By Sharon Bishin, Corporate & Employability Trainer

Today’s social media question for business owners is this: “Where are my potential clients and how do I reach them?”

Here are some ideas about how to nurture your business ideas.

1. Offer a peek behind the scenes. Presenting a sneak preview of new products, services, or features online can help build demand and provide critical feedback on your product. Can you post photos of it and invite comments from customers?
2. Harness your expertise. One site became a YouTube sensation through a series of videos that featured models giving beauty and fashion tips. What can you share info about?
3. Interact with visitors—really. Just putting up a blog, website or a Facebook fan page won’t do much good if visitors sense the flow of conversation only goes one way.
4. Reward customer loyalty with whimsical and engaging campaigns. Can you send out daily promotional offers? With tweets, ask customers to whisper a “password” to receive a free treat.
5. Make amends with dissatisfied customers, quickly. If you come across an angry Twitter update from an annoyed customer, resolve the issue quickly to prevent negative word of mouth.
6. Help others promote you. Social media can help you find passionate customers who are more than willing to spread the word about your product or company. Could you invite avid users to contribute to your blog?
7. Find influential people in your industry. In addition to maintaining your own presence, keep your eyes open to what others in the industry are buzzing about; read blogs, listen to a podcast or online radio show or join industry groups on Facebook and LinkedIn.

One final caveat: As much as online tools are useful, people like tactical things, too. Some of your clients may not be prepared to exchange contact information via smartphone applications or online tools, so a business card to hand out at an event is still useful and in-person meetings are still crucial to most business owners’ success.

By the way, to really hear a pro speak about social media marketing…come to our November 27th evening when Pinny Gniwisch will speak about how he took his jewelry Ice.com sales to more than $100 million: http://bit.ly/15kHmqm

Article sources:

• Social Networking for Business Success: Turn Your Ideas Into Income by Miriam Salpeter and Hannah Morgan, Learning Express (Aug 16, 2013)
• http://money.usnews.com/money/careers/articles/2013/09/03/a-blueprint-for-using-social-media-for-business-success
• http://www.inc.com/author/april-joyner