When we started our web business there was no Facebook, no YouTube, and no Google!  

We utilized domain type-in traffic and inbound marketing by placing articles on other similar websites with my link!  We would have KILLED to have a social network!

Within the next hour you can setup profiles at Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube for your business.  I know there are even more than this, but with these FOUR, you have the ability to generate enough business to keep you busy for the rest of your life.  You just have to be creative!

When you setup your social profiles, don’t go on a spamming frenzy posting like a drunken sailor.  As one great salesman once said, “people hate to be sold too, but they love to buy.”  This is so true!

If you can genuinely connect with people and form relationships with them, the sale is the easy part!  But if you’re always cramming the sale down their throat, you’re going to shoot yourself in the foot before you have the opportunity to make the sale.

Start by adding people you know that could be interested in your products and services service, particularly those that you do business with.  Perhaps your local banker who gave your your car or home; The local butcher where you buy your meat.  Start with your business circle of friends by posting inspiring, helpful articles and see what kind of response you get. Don't hesitate to ask them to read your articles, get feedback, and ask them to critique them. You will be amazed how helpful they are.

My Facebook account is a complete marketing engine but I seldom share a link to Active Technologies.  Instead, I engage with my followers by asking intriguing questions or something that is going to elicit a response.  If I can get them to consistently see and remember our name, eventually they’ll research our companies and buy something from us.

LinkedIn makes it even easier.  If you click on your connections page you’ll notice that LinkedIn allows you to send them a pre-typed congratulation or anniversary message.  We do this daily and receive a lot of business from our LinkedIn contacts!

Especially in LinkedIn, do not connect with competitors! Connect with prospects for your products and services, as many as you can. Then post relevant compelling articles that will entice them to seek additional information OR check out your website. Many of our sales are generated using this method.

This is where re-targeting comes into a very important piece of the puzzle.  When your connections eventually do decide to check out your website, even if they don’t buy, they’re going to consistently see your ads on relevant websites.  Your company or Brand will become their “go to” brand. They might buy in the future OR they might recommend your company to their friends and associates, perhaps even supplying them with a link.

With all this said, you can still cross-post your blog posts and coupon specials, just try not to cram it down their throat.  Personally, we are much more aggressive on our company pages than on our personal pages.  Otherwise, your contact material could be listed as SPAM, JUNK, or equated with “annoying MLM salesman” category, so be very careful with that.  In general, people expect companies to be pushy, so do it on your web site but not on social media.

None-the-less social media provides an excellent, free, medium for you to connect with customers.  Spend an hour a day working it (not dazing off into ADHD paradise) but connecting with them without hard-selling.  You’ll be surprised at how fast your efforts will pay off.