Social media is all around us. Its a part of almost everyone’s lives. And there are channels for just about anything! And anyone.
If you have a product or service to sell, I believe that you MUST be on social media. Why? Because that is where the people are. People who are likely to buy your product. To try out your invention.
Of course, for many inventors it is difficult to determine just which social channels work best for promoting. And where to start. That depends. Is your invention a B2B invention (you sell it directly to companies) or a B2C (you sell it directly to the consumer) invention? If B2B then LinkedIn may be the place to begin. If B2C then Facebook or Google+ are good starting points. The point is to start somewhere. Choose one and start participating.
Here are the top social media channels to consider:
Blogging
Google+
YouTube
Over the next few months I will cover each of these channels in depth and even some you may not have heard about.
Don’t take on all of them at once. Begin by finding out where your prospects likely hang out. Who are they engaging with? What type of content are they sharing? Start there.
As any smart marketer will tell you, the number one thing you need is time and patience and a willingness to invest both to cultivate a loyal following of prospects. You can’t just put up a shingle (or in this case your logo or profile photo) add your name and url and think people will find and follow you. You need to participate. Having a presence is not the same as being present. Building an engaged social media audience takes time, it takes a willingness to be part of the conversation on an ongoing basis, not just when it’s convenient for you. If you only show up to promote your invention, you are likely not selling much. People don’t like to be sold to. They like to be educated, to share their stories, to become better at something, to teach and to make friends. If you can do that, then your invention will have a much better chance of selling ‘itself.’
You are probably telling yourself you don’t have time for all this. That’s okay. There are literally hundreds of social media time management tools at your disposal (most of them free) to help manage your time and even your content.
Here are my 5 favorites – these tools will help you manage, curate and share social media without taking a lot of time.
- Buffer – Simplify your social routine by scheduling posts on all of your social media networks.
- Feedly – A personal space to organize your blogs and publications and connect to the news, knowledge and ideas that matter to you.
- IFTTT – If this, then that gives you creative control over the products and apps you love.
- Nuzzel – Discover the best news stories shared by your friends on Facebook and Twitter, without being overwhelmed or missing anything.
- Swayy – Swayy helps you discover the most engaging content to share with your audience on social media based on their interests and engagement
In my next post I will share …. Using Social Media To Promote Your Inventions – Part Two
Be sure to follow Inventing Women on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.
Heidi Richards Mooney is the President of Redhead Marketing Inc – a boutique social strategy firm that helps authors and inventors leverage social media to promote their products and services. Learn more at www.RedheadMarketingInc.com
