1. Facebook
Likes – You’ve made a film. You’ve written a book. You’ve done the one thing
that so many people have never done. So what do you do next? Tell the world
obviously. And the only way is through Facebook. Media planners and internet
experts will tell you to start a Facebook page, start a personal group, and
post on your own timeline. So you put up photos, reviews, columns, excerpts,
illustrations, anything you can to tell the world what you’ve done. You promote
your page. You spend shit loads of money in advertising and it will show you
how many number of people the post has reached out to. You get more and more
likes. But guess what? It isn’t going to guarantee sales.
2. Twitter
Re-tweets – A tweet is a thought written in 140 characters. But to get the
maximum number of re-tweets you must write succinctly, intelligently, humorously
and identify with the audience. Write what they think but can’t express in
words that you can, and leave enough room for their few characters to fit in
front of your tweet. It takes skill, practice, and constant effort to get that
perfect tweet. And voila! You’ve achieved it and the Twitterati is going
ballistic by re-tweeting you. It’s great for the ego to see that so many people
have retweeted you, favourited it for future reference and your follower count
has gone up by 10 people. But none of it will ever convert into your product
being sold. It will not guarantee sales.
3. Incessant
Blogging– So you need more than just a photo or 140 characters to tell the
world about what you’ve done. You’ve got to make them read about it! So you
post reviews, photos, links and further quotes from the people who have loved
your work on your blog. Then you share it on other social media sites. Phew! It’s
out there man. People can read about your success and say, “Hey, that looks so
interesting. I must drop everything I do and rush out to buy it.” Not going to
happen! People will glance over your stuff in exactly six seconds and move on.
All that blog posting isn’t going to guarantee sales.
4. YouTube
Videos – “Let’s make a video! That’s definitely get people to see our work and
then we’ll be rich and famous. Yeah!” Said the entrepreneur who quit his job,
found his niche, and then ended up as a pauper. Stop the dance around the room.
Even if you’ve splurged on the YouTube video and put it up on a channel and
posted it to all your friends, it’s not going to get people to buy your
product. They may or may not watch the video. They may or may not subscribe to further
videos from you. Do you even know what that subscribe button means? Exactly. It’s
not going to guarantee sales.
5. Whatsapp
Groups – Oh what the hell, at least you can rely on your friends right? Wrong!
Try it. Send your achievement to your Whatsapp group. Tell them to go watch
that film, see the TV show, buy the book, go to your new store, buy your
fashion brand, attend your event, or even spread the word about your new
venture. From the 1000 people you will send it to, probably two will forward
it. And one will do as you say. That one needs a favour from you in return. So
your amazing friends might compliment you later, ask you how it went, and may
even promise to help you in the future but for now, they’re not guaranteeing
any sales.
The secret to what will guarantee sales lies in the next blog post! Coming soon!