How to Boost Your Reputation and Build an Audience Online

 

Ever since Eve told Adam, "This apple's amazing! You've got to try it!" word-of-mouth has been the best form of marketing. And yet, until the advent of social media, word-of-mouth marketing on a large scale hasn't existed. In the age of Facebook, Twitter and Web 2.0, it's a whole different story.

Social media offers the most powerful way to connect with others, allowing you to network with thousands of people (literally!) from the comfort of your own home. Through harnessing the power of word-of-mouth marketing, social media can transform your business, product, service and passion to the next level.

Dave Kerpen is the co-founder of Likeable Media and an expert at using social media to grow business and successfully redefine brands for large companies. In my recent interview with Dave, he discusses his New York Times Best-Seller, "Likeable Social Media: How to Delight Your Customers, Create an Irresistible Brand, and Be Generally Amazing on Facebook (and Other Social Networks)." Whether you're new to social media or just starting your business, Dave shows how you can successfully transform your brand, build your reputation and increase your audience.

Are your Twitter followers dwindling? Are you searching for an audience who will "Like" your brand? To help you get started, read an excerpt from our conversation below. Then, be sure and listen to the full Dave Kerpen interview at RicherLife.com to learn how social media can help take your business to the next level.

Robert: So, I'm the author of a book, or I've invented something, or I've started a nonprofit for a cause I really care about. What should my first step be moving forward, if I've only dabbled in social media? Maybe I've got a Twitter account or a Facebook page, but I haven't really done anything with it. What's the first thing I should start doing?

Dave: The very first thing I would start doing is actively listening, which doesn't necessarily involve your ears in social media, but it does involve searching and doing research. Look at keywords. You know, if you're an author, you need to look at keywords that people who read your book might be talking about, right? So, if I wrote a book about social media, I might look for the keywords "book on social media." It's really that simple, and just look for people who say, "Hey! Anyone know a good book about social media?" Or, if I have a nonprofit that I want to grow (and obviously that nonprofit is tied to your cause), I look and listen on Twitter, on Facebook, on LinkedIn, for people talking about that cause. On Google, you'll find articles written about something, but on social networks, you'll find real people talking about any and every topic of choice. And it's not necessarily about searching for your name. If you're a smaller brand or up-and-coming personality, you're not going to find lots of people talking about your name, but you're certainly going to find people talking about things that are relevant to what it is that you do.

Robert: Right. So, you've got your Facebook page. You're on Twitter. You're searching, listening and reading what people are talking about. At what point do you sort of throw your hat in the ring and actually start communicating with them?

Dave: I think as soon as you feel like you understand what they want and need, you can start giving it to them. I'm listening to you. I understand you well. If I'm at a cocktail party, once I know that somebody needs an accountant, you know, if I'm a bad sales person, I'm going to say, "Hey! I'm an accountant. You should call me. Here's my business card." That's not going to work, right? What's going to work is, "I know a great accountant," or, "I know a great resource for finding a great accountant." So, similarly, once you're ready to start a conversation in social media, it's about figuring out what value you can provide to the people that you are connected with, and to the people that you are following, and to the people that are following you. So, for instance, with our social media agency, we have almost 18,000 fans on Facebook already. We've probably updated that page once a day for two years. So, let's say we've had about 750 updates or so. Very, very few of them (and I can count on one hand how many) have been self-promotional. The rest are truly delivering value to people, sharing articles, tips, resources and recommendations to the point where, no kidding, two separate people have walked up to me at conferences and said, "Dave, I just want to thank you for all the amazing content that you share and all the value that you deliver on Facebook. I've actually gotten so much great content that I've used it to start my own social media agency."

 

Photo Credit: @iStockphoto.com/alxpin

 

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