Great Ways to Grow Your Brand

I listened in on a conference call with Peter Shankman and Chris Brogan last week about titled "The Next Level: Now That You've Got It, What Are You Going to Do With It?" They gave some terrific advice on ways to grow your brand using social media and tools that are already out there.So here it is, straight from the source. You don’t want to miss this!Ways to create business from a blog

• Be straightforward
• Everything should have a lead in to who you are and what you are doing
• Hit people where they are – ALWAYS keep your target audience in mind

Social Media for BtoB

• Alltop.com is a great resource
• Find content that is interesting to your client
• Don’t make your headlines too clever but make them provocative enough to drive clicks and whatever you do, don’t be boring.
• Include people profiles from the company’s staff
• Write about your customers
• Respond to industry trends with your opinion

How do you respond when something bad happens?

• Share the bad times. People appreciate knowing when you are in a rough spot. This builds trust between you and your consumer.
• When Toyota had their problems, they had to look forward to what they would talk about in the social space.
• Don’t freak out. Apologize, refund money, accept the fact that disaster will happen. Think about how you can make things better for the customer and the brand. People wait to see how you will make it respond; they don’t run away immediately when trouble strikes.

How to grow your audience on Twitter

• Limit the number of times you start a sentence with the word I
• Don’t pitch yourself
• Be genuinely interested in your audience
• Give them reasons to care about the information you are providing

Random Tips

• Ask your audience how they like to receive your information simply by asking
• You can’t make something viral but you can make something good
• Come up with an idea that people like and can get behind – people will talk about your campaign because they want to
• Don’t spend money on Facebook, it’ not worth it

Steps to Create Value in Social Media

1. Listen
2. Reading and consuming
3. Take notes
4. Comment and share
5. Communicate
6. Closing (should be your last priority)