Business-Building Action from Terry Brock
Happy New Year! This is a time of beginning again as we refresh and give ourselves the permission to start anew. Many feel that now is the time to put all the “junk” of the past and the mistakes aside and focus on what is new.
Of course, successful people realize that you can have a new beginning anytime you want it. So, I look at the beginning of the year as a great time to create a beginning.
Here are 5 key steps you can take — right now — to begin to see serious benefits from your work with SoMe (the “cool” way to abbreviate Social Media!). I’ve seen my business grow as I implement these on a regular basis and you can too.
1. Stay Current With Your Connections
SoMe is not a “do it once and step back and relax” kind of medium. You have to continually “be there” for people responding in real time to what is happening. My buddy Randy Gage talks about how he generated over $2 million from his use of Twitter in only 2 years. How did he do it? Well, I won’t spill all the beans (but you can find out on my great program Time Management for Social Media) but one of the key steps was engaging regularly with people.
Staying current means that you are there. You don’t set up a bunch of posts and then walk away. Yes, you can program content to go out, but make plans to be there and interact with real people as a real person in real time (something about being, well, “real!”). Today’s market doesn’t want a bunch of advertising and marketing thrown at them by inhuman robots. They want real people to be there interacting and helping. That is how business has always been done through the centuries. Today we have SoMe to empower us to connect with more people.
2. Build a Loyal Tribe
You want to build connections with people from around the world who share common ideas and interests with you. You can’t win over everyone. I love the way Bill Cosby put it so eloquently a while back, “I don’t know the key to success. But the key to failure is to try to please everyone.” So true.
You are not going to reach everyone and not everyone is going to need or want what you have.
That’s okay!
You want to find those people who need and want your ideas and concepts and will embrace it. In business, you need to find a way to monetize it because, hey, we all have to eat and need to fun our ventures. Find a way you can help people satisfy their needs. That is the main focus you should have. After that, all the other stuff just seems to nicely fall into place.
I love it!
3. Be Yourself – Be Real
In SoMe (and all the rest of life) you do best when you’re authentic and real with people. Don’t try to pretend to be someone you’re not. Yes, keep improving and being that ideal self you envision. But all the while you’re doing that, focus on how you can use fun, wisdom, insight and more.
This requires discovery and practice. You have to explore who you are now and who you can become. Your greatest good will be to find what needs you can meet in others while developing wonderful, new traits in yourself.
4. Devote Time To Learning
Yeah, we all know the “world is changing.” (Have we heard that one before?) Well, it is true. We have to continually adapt. I admit that I’d love to have the world operating like it did “before” (whenever that was!).
Well, since it is rapidly changing, we have to adapt to a new world by constantly feeding our minds with new, relevant, market-valuable material. That means we are constantly reading good books, listening to mind-enriching podcasts, watching educational and inspirational videos and putting our TME (Time, Money, Effort) into being at key seminars, conferences and meetings which can help us grow.
The even better news is that as we practice life-long learning (and daily learning) we are healthier, feel better, live more productively, have longer lives and just generally have a better life. Sounds like a good combination to me!
5. Make Things Happen!
SoMe is about making things happen. It is not just about getting more followers, more likes, or even more connections. Just aiming for more likes on Facebook would be like a retailer asking everyone to merely wave hello as they drive by in their cars. You don’t pay the bills with people waving hello — even if they roll down the window and wave! You make money in retail when people take action by coming to your store, picking up an item and paying for it!
Always remember that your goal in business is to generate results, not just activities. Keep in your mind the question, “How is this going to help generate the goals I need in business?” as you do anything that is related to business.
“Likes” and followers are nice. Always focus on how to ultimately monetize that for your business.
Embrace these steps and see how your business grows. 2013 is going to be a great year for those who do what is right. Leverage the enthusiasm and feeling of a fresh start now to propel you forward.
Please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts. I value your input and look forward to hearing from you!
Terry
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photo credit: fensterbme via photopin cc
