Banging my head against social media marketing… because it feels good when I stop…

We all hear the constant drumbeat of “Social media is the marketing tool of the 21^st century!”  So I jumped in headfirst to see what would happen when I became a “digital marketer”.  This is my tale, in short form… 

My hope was that I could use Facebook to generate new consulting clients and sell more books.  So I did what the “experts” told me to do and created a personal page and a page for my book.   

But wait, they said, “Facebook is not enough, you need a blog!”  So I started this blog. 

“Now you need to TWEET!” So I signed up for Twitter.  I am supposed to use Twitter to drive traffic to my other digital sites.  What the hell do I say in a 140 characters?  I was told “Use profound quotes, people love quotes!”  How is a quote from Benjamin Franklin going to promote my business?

 “Now you need to market using Linked-in!”  So I modified my Linked-in profile.   

“Now connect all of these to create an awesome web presence!”  So I connected this blog, my two websites, my Twitter account, Linked-in, and Facebook.  I tweeted, blogged, posted, and joined “Groups” like a good little digital marketer.   

One strategy was to get as many “friends” as I could and hope that eventually one might turn into a customer.  The secret was spending countless hours “bonding” with my “digital” friends and giving away my intellectual property for free so I could get more friends. 

Another strategy was to drive people to my websites via Facebook.  Or was it the other way around…?   

Results?  Zero prospects, Zero customers.  I may have sold a couple of books but the outcome was not worth the effort.   

The problem they said was “You are not posting enough!”  Oh, now I get it!  I do not spend enough time posting about kittens and playing Farmville to promote my business!  My bad!  I admit I could have posted, blogged, and tweeted more than I did but I actually had to do some real work.  If they can figure out a way for me to play Halo and promote my business at the same time, count me in!   

“Write a paper on how to increase sales and give it away!”  they said.  My response was that knowledge is my intellectual property and it is what I sell.  “Yeah, but you can get their email address and drip market the crap out them and hope they buy your services someday!”  Why would they buy my services if I am giving them my product for free?  Still waiting for that answer… 

Now I am told that Pinterest is the way to go.  Damn!  So I started a board and connected it to all of the above.  Problem is I can’t figure out how to associate pictures of dresses and recipes with my consulting business.  Any help would be appreciated… 

 Just so it is clear for everybody, this is what I learned.  What you need for a social media / digital strategy is Facebook, Linked-in, Twitter, a website, a newsletter, and Pinterest.  Make sure they are all connected.  And if you feel like giving your product away, sites like Groupon and Living Social will be more than happy to help you.  I am sure there are couple more sites that have popped up since I started writing this that you need to use.  Now find the time to write something of value in each one of these mediums or give just give away your product or service.  Success is waiting!

 I am still waiting on the “revenue” part of the equation.  But the hell with the revenue, look at the number of “friends” I have!

Posted by Kevin Hanville on March 26, 2012

https://changeorgobroke.wordpress.com/2012/03/26/banging-my-head-against-social-media-marketing-because-it-feels-good-when-i-stop/