Small business owners are rushing to the promised land of social media to save their recession ravaged businesses.
They’re frantically signing up for Twitter and Facebook and LinkedIn and other social media sites because they’re being told they have to be there. And social media experts are making a fortune selling the “secrets” to getting tons of Twitter followers and Facebook Fans/Friends and on and on.
But most of the small business owners flocking to social media are not going to make one penny from their efforts. The reason is because most social media plans leave out one absolutely critical piece of the money-making puzzle.
This piece of the puzzle is a four letter word that seems to get fouler and fouler to most of the population with each passing year. The mere suggestion of it makes most social media experts shudder in their tweets.
What is this vulgar word?
Sell.
Yep, I said it. Sell.
If you want to make money, you have to sell. Whether it’s on the phone, face to face, in print or in the world of the Internet and social media, to make money you have to sell.
Sell yourself.
Sell your products.
Sell your services.
Last year, there was a huge infoproduct launch online about how to make money with social media. The promotions teased prospects with headlines along the lines of “Discover the Secrets of How I Got 4 Bazillion Twitter Followers in 11 Months.”
What I found interesting about the launch of this product about making money from social, however, is that they didn’t actually make money from social media. All the heavy selling was done using time tested direct marketing principles that were delivered using email autoresponders and landing pages with video sales letters and long copy sales letters.
No doubt that using social media and, perhaps more importantly, building a large email list, led to the success of this launch. But the money was made because of the more traditional direct marketing and sales principles that were used.
Yes, you can use social media to connect with customers and prospects. You can use social media to build relationships. You can use social media to get people to know, like and trust you.
But at the end of the day, if you want to make money (and that’s at least part of the reason you’re in business in the first place, right?!), you have to offer something that satisfies a need in a marketplace, you have to know how to craft an offer, and you have to SELL.
[One last note: if the thought of selling makes your skin crawl, you don't (and shouldn't) have to sell in an unethical, sleezy kind of way. My friend Gill is an expert in helping people sell with honesty and integrity.]
Related posts:
- The Most Underutilized, Yet Most Important, Social Media Strategy
- The 8 Best Places to Eavesdrop in the Social Media World to Gain a Competitive Advantage
- Internet Marketing Tip To Save Your Money, Time and Sanity
- Warning for Entrepreneurs: Save Yourself and Your Business Before It’s Too Late!
- The Real Secret To Making Money With Information Products
