Making Money Through Social Marketing

Before you get ready to cash in on social marketing, you must consider what it is all about, and what the social networking sites allow and disallow. For instance, there are very few social networking sites that will allow you to monetize your profile page.

One such site is ZTC Community at http://ztcusa.com. At ZTC, you can monetize your profile page with Google AdSense code. This can also be done at Blogger (http://www.blogger.com), but those are the two exceptions, as of this writing. Other social networking sites don’t allow this.

So, other than using those two sites to earn AdSense revenue, how can you make money through social marketing? You earn money with social marketing just like you earn money through other types of marketing.

Let’s take a look at article marketing. Article marketing is a marketing method where you write and submit articles. The purpose of those articles is to bring people to your website, where you sell a product.

If you participate in pay-per-click advertising, such as that offered by Google AdWords, the purpose of that advertising is, again, to bring people to your website, where you sell a product. If you participate in forum marketing, your goal is to bring people to your website, where you sell a product.

The selling that you are doing, however, is all done on your website – not in the article, in the Google ad, or in the forums. Social marketing operates on the same concept. The goal is to get people to your website, where you are selling something. That is how money is made through social marketing.

You can use social marketing to find customers – and bring them to your web store. Since it is customers that you are seeking, you will seek out social networking spots where your target market is gathered. For instance, if you sell cars, car parts, or car information, you would do well to participate heavily in the car social network.

But there are not social networks for every imaginable topic. Therefore, you need to seek out social networking sites that have groups that cover specific niches. MySpace and numerous other social networking sites do have this.

But you will also do well to participate in groups that are indirectly related to the topic of whatever it is that you sell as well. Word of mouth is still some of the best advertising in existence, and you can encourage your friends on the social networking sites to spread the word.

Remember that social networking is long-term, not short-term. You must work to build relationships, and when you do this, the customers that you acquire through your social networking efforts will be your customers for life. This happens because they have a relationship with you – they have come to trust and depend on you.

Many business owners use social networking to find new product ideas. There are some really great minds – with great ideas – out there. You just have to participate. Ask questions, answer questions, and above all, listen. Don’t feel like you are stealing ideas. Most people never act on the product ideas that they have. In fact, most people don’t even realize that they have a product idea.

You can also participate in social networks that allow you to earn money from the content that you add. There are several good sites for this, including:

Review Me – Get paid for your reviews
http://www.reviewme.com/