Recently American Express Open Forum had a post about Social Media which included some great quotes from Guy Kawasaki, a recognized leader in small business marketing. Some of the quotes in the article probably came from Guy’s book “The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users.”
One of the things that Guy said that struck a high note with me were that “the start of effective social media is to provide a great product or service. Then social media is easy. Social media isn’t lipstick you can put on a pig to make the pig beautiful. A pig is still a pig. Small-business owners should run from an author who says he can help you sell crap.”
The post continues by saying that the “startup” stage of a business never really ends. Once you have the basics, such as the name, legal structure, etc, you have new challenges.
We all know this as we’ve built our gift basket businesses. To take our business beyond the basic startup phase, we have to get the word out. We have to market. Advertise. All the while, continuing to maintain quality products and service. As Guy said, “If your small business doesn’t need to do these things, it’s probably comatose or dead.”
He gives these tips for small business owners to make better use of social media:
“All of your posts cannot be promotional. Most of them should provide value, not sell what you do. Before you share anything, ask yourself if it’s so good that people will re-share it to their followers.”
“Always include a graphic or video with your posts.”
“Repeat your posts—you should not assume that everyone you want to reach is viewing your social media at the same time of day. I’m all about tactics, not high-level strategies. Now go and implement.”
These are basic, but very important tips from an expert who knows how to use social media as an important tool to grow your business.