Social Media
I think the number one thing that causes us to lose hope and give up our dreams of growing a business is the fear of running out of people to share with. Unfortunately, you cannot build a thriving business with the support of just your friends and family. You will eventually need to leave your inner circle and expand beyond people you know.
I have found the easiest AND most targeted way to do this is through social media.
On social media you can :
- easily connect with people you don't know yet
- be a professional entrepreneur even tho you are in your pjs
- have the safety net of being able to look up your answers to questions and have time to respond
- have access to people all over the US and overseas without the expense of travel
It is important to really comprehend that social media is the access gate for you to constantly have a continuous flow of new eyes on your business opportunity AND your product without you needing to be anywhere else. Whether you live in a small town or don't have support of people you know doesn't matter anymore. Social media allows you to have the ability to share your opportunity with literally millions of people!
There are definitely better ways to use social media than others and I will go over more on the specifics of how to share in another module, but in this one I want to help you set yourself up to start to get to know people on social media and begin to use your profiles and professional pages to reach and engage with others.
You have already defined certain categories that fit you, your interests and the people you like to engage with who will probably be interested in your product line. So now your job is to find out where those people are hanging out on line and begin to make friends.
Now when you get there you are NOT going to start spamming those folks. Instead you are going to start to observe to find out which ones you can really connect with on a genuine level and start to engage with them in a way that purely develops friendship. That's it. If you feel after watching them they are someone that you feel comfortable with connecting with further, you can invite them to be friends where they will see more of what you share on your personal pages naturally. Social media should be a natural progression of building relationships that brings people from your cold market (those people you don't know at all), to your warm market (people who know you but are not necessarily your clients) to your hot market (those who are interested in what you have to offer).
You will use social media to share your interest in your products just like you share your interest in music, animals, humor, or anything else that tells people who you are. It should be as easy as that to share your offers. When you keep sharing your product as easy as you would share music you love, a sale on something at Kohl's that you know your friends will flip over, or your favorite pastime, connecting with people will be easy and natural and your business will grow on social media just as easily.
REMEMBER
Your activity on social media in groups should be only to make friends.
Always observe group rules
NEVER cold message people about your business - it's a huge turn off! It's ok to message people, I do it all the time, but they are people I know or are building a relationship with. (I will teach more about that later) Just don't ever send someone you don't know at all an invitation to join your team or buy your product if you haven't established a solid warm market connection with them. That's spam and hurts your biz more than helps it.
Platforms
I'm 46 and most of my age group is on Facebook so I build the majority of my biz there. You should make it your business to learn about how to use the different social media platforms to market your biz effectively and use those tips. Just make sure you are careful not to spam.
For instance, Facebook groups are a huge way to build business right now. On Instagram a good understanding of hashtags is necessary to grow your biz. Youtube lifestyle videos are hot-hot-hot! Wherever you want to hang out learn how to use that platform to your best advantage to be successful.
I would also choose one platform to start focusing on and build there. Once you are up to a thousand people following you there then you should start to learn and expand on another (1) platform. Remember, it's not a race - it's about honestly engaging and making friends that have similar interests as you and then the natural progression of sharing your product.
Action Steps
- Choose your platform
- Choose 3-5 topics of interest that you can connect on.
- Find out how to connect with people who have the same interest on your platform.
- Facebook: Join Groups
- Instagram: Choose and use specific hashtags
- Observe first to see if what you have chosen is active and a good fit for you
- Start to engage. Comment. Compliment. Respond in ways to build engagement.
- When you make friends, connect. When they ask about you incorporate your elevator pitch, but leave it there unless they ask more.
- Rinse - repeat
Make sense?
One More Point
On social media people will tell you what they want, need, and are curious about. Pay attention!
When your friends are complaining about being sick, private message them something to help. Be genuine though, this isn't a sales opportunity, it's an educational opportunity and a way to be a good friend. Offer to make a roller blend of something that will help, or bring a sample of something over to help them feel better. Our friends don't know about how amazing our oils are yet and this is how we can share with them something that can genuinely help them.
Keep your eyes and ears open for opportunities like this, sharing is this easy and natural. When you share because you genuinely care people know it and they appreciate what you are offering.
I always do this type of sharing in person or via private message. What you don't want is someone else jumping in and bringing negativity or drama to your opportunity so keep it private and personal for everyones benefit.