EARNING YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING S-T-R-I-P-E-S

Social Media.

It's all the rage. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, YouTube, Digg, Reddit...not to mention all the little tools and utilities out there that we can use to update all of the above.

Where does the novice start?

STRATEGY : You need a plan. A plan starts with a goal. Without a goal, how do you know whether you're succeeding? A business goal will help you determine what social media tools will help you achieve it.

TIME : Yep, the old enemy of humanity. The old saying “Rome wasn't built in a day” applies here too. Like anything worth savoring, from financial investments to fine wine, social media is going to take cultivation, effort and time to mature. It does occasionally happen overnight, but don't count on it.

RESILIENCE : You are going to make mistakes. You are going to try things that don't work out. You may even invest in the wrong tools or resources. This is part of doing business, and it's part of marketing. Learn from your mistakes, pick yourself up and dust yourself off. Then get back into the fight.

INVESTMENT : Accept the fact that you're going to make an investment if you're really going to try and use social media. Investment is going to mean time, effort, money or a combination of these.

PATIENCE : This goes hand-in-hand with time and investment. Understand that you've got some learning to do, some time to put in, before you start seeing a return on your investment.

EDUCATION : Social media can be a powerful marketing tool for your business. There is going to be some learning involved in order for you to figure out what the right plan of attack is for you. Read blogs or books on social media and social media marketing. Play with the tools, most are free. Better yet, get trained - by some like me :)

SINCERITY : Don't try to make yourself or your business seem like something it's not. Listen as well as talk. Social media is just that, “social”. It's a two-way process. There are too many people out there treating the web as a recording studio and not a telephone...don't be one of them.

So, if you want to earn your social media stripes, you have some work to do, some learning and some investment, but doesn't anything worthwhile need these things?

Social media doesn't have to be intimidating. It can be fun and rewarding. Take your time, dabble, ask lots of questions. Like any new relationship, social media will take a little time to get to know; but who knows where it may take you?