Notice one word in that last statement… “Connect”.

See the thing with Social Media is that it’s all about connecting people. It’s about relationships.

This is why having a Social Media Marketing company run the show for your business is really a bad idea. Think about it.

Your prospects and customers want to have a connection with you
Your company. Your employees. Not a third party company that isn’t part of the company. They are paid to say what they THINK is the right thing. They are going to do research with facts and figures and a bunch of other numbers to impress you with what you think is really important stuff.

But, the connection you have with your customers and prospects is worth much more than a bunch of facts and figures.

You don’t have any clue what’s really going on. You need to keep your pulse on your business and it’s connection with your customers.

Your customers and prospects want to know YOU
I will tell you from personal experience that I get a lot more interaction with my connections in the Social Media world when I post actual life events and what’s going on in my world than I do if I post promotions, articles and just basic business stuff. You need to be real. Show your personality in your Social Media Marketing. Let people know that they are really connecting with someone that is a real person AND that cares.

There isn’t anything wrong with promoting your company as well, but be sure to make a connection as well. It needs to be real.

Your customers are smarter than you think
Today, people are smarter than we give them credit for when it comes to dealing with anything fake. They can see a scam a mile away and a fake “done for you” Social Media profile is just the same. If they don’t feel a connection they will see right through it and drop you in a heartbeat. Not only will they stop following you but they will also feel insulted and stop buying.

I’ve seen it from a ton of businesses where what I see online looks like a polished script written by a robot and not something that a real person thought about.

It’s a huge turn off and doesn’t make me feel at ease with them at all.

Social Media Marketing is a great tool to add to any business but you really have to pay attention to what you are doing and build a relationship with your followers. It’s fine to have someone help get you started but you need to be the one that really makes the connections with your followers. They want to hear from you, not some nameless, faceless geek with a computer on your behalf.

Well guess what? The conversation is happening whether you want to be involved or not. And, it’s stronger than you might expect.

In today’s world, the customer has the power. As a business owner, you are NOT in control. People will spread ideas and opinions about your business faster than you can imagine. That’s called Viral Marketing. And you better believe that they will spread it. Good or bad.

So how do you work with Social Media and keep your PR under control? We’re going to go through a few things that you should do in order to make the best of the tools that are out there.

Accept that it’s not going away.
Yes, I know some people want to hide under a rock and hope that the whole “Fad” of social media will go away. Well, its not going to. As a matter of fact, its going to become less of a fad and to most it will just be a way of life. People are conversational creatures. They feed off of communicating. That is why Social Media has such appeal to the mass populous.

You just have to accept that it isn’t going to go away and start being part of it. Just like the days of not having a business website are all but gone, not having a Facebook page are also going to be the downfall of running a business.

Now I know businesses that still don’t have a website. Some even do fairly well without one. But, most aren’t that lucky. I even know of businesses that have lost million dollar deals just because they didn’t have a web presence. People don’t want you to send them a brochure. They want to check out your website.

Simple as that.

Be Active
You can’t just sign up for a Facebook or Twitter account and expect it to run itself. You have to be proactive. You have to actually post things. Share useful information. Promote it to your customers and prospects. It’s all about relationships. You have to actually connect with people. Ask questions. Answer other people’s questions. Share ideas. And thank people for being part of your community.

You have to build a tribe of raving fans. People have to feel that they can connect with you and that you are a real person that cares, not just another faceless corporation.

Give people a reason to like you. It’s all about liking and trusting you.

Be PROactive!
If you do get negative press or someone does say negative things about your company, be proactive. You have to make an effort.

Now we all get customers that are just unreasonable and there is no pleasing them. There are people like that out there. That is part of doing business. But, if you have publicly tried to work with that customer and have done all that you can, if you are proactive online and share that with others, people will see right through the negative people like that. They will see that you tried to fix the issue and that you are an honest and willing person or company.

They will love you for it. You’ll more likely get a stronger following because of it.

People want honesty and want to be heard. In today’s world, they not only have a voice but they have a very loud voice. Do you want to be on the other end of the megaphone or would you rather be right there with them with your loyal following waiting to hear every word you have to say?

New to Social Media and don’t know where to start? Learn how to use Twitter as an effective business marketing tool, download my free Twitter For Business Step-By-Step Guide where I’ll walk you through some great resources on where to find followers, build your list and make Twitter a great marketing tool without spending a dime!

I know that I have asked people what “their address” is so I can easily connect with them and I have found that a lot of people either don’t know their address, don’t know how to find their address or they are still giving out the long obnoxious address that is the original default one.

When I give out one of my various social media links I also get asked why I have a nice easy to remember one.

So today I thought I would go through how to find your current link and how to get one of those nice easy to remember ones.

How to Find/Claim Your Facebook Link

When you first sign up for Facebook you are given a long number that becomes part of your link directly to your profile. This is generally hard to remember and even harder to enter directly. They look something like this: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1072084083

But about a year ago Facebook started allowing people to choose a vanity url for their profile. So you can get something like this http://facebook.com/cindyclemens instead of that other impossible to remember thing.

The only thing holding you back would be if the one you want is already taken.

To claim the address you want you will need to log into your Facebook account. Then up in the browser address bar you will enter this address: http://facebook.com/username.

Once you are on this page you will be able to enter in the address you want. If it is available you will be asked to confirm that this is your choice. If it is not available you will be offered other possible options.

Once you have made your choice and confirmed it, then your new address will be active.

BEWARE: You cannot change this once you have set it. If you want to or need to change it in the future you will have to cancel your entire account and start over. So choose carefully and check your spelling!

Hint: You will also be able to choose one of those nice links for your pages too, if you have at least 25 “fans”.

What is Your Twitter Address?

Many people who are new to Twitter don’t know the answer to this question. Luckily Twitter has made it pretty easy.

Your Twitter address is http://twitterm.com + your username.

For example, when I go and log into my twitter account my username is cindyclemens. So my Twitter address is http://twitter.com/cindyclemens

One nice thing about Twitter is that they allow you to change your username (and therefore your address). As long as the new username you want is available you can change it. Although I do not recommend you do this unless you have some kind of a good reason. When you change your username any links out there will now be broken, or worse yet they will go to the next person that chooses to use your old twitter username.

If you decide you do need to change your username/twitter address (maybe you didn’t know it would be your address when you signed up ). You can do so by logging into your account and clicking on the word settings in the top right corner. Then just change where it says username. The system will immediately let you know if the new choice is available or not. Then you simply save the changes.

Remember: If you change this, the next time you log in your will use the new username instead of the original one.

What About LinkedIn?

Like most of the other social networking sites, when you register for LinkedIn you will get a nice long hard to remember link to your profile. It will look something like this: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/austin-j-feldman/7/572/477

What you want is one that is a bit easier to remember (and therefore type into email signatures, other site’s detail information, etc. So they let you set up what they call a “Personal URL”. Like Twitter you can change your url in LinkedIn anytime you wish to. They do caution you that when you create your first “Personal URL” your original LinkedIn given url will remain active. But if you change your “Personal URL” your old “Personal URL” will no longer work.

To claim your LinkedIn Personal URL (like this one: http://linkedin.com/in/cindyclemens) you will need to log into your LinkedIn account.

To the top of the screen under Profile select “Edit Profile”. On the screen you are taken to click on the word edit next to your current LinkedIn url. At the top of the page you are taken to click the word edit one more time next to the current link. Now you will be given the option to change the link.

There….

So now when someone asks you what your Social Networking links are you can easily rattle them off with no issues. And if a site you are registering for has an option to add additional links (say from Twitter, Facebook, etc) you will be able to fill in the fields without having to go log into every profile you have on the internet.  (Come on you know you do that….)

Here are My Social Networking Links:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/cindyclemens
Facebook: http://facebook.com/cindyclemens
LinkedIn: http://linkedin.in/cindyclemens
Google Buzz: http://www.google.com/profiles/cindyjclemens
Foursquare: http://foursquare.com/user/cindyclemens

If you are looking to connect with people online in various social networking sites, feel free to add your links in the Thoughts area below. Then everyone who come to view this post will be able to connect with you.

Is Social Media the end all of marketing? Of course not, but it is a huge powerhouse that if done right, businesses can get a ton of exposure for without spending a fortune on marketing.

Let’s look at Twitter. It’s the most basic of the top sites out there, yet is very powerful if used right to market our business.

Communicate With Customers

Twitter offers a fast and easy way to communicate with customers and prospects. 140 Characters at a time, you can keep in touch with your customers about new things going on with the company. Are you opening a new location? Tweet it. Offering a new product? Tweet that too. What about when you are going to be at a trade show? That too is a great Tweet for your business. Get them involved and let them know what’s up with you and your business.

Fast Specials And Offers

In the past, if you wanted to send a special to your customers you had to mail them a postcard of brochure. Then came the ability to email them, but for marketing a small business, Twitter for business marketing is great. It’s cheap (free), easy and immediate.

Many Twitter users have their Twitter feeds go right to their phones. No need to wait for Johnny to get home and check his email. No chance that your message will get lost in the junk folder.

You can send out multiple messages each and every day without spending a dime or having to wait for the mail to get there.

Customer Service

As more and more people are using Twitter in their everyday lives, Twitter has become a great way to offer customer service for customers and prospects asking questions. It’s easy to do. Someone asks a question and you just reply with a link to a support article, or link to where they can find the answer.

One of the major Credit card gateways had an outage and instead of spending hundreds of man hours replying to single emails and phone calls, they dedicated one person just to post to their Twitter account updates on the issue and how it was being resolved. They then just directed all other forms of contact to that one place.

That gave the customers a one stop location to let people know what was going on and what the situation was.

Things like this are just the tip of the iceberg on how you can use Twitter for business. I know at first glance, most people don’t get the idea of hot to use Twitter for business but it really is a simple and easy to use tool that can be very effect in communicating with your customers and prospects about everything you have to offer. It’s not complicated, just 140 characters at a time.

So, if you want to really take using Twitter for Business to the next level, find a ton of followers and use Twitter as an effective business marketing tool, download my free “Twitter For Business” Step By Step Guide where I’ll walk you through some great resources on where to find followers, build your list and make Twitter a great marketing tool without spending a dime!

Now I do admit there is a ton of useless stuff on Twitter but it can also be a great tool to market your business and communicate with your customers and prospects easily and all for free.

Here’s 3 ways you can effectively use Twitter for business marketing without having to spend a ton of time or any money at all.

Start A Conversation

Find users in your local area and follow them right away. Look for other businesses in your neighborhood or city. What other businesses do your exact customer also visit or buy from? This is the first place to look. Follow those businesses and then also follow a few of their followers. You’ll get some following from just that alone.

Be sure to interact with them. Twitter isn’t just a one way communication tool. It’s a conversation. If you see someone else asking a question that you can answer, then answer it. Be helpful. Offer suggestions. Comment on other posts.

Communicate With Customers

Ask your customers if they are on Twitter. If they are, suggest they follow you and ask for their Twitter Handle (their Twitter name). Get them involved in the conversation.

Start sending out special discounts via Twitter that people can only get if they come in with a secret word of the day. This is a great way to not only get your marketing out there but to also get tracking to see how effective it is.

Ask your followers what they’d like to see in your store. Here’s an example, If you own a coffee shop, you could ask your followers what their favorite drink is. It’s a great conversation starter and can really get a ton of buzz. Every one of your followers that replies to your question with have their own list of followers that will see their post and then check you out to see who you are.

Again… Another bump in followers.

Get Viral About It

Ask your followers to Re-tweet your messages. If you have a loyal following, they’ll be more than happy to do so.

The more times your posts are re-tweeted, the more you’ll get people to check out your Twitter page and likely follow you too.

Then it all goes back in a circle. More and more followers will check you out each day if you follow this simple process.

Every time you post something new on your website, be sure to send it out to your Twitter feed. This will increase your followers AND increase visitors to your website.

It’s a vicious cycle that as long as you keep it going will feed your Twitter account with more and more followers each and every day.

Most small business owners don’t get how Twitter can be an effective marketing tool. This is great for a business owner like you that wants to take advantage of the Social media Tools Out there and get great exposure with out spending a fortune on advertising and marketing.

In order to build a following on Twitter, here’s a few great ideas that will get the snowball rolling.

Find other businesses that are on Twitter already

What other businesses in your area are on Twitter already? Find the ones that have the same types of customers as you and follow them. You want to take part in their conversation and see what they are doing. It’s a great way to get ideas for your own Twitter feed.

Then follow some of their followers. Twitter will show you everyone that is following them. Look at the list and stat adding 10-20 people that look like your target market from that list.

Don’t just add everyone. If you add too many people at a time you might get banned. Plus it’s back Karma to just pillage someone else’s followers. Find the people that do fit your customer and just add a few at a time.

Search on Twitter

You can easily find Twitter users using Twitter’s own search engine. Just click the search button and go to “advanced” this is a killer tool because you can search by state, city, and even a distance from you. Talk about targeted marketing!

Start by finding people in your city using keywords people might search for like “coffee shop” or “Personal Trainer”

You’ll be able to see what people are talking about. When someone asks a question, you can answer it and follow that person. They’ll likely follow you back. It’s that simple.

As you post great stuff and they see how much valuable information you send out, they’ll share it with their friends and you’ll get even more followers from it.

Add your Twitter ID to your signature

If you really want to use Twitter for business marketing, you need to make sure that you let everyone you know aware of your Twitter page and encourage them to follow you.

Add your Twitter page link to your email signature. Any time you reply to someone with your signature, they will see it. If they use Twitter, they are likely to follow you.

Tell your customers. If you send out n email newsletter, be sure to mention it in EVERY newsletter you send out. Again, this will bring more and more people to your followers and grow your list. As people see their post, they will see that they are following you and again, you’ll get more followers from that too.

It’s very easy to get 10-20 new followers each day if you follow these simple steps each day. It’s not about getting 1000s of followers each day. It’s about getting a consistent increase of loyal followers that want to know what you have to say.

Video

• Watch: How To Find Followers On Twitter For Business

It’s about relationships.
Remember that all social media tools online are about communication and relationships. Though these tools are great ways to market your business, you need to keep this in mind first. Build relationships with your followers. Answer their questions. Talk to them, don’t just pitch them all the time.

The worst thing you can do is to just post tweets with how great you are and your current specials. It’s ok to add these as part of the process but scatter them within other posts about what’s going on, sharing good resources and just being part of the conversation.

Ask questions

Get your followers to become interactive with you. Ask them questions related to your business. Say a coffee shop could post a tweet asking followers to reply with their favorite drink. Take a survey. Make it interactive and make it fun.

There are great tools online where you can even take polls via Twitter that will enhance this even further.

Just make it interactive. You want to get a response and get people involved. This will make you stand out more than anyone just pitching their stuff.

Post community information

Is there a fair going on near your store? Let people know about it. This is great because you are helping the event out by helping to promote it and then guess what happens…

Many of the people that you let know about the event will not only go to the event, but they will also stop by your store too and end up buying something.

This not only helps you out with more sales but also helps out the community of other store owners and you become a trusted source because you shared that information with everyone on your list.

Offer “Mention Twitter” offers

Obviously, the goal is to increase sales from your twitter marketing efforts so lace your posts with a call to action. Get them to go to your website to read a new article you posted, get them to come in for Twitter Only specials, get them to post a comment. Whatever the goal is, you want to make sure that it is something that they have to take action on and that you can track.

Plus, this is a great way to track that your efforts are working. You know that people are using it because they are claiming the discount.

So, how you use Twitter in your marketing isn’t complicated or difficult by any means.

Be sure to share your world with them. Make it interesting and be sure to keep up with it. It won’t work all over night but over time you’ll get a huge following of tweeps that WANT to know what you have to say and will follow your every tweet.

Like this article? Want to know the step by step process to using Twitter as a business tool to market your business? Claim your free copy of Step By Step: Twitter Business today, and learn how to use Twitter as a effective marketing tool for your business.

Video:

• Watch: How To Marketing – With Twitter