It still amazes me that when I ask people WHY they “need” to use social networking as part of their marketing plans, 9 out of 10 people still don’t know. In fact, it hasn’t even occurred to them. They are just “jumping on the band wagon”, or so to speak.

Although, to give them credit, the ones who aren’t yet active in social networking are probably subconsciously aware that they don’t know why they should be.

But for everyone reading this article, please take note:

If you are going to spend any time using social networking/media in the name of business, you must know WHY!

There are many reasons WHY you might think you want to incorporate this popular strategy into your life and marketing. But I have narrowed all of these reasons to three categories: Visibility, Credibility and Cash Flow.

The most popular and easy-to-accomplish reason for social networking is to build your online visibility. If your target market and/or your potential affiliates and joint venture peers are seeking you out online, you need to be found.

From an internet search engine perspective, social networking can potentially dominate your search results. This means that you will be found easier and more quickly than without any social media presence.

This also relates to the second reason for jumping into Facebook LinkedIn or Twitter. To build your credibility. If the search engines rank you higher than your competition, you will inherently be conceived as more credible.

Also, when you are active in your social media/networking and sharing good information that YOU created, your content will also rank high. This, again, adds to your online credibility as an expert in your industry.

After all is said and done, everything comes down to money. And this is no different. The third reason for implementing a social media plan into your marketing plan is to build cash flow. This is much easier after your visibility and your credibility have achieved popularity. But it is do-able from the get-go, with a clear purpose and awareness of the “social media rules” that have yet to be written.

The number one rule that you don’t want to break is “pitching yourself”. Don’t do it. You want to share information with the 90/10 rule. This means that 90% of the time you are sharing OTHER people’s information.

So how do you make money when you are promoting everyone else? Well, quite frankly, you earn the right. Social media is a giver’s gain world. So if you give and share and help your friends, they will do the same for you when the time comes.

With a strategy in place and a step-by-step plan to follow, your visibility, credibility and cash flow will come crashing down your door!

Tags: purpose, Rules, Social Media

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 8th, 2008 at 7:48 pm and is filed under Social Networking. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.