7 Ways to Create A Social Media Presence

You're not still asking why or whether you need to have a social media presence, are you? Real quickly now. You need a social media presence because that's where your new customers are and it's how they will find you, trust you and try you. Ignore it at your own peril. My definition of marketing is: Turning Strangers Into Friends, Friends Into Customers and Customers into Raving Fans. Your social media presence allows you to do just that. Here are seven tips...

1. Make learning social media marketing a priority. Your town probably has a big building in it with lots and lots of books. It's kind of like Blockbuster used to be except with books instead of videos and you can check them out for free. Get reacquainted with your local library. The Internet is also your friend. Google, Yahoo or Bing a phrase such as "How to Learn Social Media" and pick out some great articles to read. Check out your regional trade association's, ASI's and PPAI's pro development offerings. We have several great professionals in our industry sharing their knowledge on these topics. Get your own domain name and website that you can use social media to drive traffic to and to improve your rankings on search engines. Learn about SEO—it's not that hard to do it yourself—and optimize your website. You want to create a presence so that when someone in your market enters "Promotional Products (Your Town Here)" into Google that your website comes up in the top half of the page.

2. Update your LinkedIn profile and make connections. In the past, successful sales people had their Rolodex and it contained all of their contacts names, addresses and phone numbers. It was one of the most valuable business tools that they owned. Get on LinkedIn today. If you have a profile but haven't used LinkedIn, get back on there and first update your profile and polish it. Make sure that it leaves the impression that you want your number one prospect to have of you if they were to look for you. Here's the thing: They will look there. Make LinkedIn Ccnnections. Use the "find connections" tools that the site offers and send out invitations to connect. Watch your network grow! It is amazing just how many people we are all connected to. Look at your friends and acquaintances connections and connect with the people that you know from their lists too. You might also take a look at some of your customers' and prospects' profiles for ideas for whom you should invite connections.