Social Media is for Connecting, Not Selling

Randy Ingermanson’s post today linked to this article by Darren Rowse (Social Media Examiner calls him “one of the world’s leading experts on blogging”) about Darren’s research into where he was selling books.

It wasn’t social media.

The article goes into a bit more detail, but our short answer at Ausoma is that social media isn’t for selling. Social media is for connecting, engaging, and bringing people, the right people, back to read your blog and sign up for your newsletter. That article explains why that’s so important, echoing what we say all the time.

Ausoma helps you to be social and get noticed—like the research says you should be doing.

Connecting on LinkedIn Can Lead to a Paying Client

Nearly four years ago I worked for a client in the real estate industry managing much of their financial needs with QuickBooks online. At times I would need tocrossing the bridgecollaborate with their accountant. Eventually they hired an in-house assistant and no longer needed my services. A few months later their accountant moved to another state.

Now neither I nor the accountant worked for this client any longer. However, the accountant connected with me on LinkedIn. I accepted the invitation to connect. We both thought, “you never know when we’ll need the other’s services“. It’s been nearly four years and I was just contacted by this accountant. She needs some work done and thought a virtual assistant could do this work. Who did she think of first? Someone she already had a relationship and connection with – me.

This reiterates the fact that building trusting relationships takes time. Don’t be in a hurry to sell your services to total strangers. Take time to get to know people, Connect on LinkedIn, ask some questions, comment on their blog. Once they get to know you, like you and trust you, you’ll have something to build a working relationship on.