I don’t know about you, but at the end of every year, I receive a myriad of promotional calendars in the mail. Considering there is little space on my office wall and the fact that I carry a hard copy day timer (which I affectionately refer to as my PDA!), I feel guilty that I cannot make use of all the wonderful calendars I receive, I decided that one way to provide an answer to my questions is to create a content calendar, using one of my spare calendars. You can use a spare calendar to perform the same exercise.

Use tools such as Twitter search or Google Alerts to find out your customers’ needs. Are you seeking attraction or attention? Develop a content marketing plan –mark in your calendar when to Blog, when to send out Press Releases, when to write a White Paper. Consistency is the key to every marketing plan. Create consistent information and stick to your plan. If you cannot perform the marketing initiatives yourself, then look for someone who can assist you with implementation.

Outsource to a qualified content consultant who understands your industry and can help to write a Blog post in a timely manner. Or, assign an internal project manager to work with an outsourced content manager. Just be sure your content manager understands your industry and is an expert in their field.
Once you have put together your content marketing plan, work the plan. Consistency is the key! (Consistency is the key!).

The same advice is true for social media. Approach the common venues such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook much as you would when you first walk into a room at a dinner party. Look around the room, see who is there, find someone with the same interests, hobbies, etc., ask about their life and then offer information. Do not begin to push your product or services to everyone the minute you walk into the room.

It is not socially acceptable in the social media world to constantly tout your own accomplishments or to sell your products and services without first building a relationship. Look for people like yourself if you are looking for a way to get started. As in real life, in social media, the old adage “give before you get” works very well. Offer information on blogs, articles, links to helpful sites, and share tons of great content before you begin to talk about you and your business. Keep the personal information and updates to a minimum; do not push your products or services right off the bat. A little promotion on you and your business is ok but if you are tweeting more than four or five times a day, you are just adding to the “noise”.