Aren't social networks a waste of time?

1. Market your business with expert knowledge: Read the book "Underdog Marketing" 2. Prefer a team of experts to assist you with your marketing? Join the Million Dollar Challenge

Many entrepreneurs and small business owners understand the great potential of social marketing. Nevertheless, they are concerned that having yet another business process to manage will increase their costs without delivering measurable business benefits.

In this business television show, dozens of social marketing and business experts contribute practical tips on developing a social marketing strategy that ensures you get the best business development results from your precious time and resources.

The first of the social marketing tips given by the business experts on the show is to run a robust social marketing strategy.

Just like in any other area of business, you need to approach social marketing strategically to get the best bang for your buck.

Begin by defining your goals. Then, select the right tools to achieve those goals, develop a plan, and implement it.

The key is to ask yourself at the very outset, what are you trying to accomplish with your social marketing? To increase sales? Refresh your brand? Raise your professional profile? Get user feedback on your products and services?

Once you know exactly what you are trying to do, you will design your profile page and every other aspect of your social marketing campaign to reflect this and deliver optimal results.

This sense of purpose will guide which networks you choose use, and how much time and resource you devote to your online activity. It will help you connect with the kind of people who can help you.

The next tip given by the social marketing experts is to set aside a certain amount of time every week to implementing your strategy, and then stick to that plan. You must recognize that, while it can deliver incredible value, social marketing is not free – it costs time, and time is money.

Watch the business television show for free right here to hear the rest of the experts' social marketing tips and business development advice.

* * *

Many thanks to the experts who contributed tips to this series:

Jana Eggers, CEO, Spreadshirt - http://www.spreadshirt.co.uk/
Jill Hart, president, Christian Work at Home Inc - http://www.cwahm.com/
Joel Comm, author of Twitter Power - http://www.joelcomm.com/
Joel Elad, author of LinkedIn for Dummies - http://www.joelelad.com/
Kelly Karnetsky, CEO, Dreams Redux - http://www.kellykarnetsky.com/
Kevin Palmer, social media strategist - http://www.socialmediaanswers.com/
Lorne Epstein, CEO/founder, InSide Job - http://www.myinsidejobs.com/
Maurice A. Ramirez, High Alert LLC - http://www.mauricearamirez.com/
Monica Hamburg, writer and social media evangelist - www.monicahamburg.wordpress.com/about
Philip Calvert, founder, IFA Life - http://www.ifalife.com/
Shannon Evans, co-founder and director, Small Business Publications - http://www.bainbridgepress.com/
Starr Hall, publicist and social media strategist - http://www.starrhall.com/
Steven Rozenfeld, YaaZe.com - www.yaaze.com/blog
Yana Berlin, Fabulously40.com - http://www.fabulously40.com/

Top Ten Recession-Busting Marketing Tips

Cross-Promote: Link with a complimentary company and cross-promote your products and services. Examples: a fashion boutique and a make-up artist; a delicatessen and a home wares shop. Think outside the square. A commercial cleaner and a chocolate factory? Think 'free samples' and being memorable.

Add-Value: Instead of discounting an expensive dress, make a gift of a scarf, bracelet or pair of earrings. Instead of reducing the price of your service, offer an extra service for the original price. The gifted item or service will likely cost a business much less than providing a discount, and be valued more.

Permission Marketing: Your business will benefit from having a more credible profile and audience who invite you to talk to them about your products and services. Develop a simple online newsletter (e-news) or direct mail newsletter that provides interested parties with new, relevant and useful information that will benefit them.

Create News: Work effectively with the media and provide journalists with credible, newsworthy and interesting information suitable for their audience. Don't provide advertising masquerading as news; understand their audience and their needs. Provide an angle that informs, educates or warns.

Hold an Event: Invite customers and potential customers to your office or factory for a tour followed by a light lunch or after work drinks. If you can't host people in this way, use a local hotel to host clients to a light lunch, or drinks & nibbles, provide information about your business and also get to know their needs better.

Speak in Public: Offer to be a guest speaker on your topic of expertise at a conference or business lunch. Service clubs often are looking for people to speak on interesting topics. Contact your local Business Enterprise Centre or Industry Association and investigate opportunities to speak to their members.

Call to Action: Whether it's an advertisement, brochure, flier, website text or direct mail letter, always include a call to action. Tell the recipient what you want then to do. Examples: "Visit our website" or "Call us now" or "First 10 Callers Only" or "Order Now" or "Come and see us now". This simple addition will make a big difference.

Use the Internet: People will not flock to your website for no reason. Develop your online presence by having interesting content on your website that is up-dated regularly, an active blog, a relevant e-newsletter or media resource area, and submit material to online article directories. Join social networking sites, such as Twitter, Ecademy and MySpace but use them wisely. Get good advice from a credible internet expert, not just a graphic designer.

Ask Questions: Don't make statements about your products or service, instead ask questions. Examples:

• DON’T SAY “Our containers hold 500 and can expand to 750’
  
  ASK “How much capacity are you looking for?”
  
  


• DON’T SAY “We have blue, green yellow, red, orange and purple”
  
  ASK “What color did you want?” or “What is your color scheme?”
  
  


• DON’T SAY “Our widgets are $100”
  
  ASK “How much did you want to spend?”


• DON’T SAY “This car is the best medium-sized car on the market today”
  
  ASK “How many people in your family?” and “What will you be using the vehicle for?” and “Do you drive mostly in the city?”

Extend Your Reach: Many businesses market only to their customers, yet there are other groups that can help promote you. Keep your suppliers informed of your business activities. Develop a list of people who can refer business to you and people who can influence favourably what customers think of you. Don't forget your staff; they can be your best Ambassadors.

Material taken from the book 'Underdog Marketing' by Dr Alex Davidovic and Penelope Herbert. 'Underdog Marketing' is crammed with step-by-step guides, killer tips, proven formulas and fresh marketing solutions. Available now at: UnderdogMarketingChallenge.com

Getting your social marketing right first time: A beginner's guide

1. Market your business with expert knowledge: read the book "Underdog Marketing" 2. Prefer a team of experts to assist you with your marketing? Join the Million Dollar Challenge

By now, most business people have read or heard about leveraging online social networks as part of a small business social marketing strategy. Twitter in particular has had a lot of coverage in the media.

Many entrepreneurs see the potential of this approach, but lack the skills to set up a campaign. In this business television show, experts share their latest business advice on getting started with social marketing.

The social marketing tips on the show have been contributed by dozens of business experts to assist even the most technophobic businesspeople with Facebook marketing, Twitter marketing, and other online social networking.

The first part of the show explains how to select the social network or networks that best fit your needs and your business development needs. There are many different networks to choose from, from well known general purpose networks like Facebook and Twitter, to specialist networks like LinkedIn or Ecademy.

In their small business marketing tips on the show, the experts suggest starting with Facebook and Twitter, then investigating other social networks.

Different networks attract different types of users, so you need to think about your target audience and the kinds of networks they might be on.

Once you have decided on the networks which you will use as you platform, you need to set up a profile page.

This is a critical task in your social marketing campaign, say the experts, and it is very important to get it right. The purpose of your profile is to give your contacts an idea of the person behind your business. By leaving your profile page blank, you are missing a key opportunity to let people know who you are and what you do.

In the rest of the business television show, the experts explain how to create a highly attractive profile page that will get you found online. Then they explain how to grow your network of contacts by becoming a highly active participant within the online community.