This is the final chapter in the Quit your Job and Make Millions series. It’s been quit a journey and an educational one for you I hope. First, we looked at some things you need to have in order to finally quit your job. Second, I showed you some practical ways to save or make extra money so you can quit your job. I even shared some ways to market yourself once you trade the corner office for your office. Finally, let’s explore some uses of social media as a marketing tool when you quit your job and start your business.
Social media is absolutely huge right now mainly because of it’s low costs (pretty much free) and large return on investment. It’s a way to connect with potential customers and engage with current clients that makes it easier for them to trust you. The formula for social media success is as follows;
Engagement + Connection + Trust = Brand awareness and Sales.
Remember, it doesn’t matter if you’re quitting your job and starting a shoe factory or massage parlor, your company is still called, “You, Inc.”
Here’s a thought (for all my retail workers out there); If you’ve ever worked in an electronics store, customers will typically ask you which brand of X product is better. If it’s familiar to them they’ll say, “Yea, all my stuff is X brand,” or “I’ve never heard of them, are they any good?” So, how can you become that X brand that everyone loves? This is where the power of social media comes in. Remember the formula above, despite what a lot of social media “experts” will tell you, it’s not just about sales. This IS NOT a get-rich-quick venture on Myspace or Twitter. These are ways you can maximize social media to build your brand and make money.
1. Blog or Video Blog -this was number six in the last article, 6 Ways to Market Yourself after You Quit Your Job. For the uninformed, blogging is public journaling in it’s simplest form. But there are other variations of it like, blog-a-zines (such as this one), news and informational, gossip and entertainment, and the list goes on and on. The main idea is to create transparency when it comes to your business and potential customers. Show them your office space, your team (if you’re not a solo-preneur), share tips and ideas for using your products or services, etc. By sharing these details that normally would be kept private or sold you can generate a loyal legion of raving fans that will market for you through word of mouth and social networking.
Resources: You can easily create a blog by using the WordPress, Blogger, or Typepad platforms. I run The Success Center on WordPress because of it’s great templates and plugins that add functionality to the site. Do a little research to see which platform will best benefit your needs.
2. Social Networking – Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter are all great platforms to interact and engage with like minded individuals. When you quit your job, start a business, and get your website off the ground these networks will become your outpost in the middle of potential clients. Each platform has its own strengths such as Facebooks’s awesome content sharing and profile features, Linkedin’s professional profile layout and groups creation, and Twitter’s fantastic content sharing and conversation styled interface. Social networking is a great way to share information, develop relationships, and (ideally) lead people back to your base (your website) and get them into your sales funnel. The great part is, you’ll already have an established relationship so there’s no sales involved!
Note: Before you get too deep into a network, find out about “the rules of engagement,” so you can get the most out of it. The key is SOCIAL networking . . . no sales pitches, spam, or adult material!
Note 2: I’m not even going to attempt to explain each of these networks here, that’s entirely another article! However, I did a decent write-up on Getting Started with Twitter that you may enjoy.
Resources: Here are some great articles that can help you maximize these networks that I found around the web.
5 Tips for Getting More from Facebook
5 Tips for Getting More from Linkedin
How to Make Your Tweets More Useful
Mashable – Great “News and Informational” Blog that deals specifically with social media.
3. Youtube – we’ve all gone to this site and watched videos of people doing crazy stuff or even watched old TV shows that aren’t on anymore. But, what if you had your own “channel,” where people could watch videos related to your business, industry, products, or services? By doing so you positively reinforce what you or your company is “all about” in a way that people can connect with. Best part of all, you don’t have to have anything to start. Just sign-up with Youtube and start searching for videos related to your brand, products, or services and get people to connect with your there. It becomes another outpost in which to draw people in to who you are.
Note: I did the exact same thing when I launched my “Inside the Success” channel which features inspirational entrepreneurial videos.
There are many more social media tools you can use but proceed with caution: don’t just “get on” because everyone else is on. Make sure you only sign-up for the ones you can devote the most time to. A tool is only useful when it’s in full use. Here is a great list from Wikipedia of all the different kinds of social media “web-wares” out there and it even breaks them down by category. And, as a bonus, below you’ll find a video that explains social media in plain English for the unfamiliar. If you’re a business owner, how are you maximizing social media? What tools do you use, won’t use, or would like to use? I’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter. Sound off below!
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About the Author
Rod
