Okay, so here’s the plan. You want to learn how to use social media to make money online, right? First off, maybe we should take a minute and discuss just exactly what it is and how you can make it work for you. It seems everywhere you turn these days there’s someone else touting big claims about making tons of money with Twitter or growing their list overnight with Facebook. So, what is social media and how can you use it to make money Online?
Social media is yet another tech buzzword evolving from the World Wide Web or Internet. Most simply, it describes any site that allows interaction between users. That’s a pretty big umbrella, huh? Not surprisingly, people continue to wrestle to find ways to monetize the more popular social media sites such as Facebook or Twitter.
What many haven’t yet realized, or have failed to grasp, is that some of the top social media sites have memberships bigger than many small countries. With an audience of this size, you’re opportunity to grow huge numbers of followers is limitless. The best part of all this is that you don’t have to be the poor guy trying to figure out how to monetize an entire site, you simply need to understand how to make money with your small part of it.
Don’t underestimate your ability to reach huge numbers of people with social media sites. The size of your personal network can be far reaching and have a real influence. It’s important to think of your relationship with your social media following as having synergy. You leverage those sites to marketing yourself and continue to grow your following reaching more and more people over time.
So, how do you actually make money from social media? How can you put real dollars in your account simply by building a Twitter following or growing a large list of friends of Facebook?
Well, there are a few ways. First off, you’re going to need to get set up with an account and start building your following. Depending on how you are set up to make money Online, you may simply post links from time to time directing your followers to a site where you stand to make a commission if someone should buy something. This is called affiliate marketing and it represents one of the most popular ways folks are using social media to make money Online.
If you like a product or service, sign up for the company’s affiliate marketing program. You’ll get a cut of sales when you share it with those you meet through your various social media sites. Choose wisely when it comes to affiliate marketing programs on your social media. Be sure it’s something you use and are comfortable recommending. Odds are, if you find a product or service you use, others will find it useful as well.
Another innovative way to make money Online using social media would be to use the medium, whatever site it may be, to build real relationships with your followers. Take time to communicate with them and get to know them. Find out what needs they have and find a way to fulfill those needs. This is truly the concept behind attraction marketing. As you begin to build a customer base using social media it will start to have a snowball effect. Your relationships will lead to satisfied and happy customers who will share their experience with others and soon you will have new customers flocking to you.
Finally, one more money making technique to use is to announce specials and promotions. Find ways to offer discounts or limited time offers. These are a very effective way to monetize your social media sites. People love a deal. You’ll see sales increase and you have the added bonus of generating new leads when you can offer a special deal.
No matter what your personal beliefs are about the effectiveness of using social media to make money Online, it should be clear these sites are here to stay and do represent a real money making opportunity for every business. So what are you waiting for? If you want to keep up with your competition, you’d better get started growing that following today. You will make money Online.
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