This one’s going to get a few people wound up, but I’m tired of seeing all of the “amazing social media riches” systems that have flooded the market. They make ridiculous claims that you can generate huge profits simply by learning how to master social media.
It sounds sexy, and relies on the fact that most people don’t even UNDERSTAND social media to begin with. So in the hope that maybe this is finally the ‘silver bullet’, they jump in and think that this is going to be the fastest path to riches.
Here’s the truth: social media will not bring you a bunch of money or wealth, and if you believe that it will, it’s more likely to waste a LOT of your time and generate no results.
No, it won’t make you rich on its own, but it does have it’s place — and here’s how you can make it a powerful tool in your marketing plan.
If you want to be successful using social media in your marketing plan, the first thing you need to do is recognize what social media is, and what it’s real purpose is for your business.
When I talk about social media, I’m referring to the various social connection tools that have become so popular online. The primary one of course is Facebook, but the other ones you need to understand are Twitter and LinkedIn.
A cousin to social media is YouTube, and while a lot of people don’t think of YouTube as a social media component, it actually is .. because of the nature of how you can comment, share and connect with people using the various tools on YouTube.
Here’s the most important point I want to make for you — social media tools are engagement tools … they are NOT sales tools.
Thinking that building a huge Facebook page with thousands of fans is going to make you money is a complete MYTH. Anyone who tells you that each Facebook fan is worth some amount of money to you automatically is completely wrong.
The key problem is that unspoken “social norms” are very powerful in social media, and a critical one is that you’re expected NOT to sell and market yourself directly in social media.
Think of social media like a dinner party, where there are some people that you know could be great clients for your business.
Imagine showing up with flyers for your company, and trying to drum up business over drinks.
Bad idea.
You see, the real benefit and purpose of social media is to create dialogue, discussion and engage people so that they become more interested in you (and what you do).
It’s NOT designed to actively market yourself, or promote your products and services. Doing so will quickly get you “hidden” and “ignored” by people who are on your social media lists.
Sadly, most of the social media marketing advice out there focuses on how to build massive list of followers, and they indoctrinate you to measure your success based on the number of people who are on your list of followers or friends. Unfortunately, they miss the most important point — it’s about quality, not quantity.
Getting fans, friends and followers on social media is only the first step towards actually creating an income stream from social media. Yet, most people think that building that following is the end goal.
Of course, this explains why there are a lot of people with large followings who are broke — yet the smart marketers with tiny lists are able to make a pretty good income.
42 Responses
Thank you Greg…at last some sense. I love real personal contact and connection in my business and have steered away from social media because of the hype..liking it to dinner party makes so much more sense…just makes aanothe useful tool..manners get you everywhere!!!
Bravo, Greg! Exactly right!
Facebook, Twitter, are great places to develop relationships, engage followers, find a tribe, and develop a sense of community, but it’s not a place to close sales.
So glad to hear you “name it” here . . . great content as always!
Greg,
Very well written article!
Coming from someone who makes money from teaching social media I couldn’t agree more with your article above. Social media is simply another channel to get your message to others. The key with social media in my opinion is to simply give away free and valuable content, then as you said drive readers, listeners and watchers to your blog.
Thanks for all you do.
Garrett Pierson
Great Post Greg! I totally agree with you. I have had the sales pitch and did the hide or drop the friend list on Facebook. I love the link to their blogs as an opportunity to expand my knowledge and if interested I can subscribe at my choosing or bookmark as a future reference, which I often do.
Thanks for posting this. Hopefully it will help a lot of people before they get disappointed.
Dan
This is very true Greg. I attended engage today 2009 and I got this idea about how to make a difference with my passion. Then I attended Mike Drew’s conference, (one of the bonus items we got at engage today) and I decided to build my network through my blog. I launched the blog in Dec.2009. Today I rank 290,000 in Alexa. I started a fan page about 7 months ago, and now 60% of my traffic comes from Facebook mostly from word of mouth! (SEO is my weak point) BUT I get between 30 and 60+ comments on every post. I have thousands of readers and I built the whole thing on connecting with others. You might be surprised to hear that I am a mental health advocate ~ specializing in inspiring hope for full recovery from abuse, chronic depression and dissociative identity disorder by showing how the belief system forms as a result of events when we are children, and showing how it is possible to re-wire that belief system. (this works for people that can’t seem to get a biz off the ground too) SO… just wanted to stop by and tell you that engage today changed my life
Thank you Graig for the brilliance in this article. I find I still have lots to learn about True Marketing. I love the picture with your beautiful family.
Greg, sound information and I agree with your points.
Though I have nothing to sell yet (though I should, and I will), what you say makes a lot of sense, and I will remember it when I start using social media to market. Thank you for sharing your experience.
It also explains why I keep unfollowing people trying to sell to me right there in a status update.
Hi Gregg, You are absolutely right
TOTALLY GREAT ADVICE – THANKS SO MUCH!!!!!!!!
Greetings, Greg you are always spot-on. Whenever I read one of your emails, hope springs eternal for me that there are some men with Integrity on the net and I can be the next one.
Jah Bless you and your beautiful family,
Clear, useful content! Respectful social interaction in the long run pays off in the recommendation age.
JL
Good article … and wise observations that I have struggled with the whole social media side of the Online Marketing. It seems very time consuming with little upside – but the opt in page does make far more sense.
Very nice! After reading this, I have a more balanced view on what social media can do for you. That social media is not the ultimate tool that will bring you great success if you learn how to master it. But instead, that social media is a just another tool that can lead you to more success if you understand it.
Thank You for these posts, they are very eye opening!
I would like to learn more about marketing on the internet. This is a good start for me. Thanks,
Perry
Thank you, Greg. Your blog post was timely for me and very helpful. Best, Elizabeth
Hi Greg, What a breathe of fresh and realistic air this was to read! I was thinking the same about all these socila media courses promising riches. However we should be used to this by now as it seems to happen every time something new and sexy comes out where you can make money.
Ahh..it’s an eye opener for me. Pretty sage advice Mr. Habstritt, Social Media is for engagement and NOT for sales.
Yes, I agree. The best selling is when clients don’t feel selling.
Excellent post Greg – thank you.
It strikes me that you cannot change the rules of the game half way through. Most people joined Facebook etc with the view of social interaction and connecting with friends new and old.
It goes against the grain to change that dynamic to a lead generation or marketing vehicle.
That may change in time as we are beginning to see with Twitter, but too much commercialisation will lead to a serious decline its its popularity
Top quality information, as clearsighted and grounded as everything that comes from you. Thank you! I am so happy to be on your list.
Thank you Greg,
I simply love your ideas and advises they are so practical and usfull
and they have a lots of sense.
thank you again and be well
Thank you, Greg, for these insights. I agree with you 100%. The proverbial handshake of agreement has always been the best way to do business. Even though a handshake icon could be found, somehow it's not quite the same.–Ginny
Good stuff!
Well said Greg.
I am an Agency Strategist with Radian6. Helping people understand the role of social media and that forced sales and may have a place, but not here.
Great article and I whole heartedly agree knowing that I still have my own learning curve in front of me. The party metapher makes it easy to grasp. Thanks!
Thank you, Greg. You are SO right about the social-media sites “owning” your contacts list. Just read http://techcrunch.com/2010/11/04/facebook-google-… as an example.
Thank you for demystifying social media. I love the clarity you provide. It just makes everything make sense and again re-emphasizes the importance of a blog in the big picture.
Thank you for putting this topic quite clear. I have been having this thought for year, but you make it quite clear. Thanks.
I appreciate this as I have been contemplating a FB ad campaign and like hearing what the appropriate expectation of return would be from it. And how to structure blog posts, tabs, on the page, etc. Thank you, it makes absolute sense.
Hey Greg,
Social media are good places to know new people and to develop relationship with friens.
It is so nice to while the time there,so we have to put control on the time
We can disribute there some things by the “word of the mouth.
I agree with you 100% Greg. It's only about getting to know one another on these various sites and I quite like the way you equated it with meeting someone at a dinner party. This is very good information. However there are challenges with email lists as well such as duplications because you've offered another feature or something of that nature. I've subscribed to numerous lists and I have to say that while I've received some superb material from some, I am inundated and not able to keep up with everything, unfortunately. I imagine others may have similar challenges.
Just an aside, there are two paragraphs above, where "it's" is used incorrectly. In paragraphs 3 and 4 the correct use is the possessive "its" and NOT "it's" which means "it is". Your copywriter may wish to keep this in mind for future.
I agree putting contact list on facebook twitter is fine but as you stated if these accounts go south then what. Until I looked at this information I never really gave this much thought.
Thanks Greg
Nancy Oblea
Cheryl B
I agree wholeheartedly with the 3 summary points you made in your blog. It’s common sense not to push sales on others where it’s not wanted, and it’s internet etiquette to
avoid it. I learned about this in the Visionary Business University classes I just
finished last week.
I’ve been following your emails to me and your blog for some months now –
great content!
Hi Gregg, I couldn't agree with you more. Facebook and twitter are good place to make wonderful friends like you, not for business.
Very well put. Outstanding blog.
Thank you. Very good information. It has become quite clear to me.
Nice and succinct Greg. I have found this very useful to pass on to my team members who are very excited about social media and I was trying to explain some of this to them last week. I really hate to think of them going down the wrong path with social media. Now you have put it very clearly and I have just forwarded your email to them!
Thanks.
Amanda Lee
I wish this was on a poster board!!
I very much agree ! Nice and very simply put!
It was a pleasure reading and the honesty…..thankyou ….I needed to read that very much so……I am on a pension, live alone, I dont work, and yet I get approx 80-100 emails daily…..mainly subsribing, friends, forwards etc. I do as you do…and have folders and file away but forget to delete in the folder when I have time, thus folders filling up. But unsubscribing would be the answer thankyou. And thankyou for the reminder that facebook owns what it owns and to transfer private emails to the email system. again thankyu ……much appreciated….keep up the good work….
Thanks so much Greg. I never felt comfortable deploying these media as marketing avenues, and was kind of confused if I did not understand what the whole thing is about.