Most direct sales companies are creating Facebook Pages these days.  There are a lot of good reasons to:

• Increased brand exposure
• More direct communication with consultants
• The ability to connect directly with the consumer

And so much more!

But have you ever noticed that some direct sales company pages are SUPER active, with lots of comments and fan engagement, while others are just a steady stream of company posts, with no response whatsoever?  What’s the difference?  Why are some people “Like-ing” and engaging, while others “Like” and then never come back?

There are two things going on here, and the solution is the same for both.

Issue #1: Your posts aren’t engaging people, so they’re not showing up in people’s news feeds.
The default setting for people on Facebook is “Top News.”  This means that the only posts that show up when people log in to Facebook are the ones that other people have commented on or interacted with in some way, or are from a Page that they have recently interacted with.  Since 99.5% of all the interaction that happens with a Facebook Page occurs from the News Feed, if you’re not showing up there you have a problem.

Issue #2: Your posts are all about you.
You already know that people only care about your brand insofar as it solves a problem or meets a need that they have.  So if all you talk about is your latest special or your next opportunity call, it’s a disconnect.  Even though on the surface you might think that the posts about your products and opportunity are why you have the Facebook Page, it’s not true. If you don’t engage people first, they’ll ignore you. 9 out of every 10 posts on your Page should be specifically designed to provide VALUE and promote ENGAGEMENT.

The Solution
So if you’ve suddenly realized that your company Facebook Page is not even showing up for most of your Fans, what should you do?  Here are some suggestions:

1. Begin by creating a list of “Engagement” posts. These are posts that provide tips, ideas, ask questions, or in some other way provide value to your list of “Like-ers.”  You might consider “crowd-sourcing” ideas for your next product (e.g. Would you like a pumpkin or a cranberry-colored one?), run contests where people can win products (just make sure you stay within Facebook’s rules for that, by using a company like WildFire), or share posts that relate to common aggravations or experiences (e.g. Hit “Like” if you’ve ever lit a candle to offset the smell of your kids’ stinky sneakers!  Tell us which scent you used!)
2. Put all of your posts into a monthly editorial calendar. How do they balance?  Sometimes we need to fifty-foot view to see that we’re way too heavy on the promotional end, and way too light on the value and engagement end.
3. Engage back. Do you respond to every single comment and post on your Page?  Do you even know if people HAVE commented?  You should!  In this social arena, one of your biggest tools is, well, social.  So respond to every single comment, even if it’s just a “thanks for sharing your ideas” or clicking the “Like” link on a comment.  It helps people to stay engaged when it’s a 2-way conversation.
4. Show your consultants how to participate. Your ace in the hole, so to speak, is your field of independent consultants.  If you take a look at The Pampered Chef Facebook Page (disclosure: client), and click “The Pampered Chef + Others” at the top, you’ll see a vibrant and engaged community of consultants sharing tips and ideas.  This activity makes Facebook think that the Page is relevant to a lot of people, which means it’s more likely to appear in the Top News feed.  Make sure your consultants know how to use your corporate Facebook Page.  Invite them to share tips they would share at their parties, answer questions, and express their enthusiasm on the posts you put out there.  This will help people checking out your company to see what a great and engaged community that you have, while also helping you engage more of your current fans.

The more that people engage with your posts, the more likely it will be that your posts will show up in the Top News home page of your Fans.  And if you’d like more Engagement ideas, check out this post I wrote over on my Direct Sales and Social Media blog: Building Your Facebook Page Engagement Strategy

How do you engage the people who “Like” your Facebook Page?  Would love to read your thoughts in the comments below!

Jennifer Fong

Jennifer Fong helps direct sales companies leverage the power of social media marketing to increase sales and recruiting, and manage online brand perception.  She provides strategic social media consulting to companies, as well as conference speaking and training. To learn more about how Jennifer can help your company, visit http://luceandassociates.com/Jennifer-Fong.html.  You can also check out her direct sales and social media blog at http://www.jenfongspeaks.com, and her Facebook Page at http://facebook.com/jenfongspeaks.

The viral nature of the internet can be a wonderful thing.  Messages about your company can spread far and wide, resulting in new consultants and higher sales.  But that viral effect can be a double-edged sword.  Because if someone has a bad experience with your company, or one of its consultants, that can have a devastating effect on your company’s reputation, and its ability to recruit.

We saw this very thing happen to United Airlines when they broke a musician’s $3,500 Taylor guitar, and then refused to pay for it.  Google “United Breaks Guitars” and you’ll see a remarkable string of posts that have preserved this rocky patch in United’s history forever.  If United had had a strategy in place to deal with such situations before they became viral sensations, they would have been much better off (and you can bet they do now!)

This past year we saw a member of our own industry, Arbonne International, manage this quite well.  When the company went through a debt restructuring, it could have been very easy for negative information to fly, causing many of its distributors to flock to other companies.  But the company took a pro-active approach, creating a company blog as part of a larger communication strategy that kept distributors informed, and helped the company weather the storm.  Now this is but a far-distant memory that the company has been able to put behind them.

Does your direct sales company have a plan for when disaster strikes?  We all know that the information that the salesforce sees and consumes is essential when it comes to managing crisis.  What should you have in place ahead of time to be prepared?  Here are some tips:

• Create an escalation procedures document. Make a list of “worst that could happen” scenarios, and who is authorized to make a public statement.  This will save you hours of meetings trying to decide who should take care of the situation, while it spirals out of control, and makes it very easy for the person who spots the issue to quickly route it to the correct person, no matter what the hour.
• Create a “24 hour statement” for each issue you identify. This is a standard response that can be made in response to each of the scenarios you identified, so the company looks responsive while you’re crafting a more specific company response.
• Have “community ambassadors” within your corporate structure. These are folks who work with influencers in the online communities most important to you.  When a crisis arises, chances are these influencers will reach out to the person they know and trust in your organization, for your side of the story.  This means these influencers are a lot more likely to provide a balanced view of the situation.
• Create a culture that admits when you’re wrong. Transparency and authenticity are DEMANDED in social media communities, particularly when things go wrong.  Be sure the employees in your organization are able to admit it when you’re wrong, and empowered to fix it.
• Have a place for your official corporate response. This is typically a corporate blog.  If the issue is big enough and mainstream media picks it up, they’ll have a place they can go that provides the official corporate response.

By planning before crisis hits, you can more effectively manage online crises before they go viral.  And if you handle them well, you might even get some positive feedback from the online community.  It all starts with a plan!

image credit: Jim Linwood

Jennifer Fong

Jennifer Fong helps direct sales companies leverage the power of social media marketing to increase sales and recruiting, and manage online brand perception.  She provides strategic planning consulting to companies, as well as conference speaking and training. To learn more about how Jennifer can help your company, visit http://luceandassociates.com/Jennifer-Fong.html.  You can also check out her direct sales and social media blog at http://www.jenfongspeaks.com, and her Facebook Page at http://facebook.com/jenfongspeaks.

image credit: jurvetson

Direct selling companies are in an interesting position right now.  Many executives who don’t know much about social media are looking to hire people who do, to guide them.  The challenge is finding people who also understand our industry and its specific nature. Just because a program or site someone saw is cool, doesn’t mean it’s going to work for direct selling.

It all comes down to understanding your business objectives before diving into social media.  By establishing a clear goal up front, every new program and site can be weighed against it, to decide if it’s a fit.  For example, let’s say that a social media advisor is in love with a virtual reality site he thought was cool when he worked at his last tech-savvy company.  This, he says, will be the shining star in the company’s social media strategy.

A quick look at the company’s business objective though, reveals that the goal is to increase consultant productivity.  Even though the site may be cool, it’s neither a) a place the company wants its sales force to be spending time (we want them selling and recruiting!) nor b) a tool that will in itself provide any tools to consultants to increase their productivity.  Sure, the site might help with brand recognition, but that has not been identified as the goal for the company’s social media strategy.

It’s critically important to ensure that companies start with business objectives, and not the “oooh! shiny” tools that try to sway our attention.  Focus is key.  The latest and greatest is not always the best solution for your particular needs.  Your best bet is to focus on tools that have the greatest concentration of your target market.  And then focus on ways to increase productivity by using those tools.  This is what will bring success with social media.

Jennifer Fong

Jennifer Fong helps direct sales companies leverage the power of social media marketing to increase sales and recruiting, and manage online brand perception.  She provides strategic planning consulting to companies, as well as conference speaking and training. To learn more about how Jennifer can help your company, visit http://luceandassociates.com/Jennifer-Fong.html.  You can also check out her direct sales and social media blog at http://www.jenfongspeaks.com, and her Facebook Page at http://facebook.com/jenfongspeaks.

image credit: jurvetson

Does your direct selling company have a blog?  Does it need one?

There are lots of good reasons to consider having a corporate blog.  It’s a great way to provide your company’s official response to anything, for PR purposes.  You can use it to provide valuable content that your consultants can easily pass on to their social networks.  Your blog content can auto-populate onto your company Facebook Page, providing more value to your Facebook fans.  It can provide real SEO value.  Some direct sales companies are even using it to provide training to the salesforce!

Yes, there are many things a blog can do for your company.  But it does require a commitment.  Starting a blog and then never updating it won’t bring your company any benefits.  If you want a blog to work for your company, here are some suggestions:

1. Decide how the blog fits into your larger social media strategy. What is the purpose of the blog?  Is it to provide resources for consultants?  Give insight into the inner-workings of the organization?  Provide training?  Whatever it is, be very clear on why you have it, what you want to communicate, and who your audience is.
2. Assign it to someone. It has to be someone’s job to ensure that the blog is regularly updated.  If you expect that people with other jobs will “remember” when it’s their turn to add a post, it most likely will not happen.  Someone has to have both ownership of the blog, as well as authority to ensure that the posts get turned in on time, so you have consistent fresh content.
3. Create an editorial calendar. One of the best ways to ensure that the blog is working as part of the overall business is to create an editorial calendar.  Plan at least 3 months out, and decide how the posts can work with the goals of the organization.  Are you launching a new catalog?  Think about posts that will support the theme or new products.  Is there a philanthropic initiative that the company is running one month?  Think about what you can write on the blog to highlight that program.  Your blog should work with the other initiatives the company is working on to be an effective resource.

By taking some time to plan before setting up a company blog, you can ensure fresh, consistent content that will provide your company with SEO benefits, your consultants with resources that are easy to share, and the public with information that helps them come to know, like, and trust your company.

Does your company have a blog?  What do you do to make sure it is relevant and consistent?  What benefits does it bring to your organization?  Would love to read your thoughts in the comments below!

Jennifer Fong

Jennifer Fong helps direct sales companies leverage the power of social media marketing to increase sales and recruiting, and manage online brand perception.To learn more about how Jennifer can help your company, visit http://luceandassociates.com/Jennifer-Fong.html.  You can also check out her direct sales and social media blog at http://www.jenfongspeaks.com.

We as an industry have always been big on barriers to entry.  If someone wants to order something, we want them to do it at a party.  We must preserve the rules of first contact.  Every order must go through a consultant!  And while the reasoning of avoiding even the hint of competition with the sales force makes a lot of sense, and we really would like people to go to parties, there are ways to credit things to consultants and encourage parties without throwing up barriers to entry that are driving away our business.

In this interconnected world we now live in, people expect things immediately.  I decide to join your company at midnight…I want to do so RIGHT NOW.  I don’t want to wait for that email form I submitted to reach someone in your office, and then for you to connect it with the right consultant, and then that person to call me. That could take days! I expect to be able to sign up RIGHT NOW and you can do your backoffice procedures later.  Same goes for ordering.  If I want to order something (especially if I’ve looked at your catalog via a mobile app) and you tell me after I’ve made my choices that now I have to pick up a phone or in some other way interrupt my flow to do something else…well, frankly, you’ve lost me again.

This generation expects immediacy.  If we stay tied to our barriers to entry, we’re going to very quickly find that we are becoming irrelevant and outdated.  I’m not saying we should take recruits or orders away from the sales force.  Goodness, no.  And we should encourage people who want to join or order to identify their consultant at every step in the process.  But if I don’t have someone I’m working with (or, dare I say it, don’t particularly WANT to deal with a particular person in your sales force), don’t make me jump through hoops to connect with you.  It’s completely the opposite to the way the world expects to do business today.

Barriers to entry must become a thing of the past if we hope as an industry to remain a relevant way to do business.  Young companies get this and build those systems from the beginning.  Older companies are finding it a much harder process to change the minds of both our internal and external stakeholders on this issue.  But it must be done.  If we allow outdated ways of doing business, and fear, to guide our decision making, very soon we’re not going to have a business that appeals to a new generation of buyers and recruits.  To build a sustainable, long-term business, we must adapt, and barriers to entry have to be eliminated.

What are your thoughts on this?  What are the challenges to eliminating barriers?  Have you had experiences in attempting their removal?  Would love to read your thoughts in the comments.

Jennifer Fong

Jennifer Fong helps direct sales companies leverage the power of social media marketing to increase sales and recruiting, and manage online brand perception.To learn more about how Jennifer can help your company, visit http://luceandassociates.com/Jennifer-Fong.html.  You can also check out her direct sales and social media blog at http://www.jenfongspeaks.com.

image credit: Mark Hillary

One of the biggest questions my clients often asked is related to social media policy.  After all, many companies have policies and procedures that were established years ago, before social media was even invented.  Our entire industry has approached social media with trepidation…we know that what is said can last a really long time, and is front and center for regulators to see.  How do we ensure that what is said is in compliance with our regulated industry?

We also have to face the facts as an industry…the salesforce IS using social media, whether we’re prepared for it or not.  Companies that have neglected social media policy are finding that a number of things are being done by well-meaning consultants that infringe on company trademark rights and are often in violation of the terms of service of individual social networking sites.  This all reflects upon your company.

So that brings us to the question…What needs to be added to your consultant policies and procedures to protect the company, along with the salesforce?  Here are a few things I often recommend to my clients:

1. Create an independent consultant logo. It is sometimes hard for consumers to identify when they are dealing with a consultant or the company when online.  Help make it crystal clear…provide an independent consultant logo that clearly identifies who the consumer is dealing with.
2. Prohibit use of the company name in domain names, social networking profiles, and email addresses. After all, it’s your trademark.  Consultants must use it in the ways you specify.  You want to reserve use of the corporate name for your own corporate profiles.  Consultants are better off using their own names anyway, since the goal for social media marketing is to build relationships with people.
3. Media inquiries should include significant bloggers. Most policies require distributors to refer media interview requests to the company, especially if they are national media outlets.  I recommend that companies add bloggers with 1,000 or more unique monthly visitors to this policy.  After all, many reporters from major publications source their stories from blogs these days.  Make sure that the story that is getting out about your company is the one you want told.
4. Consultant release for social media pictures and comments. Your consultants will be interacting with the company social media presences often.  Wouldn’t it be nice to use some of those spontaneous testimonials and other ideas?  I suggest that my clients add a policy giving them blanket permission to use the content that consultants volunteer on these sites.
5. Consultants shouldn’t respond to negative comments they find online. We all know about those folks online who, justified or not, seem to exist solely to bash the company.  And your consultants, who love the company, will automatically want to jump in and defend the company vigorously.  However, every one of these comments drives the relevance of that negative post up in the search engine rankings.  Often, it’s better just to leave the negative post alone.  I often recommend a policy that suggests notifying the company of negative posts, instead of engaging.

These are just a few of the things you should add to your company’s social media policy, but hopefully they’ll get you thinking about the other ways you can help consultants interact responsibly online, in a way that benefits their businesses.  If you’d like additional guidance on creating social media policies for your business, feel free to contact us at Luce & Associates.  We’ve helped lots of companies in our industry put into place sound social media policies that protect both the company and its consultants.

What policies has your company put into place to address social media marketing?  Would love to read your thoughts in the comments below.

Jennifer Fong

Jennifer Fong helps direct sales companies leverage the power of social media marketing to increase sales and recruiting, and manage online brand perception. To learn more about how Jennifer can help your company, visit http://luceandassociates.com/Jennifer-Fong.html.  You can also check out her direct sales and social media blog at http://www.jenfongspeaks.com.

Image Credit: ifindkarma

If you’re in direct sales, or considering starting a direct selling company, you may be wondering what all the fuss is about social media. Yes, you may have heard at your convention that members of the sales force are starting to use it for their direct selling businesses. Maybe some of your consultants have set up a Facebook Fan Page. But does YOUR company need to get started with social media? Is it really worth the time you’ll need to invest to get it set up properly? And then, do you have the time to maintain your social media presence once you’ve set everything up?

The answer is that now is the PERFECT time to put the power of social media to work for your company. Think about it. Direct sales is a networking business. Our success comes from the number of people we can get in front of each month. The more people that know about us and what we do, the more likely we will find the customers and team members that will help us achieve the success we’re dreaming of.

Social media is growing EXPONENTIALLY. Every day, more and more people are signing up for accounts on tools such as Facebook and Twitter. Consider these statistics:

• Facebook is the largest social networking site (over 70 million users in the US alone)
• More than 120 million users log on to Facebook each day
• Twitter has more than 26.5 million US users monthly, and has grown 1,382% in the last year (475,000 users in Feb ’08 to 7,038,000 users in Feb ’09)

If you were invited to a party with that many people, and knew you could specifically meet the people in your target market at that party, would you show up? Of course!!! The more people you meet, the more money you make. Of course, you have to use your networking skills. You need to ask about others, make connections, give and share, and generally be a nice and helpful person that engages others. However, at the end of the day, the law of averages states that you’ll find people who want to do business with you.

Despite the crazy numbers above, social media is still in its infancy. If you want to ride the tidal wave to unprecedented growth, get started NOW, before the market is so flooded that your voice can’t be heard. Establish yourself NOW within social media, and it will significantly benefit your business for years to come.

Social media also levels the playing field a bit between smaller direct sales companies and larger ones.  One of the largest limitations that smaller companies have faced is the fact that with a larger sales force, bigger companies can just reach more people.  Again that law of averages comes into play.  But with social media, EVERYONE can reach that large an audience when the tools are used strategically.  And that can give your company an edge that wasn’t possible before.

What do you think? Have you used social media to build your direct sales company? What results have you enjoyed? Would love to read your comments below!

Jennifer Fong

Jennifer Fong helps direct sales companies leverage the power of social media marketing to increase sales and recruiting, and manage online brand perception. To learn more about how Jennifer can help your company, visit http://luceandassociates.com/Jennifer-Fong.html.  You can also check out her direct sales and social media blog at http://jenfongspeaks.com.

Jennifer Fong, Social Media Associate, recently sat down with Luce & Associates President Alan Luce to answer the most common questions direct selling executives have about social media.  The result is an article in this month’s issue of Direct Selling News.  We invite you to read the entire article here: http://www.directsellingnews.com/index.php/site/entries_archive_display/when_party_plan_and_social_media_collide

Alan Luce

Jennifer Fong

Few people in the direct sales industry can match the experience, expertise and successes of Alan Luce. With over 25 years in senior management, guiding start-ups and established companies alike, Alan has met virtually every challenge a direct sales executive can face.  Learn more about how Alan can help your company at http://www.luceandassociates.com/Alan-Luce.html.

Jennifer Fong helps direct sales companies leverage the power of social media marketing to increase sales and recruiting, and manage online brand perception. To learn more about how Jennifer can help your company, visit http://luceandassociates.com/Jennifer-Fong.html.

Jennifer Fong

I love analytics.  I really do.  In fact, I’ll go so far as to say I’m an analytics junkie.  Why?  Because analytics are validation.  They show how your social media efforts are paying off, and what you should be spending your time on.  It’s the hard data that you can use to find out if what you’ve done is bringing you the traffic that can make you money, or if it’s a complete waste of time.  As a company executive, it’s your measurement of ROI that helps you make good decisions moving forward.

Analytics help you answer these questions: Which posts are people reading?  Which pages are they visiting on your website?  Where are they coming from?  Where are they going next?  Are they clicking on your links?  By using simple tools, you can easily measure the return on your social media investment.

So what should you be looking at on a daily basis?

1. Blog/site visitor counts – You should have site analytics built into your blog and website.  If you’re using a wordpress.com blog like this one, the site visits are built right in.  If you’ve got a website, you should be registered for Google Analytics, and put the code on each page of your site.  Then watch the numbers over time.  When are people coming to your site, and how much time are they spending there?  Are you getting more visitors over time?  Then your strategy is probably working.  If you’re not, then you know where you need to focus your efforts.
2. What people are looking at - Does specific content draw a crowd?  What type of content does your niche market value?  For my Direct Sales & Social Media blog, one of my most popular posts ever was when I told people what NOT to do in social media. So I learned that people are looking for ways to improve upon what they’re already doing.  Good data.  And it helps me formulate what to write next.  It also helps me figure out what content to include in my newsletter.
   
3. What people are clicking on - Where do people go next?  On your website, use Google Analytics to follow their path through your content.  Do people go where you want them to go on your site?  If not, what can you change so you get the conversion objectives you’re looking for?  Maybe you need to reconsider your site’s organization to take into account certain buyer personas.  How can they best use your site?  What matters most to them?  Make sure there’s a clear path for them.If you’re a blogger, do people care about the links you post?  Are they subscribing to your newsletter or considering the product you’re highlighting?  By taking a look at the percentage of visitors that click, you can determine how engaging your leadup is, and if you need to make changes.
4. Where people are coming from – What is driving traffic to your site?  Which search engine are most visitors using, and what keywords are they using that finds you?  Are other bloggers referring to your work?  Are your social networking efforts resulting in traffic to your blog or website?  By keeping track, you can thank people that mention you, keep doing the things that are providing you with results, and focus your efforts on the areas where you need to improve.For example, when I was CEO of a direct sales company, we taught our sales force how to use Facebook to market their businesses.  Facebook became one of the top 5 referrers to our corporate website, with 3-5 times the average visit length of any other referrer.  What did this tell us?  That our training efforts were paying off, and our efforts in social media were effective.

   Another story…when I started my Direct Sales & Social Media blog, I posted occasional articles to LinkedIn groups I was a part of.  I didn’t see many comments there, and it was tempting to think that this effort was a waste of my time.  However, I discovered through analytics that most of my weekend traffic comes through LinkedIn, and so it’s a valuable activity for me to continue.  Without analytics, I never would have known.

5. Link analytics are also important.  By using http://cli.gs or the equivalent (there are plenty out there) you can see how many people are clicking on the links you use in your emails and throughout social networking sites.  Does the following you’ve built care about what you’ve posted?  Does anybody click in Facebook and Twitter when you recommend something?  By using a link analytics tool, you can find out.

There are many components to an effective analytics strategy.  But by keeping on top of your analytics, you can measure growth, and adjust your efforts accordingly.  And that helps you to continually improve your overall social media marketing plan and strategy.

How are you using analytics?  How have they helped you with your overall social media strategy?  Would love to read your comments below!

Jennifer Fong helps direct sales companies leverage the power of social media marketing to increase sales and recruiting, and manage online brand perception. To learn more about how Jennifer can help your company, visit http://luceandassociates.com/Jennifer-Fong.html.

by Jennifer Fong

Jennifer Fong’s Facebook Profile

I’ve noticed a disturbing trend recently where software companies claim to solve all of a direct sales company’s social media requirements with their latest and greatest software tool.  Companies can control the message their sales force sends, they claim!  You can build a whole community within your own little bubble, within your control!  While I am not knocking any particular software application, I think it’s important to realize that you don’t need to pay for a software platform in order to use social media effectively.

Part of the beauty of social media is the fact that the tools where the most people currently are, are free.  If you build your own social community on your own website, you’re going to have to complete the additional step of driving traffic there.  What’s the compelling reason for your prospects to come to your community?  Why not operate in environments such as Facebook, where your prospects already hang out?  Why would they go to your homegrown community for fun?  To be sold?  I don’t think so.

You also need to realize that the conversation is going to go on within Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking platforms whether you participate or not.  You will not be able to tightly control the message.  This is why monitoring is an essential component of your overall social media strategy.  When you know what people are saying about your brand, and participate when necessary to solve problems, you gain respect in the social media world, which brings increased respect for your brand.

Now I’m not saying that direct sales companies shouldn’t consider software solutions.  But it’s important to take a step back and consider the overall goals of your social media and total marketing program first.  What do you want to accomplish?  Who are you trying to reach?  Where do you want to drive traffic, and what are the conversion objectives? How will participation with your brand shape brand perception?  How will you measure success?  Without answering these critical questions first, investing in an expensive software platform is a mistake.  And if you’re a small to mid-size company, a software solution may not even be necessary.  After all, the popular social media platforms are free.  Your biggest investment will be the man-hour resources needed to implement your social media strategy properly.

Jennifer Fong

Basic sales strategy says you go where the people are.  It’s not “If you build it they will come.”  People are already using free social networking tools such as Facebook and Twitter, and that’s where they’re connecting with others.  Some are already complaining that they’re overwhelmed with these tools.  Why on earth would you want to add another?  You don’t want to make doing business with you a social media chore.  Instead, blend into the communities that already exist, bring value, and drive traffic that relates to your conversion objectives.  That’s how you’ll experience success with your overall social media strategy.

Your thoughts?  Would love to read them in the comments!

Jennifer Fong helps direct sales companies leverage the power of social media marketing to increase sales and recruiting, and manage online brand perception. To learn more about how Jennifer can help your company, visit http://luceandassociates.com/Jennifer-Fong.html.