Social Media for Consultants

Social Media for Consultants
If you have heard about social media and how it can benefit your business, but don’t know where to start, here’s where to begin.

There are many social media platforms on the Internet – too numerous to count. Not all of them are going to be beneficial to you and your business. In order to use social media successfully, it is important to identify and use the platforms that will have the greatest reach and the greatest impact.
Introducing a new e-book, Social Media for Consultants

Do you want to find a way to better identify the people, businesses and groups who are interested in your services, knowledge and expertise?
Do you want to spend less time searching for prospects to market to?
Do you want to make real, meaningful connections with potential customer

My name is Justin Beller and I’m a training and development consultant. Unlike brick and mortar stores that sell goods to customers, selling consulting services is an entirely different ballgame.
In 2005, social media as we know it today was in its infancy. When I started my business back then, I dedicated most of my time marketing and selling my consulting services to potential clients using traditional forms of outreach such as cold calls and direct mail. Those methods met with more resistance than acceptance.
When I discovered social media, it changed my entire view of marketing. Rather than “pushing” myself on to people who I thought needed my services, I was now able to “pull” them towards me and demonstrate how I can be of service to them by providing value to their business. Better yet, I was able to leverage many of social media’s features to identify people and key decision makers in industries I wished to serve.

Why social media as a marketing tool?

Consider the number of users on what I consider the “Big Three” social media platforms:
Facebook – 400 million users worldwide… and growing
Twitter – 18 million users in the USA… and growing
LinkedIn – 45 million users worldwide… and growing
The demographics for each of these platforms are even more interesting:
Facebook – In 2009, Facebook experienced 276% growth among 35–54-year- olds. The 55+ demographic (demo) experienced 194% growth and the 25–34- year-old demo is doubling every six months.
Twitter – As of 2009, Twitter is made up of users primarily in the 18–34-year-old demographic group (47%) with the 35–49-year-old group closely behind (31%). Users are 53% female, 47% male.
LinkedIn – The average LinkedIn user is considered more “upscale” with 30% labeled as savvy networkers with $90,000+ annual income.Twenty-eight percent of LinkedIn users are senior executives with high incomes and high purchasing power at their places of work.
Among those numbers are your customers. In business, you should be where your customers are. With social media, you can by specifically identifying and singling out the people you wish to do business with.

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