Do Not Fear The Social In Social Media

The Social Fear: When I am teaching clients (or consulting new to Internet business owners) about social media, and starting to dive deeper into social media marketing with them, the very first thing I try to help them understand is the “social” side of it.  If you are not able to be social with individuals, or are worried about what people will say or think of you, then you will not do very well with social media.  Being social is the most important key element to any successful social media marketing campaign. I know this sounds kind of no duh, but you would be surprised how often these concerns come up with clients, especially the new ones that have never done any kind of online marketing – including social media marketing. I guess the real reason I bring this up, and wanted to post about it, is because last week I did a Webinar (on social media) that had about 20 people on it, and one of them sent me a private message telling me that they did not know if they would be able to do anything with social media marketing.  I thought it was odd considering they were on the Webinar, and knew what they signed up for.  They said they had a fear of being rejected, and were very fearful of how people would interact and take them in the online communities.  This is a problem, and I tried to address it with reasons you MUST be social in order to be successful. 9 Reasons You Need To Be Social:

1. You will have to approach, and befriend other bloggers related to your industry.
2. You will need to leave useful and real comments to gain trust in blog authors (who you might connect with).
3. It is a must to grow your social media accounts by adding friends, and asking people to add you – I don’t think I have ever done a post about Twitter without asking someone to follow me – Follow Me? (heh)
4. You need to vote and participate in the communities – again leaving comments in all the elements of the community (ie post you voted on, in their comments area – anything they allow).  You help people get to know you by doing this, and in turn gain trust.  You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours!
5. New friends will help you grow your business and market it for you, and give you unbiased feedback.
6. New friends will link to you, thus helping out your online presence.
7. You will learn from new friends.
8. You will meet some amazing people that you normally would not have had the chance to.
9. Other people WANT to connect with you.

Do not fear the “SOCIAL” in social media: You need not fear people not wanting to connect with you.  Most people you find are wanting to grow a bigger group of people around them too.  I realize not everyone you connect with is going to be golden, but you will find some amazing people that almost alone will be enough. I remember when I first started getting serious about social media, blogging and making connections I thought some of the bigger names in the game would be unapproachable, and not want to talk to a nobody like me.  I went ahead and “took a chance” when Chris Bennett and I attended the first ever SMX in Seattle together, and ended up meeting probably one of the coolest people in the social media industry – Cameron Olthuis and we have since become great friends.  Through the relationship we have gotten each other business, made each other money and helped each other grow even more.  The best part was gaining a cool new friend.  Chris even went on to create a high action sports social community with Cameron that involves (among other things) what those two are most passionate about – Surfing.

You never know what is going to happen with social networking unless you just go for it.  I have learned great lessons in social networking and all of them have paid off in the long run.  Lose the fear, and realize that the social community is the best industry period to be a part of right now. Now That You Are On Your Way: If you do end up meeting a jerk, or if someone is not nice to you, then just move on because there are plenty of awesome people out there that ARE willing to hook up with you.  Just remember, the more social you are, the easier things will be for you when it comes to social media marketing and using the networks for pushing your products, services or whatever it is you are doing. If all else fails, talk to me – please feel free to connect with me online, and let me know how I can help you!