Maria Shriver

9 Ways to Use Social Media to Build Relationships

By Sarah Shaw

As much as you know you are supposed to embrace this and like it, you hear the words Facebook, Twitter, blogging, Linkedin, and now Google+ and you cringe, get an instant headache and often want to run off to the beach to escape right? Is this you?

I must admit, I was the same way until I learned how to use social media to build relationships. Friends, family, colleagues, co-workers, etc. are a necessity in our lives. Sometimes we don’t think of it in layman’s terms, but we have relationships with all these people –- good, bad or ugly -– we must interact with other people to get what we need or want in life.

Once I realized that in order to build and fill my business with the kind of clients I was looking for -– whether for my consulting or for my product line –- I needed to build relationships with them, and that using social media was a fast and direct method. So I followed my own advice and called upon some experts I know to train me how to use this medium that felt so foreign to me.

Here are a few tips that I have picked up along the way that will hopefully help you build lasting relationships through social media. The main way to build relationships is to be responsive –- like you would at a cocktail party or even a networking event. On Twitter, create lists to follow the people who you consider to be your main influencers and RT (retweet) them, comment and try and connect with them. On Facebook, friend or 'like' people who have influence over your target market and build relationships with them.

And last but certainly not least, are a few tried and true factual lessons learned:

Facebook & Twitter

1. Only post once or twice a day to your Facebook Page –- preferably in the early-mid morning.
2. Pick interactive questions that require a response to engage your followers.
3. Always post with an interesting photo as Facebook search engines like that and will rank you higher in the feed.
4. If preparing for a launch, ask questions that will help you create your marketing material and plant the seeds for what you are selling.

Blogging:

1. Post as often as possible –- at least 2-3 times per week.
2. Write articles on subjects your target market will silently thank you for.
3. Give away all your best stuff. If you are a service provider then share all your knowledge. The ones who are DIY’ers will always be so, and the ones that want to hire you will.
4. Mix up the types of blogs you write to make it more interesting; original content, Q&A, interviews, and crowd source blogs.
5. Find blogs that relate to your target market and leave comments or even repost those blogs on yours (giving credit where credit is due of course) and that will help get more visibility for your brand as well.

One last tip: Be sure to make notes about the kind of method(s) that work best for you and your target market. Keep a log of the posts you do, and the tweets you write, so you can recycle them again in a few months -- with a different photo no one will be the wiser! I keep a list in Excel of ideas past and present and highlight them when used with the date and write down how many comments and how many new fans or followers I got that day. This gives you instant insight into which ones rocked it out!

In 1998 Sarah launched a uniquely fashioned pinked felt bag, and wore it everywhere she went. Soon, people were clamoring for them, and her handbag business Sarah Shaw was born. Within a year Sarah Shaw Handbags could be found on the pages of InStyle, Oprah, People, Lucky and Marie Claire magazines, and in Anthropologie stores nationwide. Over the next five years the business grew quickly, selling to over 1200 boutiques and major department stores nationwide. She offers aspiring entrepreneurs advice at www.Entreprenette.com.