by Narendra Motwani
What is beginning to happen is that people are networking, socializing, and growing their business and branding nationally by connecting to people on sites such as Twitter and Facebook. They’re creating new and different ways to communicate their brand.
Here are a few ideas to put in your social media marketing toolbox:
- Have a shirt created with your Twitter user name (@____________) on it. Then ask your staff to wear the shirts at events or at your retail location. If you’re an entrepreneur and don’t have employees, wear the shirt yourself and/or have your family wear it.
- Have pens made with your Twitter name or a “Connect with me on Facebook” message.
- Have coffee mugs made with a quote and your Twitter name and/or blog name. Send them to clients and prospects. Another idea: have an open house with coffee and give out the mugs.
- Have custom Christmas or holiday cards made that have all of your social media contact information on the back.
- Do a video of the month (or week), and remember at the end to ask viewers to follow you on Twitter, Facebook, and so on.
- Send your top clients, prospects, or business champions a great book, and includes custom bookmarks that have your social media information attached.
- Change your answering machine so that you mention your social media platforms during your message (“Follow us on Twitter, join our fan page on LinkedIn, and view our channel on YouTube”).
- Put your Twitter name and other social media links in your newsletter and/or e-zine.
- In all of your publicity, whether it’s an article, a seminar promotion, or phone interview, ensure that at the end you mention one or several of your social media sites. Blogs and newsletters are the number one things to mention because you want to begin capturing names and email addresses.
- Check out fiverr.com. You can hire someone to do anything on this site for $5, including having someone stand on the Eiffel Tower and hold a sign with your Twitter name on it and snap a picture. You can have someone make a video for you and you can have someone retweet your message to their network for, yes . . . $5.
- A last but important tip: from this point forward, start connecting with fellow Twitterers, Facebook friends, and LinkedIn connections and see if you can do some strategic cross-promotion. Here are some examples: be a guest blogger, be a guest on each other’s teleseminars or webinars, or do a seminar together. In other words, make a pact to promote each other’s social media sites. It’s networking at its finest.
These same tactics can be used to promote your church or ministry, too!
