Reprinted with permission from Christine Gallagher’s Communicate Value Newsletter

These six steps were born out of common frustrations I hear from people about understanding how to market online.

Does this sound familiar? “I know I need to figure out all of this social media stuff, but it’s all piecemeal now and I just don’t know where to start!”

You may have noticed how some small business owners seem to attract clients and customers almost effortlessly–while others struggle to keep their business afloat. The reason is that they are following a proven business model to market their business.

The six steps outlined here not only incorporate that proven model, but show you how you can supercharge it by adding social media tools and techniques–leading to more clients, customers and sales.

Without further ado…
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Ready to lose your friends and connections on social networks?  Let me share some tips that may help you.

Here’s how you can get me to un-friend or un-follow you.
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As a small business owner, it’s important to your success to understand social media’s benefits and why it’s worth the time to learn and make a part of your marketing routine.

So why care about social media right now?

Proves You are a Living, Breathing, REAL Person
It sounds kind of funny but it’s crucial. Humans need to feel they are connecting with others and that their voices are being heard. You can’t really get away with being a faceless entity doing business on the web anymore. Those who are still doing it that way risk alienating those making the buying decisions.

Branding
There is plenty of opportunity to build and make visible your particular brand–while still being human. You don’t need to think of this in terms of the big boys like Starbucks or Pepsi-type branding. It could even just be colors, a logo, your avatar picture or tagline. If you use the tools regularly, each impression strengthens others’ awareness of what your products or services are about. Keep your messages and branding activities consistent and cohesive and you have a powerful way to promote yourself and what it is you offer.

Viral Word of Mouth
Is every friend or follower you have on social sites going to be a member of your target market? No, but it doesn’t matter. If you are providing good content, helpful links and regularly contributing something useful to the community, the viral nature of social media will help push this content through to the people who
need to hear it.

Speed of Results
While building up the ranking of your website takes time and often can’t be predicted, the impact of social networks and tools can be instantaneous.

Traffic
When you list your link in your profile or direct people to your latest post or article it is just another way to drive traffic to your blog or website. I’ve had great results with Facebook and Twitter by looking at the traffic source stats in my Google Analytics page.

Value Contribution
You have something of value to offer others–that’s why you’re in business. The conversational nature of social media makes it easy to engage others in discussions which naturally reveal what you may be able to help them with. Be authentic, stay involved, an give regardless of how much you get back.

It’s Not Going Away
The names and faces of the latest tools and networks may change but the benefits that their interactive nature provides are real and working very well for countless small business owners.

Isn’t it time you discovered that for yourself? :)

© 2009 Communicate Value. All Rights Reserved.

Christine Gallagher, The Online Marketing and Social Media Success Coach, is founder of Communicate Value, where she is dedicated to teaching small business owners and professionals how to conquer the overwhelming aspects of online and social media marketing to increase business and maximize profits. To get your F.R.E.E. 5-Part E-Course and receive her weekly marketing & success articles on leveraging technology, building relationships and boosting your profits, visit http://communicatevalue.com