How to Use Social Media to “Social Network”

The key to mastering social media for your business is to understand a very simple philosophy: “Friends first, recruit later.” Remember this, and you’re on your way to getting the most out of a network that spans continents and connects millions of people worldwide. If you want to build your brand, image, reputation and ultimately your business with social media, you must be friends first. In other words, if you don’t build a relationship, it defeats the purpose of “social” media. The word “social” itself should tell you the direction you need to go to have success on this platform. It is not called “selling” media; if it was then people would not be using it for their everyday life because the average person does not want to be “sold.” If all you do is build a page or profile to sell, market or promote, you will not have very much of a following and you will not build your business.

The biggest social media mistake is to over-post or over-sell. This is the number one way to get people to “unfriend” you, “unfollow” you or “block” you. In my opinion, one of the reasons why Facebook made it and MySpace didn’t, is that MySpace was too commercial. On MySpace, you could put banners and other commercial advertisements on your profile, but the problem was that people didn’t like seeing them every time they visited your profile. Facebook has been really smart from the beginning and they’ve made it easy for their members to unfriend or block people that they no longer wish to interact with on Facebook. If somebody posts something you don’t like or don’t want to see, you can literally “one-click” block them and you will never have to see anything they ever do on Facebook ever again. When this happens, it doesn’t even notify the person that they have been blocked. You might be thinking, “Oh my gosh, I may not have any friends left, everybody may have blocked me.” Yes, that’s possible, so stop doing what you’re doing to get people to block you. Which means stop over-posting, stop spamming and stop over-selling—these are the biggest turn offs for most people using social media. Here are the most important things to remember:

1. Don’t Over-post
2. Don’t Over-sell
3. Don’t Use Logos or Trademarks
4. Don’t Mass Invite
5. Don’t Send Apps or Games

In my book I go into details on each one of these 5 common mistakes, and I give instructions on how to avoid them.
Now here are some tips on what you should be doing with Social Media:

1. Support Official Pages
2. Build a Social Footprint
3. Establish Social Proof
4. Start Dripping on People
5. Bring Value to People

One of the most important things to understand about using social media is the concept of “the drip campaign.” You may recognize the concept of a drip campaign, which is, when you offer small bits of information to prospects over a period of time to build interest and curiosity without overwhelming them or completely presenting to them. The technique behind a drip campaign should be very subtle and deliberate as you make social media posts. Again, don’t just post for the sake of posting. There is always a way to incorporate your business or lifestyle into your posts without coming across like you are selling. If you are successful with this method, you will attract people to you that will ask you the right questions. Once this starts to happen it will open windows of opportunity that allow you to discuss your products or business with them without forcing it on them.

Make sure you use social media to create “social proof” of all the benefits you are getting from your business or from your products. What I mean by social proof is, just be you, live your life and enjoy your lifestyle and, at the same time, build your brand by including things that have something to do with your business periodically. So think about the following when you’re posting: “Am I posting something that can share my lifestyle or results from my business or products?” You should ask yourself: “Is this relevant to people?” Don’t overdo it, because if all of your posts are about your business and lifestyle, people will start to tune them out. It’s not normal for people to be happy and fulfilled all the time, so when you’re having fun and living a full life, it can be contagious, and people will start asking you questions about your lifestyle and about the changes they may be seeing in you. I have recruited 20-30 people over the last year or two, who have come straight to me wanting to know more about what I do. Why? Because my posts were strategically placed, showcasing my lifestyle and the benefits of my product. As a result, I’ve received messages from people I hadn’t seen in 20 years, like this one: “I have no idea what you do, but I want to do whatever it is, because your life looks amazing.” After this, I don’t even have to show the presentation because they’re already in. When you start getting inquisitive messages from people, don’t go straight for the sale and say, “I’m great! And I’m glad you messaged me. I’m going to make you rich! You gotta check out this video and these products!” I keep them at bay, by saying, “Well, thank you for the compliments. I really appreciate it. How’ve you been? I haven’t seen you in forever.” You might be saying, “Well, they just told you they want to sign up. Don’t you want to sign them up?” Yeah, I want to sign them up, but I don’t want to seem needy, desperate, or sales-y. Remember, people don’t want to be sold. So, when you have an opportunity to share your business or product, don’t go straight for the sale. I put the ball back in their court by saying, “Yes everything is great, we’ll have to talk more about that when we catch up.” And if they ask again or say something like, “No really, tell me what you really do.” I will respond with something like this, “Well I’m really glad that you want to hear about it, but I want to hear more about you. How are your kids? How’s your job? What have you been up to?” Then they almost stop me and say, “No, seriously, tell me what you do.” Then it’s not me selling them, it’s them selling themselves. This brings people’s guards down, and they’ll listen with open ears and an open mind.

I go into major detail on how to do each one of these aspects of proper Social Networking in my book, which you can order at NetEasy Marketing: Taking the ‘Work’ out of Network Marketing

When I started using social media I did not have the level of success that I have now, and I was probably in a similar place as many of you are today. If you feel like you don’t have the lifestyle or the results you want to share on your page currently, you have two options:

1. You can post information about the path you are on, and the goals you are working towards which works in a similar way to posting the actual results.
2. You can mention people who do have the results you are trying to achieve from time to time, so that people can see those you’re surrounding yourself with.

This will achieve the same effect as posting information about yourself. I still share my team’s photos and stories almost as much as I share my own, so it is not just about me and it shouldn’t be just about you.

So if you’re not a Top Earner yet, and you haven’t achieved the level of success you want, then share other people’s photos, other people’s experiences, and get out there and take some photos of people making these things happen. Don’t use lack of experience, or lack of results as a reason not to follow the tips I have just given you.