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Is Social Media the Hottest Thing in Sales Prospecting?

Written by: Cheryl A. Clausen

Article Overview: Whether you tweet, write on walls, get linked, or use any of the other various social media most small businesses, entrepreneurs, and SOHO’s are asking themselves a couple important questions.

Is Social Media the Hottest Thing in Sales Prospecting?

Is the amount of time I invest in social media producing a measurable return on my investment?

Is social media an effective means to prospect?

These are great questions especially because social media can become a time sink that takes up far too much of your most precious resource… your time.

The answer to these important questions depends on the type of business you are in, and your understanding of what social media is and isn’t.

I like to use examples to better understand how things work. So let’s compare social media to some things you are already familiar with so you can make a fair comparison.

Social media is kind of like a giant, and I do mean giant, networking event. When you join a social media site like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. it’s like becoming a member of a group with millions of members that holds networking events 24/7/365. That sounds pretty exciting doesn’t it?

Yet, people thought the same thing about the internet in general. Businesses thought if they had a website they would automatically get millions of people coming to their site. They thought if even a small percentage of those visitors bought why… they’d be rich. It didn’t quite work like that and neither does social media.

While a real world networking event is static taking place in one location on a specific day at a specific time social media isn’t. Social media is more like standing on the banks of a rushing river where the river is made up of people running past rather than water.

As these thousands of people run past 24/7/365 they are all shouting out to you. You couldn’t possibly know who to reach out to because everyone is rushing past too fast. With social media the only way you can reduce the flow is to divide this river into smaller outlets known as groups.

Groups represent people with specific interests. When you focus on groups rather than the entire network it’s a little like joining a smaller organization whose members share a specific interest. The group will get smaller but the interactions will be more meaningful.

Time has value so ask yourself, “If I only have 30 minutes to look for prospects today what’s the best use of those 30 minutes?”

Meeting as many people as possible?

Meeting people with a specific interest that are part of a smaller group?

Meeting people with a specific interest who are part of a smaller group that are already looking for something related to what you sell?

Meeting people online or meeting people face-to-face?

Ultimately you have to ask, “Is social media the best way to make these connections?” Because social media is about making connections, it’s not about selling, and it’s not about securing appointments.

Related Articles
  Social Media and You
  Sales Prospecting Techniques
  Cold Calling Isn’t the Only Way to Get Prospects
  Sales Prospecting for Sales Results
  Sales Prospecting is the most important skill©

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Related Forum Posts
Re: Kevin needs "social glue" ideas - Hi, I like the idea of "10 items that could act as "social glue" because I am an internet marketer. But I agree with the rest that the 10 recent post is nice. Maybe we should open up a new section in the forums on Social Media...or Social Media Marketing. I will tell you that the world is about 1 1/2 behind when it comes to understanding social media. Building a section now will put EvanCarmichael.com is a great position a year down the road when people realize Social Media can produce more traffic than SEO. Jeff
Re: Kevin needs "social glue" ideas - [quote="WebBizIdeas.com":gvtxsu7g]Hi, I like the idea of "10 items that could act as "social glue" because I am an internet marketer. But I agree with the rest that the 10 recent post is nice. Maybe we should open up a new section in the forums on Social Media...or Social Media Marketing. I will tell you that the world is about 1 1/2 behind when it comes to understanding social media. Building a section now will put EvanCarmichael.com is a great position a year down the road when people realize Social Media can produce more traffic than SEO. Jeff[/quote:gvtxsu7g] Hi Jeff, Thanks for the suggestion. Why don't you start a new post (with a poll) to see if there's enough interest in your idea for a social media section?
Re: UPDATES: New Campaign! New Layout! New Ideas! - GT - thanks for the FYI - I'm not sure if we'll put a link back. Something to consider though! Trent - the new category is "Social Network and Media" which was put in to compliment the Online Businesses category that currently exists. Overall the new categories are: - Looking For, Networking and Events - Review My... - Social Network and Media - Brags and Rants These came as a result of Ringo doing research on other forums and thinking about what could be improved on ours to give a better experience for everyone. I hope you enjoy them! David, I'm looking forward to reading your Brag / Rant!
Re: Marketing 2.0 - What Are Your Thoughts - Hi Shri, Thanks for posting this. I also read it and I believe Social Media is here to stay, until the next best thing comes up. Social media proved to be useful for me many times and I think everyone should use it for their business.
Re: Social Media Marketing Ignorance - [quote="vbn411":7qciluxl]Social Media is space that you have to be in to succeed in our current climate. People are going to be discussing your brand / product whether you like it or not, so you might as well join the conversation and add value. [/quote:7qciluxl] I think that's probably one of the most realistic way to think about it. There's no real textbook way of understanding Social Media, it's the networks of people and their interactions that will exist with or without your input. As for Jennifer, You can always have 2 Facebook pages. Many people do. There is also LinkedIn, which is like a professional networking version of Facebook. The only way to know is to try it.


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