Week 11 How to use marketing on Social Media (without spending money).

 Chameleon Tails From The Road

No one knows or understands your brand better than you do. No reasonable amount of money will ever change that. So where does it leave you?  In my opinion, you need to become literally social. Being nice and hanging out with friends doesn't cut it. You need to grab onto your worst possible PR nightmare and turn it around like a pro. Feeling a little sick? You should—because this is the truth and this is where it starts.

#1). A call to action is the ultimate destination, not the beginning of your journey to advertise on Facebook , Twitter,et al.

a.       The correct starting point  is “what is your people filter”? When thinking about this, consider eliminating the wrong clients. Who will you say NO to? For example, what type of personality gets to hear you say “thank you for your time but this doesn't really sound like a good fit”. Another way to remove the wrong client is to increase your rates.  Just smile, and watch the magic unfold—no one likes being dumped—listen for the words “wait” and recalculate your fee for service. I’ll babysit and play shrink for a price, never forget that!

b.      Once you know the type of client to avoid, who do you demographically serve? For example, my primary demographic is educated and computer literate people. I socially attract upper management, CEO’s or teachers--who have stable incomes, are research oriented, between 35-60 years old, and mostly women, who have made poor interior design choices in the past. Almost like clockwork, this is the model that works for me.

#2).In your ad you need to paint the dream. So what does it look like?

·         I arrive on time to your home, calm, organized and with a slight  tech savvy persona. I listen-listen-listen intently and contribute meaningful dialog when appropriate.

·         Then I move to discover your sense of humor and play with that—I will tease you and watch your response. How you respond is key (which can’t be stressed enough).  Normal clients can handle this—broken people cannot.

·         Now your job is to reevaluate the surroundings and set the new tone—I always set the tone. It starts with a genuine smile which is sometimes necessary to re-calibrate the mood in the room-- it’s called having fun right?

#3). Truth? If I don’t connect by now, we are typically done—there is no transaction.  Also, unless the project is totally worth it to me and it really makes sense to pursue the opportunity (and prove ourselves with unbelievable kindness and follow up) this is where we part ways and move on. Bottom line, if I’m doing my job correctly I’m choosing you, not the other way around.

#4). Calibrate your Chameleon. At first, be everything to everybody and then pull it back slowly to who you really are (because you’re worth it).  Frankly, there is no better way for you to effectively promote yourself online (budget or not). It’s actually better that you have no marketing budget to work with so by default your option is to be authentic and transparent. Oddly enough, this will actually engage real people to your real page/channel through the pull marketing model . Please remember that the magic doesn't start happening  until you know EXACTLY who you are and WHAT you want. Being yourself will always be the best communication style and applying commonsense typically keeps you from being what you’re not.

#5). Great, now you’re ready to communicate! Carefully craft  your  “A Call To Action” and launch it on all the platforms, profile pages and whomever will listen—go get ’em tiger and I’ll see you at the top!

Eric (earned income).

Eric on the keyboard