The effective use of social media to increase sales has tremendous potential for companies of all sizes, but notice that I started by saying “effective use”. Many executives fear letting their sales people use social media, because they have concerns that nothing will get done. And they will be right, if the approach isn’t well thought out, there aren’t guidelines in place for what’s OK and what isn’t, training isn’t provided, use isn’t monitored and there is no tracking mechanism to measure results. Venturing down the social media sales path requires these 5 things: purpose, plan, participation, persistence and patience.

Purpose - if you don’t know what you want to accomplish using online tools, you might as well stop right now. You will only flounder around. One of Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is “begin with the end in mind”. That’s what you need to do when you start thinking about how to best integrate the use of social media/social networking into your sales activities. What do you want to achieve? What is the message you want to communicate? How will you represent your brand? Questions like these and more must be answered.

Plan - this is a topic covered in books and articles by writers more skilled than me, but bottom line – no plan is like deciding to drive from Atlanta to California with no map. You may eventually get there, but you are certain to waste time and get lost along the way. You need to chart a well thought out course and then follow it.

Participation - I hate to break the bad news to anyone naive enough to think that popping up a LinkedIn profile today results in an immediate sale. It doesn’t! The art of the sale has always been about building a relationship with someone who gets to know you and trust you..over time. When you actively participate in social communities by contributing to the conversation, you gain visibility and help people get to know you. For me, it’s a daily practice of weighing in on questions posed in LinkedIn groups, sharing information on Twitter, commenting on blogs or writing my own articles. The more active you are – the more you begin to stand out.

Persistance - in short, it is all about follow up, follow up, follow up. Over on the Hubspot Marketing Blog, Pete Caputa talked about the phenomenon of people attending networking events, collecting a lot of business cards and then doing nothing with them. The same is true of the online world. When you make connections on LinkedIn, as an example, stay in touch with people. Drop them notes, tell them about a question they may want to weigh in on because it fits their experience, make a connection for them, recommend their services to someone else. David Mason, author of Marketing Your Small Business for Big Profits, told me during a radio interview that it is all about persistence and consistency.

Patience - just because you have something to sell it doesn’t mean that your potential buyer is “ready” to buy. That’s what far too many people totally miss. You must be patient, but not invisible. That is why it is so important to participate often in appropriate online forums. I’ve also had people tell me that they thought sending a newsletter twice a month was too much of an intrusion on people. It isn’t if you provide information that is of value to your readers. Buyers are not buying on your sales cycle, so you have to be top of mind when they are ready to purchase what you offer. Everyone these days has a short attention span, so if you are not front and center in their minds – you lose. I have picked up speaking engagements, consulting opportunities, referrals and more, simply because I’m active online, I give to receive, and I am patient!

The effective use of social media to increase sales has tremendous potential for companies of all sizes, but notice that I started by saying “effective use”. Many executives fear letting their sales people use social media, because they have concerns that nothing will get done. And they will be right, if the approach isn’t well thought out, there aren’t guidelines in place for what’s OK and what isn’t, training isn’t provided, use isn’t monitored and there is no tracking mechanism to measure results. Venturing down the social media sales path requires these 5 things: purpose, plan, participation, persistence and patience.

Purpose - if you don’t know what you want to accomplish using online tools, you might as well stop right now. You will only flounder around. One of Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is “begin with the end in mind”. That’s what you need to do when you start thinking about how to best integrate the use of social media/social networking into your sales activities. What do you want to achieve? What is the message you want to communicate? How will you represent your brand? Questions like these and more must be answered.

Plan - this is a topic covered in books and articles by writers more skilled than me, but bottom line – no plan is like deciding to drive from Atlanta to California with no map. You may eventually get there, but you are certain to waste time and get lost along the way. You need to chart a well thought out course and then follow it.

Participation - I hate to break the bad news to anyone naive enough to think that popping up a LinkedIn profile today results in an immediate sale. It doesn’t! The art of the sale has always been about building a relationship with someone who gets to know you and trust you..over time. When you actively participate in social communities by contributing to the conversation, you gain visibility and help people get to know you. For me, it’s a daily practice of weighing in on questions posed in LinkedIn groups, sharing information on Twitter, commenting on blogs or writing my own articles. The more active you are – the more you begin to stand out.

Persistance - in short, it is all about follow up, follow up, follow up. Over on the Hubspot Marketing Blog, Pete Caputa talked about the phenomenon of people attending networking events, collecting a lot of business cards and then doing nothing with them. The same is true of the online world. When you make connections on LinkedIn, as an example, stay in touch with people. Drop them notes, tell them about a question they may want to weigh in on because it fits their experience, make a connection for them, recommend their services to someone else. David Mason, author of Marketing Your Small Business for Big Profits, told me during a radio interview that it is all about persistence and consistency.

Patience - just because you have something to sell it doesn’t mean that your potential buyer is “ready” to buy. That’s what far too many people totally miss. You must be patient, but not invisible. That is why it is so important to participate often in appropriate online forums. I’ve also had people tell me that they thought sending a newsletter twice a month was too much of an intrusion on people. It isn’t if you provide information that is of value to your readers. Buyers are not buying on your sales cycle, so you have to be top of mind when they are ready to purchase what you offer. Everyone these days has a short attention span, so if you are not front and center in their minds – you lose. I have picked up speaking engagements, consulting opportunities, referrals and more, simply because I’m active online, I give to receive, and I am patient!

What do you use to build your network? Linked In, Plaxo? – once you have your profile, how are you using it?

What about Facebook, Twitter – using them? What things have you done that have successfully attracted clients?

What’s your blog strategy? Do you know why a blog is important?

Love to hear how you are using social media to attract more clients and sell more often!

Having a strong network is tantamount to success. That holds true whether you want to secure the next promotion, close the big deal or land a new job.

As I have talked about in other posts, keeping your network healthy and well tended is as important when you don’t have a job as when you do. If you don’t think so, just talk to a few folks who’ve found themselves displaced with no network to fall back on. Being out of work AND trying to build a network at the same time is no fun at all!

If you are your own paycheck then it goes without saying that networking is vital to keeping the funds flowing in. An important point often missed by solopreneurs and business owners. If you aren’t networking then you aren’t growing.

Even if you don’t like the idea of having to go to networking “events” remember that there are lots of ways to network these days. Social media tools like Twitter provides a very different way of getting to know others outside of your world.Your network is kind of like your garden. You need to plant new seeds, water and nurture them as they grow, and you need to be sure to weed out the dead stuff when necessary.

As we are poised to move into another New Year, now is a great time to ask these 5 things:

1. What seeds do I need to plant to build and strengthen my network in order to grow my business or move my career to the next level?
2. Who are the people in my network that I need to spend more time with to build a stronger relationship that will benefit both of us?
3. What technology do I need to learn in order to extend my network reach?
4. Who is on my contact list that needs to go?
5. How can I expand my network doing things differently than I do today?

Remember to keep your network and your networking fresh. If you tend to your garden it will tend to you!