Social Networking Customer Acquisition 101
Spend Your Time Building Connections not Pushing Your Product
This is the most common mistake in social networking that almost 99% of all members of social networkers make daily. Never ever mention your product in your first email or comment.
This is the basic process that has a 10 fold greater success rate than anything else:
1) Send them a message or post a comment on their wall asking a question about their business.
2) Send out a friend request to each person that responds to your comment or message. 99 out of 100 friend requests will be accepted, and these are members that are actively checking their messages.
3) Respond to each message with a personal message and try to work in mentioning your business while writing about theirs. Once again, 99 out of 100 people will naturally take a look at your website as a courtesy and to see if you might be a potential customer for them. Now you have successfully added friends that will open your friend wide emails, and you have guaranteed that each member will visit your profile and website. Along the way, you will also find other members' products and services that will benefit you and your business. That is how networking creates customers.
Key points to remember:
+Do not blindly send out 100 friend requests every other day. If you are reaching your limit in requests, then you are wasting your time. Only send a friend request if someone has sent you a message, posted a comment on your wall, or posted a comment on a blog.
Take Care of Your Friends List
1) Do not abuse the “send message to all friends.” There is a reason why there is a limit to how many friends that you can send a message to at once. It makes it difficult to spam. Spamming on social networks does not make money period.
2) You should send only one message a month to your friends list. Make it a nice short to the point message that has some tie in to the network that you are on. Once a month messaging works. Anything more than once does not. Spend your time building your friend list, and then give them one phenomenal message a month.
3) If you are going to start a group or host an event, then the same rules apply. Once a month and focus your energy and efforts around one group or event.
Key points to remember:
+If you have more than one site that you are promoting, then you have one too many. Having 10 Ning sites, that you invite every friend to, just increases your chance of failing by 10 times. Do one thing with excellence, and you will be a success. Spread yourself too thin, and you will be lost in mediocrity.
The Right Way to Use Blogs to Get Customers
1) You should write blogs that ask questions that appeal to everyone on the site. All you have to do is put the question in the title, and then write a really good answer from yourself. These are the blogs that you want to use in site wide messages and in welcome comments to new members.
2) The goal of your blog should always be to generate comments. People that post comments are action takers and 8 times more likely to buy your product or service. Respond to each comment mentioning what you do while asking about their business, and then send a friend request the next day.
3) You should have a one really great blog that explains who you are and what your product or service does. You only give out this blog to the people that show an interest. This is the blog that you can use to close customers.
Key points to remember:
+Do not waste your time posting, sharing, or pushing blogs that are advertisements for your services. It does not work. You are wasting your time and destroying potential connections.
The Bottom Line
Social networking is different from every other marketing medium on the internet. What works elsewhere does not work in this realm, and it will not work here.
Each network is like the goose that lays the golden egg once a day. There is only one way to get the golden egg, and if you do it any other way then you kill the goose.
This is the only proven methodolgy to get a steady flow of customers via social networking:
1) Engage the member by asking them a question.
2) If they respond, then send a friend request.
3) Reply to the comment or message and politely work in what you do while tying it in to their business.
4) If they show interest, then close with a blog post that explains what you do with a link to your website and a phone number.
5) If there is no initial interest, then continue to send them one quality message a month to entice interest.
It took me two years before I learned the process, and gave in to the fact that this is the only way that works.
This is the most common mistake in social networking that almost 99% of all members of social networkers make daily. Never ever mention your product in your first email or comment.
This is the basic process that has a 10 fold greater success rate than anything else:
1) Send them a message or post a comment on their wall asking a question about their business.
2) Send out a friend request to each person that responds to your comment or message. 99 out of 100 friend requests will be accepted, and these are members that are actively checking their messages.
3) Respond to each message with a personal message and try to work in mentioning your business while writing about theirs. Once again, 99 out of 100 people will naturally take a look at your website as a courtesy and to see if you might be a potential customer for them. Now you have successfully added friends that will open your friend wide emails, and you have guaranteed that each member will visit your profile and website. Along the way, you will also find other members' products and services that will benefit you and your business. That is how networking creates customers.
Key points to remember:
+Do not blindly send out 100 friend requests every other day. If you are reaching your limit in requests, then you are wasting your time. Only send a friend request if someone has sent you a message, posted a comment on your wall, or posted a comment on a blog.
Take Care of Your Friends List
1) Do not abuse the “send message to all friends.” There is a reason why there is a limit to how many friends that you can send a message to at once. It makes it difficult to spam. Spamming on social networks does not make money period.
2) You should send only one message a month to your friends list. Make it a nice short to the point message that has some tie in to the network that you are on. Once a month messaging works. Anything more than once does not. Spend your time building your friend list, and then give them one phenomenal message a month.
3) If you are going to start a group or host an event, then the same rules apply. Once a month and focus your energy and efforts around one group or event.
Key points to remember:
+If you have more than one site that you are promoting, then you have one too many. Having 10 Ning sites, that you invite every friend to, just increases your chance of failing by 10 times. Do one thing with excellence, and you will be a success. Spread yourself too thin, and you will be lost in mediocrity.
The Right Way to Use Blogs to Get Customers
1) You should write blogs that ask questions that appeal to everyone on the site. All you have to do is put the question in the title, and then write a really good answer from yourself. These are the blogs that you want to use in site wide messages and in welcome comments to new members.
2) The goal of your blog should always be to generate comments. People that post comments are action takers and 8 times more likely to buy your product or service. Respond to each comment mentioning what you do while asking about their business, and then send a friend request the next day.
3) You should have a one really great blog that explains who you are and what your product or service does. You only give out this blog to the people that show an interest. This is the blog that you can use to close customers.
Key points to remember:
+Do not waste your time posting, sharing, or pushing blogs that are advertisements for your services. It does not work. You are wasting your time and destroying potential connections.
The Bottom Line
Social networking is different from every other marketing medium on the internet. What works elsewhere does not work in this realm, and it will not work here.
Each network is like the goose that lays the golden egg once a day. There is only one way to get the golden egg, and if you do it any other way then you kill the goose.
This is the only proven methodolgy to get a steady flow of customers via social networking:
1) Engage the member by asking them a question.
2) If they respond, then send a friend request.
3) Reply to the comment or message and politely work in what you do while tying it in to their business.
4) If they show interest, then close with a blog post that explains what you do with a link to your website and a phone number.
5) If there is no initial interest, then continue to send them one quality message a month to entice interest.
It took me two years before I learned the process, and gave in to the fact that this is the only way that works.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mike Willson on -
And again....
Here is a priceless bit of education for all the members out there posting their opportunities onto new members sites, if only they took the time to actually actively interact with these new members and "BUILD" a relationship, they might find that their income increases and marketing efforts decreasing.
Building solid relationships (contacts) is the real meaning behind social networking, not blasting your latest new program to people.
Anyway thats my two pennies on the subject, but it does make me giggle to see these "Professionals" posting their adds all over the place.
Mike Willson
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Permalink Reply by Necole Brown on
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Thank you Brandon!
This is very informative.
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Permalink Reply by Melanie Landi on -
Thank you for the very informative and helpful blog post!!
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Permalink Reply by Tony Beach on
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Very, very true....build those relationships and they will come!
Tony
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Permalink Reply by Richard Bligdon on
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Great post!I said "Oops,I did it again" so many times,it wasn't funny.Now I have to start over.
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Permalink Reply by Pittsburgh SEO Marketing on -
Thanks for the pointers, Brandon. Sta.rtup.biz is such an awesome network because of your paving the way for us. I am personally taking heed to the tips for blogging. I am somewhat lazy about this.
Sincerely,
Lea C
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Permalink Reply by Veejay on -
What a lot of really helpful advice, thanks for that 'Sup.Biz.Coo' I am new to all this internet stuff so any totally basic tips are very useful.
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Permalink Reply by Veejay on
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Also when you are new to the site - as I am, much time is spent getting to know how the site works let alone being bombarded with web site and URL's to check out. It can all become far too overwhelming. Newbies must be given a chance to find their way around the site and learn how to produce a good page for other members to interact with them. Teaching how to set up a good page on Strt Biz and how to navigate their way around would benefit all members in the long run and should be their priority to help newbies in this way.
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Permalink Reply by SUp.biz, COO on -
I completely agree. That is why we educate newbies from the moment they sign up and let them know to make friends with the CEO and COO of the company. That is also why we have a section of the site dedicated entirely to helping members with any issue they may encounter:
http://sta.rtup.biz/forum/categories/questions-and-advice-on-how-to...
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Permalink Reply by Emil Pop on -
Ok guys, I have taken a good look at all of your responses to this blog, I mean ALL when I say all, to this day, naturally.
I have limited time, limited capacities, and little patience, I guess you too, so here's the deal:
The kind of people I want to connect is you!
And likewise.
I am in Linkedin, plaxo, ecademy and yasni, besides here. I am daily bombarded with new networks that i simply delete if not comming from someone I know, so I go cehcking those I know to see why in the new network, eg: xing, fastpitchnetwork, spoke and so on. I even get a taste of them, but I remain faithfull to the networks I aleady am active in.
Why, becouse I am not bombarded with futile garbage daily by the members of this networks, that's why. Only serious matters.
I am here for business (read my profile and you'll understand why) and to give a hand to whom needs one, should I be able, even if that means just a kind word or connecting them to someone else I feel it could help (not without asking permission first).
Natalie helped me a lot around this network (It's the most "messy" I am in, as graphics I mean) when I was confused with what knob should I hit to get there or here, and with other techincall issues, others helped me in other manners, this is networking, giving without expecting anything in return, just becouse the person need it.
You might ask who I helped here, whell I won't tell you that! Be shure.
If I can praise someones help to me, I do it, if I can help I do it, what I won't do is tell anyone what I did and for whom. This is professional courtesy!
Great blog, and great place to network, and sorry for having stolen you a few minutes!
Emil.
Let other speack about me, I say.
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Permalink Reply by SUp.biz, CEO on -
Thanks, Emil.
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Permalink Reply by Karen Herrmann on -
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! Some of this stuff is just common sense, but your post is a great guideline to new networkers and networkers that need a little review. I understand if I would like to share this on other networks, I just post the links and you will do the posting - correct?
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