Bill The Builder

I am so sick of the excessive and misuse of the term spam. Most people define spam as any attempt at marketing. I expect soon we will here commuters complaining about all the spam messages they get on the drive to the office. I mean after all, there are bumper stickers, billboards, roadside signage and I can’t even turn on my radio without hearing an advertisement. Come on, get you head out of the sand and the negativity out of your life. Yes, marketing is going on all around us. It always has. With every technological advancement we’ve had to learn to cope and manage those messages.

Here are four guidelines that define spam. This is the official definition. This settles it. If anyone has a question about what exactly spam is–send them here.

1. Spam is an unsolicited message sent from another party assuming, with little supporting evidence,  you share an interest in them or their product or service.
2. Not all unsolicited messages are spam. If a marketer finds that you share membership in the same club or group, he or she may introduce themselves, service or product if the association by membership would merit a shared interest. Since, networking is the primary reason for many memberships it should be expected, by any sane intelligent person, that they may receive an introduction or two.
3. If a marketer incessantly sends or posts messages of a sales and marketing nature, without offering some no obligation value, he or she has crossed into the Spam Zone. This guideline is especially important in the world of networking whether actual or virtual. We network naturally and it is in our nature to become familiar with those we work or do business with. Such socialization makes it easy to build rapport, credibility and trust. These three elements are prerequisite to a healthy sales / business relationship.
4. A message with a link to a blog or other information website is not necasarily spam. In fact, as I will explain at the close, every message you send should contain contact information and a link or links that will help the recipient get to know you. Some have been using the term “spam” in reference to any message with a link; clearly a thoughtless conclusion.

All that said, if you are in business, you had better be marketing, and in today’s competitive culture, you had better be marketing aggressively. Here are some steps that will help you get ahead and generate leads with your social marketing efforts.

1. Introduce yourself and be very visible and transparent about you, your products and services, as well as who your customers are. Let people get to know you. In fact, you should not actually post any direct sales copy to your contacts until you have given, with no obligation, some value.
2. Include links in emails, direct messages, blogs and instant messages, so people can find you easily and get to know you. You may consider stating in posts with a link that this link is a bit of valuable information requiring no obligation. This may help satisfy the less than sharp paranoid type who apparently close their eyes when passing billboards.
3. Use direct contact media like email, tweets, direct messages and wall or profile posts to direct contacts to a blog or other website containing information with sales copy. Avoid posting sales copy in direct contact media.
4. Finally, try offering free gifts, content and samples. The more value you give the more your contacts learn to trust you. Samples are great incentives. Make sure the sample itself is perceived as valuable.

I strongly recommend that you read Jay Conrad Levinson’s book Guerrilla Marketing. I have the proud pleasure of sharing Guerrilla Marketing Explained, an interview with Jay Conrad Levinson exploring 7 Steps to Effective Marketing. You can’t go to a book store and get this Audio Ebook. It is available only through a few select distributors. You may listen to a sample track and access thousands of dollars in free training in audio, video and downloadable ebook format by subscribing at www.charlesspeaks.com.

Simply enter your name and email on the right side of any of my site pages, and you will be asked to confirm your subscription. You will then receive a key to unlock the vault. You may access the vault by hovering over the Momentum Resources tab at the top of the page and select the Free Resources menu option. Enter your password and enjoy.