Here’s a guest post from my marketing mentor Dave Dee. Enjoy!
Just like my kids, I want every business I launch to grow up to be strong, healthy, and well-rounded.
When it comes to marketing, you want a strategy that is going to give you a steady flow of leads that are excited to hear from you, buy from you, and tell their friends to do the same. Luckily, that’s what I specialize in, so get out your notepad because I’m about to tell you a VERY important secret.
What’s the opposite of strong, healthy, and well-rounded?
Weak, fragile, and narrow-minded. I wouldn’t want my kids to grow up that way, and I sure don’t want to grow a business to have it crumble under its own weight.
The key to growing a robust business really comes down to marketing. Without that steady influx of leads you’re likely to be hobbling along like all the other business that will expire like a candle this month.
How do you make your marketing robust? Just like you want your kids to eat from ALL the major food groups, and get smart in ALL the types of intelligence, you want your business to embrace ALL the best marketing strategies.
Here is a dirty little secret you will hear from neither the Social Media gurus, nor the old die-hard direct-response mailguys that I learned from:
You need both.
That’s right. In this day and age, if you don’t have a presence on Facebook and Twitter, you’re pre-historic. Yet, if all you do is spend your days surfing social media looking for clients, that’s like swimming through the water all day looking for a fish to net.
What you want is to attract and retain clients with a hybrid marketing strategy that includes:
1.) A solid base of Direct Response Mail – postcards, letter campaigns, and of course, a monthly newsletter (the traditional stuff that WORKS)
2.) A regular email contact similar to the emails you receive from me – at least weekly, as much as daily
3.) A consistent presence on the top social media sites – Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn
The real power comes when you get them all working together.
Things really start cooking when someone finds you on social media and signs up for your email list. Or when someone gets your direct mail and follows you on Twitter because you list that as a contact option. It’s list building, but it’s a more
interactive list.
The best is when someone signs up for your newsletter and gives you their address on your landing page because they followed a link you posted on Twitter or Facebook. I love when that happens! Social media is just like a big mouth on
a marketing funnel.
Here’s a great tip – in your emails you want to lead people to your social media profiles so they can check you out and really get a feel for you. Put links to your social media profiles in your emails! It’s a much more personal form of communication, and people feel like they’re getting “more” of YOU when there are pictures and real-time interaction.
It’s amazing how much of your personality and expertise can be conveyed on social media. Prospects you gain there will be some of your best because they’ve pre-screened themselves to be a good “fit.” They like you, know you, and want to do
business with YOU.
If you do all these together, each one of them, you will have a business that grows up healthy, strong, and has a well-rounded base to keep it stable when the storms in life come a-blowin.
Here’s your assignment for the week: Find me on Facebook and Twitter. It’s really simple, here are the links:
Facebook: http://budurl.com/DaveDeeFanPage
Twitter: http://budurl.com/DaveDeeTwitter
Can’t wait to connect with you!
~Dave
PS – You may have to set up your profiles real quick. I encourage you to follow through. I will be writing more about this as I develop my own hybrid strategy and I want to take you right along with me.
PPS – Check out my friends at the Social Media Profit School. Craig and his team have an awesome questionnaire that they personally review and tell you: How Close you are to REALLY making money on Facebook & Twitter?
If you’ve been doing what I recommend, you may be a lot closer than you think!
http://www.socialmediaprofitschool.org
PPPS – Craig will be at the Triple X Bootcamp in LA with us. You can meet him there. Check out these great bonuses we’re offering to anyone who registers for the event through my Fan Page:
http://budurl.com/DaveDeeFanPage
Cheers,
Craig
PS – If you know you need a social media presence and a strategy for attracting clients, then send me an email, or connect with me through the social media profiles I’ve listed below. We’ve got entire done for you packages that include a comprehensive strategy session, integration with your blog and CRM lead capture form, and a host of other neat tricks that would take you hours and hours to figure out on your own.
Craig Filek
Social Media Profit School
Read Blog: Social Media Profit School Blog
Email Me: Craig(at)SocialMediaProfitSchool
Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/SocialMediaProfitSchool
Twitter: www.twitter.com/SMProfitSchool
