Spread the word

Alright. The Facebook FanPage is up, the Twitter account has a decent background, the blog has its design - Everything is set to bring your [TYPE OF COMPANY HERE] into the spheres of Social Media Country. You even have a "social media strategy"; you want to tweet about [INTERESTING SUBJECT HERE] at least once a day, keep followers up to date about the changes of the company and blog about interesting events you participate in. But that is not enough: Start spreading the word!

The biggest mistake people do is hiding the good things they do. As it hard to measure it is easy to question; Am I doing the right thing? Does it work? Do I give people actual advice and offer value with it? You never know. But I have one simple advice to find it out: Just ask something outside of your usual scope. Describe him/her what you are doing. And afterwards ask yourself: did I get passionate about it?

If not stop it right there. Delete whatever you did and look for something you are passionate about. For one simple reason: if you are passionate about it, the answer to all these is questions: Yes! Yes and YES! The reason why it didn't work yet is also this simple: you didn't tell anyone! How should anyone comment on your blog when no one reads it? How should anyone follow your Fanpage if no one knows about it?

So: Spread the word. Tell everyone about it. And I mean: EVERYONE! Your customer when he is at your shop to buy something and mentions that he is on facebook. Your friends in case someone meets someone who knows someone who is looking for exactly that advice.  Your mother, your father, just everybody.

And publish it everywhere. And I mean (have a guess): EVERYWHERE! Put twitter- and facebook-follow-me-buttons on your blog. And don't forget to bring it into reality as well: Put it on your business card, mention it on every poster, flyer and publication you do and offer more value with it.

I know it ain't always easy. And you don't want to come off as a jerk who just wants to sell his stuff. And you won't - as long as you offer it with a bigger value. One example that just comes to mind: right beyond your office hours mention your social networking activities and offer support outside these hours. This is not just selling stuff, this is being passionate about it!