Social Media Marketing & the Start-up Business

The start-up business needs to get the word out on what they do as quickly as possible so in today’s market we have to explore tools that will expedite our efforts and reduce our cost. We are finding today that the traditional style of marketing in print media is rapidly fading into the sunset. With its high cost for printing and postage services the start-up business has had to consider new and creative ways to get their name out to their potential target market.

Technology has presented a new and powerful medium for the start-up business owner, the internet. With the invention of the internet Social Media has become the new effective & efficient tool in marketing efforts. The key to the success of this tool is understanding how to utilize it in a professional manner. Most people today have used Social Media as a personal tool to connect with people, however today sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are launching into a new area as a business generating tool. Social Media Marketing still requires developing a relationship with people not just selling, selling, and selling. If we understand the concept that people buy from people we will be able to embrace the how to utilize this media.

“Look at Social Media like a BBQ; with LinkedIN is a business casual BBQ geared for Business to Business, FaceBook is your local BBQ hanging out and connecting to the public and Twitter is a big beach party.” This is from an interview today with one of the Founders of Self-Growth.com David Riklan. You have to know who you are connecting with in order to communicate effectively. Start out with determining who your target audience is to be then start connecting on that site.

Another forum for Social Media is sites like SelfGrowth.com where you can connect as an expert or connect as someone looking for advice, information or growth. The key to success with Social Media Marketing is to create a profile, upload your photo (keep it professional, not stuffy) and start connecting with the general chit chat, offering tips or advice then start talking about your business. DEVELOP RELATIONSHIPS FIRST BEFORE ASKING FOR THE SALE! Yes it is all in caps for the reason this is really important, the fastest way to loose connections is being all about the sale.

Once you have begun your game plan for social media, you need to begin looking at video marketing, which we will cover next time. The key is getting started today, it is all free to participate in and great business deals have began on Social Media sites.