Clay Walker. It's a nice little story about how helping others inspires others to help, and that one day the favor you started will return kind fate to you.
Isn't this how we should market our business products and services?
We know, we know... who has the time to give away services? Well, we tried this approach recently by providing in-kind services to companies that couldn't afford our rates and we were rewarded in spades. In fact, our last two contracts came from referrals from people we've helped in this way. Ah, feels good and generates revenue - now that's a nice combination.
Enter social media: The new chain of love.
What is social media? Wikipedia defines social media as information content created by people using highly accessible and scalable publishing technologies.
When implemented properly your social media should actually help others. It should educate, raise awareness, teach, inform, and interact with interested prospects seeking information. Seeking INFORMATION, not necessarily an exact product or service. By presenting your brand (and your products and services) through helpful tools, articles, ebooks, whitepapers, blogs, reviews, press releases, authority articles, etc. you will catch your prospect "leaning in" looking for you rather than the "leaning back" invasive approach of traditional advertising or direct sales.
"But if I tell them all they need to know they won't need to hire us!"
That's the art....you tell them enough to generate substantial interest, helping the prospect realize that they need your products and services. In most cases, they really don't want to do things themselves; they want to hire a professional.
By publishing helpful, insightful content, including video, presentations, widgets, articles, guides, etc., and using social media to promote this content you can attract customers who are looking for you. And because you have helped them, they will be much more likely to do business with you.
Is helping others the best way to market your company - To learn more about this author, visit Scott C. Margenau's Website.
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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Joe DagerJoe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean Six Sigma Marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: Business901.com Web/Blog: FundingYourNonprofit.com LinkedIn Profile Follow me on Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website |
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