2008/09/21

[chrisbrogan.com]

Posted: 20 Sep 2008 05:41 PM PDT

Social media “stuff” is hot right now. It’s almost a bubble. And yet, several companies are seeking to learn more about how to use these tools and strategies to build business relationships, deliver new customers, solve customer service education issues, and more. This post is intended for the aspiring social media types.

Part of my energy around this post comes from a great speech by mister Gary Vaynerchuk I attended yesterday. Gary is nothing if not passionate, clear about his plan, and focused on his next steps.

You MUST do the basics.

If You Are A Business

Be as professional as you can be. If you’re looking to help these businesses, realize that they need you to be reliable (something I wish I could do better). They need you to be there.
Educate people from their side of the fence. If you’re providing advice and training, don’t talk about your tool knowledge. Talk about their business challenges.
Study the market. Don’t just do your own thing. Learn how other people are selling. Learn how other people are marketing. Learn how other people are educating.
Know your price. Know how much you need to make to do business. This is so important. It also relates to how people value you. Be sure you value you.
Be clean and clear about selling. If you’re selling something, like consulting, like a service, like design work, whatever, be really open and clear about what you sell.
Ask. Ask for referrals. Ask for the sale. Ask for advice from lots of people. Make sure that asking is part of your DNA.
Be personal. Be real. Be who you are. It won’t last long if you try to be other people, or try to be something you’re not. This includes admitting when you’re wrong.
Know what’s next. Always have a plan. Always have a sense of where you’re going in your business, and what you need.

Why are these the basics? Because this is the baseline price for entry to doing this work. It’s what people are expecting from you, especially when you get the opportunity to work with them.

What have I missed? What do you know about?

Photo credit, Brian “I have every web person’s photo and you don’t” Solis