Social Media like Twitter and Facebook have been all the rage the past couple of years. Just about every large business and millions of small businesses have jumped on the bandwagon.

No doubt about it, Social Media — or Web 2.0 as some call it — is a genuine way to reach a huge new audience and keep in touch with current prospects and customers. Ever better, you can promote with Social Media night and day and never pay a cent.

The payoff is so promising that big firms are paying staffs of experts to keep their Twitter and Facebook accounts humming. They figure that is far cheaper than buying expensive TV commercials and dropping millions on Google Ads.

Lately I’ve been noticing a lot of very lonely Twitter and Facebook accounts. It looks like the owners were enthusiastic at first, posted some, and got a few fans and followers.

Response was slow and it took time to update the pages. Plus the owner ran out of things to say. After a few weeks their Social Media pages were forgotten. They sit idly for the occasional visitor to arrive and poke around for a few seconds before moving on.

The real shame of all this is a perfectly wonderful marketing method is going to waste. Facebook and Twitter let you have an ongoing public conversation with your customers and prospects. There is nothing that motivates people more.

The person who posts a comment or question on your Facebook Wall is far more likely to click over to your site and buy from you. And with all the millions of people addicted to Social Media, it’s time for you to grab your share of the attention and profits.

How to Breathe Life Into Your Facebook and Twitter

The first thing is to populate your pages. That’s computer talk for telling people about yourself.

Tell people about:

* your interests
* your business
* your bio
* your products, services, and ideas
* how they’re made
* your customers
* your events
* and absolutely anything else you can think of

Don’t skimp on words. Talk on and on and on like Aunt Nelda who comes to your home each Thanksgiving and won’t be quiet. Talk about what you’re doing, what your associates are doing, your memories, your dreams, and what bugs you.

Caboots.com is a cowboy boot maker in Texas who serves a rather limited but very enthusiastic market. They make custom boots at reasonable prices that you can order online, giving Caboots customers in every state and all over the world.

Caboots Facebook Wall keeps a running diary of interesting boots they are making, customers trying on their boots, and trade shows they have attended. Naturally there are lots of snapshots of all these boots and events.

Boot enthusiasts love it. Caboots has hundreds of fans who are deeply interested in their products. It gives customers a way to learn about and communicate with a company that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to talk with. And it gives cowboy boot fans a place to talk about what they love, since most of the people boot wearers know in everyday life probably don’t give a flip about the subject.

And that, my friends, is what the Internet is all about. It’s what the Net does best. When you find a tool like Facebook and Twitter that helps people with like interests get together, you have discovered the golden egg.

All this posting can become time consuming and tedious. You’ve got other things to do, like run your business! Fortunately there is software that will let you write up your posts on Saturday, then have them automatically posted on various days of the week. Two of these applications are Tweetdeck and Hootsuite.

Are Twitter and Facebook for Everyone?

No. There is a lot of hype around Social Media right now, but it probably isn’t the magic pill everyone claims it is. The vast majority of posts — and we’re talking trillions of lines — go something like “I’m shopping for socks.” Once the newness of Social Media wears off, all those posts will seem boring and a waste of time.

But that only gives you a bigger opportunity. By posting interesting and actionable content, you can be one of the “good” sites in Social Media.

Facebook originally took off with teenagers. Even now a 14 year-old can start a Facebook account and have a robust conversation among hundreds of friends within a few days or even hours.”Math class was boring today” posted on their Wall can unleash a flood of comments from everyone who was in the class.

The key to making Facebook and Twitter work for you is to target your most enthusiastic audience. Talk to the customers and prospective customers who will just love what you sell. Then give them a place to share their enthusiasm with others like themselves.

Following this one simple principle will put you miles ahead in grabbing new customers from the millions who daily roam Social Media.

Author Bio: Kevin Nunley is a marketing expert and writer who helps you overcome obstacles and achieve your goals. See his 10,000 free biz-tips you can use now to boost your business at http://DrNunley.com Email kevin@drnunley.com

Category: Marketing
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