Getting The Cart Before the Ox – Or How To Do Social Media Wrong!

[Urban A Local SEO]

I have recently launched a social networking site in Tucson that is geared towards both profit and non profit businesses. I have also joined a slew of social media sites this year as part of The 109 Day Link Building Explosion Program. The program is based on what I call “scratch my back marketing. The whole idea is to make networking and branding the cornerstones of any social media effort.

If you are looking for backlinks then your responsibility is to add value through great content or comments. I encourage you to take a long term view of your marketing efforts. When you add value (back scratching) to a site you are rewarded with useful links and recognition (networking – branding) more back scratching.

When you are using social media sites like Ning or Facebook the same principals apply. You visit someone’s profile and then their website. You then will want to make an inquiry about the individual or business on their wall. Your job is to show friendship and kindness. When you do this people are likely to respond positively to you effort. The responder is likely to visit your profile and is likely to answer your inquiry and maybe ask about you.

If there is a common bond you may then ask to become friends because you are establishing a relationship. Social media isn’t much different than attending a business mixer. Successful networkers know their job is to ask about the other person and to be genuinely sincere. How can you expect to effectively market your product or services if you don’t know anything about that person?

When you pitch someone right out the gate you are sending a strong message. That message reads the only thing that I care about is your money and I want some of it. When you go to someone’s profile and ask to be friends without ever establishing a relationship it is often a foolish waste of time. What you are saying is “I want the right to market to you.” That’s not a very good approach.

Imagine for a moment that you are at a business mixer. Then out of nowhere someone sticks a business card or a flier in your face and starts selling you. Would you want to do business with this person? After all, they are selling you without ever having established whether you actually need what they have to offer. The odds don’t favor a business relationship being built under these circumstances.

The person on a social site that starts a contact by selling without building a relationship is practicing cold calling. And as we all know, cold calling is never a very effective marketing approach. You are getting your cart ahead of your ox. This is sad because it is so easy to visit a profile and to establish the potential need, want, or desire. Those who believe every network member is a potential client are only fooling themselves.

People pitch me marketing products all day long. They fail to realize that I am a marketing professional and I am not likely to be interested in their products. However, if you invite me to visit your page and I see something that is unique I might become a customer or I might write a review about the product on my blog.

Yes, what I am recommending here, scratch my back marketing, is a time consuming process. I like to compare it to nurturing a garden. You don’t go out one day and throw some seed about and realistically expect results the next day. Gardening, successful gardening takes time, effort, and patience. Social media marketing can easily be compared to gardening it takes time, effort, and patience. People like to do business with people that they know and trust!

Is your cart ahead of your ox?

Thanks,
Boris
Tucson SEO Solutions
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