Walk Like a Giant, Sell Like a Madman

12.4. Your Chapter 12 Checklist

• Realize the power of social media marketing: You can use it to transform customers into advertisers.

• Explore some of the top social media and networking sites, including MySpace, FaceBook, Digg, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Wikipedia.

• Search Google Web, News, Blogs, and Groups for your name, your company's name, and the products and services you sell. Take notes about what customers are saying, what they need, and their biggest complaints.

• Search Google Web, News, Blogs, and Groups for social media related to you, your company, your products and services, and your competition.

• Create a free account on MySpace, FaceBook and LinkedIn and add your profile.

• Create an About Me page to post on your web site or blog.

• Introduce yourself to influential people in your industry who already have a strong reputation in online communities.

• Spend at least one hour every week posting comments and answers to customers and prospective customers in communities interested in what you sell.

• Gather feedback from clients and prospective clients through your own research and by actively requesting feedback via e-mail or a comments page on your web site or blog.

• Be very careful of what you say and how you respond to comments; what you say and do can and will be used against you or for you on the Internet.