It’s about a lot more than sharing what you had for lunch…
It’s not secret that we’re a fan of SmallBizTrends.com – and there’s a reason why – GREAT Content. Recently they posted this fantastic article by Tyler Garns on social media and how you can monetize it to your best benefit…we liked it so much – we thought we’d put a bit of it up here for you to check out:
“Not long ago, Anita led an @sbbuzz Twitter chat on the topic of social media. The debate was really exciting and it was great to watch as people tweeted back and forth, discussing the “profitability” of social media efforts for small businesses. Some argued that social media is profitable if used correctly, while others felt that social media should not be used for commercial purposes.
I’m fortunate because at Infusionsoft (editor’s note: Infusionsoft is sponsor of our weekly radio show), I have the opportunity to observe and work with thousands of small businesses while owning my own small business.
I’ve actually used social media tactics to grow my own business almost entirely.
In the process of learning from my own company and others, I’ve created a formula for turning your social media efforts into money. It’s as straight forward and easy to follow as any other mathematical formula, but before we get into the science of making money through social media, we have to lay out the ground rules.
I won’t spend too much time on this because others have written about it at length, but here are the basics:
- Listen first. Don’t jump into social media shouting about your product or service. Treat your relationships on the social Web as if they were in person. Get to know the crowd first and get a sense of the conversation before jumping in.
- Add value. When you do feel comfortable enough to get into the conversation, make sure you are adding value to it. No one likes to be sold. Once people get a feel for the value you offer, they’ll come to you.
- Friends/Followers don’t equal money. Sure you can rack up thousands of followers, but how many of them actually fit in your target market? How many will really buy from you? Don’t worry about how many followers you have. Work on finding the right people.
OK, now that we’ve got that out of the way, let me show you the formula:
Now you need to know what each of the variables stands for:
R = Revenue per sale
Cg = Cost of goods
F = Number of followers/friends
Cr = Click rate (what % of followers click on your social media links and go to your site)
Or = Opt-in rate (what % of the people that clicked opted into receive info from ou via email)
Pr = Purchase rate (what % of the people that opted in actually bought from you)
h = Hourly rate for your social media efforts
T = Amount of time you spend on social media
To read the rest of the article click here. To view a fascinating video on why social media is here to stay, click here.
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