Social Media: Employing the 4 C’s

By Carrie Wilkerson

I have grown my online audience and lists to about 100,000 people with no paid advertising. I used traditional list-building methods for building a list of 24,000 in my first 10 months online, to supplement my online and offline businesses.

Now let me tell you how I doubled that prospect list again in six months….two words – SOCIAL MEDIA!

Points to remember:

I draw attention, prospects, sales (flies with honey, etc.) with the four C’s: Character, Conversation, Content and Consistency.

Have Character
Especially if you are building a business online (I’m guessing that’s why you are reading this), you need to have character! You would not (hopefully) go to a party and immediately start insulting people, bashing companies, or making inappropriate comments to strangers. Remember, this is a very large FISHBOWL, and people are listening and watching. You are your own marketing, so guard your character.

Be Conversational
Do not walk into the party, stand on a stool, and just shout self-promotional things or preach at people. They will either kick you out, talk about you, or WORSE, grow deaf to any further messages you have. Interact with people, show interest in them, and see how you can be of value in their space.

Provide Content (which is totally different from being contentious, FYI.)

Believe it or not, 140 characters is a great amount of space to show tidbits of what you know about your business and area of expertise. You can establish trust and credibility and TEACH powerfully with those 140 characters over time! Tools, resources, videos, quotes, and lessons learned are all very good at helping solidify your validity in your niche or market.

Be Consistent
You don’t have to show up on Twitter as much as I do to be effective! But if you only come around when you are bored, have a promotion, have a blog post, or are seeking input, your fellow party-goers will see right through that! So be consistent and engaged. Your face popping up on their screen should not cause a “HEY – who is that?” It should cause them to say, “Oh hey, there you are!” We trust the people who are consistent in our lives. The barriers of resistance are comfortably lowered. It is the same in social media circles.

THAT is my whole magical formula. Seriously. You thought it was going to be rocket science, right?

But I prefer to measure based on interaction, conversation, and the growing size of the circle surrounding me at the party. As long as they want to be in my space, I will welcome them there. I will use my brand of encouragement and edu-tainment to hopefully make them smile and perhaps even enlighten them a bit.

So here is the @Barefoot_Exec magical “Build Your Business with Twitter” strategy in a nutshell:

When your audience knows you, likes you, and trusts you, they will want to know MORE about who you are, who you know, and what you have to offer.

» Attract followers with your willingness to engage.
» Take action using what you know.
» Maintain a regular presence on social media sites.
» Let it be about them, not all about you.
» Grow your circle and your clout!

I don’t “drive” prospects to my blogs, sites, movies, promotions or offers. I draw it there with the four C’s: Character, Conversation, Content, and Consistency. Try it for yourself and let’s talk about it on Twitter!

Carrie Wilkerson is known as the “Barefoot Executive.” She is the voice of experience. From corporate life to teaching high school to direct sales, she has “been there and done that” professionally and personally.. She’s now built several businesses and coached others to do the same while overcoming extreme debt, losing 110 lbs and having four children, ages infant through 12! As “The Barefoot Executive,” Carrie and her network of experts have quickly become the definitive resource for work at home professionals. Follow Carrie on Twitter @Barefoot_Exec.

See Carrie LIVE on August 18, 2009. Click here for more details.

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