Do you like to learn? If you are like most people, the answer is probably yes. I would argue that everyone enjoys learning; the problem is that it is very time consuming. If you think about the most extreme case of learning, going to school, it is literally a full time job. In most cases, it is MORE time consuming than a regular 9-5 job.
Who has time for that? I know I certainly don’t.
However, there is a lot you can do to learn, even if you don’t have 3 months and a thousand dollars to drop on a college level course.
Let me give you a couple examples from my own personal life. I read books. I always have a book that I am reading, and as soon as I finish one, I start the first chapter of the next one. Let me tell you that I’m not reading fiction either. No, I read books that help me do things better: social media, blogging, content marketing, business, etc.
The other thing I do is subscribe to e-newsletters. I actually appreciate a well-written, informative e-newsletter delivered to my inbox on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. (you can subscribe to ours here) I read them actively. I don’t put them off, I take the 5 minutes it takes to read them and do it, then delete them, or save a well written article to share with our Facebook fans.
This is all good and well, but you are probably wondering how this relates to social media?
If they learn from you, they will buy from you.
Be the business or person that is educating your fans and followers, however many you have. Make your fans and followers on social media the best-educated people about your industry. If they see you as a resource, you will be the natural first choice when they are ready to buy.
Be the business that people WANT to learn from. Be consistent, add value, and educate, educate, educate. No one will ever dislike you for trying to teach them. The best part about educating is that if you have built up that ‘non-selling atmosphere’ around your brand, when the time is right, you CAN offer your services or products to them. If you have built that trust and relationship first, then not only will you get people to buy from you more easily, but also they won’t hate you for telling them about your services.
Don’t get me wrong; this takes time. Think in terms of several months to a year to gain this kind of trust. But if you do it right, the payoff will be well worth it.
Speaking of education, we are hosting several Social Media Workshops, each specializing on how to use different social media channels to market your business. Please take a look at this page to find out more information.
