Instead of searching online, consumers and business buyers who have a need are connecting to people they trust and asking for referral sources. This is why it’s *more important than ever* to be connected.

As I was writing this post I was trying to come up with a punchy headline, and it occurred me that maybe I ought to write a headline that would appeal to the Ebenezer Scrooge in all of us. I too, was resistant to the social media bandwagon at first, I admit it… I didn’t get it.

One this is undeniable though–there are 500 million Facebook users and counting.  

So if you’re a small business owner these days, while you’re counting your pennies and watching every expenditure, you’re also wondering “how do I leverage my network and tap into my market that’s on Facebook?”

To illustrate how this works, I’m using 3 Facebook plugins that illustrate how you can quickly and easily ”Like” my Facebook Page.  Is that self-serving of me? Yes–absolutely! But I’m also helping you, so it’s a win-win!

3 Social Plugins to help you Build your Facebook Page

Like Box - The Like Box you to attract and gain “Likes” from your website. The Like Box enables users to see how many users already like your Facebook page (including their friends), read recent posts from the page, and like the page with one click (I am using the “Like Box” in the right sidebar of this website under Measurable Marketing Tips).

Like Button – The Like button lets a user share your content with their friends on Facebook. When the user clicks the Like button on your site, a story appears in the user’s friends’ News Feed with a link back to your website.

Share Button - The Share Button is the easiest way to allow your content to be shared on Facebook. If you click this button it will share this post with all your friends.

Share

Ok, so hopefully you’ll see how easy this is to get people to “like” you–even if you are an old Scrooge.

Happy Facebooking, and “God Bless us everyone.”

Note: I’ve included links to the code for each of these buttons, so you can forward this post to your web developer, and put the button you’d like on your website.  Or if you don’t have a web developer, please feel free to contact me. I’d be glad to help.

So why aren’t companies more adventurous when it comes to trying new things?

It’s the “I hate brocolli” syndrome of marketing and business.

If you ask the average CEO, “What’s the rationale for the way you’re currently marketing your services?”  Many say: “It’s what we’ve always done.”

The sad truth is that many companies are engaging in the same old tried marketing tactics rooted in strategies that were developed eons ago (a.k.a. 2007).  They’re wasting money on tactics that are not rooted in any real, current strategy – or based on the realities of today’s marketplace.

How to get higher response rates and higher conversions

 Any Direct Marketing old timer will tell you that the secret to getting and maintaining high response rates and higher conversions is: “Test. Test. Test.”

In fact, there are some who say that  30% of your budget should be set aside for testing.

If you’re testing new ideas agains the old ones it’s the only way to know for sure that you’re marketing is continually improving. 

Apply the principles of continual improvement to your marketing. In Direct Mail it’s called “A/B Splits and Multivariate Testing.” In Google Web Optimizer it’s called “Marketing Experiments.”

Test everything. Test in order of importantance. Your offer, your keywords on your pay-per-click ads, your landing pages.

Or if you don’t really want new and better results, you can just keep doing what you’re doing — what you’ve always done.

What is the purpose behind Blogging? It’s not to show how smart or cute you are. If it’s going to be a part of an effective business strategy, you need to provide value, to show people the way, and establish yourself as a thought leader.

What is the purpose behind Social Media? It’s to connect with People: Friends, Associates, Affiliates, Prospects, Customers, and let them know what you’re up to. If you are using social media, you get to build your own channel, and you are literally the Editorial Board, Editor in Chief, Writer/Anchor, and Ombudsman all in one person.

What’s the purpose behind integrating your Blogging and your Social Media? Quite simply, it’s a radical new opportunity to put yourself “out there” in front of your clients and prospects, to help them solve problems,and position yourself as a potential solution provider, so that when they have an itch they’ll remember that you provide the scratch.

How to Integrate Blogging and Social Media: In 8 Simple Steps

1. Reserve your social media profile names: If you haven’t done so already go to Linked in, Facebook, and Twitter, and reserve your social media profile names. Optionally you can create a corporate Facebook account, or a Facebook Page, so that people can follow your business (“like you”) instead of you as an individual.

2. Build out your social media profiles: Building a good profile takes time and evolves as you evolve. To start take an hour or two and do your best to build your social media profile so that it tells people what you do and how you do it better than anyone else.  Optional: On Linked-in add Wordpress (if you have a WordPress website) and Twitter.

3. Build your base group of followers. Upload Gmail, Yahoo, AOL accounts. Or Upload a .csv file. This allows you to connect with everyone in your address book quickly.

4. Work to add followers on a daily basis. Did you meet someone at a networking event? While you’re adding them to your CRM, invite them to connect, to be a friend, or a follower.  This requires some discipline. But once you add it to your routine it’s easy.

5. Blog about things your customers and prospects are interested in. And educate them about what you do at the same time. Make what you do relevant to your followers. Jerry Seinfeld was a genius at this. Share practical tips, insights, humor, personal triumphs. Your editorial could be topically-related business news, the economy, or about the seasons and the weather.

6. Download Tweetdeck: Add your social media accounts to Tweetdeck. There are others tools out there like Hootsuite, Social Oomph. I’m wary of “auto-magic,” i.e., anything that automates your marketing so much that you end up losing the human touch. Think quality over quantity as it pertains to the content you’re writing, and your number of followers. There are no shortcuts. Just do a good job, and success will follow.

7. Update your statuses: When you post a new blog, update your statuses to all three networks (Linked-in, Facebook, and Twitter) using Tweetdeck. This will increase the likelihood that your thoughts will be seen, and picked up by others. The more you interact the more you get picked up.

8. Interact with Others. Remember that Social Media is a two-way street. It’s not simply a broadcast medium. If someone takes the time to comment on something you’ve written, take the time and have the courtesy to respond. Also, comment on other posts that you find interesting. Retweet (RT) other people’s Tweets.  Follow and comment on status updates that you find interesting. Take advantage of opportunities to interact with others.

If you follow this Simple 8 Step Plan, others who use Social Media will see that the lights are on and someone is definitely home. 

Don’t forget that Social Media is “Social”

Remember to emphasize the “social” aspect of ”Social Media.” Its purpose should be to genuinely connect with people because you genuinely care about connecting with people (**not to connect with them so you can sell something**). If you’re at a cocktail party, you are a boor if all you do is talk about yourself.

So that’s how you can begin to integrate Blogging and Social Media. And if you do it right, first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes YOU pushing all your new business around in a baby carriage shopping cart.

Postscript: The one item on this list that people ask me the most about is #5. “What specifically should I write about about?” My answer: “It all depends.” What is going to engage your followers? You’re the Editor-in chief; you decide what will engage your followers. Write about problems and solutions (and oh by the way if you provide the solution let your followers know, but don’t lead with a solution before you’ve got people agreeing that there’s a problem in the first place).

Why is everyone talking about “Inbound Marketing?” Who cares about the “Real-time Web?”

Several years ago when Google modified its Pagerank Algorithm, and started factoring in how other influential websites link to yours,  few people really could imagine the explosion of social media engines like Linked-in, Facebook, and Twitter. Your search engine visibility is determined not only by the quality of the content on your website, but by who is linking to you.

Just recently, Google has launched the real-time web. Now more than ever there is an extraordinary opportunity for small businesses to carve out a niche in their social media marketplaces — effectively creating their own channel to communicate with their customers and prospects.

In an article in Huffpost by Manish Mehta, the Vice President, Social Media and Community at Dell Inc. (who can attribute $7 million in sales to Twitter for doing nothing at all!),  Mehta affirms “Social media isn’t a means to further a corporation’s strategy, it’s a means to help determine it.”

Sometimes pictures (or mindmaps) are better than words, so I’ve created a Mindmap that illustrates a general Inbound Marketing/Social Media Strategy.

Inbound Marketing / Social Media Strategy Cashmap for Small Businesses

It’s anchored by strategic marketing: (with introductory offers to acquire new customers, upsell/cross sell them into higher margin/higher value products, and convert them into customer advocates), and it includes what I consider the essential elements of inbound marketing strategy, which dovetail with Google’s Pagerank Algorithm: (1) a web presence that is search engine optmized, and empowers real-time expression (2) content generation to display thought leadership / attention to customer’s problems and (3) off-page optimization strategies which are essential to building followers and getting other influential websites to link back to yours.

For those who’ve been sitting on the social media sidelines hoping the whole fad might go away…, social media is not a fad, and it’s not going away. It’s going to be a critical way for you to reach your customers and prospects, and it’s more important than ever to get connected.

On the web, the time is literally now.