How powerful Social Media is - the GaryVee example

Many business owners want to know - why should I invest time into social media or what some call online social marketing? When I am asked this I try to give business owners that are not overly tech savvy as simple an answer as I can. It usually comes off something like “If social media is where your customers spend a lot of their time, why wouldn’t you want to access that outlet to show them how you can help them?” @ChrisBrogan, sethgodin and @GaryVee are three guys that many people look up to in the social media spotlight. They have studied and currently live the social media life, so people like to hear what they’re up to and take their advice on a variety of things. I highly recommend following them on Twitter and also check out their Blogs.

@GaryVee (Gary Vaynerchuk) really caught my attention and is a great example of how social media can transform the way we look at business. This is a guy who is extremely passionate about what he does. Everything he touches has to have his passion behind it. He is known for growing his family owned wine business into a power house in the industry and has recently been using social media to brand himself. He is clearly an expert in social media because he utilizes all the tools out there so well. (He also has an in your face personality that is addicting). What have his social media initiatives led to? How about a 7 figure book deal with HarperStudio. Who would have thought 9 years ago that having a blog, writing content, and posting videos (with a strategy of course) could make a person millions of dollars.

Here are a few videos Gary has posted on YouTube that talk about social media, passion, and just plain good “today” business advice.

What this means to business owners is there are billions of people on the web listening. Social Media is as hot as it gets right now and the time spent in setting up a targeted strategy to involve yourself in social media is a well worth your time adventure. Before you start I recommend reading a few blogs like this one that may give you some tips before you start. Research is always key before starting anything that invests a lot of time and effort.

You might also be asking how much time should I spend on social media per week? per day? This is an important question, many people get caught up in social media and spend wayyyy to much time there. It depends on the size of your company. Larger companies like Dell will have appointed people hired for social media, others will contract out people, but if your a small business owner I recommend spending 30 minutes everyday “listening” to your current and potential consumers. Whether you decide to start a Twitter account, Facebook Page, start making some viral web videos and posting them on YouTube, and the list goes on.

If your not technically savvy and don’t have the time to research a strategy in social media for your business then don’t be afraid to ask the younger generation (your kids) if they could help you out. One big mistake the Baby Boomer generation constantly makes in business is that they think they have all the answers and kids haven’t learned what they need to know yet. Wrong! Kids are so technically savvy these days and they can help you with setting up accounts and adding photos to your profile. There are 16 year old kids selling established websites for $100,000.

I will leave you with an important tip. If you get involved in any of the social media platforms out there such as Twitter and Facebook, make sure you actively participate in them. There is nothing worse than setting something up, having a potential customer comment or ask a question about your business, then it never be answered. That page will be left there forever and will make your business look bad. Be active, listen, and respond and even the smallest businesses will benefit from having a social media presence.

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