Social Media - InterNetworking Into The Future

Social media marketing is the perfect way for SMBs to advertise and brand. The emergence of incredibly popular websites such as FaceBook, YouTube and Twitter, has created a new forum for brand building and relationship building, unlike anything else we have ever seen before. Many people think these websites are just for children. This misconception mainly holds due to the widgets and games that exist on them. Do not be misled though, when used properly, these websites have an incredible ability to promote your brand and bring you and your customers together.

The following buttons take you to my accounts of the various Social Media websites which I think are most helpful for building and promoting my brand. Feel free to browse through my accounts and join me if you think it is appropriate.

Why is Social Media so good for SMBs?

Its all about building relationships
Its free

Social media is not about selling, it is about building relationships. Thats it. When a robust and consistent approach is taken to this relationship building, you will end up with a massive audience of loyal friends, who recognise you as the expert in your field.

Over time, you develop and nurture relationships with hundreds or even thousands of people who recognise through your interactions, that you are the leader in your niche. When they need your services, they are no longer going to go to the Yellow Pages or do a Google search, they already know you, trust you and therefore will use you.

Further, as they know you and trust you due to your relationship building efforts, when their friends need your services, it will be your name which is recommended.

Many business owners fear social networking sites, recognising the peril of losing massive chunks of time in them. There are so many features to these sites that this is a very real risk. You can lose yourself in them. But not when you are using the sites for business related relationship building. When set up properly, you only need to spend about 5 - 10 minutes a day on these sites. That's all it takes.

They are ideal for lifestyle type businesses too. The reason the lend themselves particularly to lifestyle businesses is because you end up communicating with people who share your passions. There is no better way to stay focused and energised to achieve success than when you surround yourself with people of like minded passions.

Here is an example though of some of the marketing you can do with SocialMedia websites. This is a video I produced as part of the marketing efforts for the Hooting Owl Lodge. The point is to connect with people, not to sell them or create a perfect TV advert. In this video, the idea was to entertain viewers with the idea that they will pass on the video to their friends, thereby creating exposure for the Hooting Owl Lodge.