Can Social Media Really Be Used In Business?

The million dollar question on everyone’s lips at the moment is — can social media really be used in business?

Unless Gary Vaynerchuck, head of a New Jersey Liquor company with over 100 employees and a turnover of more than 50 million dollars is nuts, the answer is most certainly yes.

Gary V noticed a shift towards social media a few years ago and so he decided that he would give up his role of leading the company he built up with his father to focus on creating a wine TV show that is now the phenomenally popular Wine Library TV blog.

Most people actually thought he was nuts for doing that and some people just think he is nuts anyway but one thing is for sure, he knows a heck of a lot about social media and it’s worked like a charm in his business.

Here is a 4:25 minute snippet from an interview he did with Rich Schefren a while back:

As you may have gathered, Gary Vaynerchuck is huge on becoming part of the community. He apparently gets over 500 emails per day and he takes the time to answer every one of them personally. Since his increased popularity as a result of his Wine Library TV blog, he has also started a blog where he just talks about business, which is also a passion of his. If you really want to understand social media, watch Gary Vay.Ner.Chuck as he probably gets it better than anyone else on the ‘net.

Recently Gary did a promotion for a book that he is about to release, “Crush It” (I’ve pre-ordered mine through Amazon, it’ll be a classic for sure). A few of his subscribers where unhappy with the marketing tactics he used and here is the response he made about that on his blog – http://garyvaynerchuk.com/

He really understands the pulse of his market, he seems to have an incredible instinct for business.

So Where Is The Best Place To Start With Social Media?

There are literally hundreds of social media platforms these days and it can be a little bit overwhelming knowing where to start. One of the points that Gary Vaynerchuck made in that short audio snippet was that you must become part of the community and DEFINITELY come from the place of giving and sharing information rather than selling.

A blog is a really great place to start with social media because you control the environment. It’s a way to write or video blog about things you feel are worth sharing with your audience. Not only can you create your own information but you can also post other peoples videos, audio, and articles on your blog — in a sense you become an aggregator of great information, creating a central hub with all the content you feel is worth sharing.

One of the fastest ways to get known in your community is to link to other peoples content and share it with your peers and readers.

Ferny Ceballos from SEO Networker posted an excellent video and article about how approaching social media with a generous mindset can really have a huge impact on your business. Adam Taha posted an excellent example of how this can play out, also at Better Networker.

But What About Promoting Your Competition, Surely That Can’t Be Good?

It seems counter intuitive to promote your competition, but if you do it surprising results may just come back to you in ways you could never predict.

Here is part of the comment I left on Ferny’s post about interacting with your community. I was writing this from the perspective of an acupuncturist in a small town;

But is it a good idea to promote your competitors?

As I mentioned, I live in a small town and there are a number of chiropractors, physiotherapists and other alternative practitioners that practice here. You could say they are my competition but I promote them every chance I get…

Sometimes for one reason or another I just can’t get the results I’m looking for with a patient, once I recognize this, I refer them to whoever I think could help them the most. Based on the referrals from my fellow practitioners, I’m guessing they have the same issue .

The absolute crux of the matter in all of this it that I do it NOT because I want more referrals BUT because I genuinely want what is best for my patients…and they get that. Even if I can’t help them, they still send their friends to me for treatment. Funny old world isn’t it.

I truly believe that having an abundance mindset in business actually widens the market for everyone whereas worrying about your competition and having a scarcity mindset actually shrinks it.

The Four R’s To Becoming Part Of Your Community

It’s so easy to become part of a community and you will find it fun and rewarding as well. So here are 4 easy rules to follow to help you fit right in;

R #1  Reach out and relate – you need to actively seek out people that are in your community. If you go to popular blogs in your niche you’ll be able to find links back to lots of peoples blogs. Subscribe to their RSS feed or via email and comment on any posts that they make. People put a lot of effort into creating a blog post and they will be thrilled when you acknowledge their work, deep down most people want to feel appreciated…so let them know your listening.

R #2 Respect – although people will often comment on blogs to get a link back to their own site (which is fine) don’t leave crumby comments like “great post man” or something inane like that. Always point out what you liked about their article and contribute your own thoughts on the subject. If you disagree with something they have written then be diplomatic and say so in a constructive way.

R#3 Reward - if you like what someone writes, go ahead and bookmark the article in your favourite bookmarking site or vote for it on one of the voting sites like Digg or StumbleUpon. Perhaps their article inspired you to write something and so it’s nice to link back to that post in your article.

R #4 Repetition - Gary Vaynerchuck made the point about repetition; “you have to be out there early and often”. I remember listening to an interview with John Chow and he said that when he started his blog, he had an average of 1.7 posts per day for the first year! Darren Rowse from ProBlogger.com recently wrote a post about 21 Common Blogging Mistakes and lack of consistency was number 5 on his hit list.

If you just follow those 4 basic principles you’ll soon have people in your community writing about you and your work.  One thing is for sure though, social media can be used in business.

I’ve got some more absolute gems from Gary Vaynerchuck coming and so if you want to receive my blog posts via email, simply enter your address in the box below.

So what do you think about promoting your competition, is it a good or a bad practice?

Steve A.