Lesson 12: Social Media

There’s no question that social networking and social media are the new, hot buzz words. And for good reason. They you to get out there and make connections, find new lead sources and prospects, and make more money. And, best yet, it’s free!

However, it does cost time. And if you don’t have the right strategy in place, then you could end up wasting a lot of time with little or no results.

So, when you approach social networking for your holiay promotion, make sure you’re very strategic about it. Here are some tips to do that:

  1. Be very clear what your outcome is. Are you looking for leads, joint venture partners, get your name out there in a big way? Knowing what your outcome is will make it easier to be very focused on your social networking activities.
  2. Remember what social networking is and is NOT about. It’s NOT about a bunch of self promotion. What it IS about is building relationships, creating trust, and giving to others. If you remember to give more than you receive, you’ll be fine.

So, what are some ways you can give to others? One way is through sharing your knowledge, which you’re already doing by sharing your holiday giveaway with them.

I suggest repurposing the content you already have created for this promotion in your social networking outreach. Sharing that content with others is a great way to do all of that.

But still it can be a LOT of work. Posting to more than one social media outlet can take a lot of time – unless you have a system in place.

First, go get an account at http://www.Ping.fm. Ping actually will help you automate your posting by connecting your RSS feed from one social media outlet (I use Twitter for this) to any others you have. That means when you post to one (in my case Twitter), you will post to any other social networking sites you have established accounts. So my Twitter posts are automatically shared on Facebook, Plurk and LinkedIn, among others.

The next thing I do to automate is use a scheduler for my ‘tweets’. I suggest using MarketMe Tweet, which not only allows you to schedule tweets quickly and easily, but also offers a Twitter and Facebook posting platform, as well as allowing you to ‘brand’ your tweets.

The brand is that line you see beneath your tweets. It usually says ‘from web” or, more commonly, ‘from <the name of the app you’re using>”. But with MarketMe Tweet, that real estate is giving back to you, allowing you to customize that space and link it to any site you want. In the case of your holiday, you can have it say ” from <Your Holiday>”.

Since Google uses Twitter for Real Time Search, when you use this branding technique your holiday website will be continued to be indexed by Google every time you tweet. In addition, if someone clicks on the link on your tweet brand, they go straight to your holiday page. It’s pretty cool, huh?

Once you have your content, Ping.FM, and a scheduler, you’re ready to get your social media campaign going.

I find that the buzz that builds in social media really helps establish you as an expert, so don’t skip this step!

OK, now we’re on the last leg of the List Building Promotion Secrets. And that’s making sure you put all of the 12 lessons together.

I want to share a time table with you. Now this is the ideal, but you can get it done sooner if you dedicate yourself.

  1. Create the holiday (now)
  2. Find JV partners (3 months prior to launch)
  3. Create your giveaway (3 months prior to launch)
  4. Send out first press release (2 months prior to launch)
  5. Send out emails to JV partners with time table for use (6 weeks out)
  6. Develop your website or webpage (1 month prior to launch)
  7. Send out 2nd press release (1 month prior to launch)
  8. Start sending out promo emails and other promos (3 weeks prior to launch)

My biggest mistake with my list building promotion holiday…

It’s one I don’t want you to make but easy to do, so I want to share it with you

I got greedy.  You see, I saw how people were flying in and registering.  I wanted even more so I jumped in on another JV promo for a book, that was launching in the middle of my own giveaway.

Plus, I tried to sell them right away on some of my products and services.

What happened?  The list I was building got really angry.  More than 100 unsubcribed because I was promoting too much.  And I got labeled a spammer.  Not too nice, huh?

I forgot that I needed to nurture these new people, who only knew me from this promotion.  Once I realized that and pulled back my selling efforts, I started naturally making more sales.  So keep that in mind when you start seeing people subscriber. Don’t get greedy like I did.

Now, before we wrap it up here, I want to congratulate each and every one of you for completing the List Building Promotion Secrets. Please let me know about your success with this program by emailing me at helper@listbuildingpromotionsecrets.com. I would love to hear about your results and use it as a testimonial (if you wouldn’t mind.)

ASSIGNMENT!

  • Repurpose your already written articles and blog posts for 140 character consumption (for Twitter and other text-based social media networks).
  • Sign up for a PING.FM account at http://ping.fm and connect your Twitter account to other social media you may use (or even create new accounts).
  • Post your tweets on a schedule starting at least two weeks prior to your holiday, and throughout your holiday celebration.

Be on the lookout, I have one more bonus for you that will be coming your way in a few days. Think of it as a thank you for staying the course and getting your holiday promotion complete.