Social Media Marketing

3 Reasons You Need to Embrace Web 2.0

You’d have to have been living on the moon for the last few years not to have heard of Web 2.0, or at least talk of social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook!  More and more we’re finding that rather than these sites simply being a distraction, they’re actually being used as incredibly sophisticated marketing tools.  When Seth Godin wrote “Permission Marketing”, he talked about a future where people would only buy from people who had been given permission to market to them.  That’s exactly what’s happening with Web 2.0 today.

Love it or hate it, as Internet Marketers we absolutely need to embrace this remarkable technology in order for our business to thrive.  Those who don’t will at best, simply survive in the current climate.

It’s my goal in writing this article that I can persuade you to grasp social media wholeheartedly and make it an integral part of your business.  Looking at it from your point of view, I’ve attempted to answer the most basic question – “why?”

For the Kudos

Just like celebrities like to be seen at all the trendy night-spots in town, as Internet Marketers, we need to be seen hanging out on all the cool Web 2.0 sites!  You’re nobody online if you don’t have a Twitter account, a Facebook account, a YouTube account etc.  People expect it of us and our followers positively thrive on the messages that we broadcast!

Trust me, you can’t buy the kind of trust that comes from an active Web 2.0 presence!

It’s the Future

As I said in my introduction, social media truly is the future of Internet Marketing.  If your business doesn’t already have a Web 2.0 strategy as part of the core business plan, it needs to incorporate one immediately!  If you choose not to, you’re going to find it harder and harder to reach your target marketing in the future.

We also need to consider the generation that are growing up with computers and social media.  Think about how your average teenager today uses the Internet.  Everything they do revolves around Web 2.0 and socialising.  As they reach adulthood, if your online authority and reputation is already established you’ll have a better opportunity to tap into this market.

It’s Fun!

Perry Belcher always refers to social media as a party, and that’s a great analogy.  You get to hang out in the virtual world with cool people and share cool stuff!  As an added bonus, you can often appear cooler online than you are in real life!

As you make more “friends” online, you’ll find that you start establishing real relationships with some of these people – just like you would if you met face to face.  This can make it a real pleasure to spend a small portion of your day maintaining your social network.

You owe it to yourself and to your business to give Web 2.0 a try.  If you’re not sure about it, do it for the kudos – do it for your future – do it because it’s fun.  Whatever the reason, just do it!

5 Tips for Building Your Business with Twitter

Twitter seems to be something that most of the top online marketers are both talking about and using today.  It’s certainly revolutionized the way we communicate with each other!  With an estimated 6 million plus users, Twitter should be an essential part of any online marketing strategy as it’s one of the best ways to interact with your business partners, your clients and your prospects.

In order for Twitter to be effective, you have to know how to use it properly.  It’s becoming common to see people joining Twitter and immediately sending out links to promote their products.  This will usually result in these people rapidly losing followers and destroying their online reputation.  I’m going to share with you my 5 top tips to get the most out of Twitter.

Tip 1 – Network

It’s called “social networking”, so network!  Twitter isn’t just a new tool for spamming your list of loyal followers – if you think it is, you’ll be amazed how quickly that list of followers will vanish!  You need to interact with people in your network so that they get to know you and to trust you.  There are many stories of this trust building to a level where people end up meeting face-to-face to discuss new business opportunities that wouldn’t have come up if the people involved hadn’t been networking.  This is a key point, so keep it in mind whenever you’re using Twitter!

Tip 2 – Listen to Your Contacts

Twitter isn’t just a soapbox for you to pitch things to your network – even if you’re always sharing great things!  You need to be conscious of what they’re doing and what’s affecting them.  It may be that you can offer help or advice immediately, or it may be that you notice a trend and can develop a new product to help.  Either way, if you don’t spend some time listening to your network, you’ll never know!

Tip 3 – Provide Great Value

When you do post to Twitter, make sure the majority of your posts add great value either to someone specific or your contacts as a whole.  People appreciate this kind of Tweet and you’ll become known as someone who adds value with your interactions.

Tip 4 – Know the Boundaries

Remember, when your business is related to Internet marketing, you’re representing your business on Twitter.  With this in mind, be aware of what you’re posting.  Are you about to do or say something that could damage your business?  Are you going to publicly rant about something petty that could hurt your reputation?  Think before you Tweet!

Tip 5 – Learn About Twitter Tools

There are a whole host of Twitter tools out there that can make it much easier to manage your Twitter usage.  For example, there’s TwitWall, where you can post longer items which are then Tweeted using just the title, or there’s sites such as TweetLater.com which allows you to schedule tweets for a specific future time, as well as automatically following and welcoming new followers.  The more tools you’re familiar with, the more choice you have about how you use Twitter.

If you can apply these 5 tips to your use of Twitter, you’ll see that this can be an excellent medium for building your business.