You have probably heard the buzz about Facebook and other online social networks lately. As a small business owner, you may be trying to figure out how you can actually use these tools to build your business. This post is about a strategy one person is using to leverage Facebook that I experienced first hand.
Rich & Forts is a marketing consulting firm that recently launched a new blog. Maria Sokolova of Rich & Forts has been employing the strategy of using Facebook to find people who share her business interests, and then inviting them to participate in her company's blog. Here is how I think it worked (I'll ask Maria to correct me via comment) in my case.
I assume that Maria found me via the Duct Tape Marketing group on Facebook. This is a great way to start because you know the people in a group have expressed an interest in a particular topic. Maria sent me a Facebook "poke", which is kind of like saying "hi". I think it's a nice way to start because it let's the other person have a chance to read your profile and decide if they want to "say hi" back or ignore you.
After that we became "friends". I read Maria web site and blog and I'm sure she did the same. We exchanged polite e-mails. Then Maria asked if I would like to participate in her blog by being interviewed. I naturally accepted and am currently procrastinating by writing this post <g>.
In my opinion, Maria did many things right in her approach. Here are a few:
- She identified people with a shared interest
- She engaged in conversation before making her request.
- She offered something of value. By participating in her interview, I get a chance to demonstrate my expertise to an audience I may not otherwise reach. Also note that it is very hard to offer something of value to a person if you don't take the time to learn something about that person.
While you probably view the points above as common sense, particularly when interacting in person, I can tell you from experience that this is not the norm in online communications. Compare Maria's approach with a recent e-mail I received that offered
"I would like to advertise on some pages on your blog. I can offer good rates. Contact me if you are interested."
That's it - that was the whole message. Here is another one of my favorites:
Dear blogger,
Here is an exciting new product I think your readers will be interested in.
Since I don't know these folks and they don't provide any indication that they have any idea who reads my blog, I just laugh at them and hit delete.
Here are some key points I learned from Maria's example:
1. Use Facebook to identify people with similar interests. Groups can be a great way to locate these people.
2. Use the information in the profiles to learn more about your contact. Visit their web sites and blogs to learn more about them.
3. Invite them to participate\offer something of value. By inviting me to participate in her blog, I am more likely to actually participate and tell others about her blog (as this post is evidence) than if she had just sent me an e-mail telling me about her blog.
