Social Media Marketing.

There is no mistake that the last word in this phrase is MARKETING.

SSSHHHH! Keep that a Secret!

Many people in social media market products, messages, ideas, books, CDs, trainings, ebooks, audio books, member sites, health products, travel products, legal products, and many other things.

We all are marketing something.

And in every business strategy, there is some form of a process.

A process is a step by step PATH that you can follow and it produces the RESULTS or destination that you are looking for. Many folks in social media follow a process whether on twitter, facebook, youtube, flicker, and any other social site. Just check their online tutorial. It shows you for the most part, a step by step process on how to use the social site.

But what about Marketing?

Most people that are marketing in social media have a message that they are marketing.

Timothy Carter does.

Carrie Wilkerson does.

Chris Brogan does.

Seth Godin does.

Joel Comm does.

Marco Carbajo does.

John Fogg does.

Chris Widener does. They all have a message and want that message to get out as all have great messages.

Yes, I have a message as well, and it is about Home Business and Social Media Marketing Success as part of it.

Ok. Let’s get REAL.

A message without an audience is nothing more than a great conversation with yourself.

You MUST get it out and in front of people. THAT is how you create a business. Exposure-Exposure- Exposure.

How can you create Exposure for your Message or Products that will MOVE PEOPLE to want to know more and to possibly purchase your program, product, or message?

A billionaire told me this once: “The average marketer moves products. The highly successful wealthy marketer MOVES PEOPLE.”

Amen!

HOW can you start a “People Moving Process” that will help insure your marketing efforts are not in vain?

We developed a while back the “4 I’s of Social Media Marketing.” The last 3 years we have been blessed to increase our online revenues by an incredible seven figure amount — by using this process in social media, and in other online marketing efforts. We cannot go into detail the minute details of the process due to lack of time, but we can overview this powerful process.

What are the 4 I’s?

1) INFORM.

The marketing process starts with informing folks of your message or products. This is a result of creating an exposure of YOU and your message. You first must connect with people, and build that bridge of trust, and then you can start informing them of your message of VALUE.

You can do this with many vehicles, including free ebooks, white papers, articles, and podcasts.

You can inform people how your message will help transform their life and future. You can see people like Zna Trainer doing this with some amazing health tips she sends out and info as well as Timothy Carter. And you can see GREAT information on many social sites and blogs as well.

Giving out HOT information for all to use freely is one of the great secrets of social media marketing. Lose control of your information and watch it virally market like crazy. Inform people of who you are, why they should listen to you, and what you or your product can do for their life to take it to a radical new level.

Once again, do this with videos, blog posts, mp3s, notes, tweets, pictures, direct messages, social email, free ebooks, and other social tools for exposure.

2) IMPACT.

Your message must IMPACT people.

It must MOVE THEM on the inside so they will take action on the outside. (READ THAT AGAIN!)

This is how you get people to move towards you to learn more about your product or message.

Stir them Emotionally with NEW information that they can apply, or move them with:

a) HOPE of solving a problem.

b) A HOW TO they have been looking for and seeking.

c) NEW POSSIBILITIES for their life.

e) LITTLE KNOWN INFORMATION but applicable and highly useful information.

d) A DISCOVERY of a new website, new podcast, or video that will MOVE THEM emotionally and give them something that they find valuable.

Become KNOWN that YOU are a deliverer of Practical, Powerful, and Unique information, that points to your message or product. Example: if you market a nutritional product- give out GREAT nutritional tips that
will help people via blog posts, articles, videos, or any other media that works for your message.

I call it “Sample Results.” Give them some “samples” of results they can achieve by listening to you and
purchasing your products. You do this with great, valuable information they can use.

STIR THEIR EMOTIONS with IMPACT. If you do this, your power to move people will explode.

3) INVITE.

There is a powerful tactic that is all part of social media marketing. We call it the “TIO Factor.”

TAKE IT OFFLINE.

To really market to people in social media, you must Take It Offline. You want to establish a more personal and trust soaked relationship. You rarely can do that by just being online.

You do this, by inviting people to special conference calls, training webinars, live online seminars, and local meetups. This is where you can EXPAND YOUR MESSAGE and EXPLODE your INFLUENCE on a more
personal and face to face basis.

Whether facebook or LinkedIn, you can invite people to offline events that will create a more intimate and powerful CONNECTION with them, and you provide even MORE POWERFUL and USEFUL information to the prospect base on the call or webinar. This will POSITION YOU as someone that is worthy of being listened  to, and will dramatically increase your perceived expertise in your industry. And You can do the offline event yourself, or do it with multiple guest speakers. Adam Urbanski is a master at this. You can find his events with 4 or 5 people that are the speakers or trainers that bring amazing value to anyone that attends his online events.

Take It offline to MOVE PEOPLE even closer to you and your message/product.

4) IMPROVE.

This is THE PEOPLE MOVER.

Show people how YOU, YOUR MESSAGE, or YOUR PRODUCTS can IMPROVE, INCREASE, MULTIPLY, or ENLARGE people’s lives and interests, and they will beat a path to your door, and multiply your message all over the internet.

To IMPROVE someone’s business, life, health, knowledge, faith, Success, or income – will dramatically MOVE PEOPLE towards you which will MOVE PRODUCTS for you. (Did you GET THAT?)

Quit just trying to move products in social media. That is how people that mostly fail do it.

MOVE PEOPLE and LOTS OF THEM on the inside and outside through the 4 I’s. This is a powerful social media marketing secret that can help you create results that most only dream of.

blessings…Doug Firebaugh
PassionFire Training
Follow Doug on Twitter

Editor’s note: this post was written by Doug Firebaugh of PassionFire International. If you’re passionate about social media, social media marketing and social networking lifestyle design, contact me about writing an article yourself.

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Another week in summer has gone by with another top 5, er, I mean…three social media faves from me that has poured through my RSS feeds this week. There are definitely some great ones out there (share yours if ya got one…or three) so it’s always hard to narrow it down to five of them…but these are the ones I thought y’all would be interested in and benefit from reading if you didn’t already!

And here we go!

Twitter 101 For Business by Twitter

How to Treat your Blog Like a Business at Problogger

10 Ways To Jump Start Your Social Media Thinking by Jason Falls

and now I’d like to leave the last two up to you this week.   What did you read that made an impact on you that you tweeted or shared on Facebook. I know there had to be a great article or five that you read this week that you think other people might find valuable to read too. Share, share, share!

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Image via Wikipedia

Social networking for business is incredibly hot right now and I don’t think social media network marketing will slow down ANYTIME soon. One of the best places to social network right now is on Facebook and we recently featured, The Ten Social Media Marketing Laws of Facebook. Anyways…

This is an excerpt from a great article, 9 Rules of Facebook Promotion Every Small Business Should Know by Nick O’Neill at allfacebook.com that will give you some fantastic tips to implement into your business building activities starting today:

“You’re the owner of a local small business and you are trying to figure out the best steps to get on to Facebook to drive new customers. It can be a daunting task and with little extra time in the day, how can you be expected to spend time promoting your business on Facebook? I completely understand the challenges of running a small business and after speaking with lawyers, florists, dentists, and many other small businesses, I’ve compiled the following list of strategies that should help ease the process.

1. Go Slow And Steady, Don’t Overdo It

Any form of promotion is like compound interest. It takes time to build up the residual returns but if you stick with it, the pay off can be substantial. Many people hear that Facebook is a great way to promote their business but after trying it out for a few days or even a couple weeks, they don’t see significant effects so they give up and decide to keep paying for Yellow page advertisements. Who knows how well Yellow Page ads pay off but that monthly check must be going towards something, right?

The difference between Facebook and more traditional promotional channels is that the small business owner needs to invest a little bit of their time. The extra effort can go a long way and can even provide a rewarding experience as customers begin to provide feedback and communicate directly with you. So how much time do you need to be spending? Not hours a day! While promoting via Facebook can become an addictive process, you can allocate little more than an hour a week to your promotional activities.

While it’s never bad to start off enthusiastically, you don’t want to waste all of your efforts in the first few days. Build up your fan base steadily and you’ll begin to see the benefits. ” Read the 8 other rules here: The 9 Rules of Facebook Promotion Every Small Business Should Know.

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Where have YOU been?

Unless you have lived in a cave the last 4 years, you have probably heard of this. It is a rocking hot social networking site that seems to be almost everywhere today. On the news. On the radio. On the minds of millions of folks a day.

And there are many different types of people on Facebook. I am going to do a post on that soon. But these great folks all participate in what I call the “10 Social Media Laws of Facebook.”

Mari Smith would be proud.

Ok- I know that you may be asking,” A LAW about Facebook?” Yes, 10 of them for marketing and business success in what you so. I am a marketer and have been for 20 years. Built a training and consulting business that does business in over 20 countries, because of social media and the internet. And there are marketing laws that all marketers and business professionals must follow if they are going to have Success in the marketplace.

It is the same for Facebook. If you are an Entrepreneur, or a business professional, you may want to consider these as they will make a difference in what you do on Facebook.

1) The Law of Visibility on Facebook.

You MUST be visible on Facebook of you are going to get your message out. You must spend time on Facebook and get to know people. You must put yourself together a “facebook blueprint” and work it. How many hours a week are you going to be seen on FB? How many times are you going to befriend someone this week? How many times are you going to upload photos this week? All of these things put you in the ‘Visibility Zone” on facebook, and on the radar as far as people on Facebook. Be SEEN and be THERE on a daily basis. Chris Brogan and Robert Scoble are.

2) The Law of the Powerful Facebook Profile.

Why would people want to get to know you? One of the first things they check out is your facebook profile. What does it say- but better yet- what does it DO? Does it make people curious and want to get to know you? Does it make them think? Does it make them smile? Does it make them see that you have Value for their life and can help change it?

Powerful facebook profiles are NOT based on what is said in your profile- but what it DOES.

Does it direct them to DO something? Does it tell them you are person they MUST know? Or someone that has a nice picture and a nice profile- with no magnetism?  Put yourself OUT THERE and tell the world WHY they need you as a friend, and get them to take action towards YOU. Nancy Perez and Carrie Wilkerson do.

3) The Law of the Facebook WALL.

You MUST use your Wall to market or message. many folks regard their Wall as a communication utility like email. It is not that. You already have a facebook email. The Wall is for you to BUILD- BRICK BY BRICK- MESSAGE BY MESSAGE- NOTE BY NOTE- VIDEO BY VIDEO- your Brand on Facebook. Every time something happens with you- it goes on your Wall. Don’t stare at the wall- CLIMB THE SUCKER and make your message the PEAK of the page- and keep yourself out there with the Wall. And answer the messages on your Wall. Thank people for sharing with you their visit or message. This will show up on THEIR wall. This will set you apart from most on Facebook. The Wall is simply a BILLBOARD of what you are doing and your friends are doing on Facebook. Use it often and wisely. Matt Bacak and Adam Urbanski do.

4) The Law of Your Facebook Network.

You are part of a local Facebook network and you have access to that network to befriend them. I live in
Birmingham Michigan, and the network i am a part of is the Detroit network. There are 640,926 people in my network that I could potentially MEET LIVE in a local place and get to know them and connect with them. You have local folks as well. Where do you find your network?

Click on “settings” and then click on “network.” You will find it there. This is a GOLD MINE of people in your local area to CONNECT and Construct new trust bridges that may lead to business down the road. Timothy Carter and Valerie Maltoni do.

5) The Law of the Facebook Notifications.

This is an overlooked and rarely talked about utility. Notifications are part of your “facebook email system.” Go to “email” at the top of your Facebook profile page, and then click on “notifications.” This is list of who is thinking about you, talking about you, including you in tags, and generally is pointing to you. This is a GOLD MINE of people that have PROVEN they are behind you and willing to make you a part of their Facebook experience. Pay attention to the Facebook notifications. Thank them for their thoughts of you on their Wall and let them know you appreciate it. Include them as well on your tags and other activity on Facebook. The notifications are GOLD and is a prospecting Vault of Leads. make sure you stay CONNECTED to them. Coach Deb Micek and Scott Monty do.

6) The Law of Facebook Link Love.

The Link application on Facebook is a HOT commodity. It allows you to post a link that you like and then sends it out on the news feed that is on your home page. It picks up the image that you want on the link page, and allows it to be a LIVE link. Send out other people’s LINK and givem some LOVE. Do NOT just send out your own links. Let others do that. Find interesting links of others and send them out.

WHY? EXPOSURE for you. You will be given credit for the link. People LOVE link love. If you send out a LOT of other people’s links on Facebook, they will start sending out YOUR links. Been there done that. Joel Comm and Yanik Silver do.

7) The Law of Facebook Groups.

Join groups. Join a LOT of Groups. Start your OWN groups. The join MORE groups. Why? EXPOSURE. CONNECTION to other Group members. AUTHORITY. Start your own and be a Leader. REACH. Groups extend your reach into Facebook. MULTIPLIED PROSPECTS. There are more people in a group — then on a profile page.

Duh. Build a list in your own group and then you can become an admin and email messages to them. Make them messages of VALUE and interest. Kevin Nations does.

8 ) The Law of Facebook Events.

Attend events. Attend Events. and then attend MORE events. Why? It allows you to leave a message on the events page wall, and create exposure. I attend at least 2 Facebook events every week- to learn- and to network. Events can be found on the new Facebook page in the upper right under “Upcoming“-these are the events that are upcoming. One unique twist. You have birthdays under the “upcoming” tag- and you can send presents to folks. THIS will get their attention as it shows up on their wall and the news feed as well. Attend as many events as you can. make them worth your while- learn and grow from them. BUT– always leave a RSVP message about attending or not- with an encouraging message. This will show your professionalism, and caring.

Event UP! This will do you will on Facebook. Put the term “events” in the search box, and it will find every event that is going on in your network of friends- a GOLD MINE of new possibilities of business. Become a master of events!

9) The Law of Facebook Multimedia- Videos and Photos.

People LOVE photos and videos. They are the most looked at and watched pages on Facebook. Make some videos and upload them. Upload some photographs. Not only will the be seen on your wall and the Facebook news feed, but also will allow you to “tag” others on these. This means that you can pick out people you have befriended and let them know you are thinking of them. And when you tag someone- it shows up on THEIR wall. Not isn’t THAT cool? It is called EXPOSURE! Larry Hochman and Diane Hochman rule with Facebook Videos.

10) The Law of the Facebook NEWS FEED.

This is the big kahuna of Exposure on facebook. This gets you out to ALL of your friends and creates a massive exposure vehicle that can keep your brand in front and recognized. You also will be many times on the “featured” part of the new news feed on the right. This gives you HUGE exposure. Whatever you do, like change your status, upload a video, write and publish a note, or just comment on another person’s message on the Facebook news feed- it SHOWS UP in the news Feed. Be seen- and be seen often if you are trying to brand yourself on Facebook.

Yes, you need to establish relationships, and build community. But if you are going to MARKET on Facebook-then you need to at least get a guideline of what and how to do it. The 10 Social Media Laws of Facebook hopefully gave you some idea in your social media marketing.

blessings…Doug Firebaugh
PassionFire Training
Follow Doug on Twitter

Editor’s note: this post was written by Doug Firebaugh of PassionFire International. If you’re passionate about social media, social media marketing and social networking lifestyle design, contact me about writing an article yourself.

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Here are the goods for my favorite social media posts this week, in no particular order, but full of social media marketing/networking goodness!

The Social Media Paradox: Success and Time at eConsultancy

Creating Buzz: It’s the Message and the Medium at MarketingProfs Daily Fix

Truth and Two-Way Communication: Using Social Media for PR  at kylelacy.com

9 First Step Goals for New Bloggers by Darren Rowse at Problogger.net

How To Make Your Tweets More Useful by John Jantsch at Duct Tape Marketing

Well there you have it. My top 5 posts that I read to be of value to those who read. I hope you find a few nuggets of knowledge to improve your social media marketing and social networking success!

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Social media marketing…why isn’t it working for you?

I consult a lot. I am blessed to have a thriving consulting/speaking business. But during the course of working and helping companies and entrepreneurs with their social media strategic planning as well as home business, I have found that there are 7 Reasons why social media is not working for a  lot of people, and you may be one of them.

They are not in any particular order, but here are 7 Reasons why that social media may not be working for you like it should be in your marketing efforts.

1) No Target to Shoot For.

Many folks have not target or goal that they are looking to hit. That is crazy. You need to have a set target and defined destination that you are looking to go.

It may be as simple as finding 2 new leads a day or expanding your communication with your clients like Southwest Airlines has done. But whatever it is, WRITE DOWN the target and then start moving towards the
bull eye.

2) Expecting Miracles when a Message would do.

It is about your Message, not Miracles. I am a HUGE believer in Miracles, but in social media, it takes time for the Blueprint you have to take effect.

Miracles in 72 hours? Not gonna happen. But a strong message in 72 Minutes?

THAT is doable and a great start to a turn around miracle.

3) Connecting- but Lack of Personal Connection.

Connection in social media is important. But PERSONAL CONNECTION is IMPERATIVE. You must create that Connection that moves past the surface and create conversations that start to build a Trust bridge.

That will do more for your follower count and friends than just about anything.

4) Providing Constant Volume but not Consistent Value.

Your messages, notes, posts, tweets, videos, and podcasts need to be Constant and regularly distributed, but without Consistent Value-people will quit reading them. I have not posted in over a week. Why? I could
not provide the quality of content that I feel I must send out as I was so busy speaking and consulting. so I refused to lower the standards set – even if I had a little time to send out something just to send it out.

It is the same with you. EVEN-if you send out maintenance or utility posts, make sure they carry the Value to the prospect or reader-that will be appreciated and forwarded- not deleted and forgotten.

5) Trying to be Too many Places with Too Little Time.

Pick a social site and build there. My focus has always been pick 5 sites and stay there. Automate everything else. You have ping.fm, and hellotxt.com, and other broadcast sites. Pick one of them, and then you can be on 75 sites or more daily.

But do it SMART.

Automate the sites with your messages and posts that you are not building relationships currently on, and build the relationships on the other social sites you are.

Some people do not like broadcast social sites, but if you are a marketer, you better use them if you are going to create results over time.

6) Trying to be SEEN when You should be Helping Others to be Known.

You need to be a promoter on social sites. A promoter of great material, and great value. I sent out over 10 links today of things that rocked. Most of the folks I did not personally know who they were, but knew others could benefit. What about you? Do you run across things that really impact you? Let others know about it.

Become a Power Promoter and promote others and not just yourself. It works better that way. If you let others know about great Value and Content of others, you will be SEEN, HEARD, and KNOWN quickly.

Trust me. It works.

7) Ambushing the Conversation instead of Amplifying the Connection.

Happened today. Someone connected with me about something I sent out, and the next thing I knew, I was being pitched a financial deal that I was shaking my head on. They were relentless, and after I politely cut them off, they said to me, “I knew this social media stuff was a bunch of hooey. It does not work and people are full of it if they think it does.”

Au contraire.

It DOES work as long as you do not hijack and ambush the conversation with what YOU can GET- and instead focus on what you can GIVE to folks that will help them.

If you do that, what you have to offer they will embrace.

We have been blessed to build a 6 Figure revenue stream on Facebook alone- not counting anything else–totally under the radar –quietly–and without hype or ambushing anyone.

You can too- if you do not make these 7 mistakes that a lot of people are in their social media marketing business.

blessings…Doug Firebaugh
PassionFire Training
Follow Doug on Twitter

Editor’s note: this post was written by Doug Firebaugh of PassionFire International. If you’re passionate about social media, social media marketing and social networking lifestyle design, contact me about writing an article yourself.

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Do you have a great social media marketing tip or tutorial about building business through social networking that you’d like to share with other people interested in building a presence through social media and social networking? If so, the Social Networking Lifestyle is looking for guest authors (and regular contributors) to create some incredibly valuable articles for the community.

You don’t have to be a blogger or have a website to write something. All you need is to want to share some information that will help other people live the life they want to.

Of course, you’ll also gain the exposure of our passionate and ever growing audience. You could even become a regular writer here.

It’s easy to submit an article to be published.

Just write up your article (between 400 and 1200 words is best), include a photo suggestion from the flickr Creative Commons pool and include a 1-2 sentence bio with a link to your website or blog if you wish.

Please take a look around the blog, and make sure you understand what the social networking lifestyle is about. Social Networking Lifestyle covers the social media marketing and social networking lifestyle for work/business, entrepreneurship, freelancing, work-life balance, and whatever it takes to help you achieve your ideal lifestyle through social media and networking online.

If you’re curious whether we would be interested in your article about a particular topic, feel free to send a one paragraph pitch about your story.

I can’t guarantee every submission will be published. I’m looking for the highest quality and most helpful content (I don’t even publish all the articles I write myself). Also, your article must be unique and cannot have been published elsewhere.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and I look forward to your submission!

~Timothy Carter

Send submissions to timothy[at]socialnetworkinglifestyle.com

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