Social Networking Success: Increase Your Sales by Turning Friends into Customers – Part 2

When it comes to being successful at social networking, personality is the key. Entrepreneurs, who share personal stories, anecdotes, testimonies, and most importantly tips, are the ones that people notice. People network with people who they find are interesting, entertaining, helpful, and/or experts at what they do. People don’t go up to the quiet girl in the corner, nor do they like the loud guy in the front who thinks he can sell ice to an Eskimo, but he’s the biggest joke in the room. Point being that people gravitate towards the cool folks and walk away from the cons. You have to work at presenting yourself as genuine, trustworthy, and an expert. Expert status means so much. Most people are looking for free information, so if you can draw them in with some great advice, they might just get sold on whatever else you have to say. Talk to people by taking the time to read and respond to their posts. If you can, go a step further, buy some of their products and then post about it. Some of the most successful web entrepreneurs on my social network are the ones that not only sell their products, but buy from others. These are the ones who make new affiliates, get free promotion on other peoples pages, and tap into networking opportunities that go beyond simply being one more friend on someone else’s list.

On the topic of lists, let’s get back to your Social Networking Checklist. You need to have several great topics for discussion. It’s great to ask questions, but it’s even better if you can give other people answers. More importantly, it’s a good idea to practice writing posts in which you kill several of the following birds with one stone: write about a popular topic of interest, plug in a few of your own blog posts or website links without your post looking like a shameless plug. If you want to sell your product, I suggest writing for the people you want to sell to. Ideally you should sit down and create several posts that build up to a more sellable sales pitch. Let me explain. You can’t just walk up to someone and say, “Bam! Look at this, ain’t it great! Buy this!” Most people tend to look at you like you are crazy and walk away. Unless you can afford to pay for more aggressive advertising tactics you have to be more strategic and subtle on social networks. You might want to start off by telling people about a great event you just hosted, wonderful testimony you got from a client that touched you, a reason why you went into your particular business. You can share your life lessons and slip in your sales pitch. Tell people why your service fills a need and then direct them to your site for more information. Use your blog to promote a countdown for a promotion and then everyday add something for that count down, perhaps end it with an exclusive discount. Point being, you need to build up to selling yourself on social networks. You should even go a step further and create a group for your target audience. Though you might not be able to send out messages to the entire network, you can send out targeted messages to your group. It is worth your while to build a great group, and use it as an additional space to market.

Once you’ve thought of a great group you would like to create, or several topics you want to write about, don’t think it stops there. Successful entrepreneurs do not simply post and hope for the best. You have to be active and engaging. People aren’t going to come to you just because you put your stuff out there. This is why reaching out to people, making new friends, and responding to posts of interest is so important. You have to create a genuine dialogue with at least a few people every week. The more you talk, the more plugs you get, the more people start to look for you instead of the other way around. You want to work on creating your own position of presence, so that you always stand out in the crowd.

Now keep in mind that this process never stops. I have social networks with several thousand viewers, I have tons of MySpace friends, and steady business, but that doesn’t mean I can sit back and coast. Just like you I spend several hours a week making new friends, writing posts, and staying in the spotlight. You always have to work at social networking if you want it to work for you. You have to respond to emails in a timely fashion and send out emails that are worth sending. If you can’t write or don’t know what article marketing is all about, learn by example. Every time you come across a great post or an email with a great title, copy it down. Learn how to integrate the right words into everything you write, so that people stop and take notice of what you have to say.

Last but not least, you have to keep track of everything and set goals. Every week you should know how many new friends you want to make vs. how many you have. With a large circle of relevant friends you increase chances of reaching more people and making more sales. You need to understand which of your posts get the most feedback and results, so you can duplicate that format regularly. You even need to know your best posting days and sales days. Believe it or not, as you work at it you will find that certain times of the week generate more traffic. I myself leave my best posts for specific times of the week.

When people know your name, you know your social networking strategies are working. When you send out emails and get back responses, you know people care about your opinion. When you suggest a product or service to people and you make a sale, you have become a successful social networker! Again, the key is to create a plan and work on increasing your presence by showcasing the best of your personality. If you have specific questions about social networking or if you would like to learn more about the many ways you can improve your web skills and increase your online presence, I invite you to join my web coaching program.

Read Part 1:
Social Networking Success: Increase Your Sales by Turning Friends into Customers – Part 1

Posted by: LHenry creator of the SistaSense eBussines Blog, a series of Web Business Howto Guides, BBWO Network for Professional Black Women and the Web Newbie Know How Coaching Program.