You have to be in it to win it…
March 15, 2010 by David Lanning · View Comments
About the author: David Lanning is the founder of Tweetalize and CEO of Galapagos Collection, Inc. David has more than 20 years of experience in the retail industry with a specialization in retail promotions and online marketing. Read more from this author...
At 12:55 p.m. on March 5, Conan O’Brien posted this message on Twitter:
“I’ve decided to follow someone at random. She likes peanut butter and gummy dinosaurs. Sarah Killen, your life is about to change.”
And, that it did…
@LovelyButton (aka Sarah Killen) went from a pretty quiet Twitter existence to almost 30,000 followers literally overnight. And it gets even better. Soon after Sarah received a new iMac, a free wedding gown, gratis wedding rings, $2,600 in donations for her cancer walk, and the chance to meet Ludacris. Sarah has also invited Conan to be a guest at her wedding…
What’s the point?
The point is not that Sarah was lucky. Nor is the point that savvy businesses quickly realized the opportunity in giving Sarah a bunch of free stuff hoping to tag along in her extensive media coverage.
The point here is that Sarah’s fifteen minutes of fame came as a result of her being in the game.
And now, if Sarah is a hustler, she will cash in on her new found fame. Because it won’t last long.
Do you see where I’m going here?
Your business MUST have a social media presence. A Twitter and Facebook account are as essential as having a website, phone, business card and sign hanging on your storefront. It’s not an option.
And, as you can see from Sarah’s story, the payoff can be astronomical.
Here’s an example I had pre-Twitter days to drive the point home.
In 2006, I set up an e-commerce site for our retail store. Our store sells thousands of SKU’s and I was working on this project by myself which limited the number of products I could realistically track. My wife (aka @galapagosnews ) suggested a certain brand to start with that was selling well in our boutique. I worked every night after work from early November until mid January getting the site going.
Finally, our site was live. It was far from perfect, but now, I was in the game… even if it was only with one brand that we sold.
Exactly 18 days after I finished the site, Oprah mentioned this particular brand on her show and our site was bombarded with orders. This was our Conan moment…
In less than 30 days, we went from $0 to over $200,000 in online sales. It was insane!
Was I lucky?
No. I was in the right place at the right time. I was in the game.
So, let this be the day you get your business in the social media game. If you don’t have a Twitter or Facebook account, get one now. It will take you just a few minutes and cost you nothing.
But, if you don’t get on board with social media marketing for your business, it will cost you. And, it could potentially cost you a lot!
Don’t risk missing your Conan or Oprah moment.
Remember, you have to be in it to win it…
