The hardest part of creating a social media presence from scratch is creating an audience. To do this, we need to look at Twitter and Facebook the same way we would look at the beginning of any new social interaction.
Bust out the way back machine and think about your first day of school. Chances are, you didn’t walk in the first day, yelling out, “HI MY NAME IS BILLY AND I AM HAPPY TO MEET ALL OF YOU! I HAVE PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY FOR LUNCH, ANYONE WANT TO TRADE?” Can you imagine how that would have gone down? I can tell you, it wouldn’t have been pretty.
A more accurate look at that first day of school would probably show you walking over to a group of children and listening to them talk. You got a feel of what they were discussing, and then volunteered information on the subject. You didn’t try to immediately dominate the conversation, and you didn’t interrupt. You joined into a conversation. Hopefully, you added to the conversation and gave the other people a reason to talk to you. In essence, you gave people something to talk about.
The same is true of Twitter, Facebook, or any other social platform. If you are brand new, you need to politely join a conversation, otherwise you will be that weird kid screaming about PB&J. Of course, the online techniques for doing this are a little different, but overall, the goals are the same.
The first step is to search for people talking about things in which you could add to the conversation. Search out the established people, and follow them. Read what they are saying. Retweet the statements you agree with. Get a following from your peers. Start dialogue with people that know what they are talking about. It will give your future followers proof that you are an expert in the field and are a valued member of the expert community.
Chances are, you aren’t planning on selling to these other experts or peers. You need to find customers. Step two is to start to follow your potential customers.
If you own a jewelry store, search for people that talk about jewelry. Do you not sell online? Better search for people by location, or you aren’t going to find customers. Search for local community events, and see if people are talking about them. Retweeting community events can lead you to additional local followers.
Remain positive. Misery loves company, and retweeting sarcastic comments can gain you sarcastic people. Although these people do buy things, you never want to give your business a negative personality.
I recommend asking if a sale will work before putting the sale out there. If you are making declarations and statements of a factual manner, what can people say about it? “Buy one get one half off today only” is not going to stir up conversation. Ask some questions. “Should we do a buy one, get one half off? Would you buy one today?” is more likely to get a response.
Take your time and build a strong community. I can show you how to get 1000 followers in a week, but they aren’t going to do anything for you. You want followers that add to the conversation, and respond back. Otherwise, you risk being followed by 1000 people named “BILLY!”
