I could scream from the roof tops on this one! At our recent Put Your Year in Gear event held in Golden Colorado, we had great discussions on social media and getting it started the RIGHT way. Our attendees came away understanding what it really takes to be successful online , BUT so many of the new business owners I have spoken with lately seriously don’t “get it”. Online Marketing is still a foreign concept. Having a website, a twitter account and making posts on facebook does NOT a strategy make. Thankfully our attendees went away, knowing how to make their online marketing work for their specific business. Want to know the secret? It starts with a game plan, end results, a financially driven goal. For any specific campaign how much money do you want to make and how will they (your new found friends and well built relationships) be shown what value you bring beyond the pleasant conversation so they WANT to buy your stuff  ( and you can make that money)? No you are not in business just to be nice, you are in business to be richly rewarded for the information you have worked hard to acquire, products you have built and wisdom you can share. What is most often missing is the path – the step by step of how to get from that first contact email or social media post into the relationship and onto the clarity of sharing your value and getting paid for it. If you’re going into social media without an end goal in mind, why are you even going in? Where’s the benefit? Is it because you see everyone else has a  Twitter  profile and Facebook page and they look like they’re having fun while they talk with people? Excellent observation – but are you looking into the details….what is actually being said , what direction and options are given, where does it lead to next?  Is there an end goal?  OR Is it simply building relations online like going to a networking event to collect cards or having a ribbon cutting so you get known in your community? Whatever it is, if you’re not getting any results,  it’s because you didn’t really plan to get results. Now that’s cleared up -  what to do about it? What are the possible results you could get? How do you use social media so that you have a system that leads to results? Start with key questions

• How many connected conversations will it take to create a sale.
• How many products will you need to give away so your audience knows likes and trusts you enough to take action.

• How many people will you need to  address the incoming posts, questions, comments in the social arenas you are building relations in.

• Set an End date – this is when you STOP track and tweak

For many business owners and marketing directors in the Denver Boulder area and around the US , success is just a few steps away – not miles. We have found that by just putting a few clear steps into place , creating their online marketing plan, a communications plan, and using a system to automate it to lead to their end game  -  success follows.