Tags
Goals – we all have them, or at least we should have them. Our lives are spent setting goals and strategizing the steps we need to take to reach our goals. When you started your business, you knew that you had to write down your plans. You knew that you had to figure out the steps to take in order to make your business a success. Writing your business plan was the first step towards planning your strategy and reaching your goals.
I was one of many speakers at a women’s conference in Riverside, CA. Each of the conference speakers spoke about a different facet of business, however; I realized that each one of the speakers had a common focus – setting goals and developing a strategy!
Whether you are planning to write a book, developing a webinar, creating a publicity campaign, or considering a new marketing strategy, you need to set goals and know how you will reach them.
Many business owners do not think about social networking as something where goals and strategy need to be implemented. On the contrary – social networking is all about setting goals and developing a strong strategy for success..
It is great that business owners are finally jumping on the social networking bandwagon, but before digging in they need to know the rules, set goals so they understand what they should be doing, and then the steps they need to take to realize their goals.
Let’s take a look…
1. Know your target market. That really should be easy because you wrote that in your business plan – right?
2. Know where your target market hangs out. You know where to find your target market offline, and you should know where they hang out online as well. If your target market spends most of their online time using LinkedIn, then that’s where you should be focusing your efforts.
3. What do you want to get from being online? More clients – well, sure. However, do you want to use social media as a customer service tool? Are you looking to grow your strategic business partner arsenal? Do you have a new book you are promoting? Is your main goal to build your list? Once you know what it is you want to achieve it becomes easier for you to figure out how you will move forward.
4. Do you know which social networking tools you will be utilizing? Are your social profiles complete? Are you familiar with the “rules” of the tools you will be using? Will you be blogging? Do you know which email marketing service fits your needs? Will hosting teleseminars or webinars help you reach your goals?
Then once you are online….
1. Listen to your community. Whether you know it or not, your community is telling you what they need. Be actively visible, be part of their conversation, and listen closely.
2. Educate your online community. Give them valuable information that they can use right now, either in their business or in their personal lives. When you educate your community, they start to realize that you are the expert and you’ll become their go-to person when they need help.
3. Keep the salesy talk to a minimum. When all you do is “sell”, people will tune you out. I am not saying you should not promote your products or services, I am saying to develop a soft sell approach – or as I like to say – build a “plant the seed” campaign.
4. Give, give, and give some more. Give referrals, give kudos, and give support. Share videos, articles, and news stories. When you give, you will eventually receive.
What are your online goals, and how will you be reaching them? Share with me using the comment box below, and I will post your stories on this blog.
Eydie