Social Networking Late Arrivals are Costly and Not Fashionable - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Social Networking Late Arrivals are Costly and Not Fashionable - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Though many businesses have happily joined in the social media bandwagon, some others have not really bought into it yet and are still deciding whether to start their online campaign. These businesses are the ones who still rely on traditional and other “established” forms of marketing, and they’re most likely waiting for this new type of marketing to crash and fail. The reality is â€" they may have a very long wait ahead of them. Social media may be the latest trend in everyone’s marketing campaign, but it has yet to lose its momentum. Social media is currently where all the consumers are â€" and where the consumers are, the businesses usually follow. And though the businesses who have not jumped into the social media scene may think it’s not really hurting their brand, they may be surprised to know that it may be costing them a lot more than they think. There are actually unexpected costs to delaying your business’ entry to social media. Here are some of them: The longer you wait, the more competitors you will have As more and more of your competitors jump into the social bandwagon and derive success from it, the more you delay your entry, the more it will take for you to get where they are right now. This is because your competitors have already begun dominating the field. The social media reach has so far been outstanding, and your competitors are truly taking advantage of this. Think of the 750 million users of Facebook today. And the 190 million Twitter users. And the 100 million LinkedIn users. Yes, those are millions and millions of users that you could be reaching, if you’re taking advantage of social media. The more you ignore these users, the more your competitors will gain monopoly over your target market. For personal brands, the longer you wait the longer that someone else has to establish a relationship, friendship and trust with someone, a decision maker at a company.   The longer you delay, the bigger the costs that you will incur once you consider getting started. True life you snooze, you lose The longer you wait, the more likely it is that someone else will take ownership of your brand’s online presence. As you know, anyone can put up a page in Facebook under your company name. Anyone can put up a website using your company’s name as its domain. It’s so easy and cheap for them, but it’s going to cost you a lot if someone else creates a reputation around your brand that you don’t like. This is why you need to take advantage of the online reputation of your company and brand now before someone else does. You want to make sure that the information people have of you and your business is accurate and well presented. If someone else manages this information, then it may very well ruin your social media presence. Do not wait until someone else creates a Facebook page or a website about you and your company. This will end up costing you more in the long run, trying to remedy what’s been said about you and your brand. Take advantage of social media now and create your online presence before someone else does. The longer you wait the more potential connections you lose When you use social media effectively for your business, you can generate a lot of revenue from it. On the other hand, if you don’t use social media for your business, then you can end up losing a lot of revenue from potential sales that have been lost. Most businesses nowadays have been able to generate sales from social media marketing. And the great thing about social media is the relatively low start-up costs to start your campaign on it. Traditional marketing is a lot more expensive, but nowadays, social media marketing may benefit you a lot more. Even brick and mortar business can generate a lot of revenue from a social media campaign. Social media helps spread the word about your business at a relatively low cost, so instead of buying advertising time on TV, which can be hideously expensive, you can spend less on social media and possibly gain more. For personal brands, the potential of losing your name, your reputation and the competitive edge in your first impression is even greater by waiting it out. What are you waiting for if you still haven’t started your social media presence? Are you waiting for this fad to die out? Online users continue to grow, and mobile smart phones have created another way for people to enjoy browsing the Internet and their social media accounts wherever they go. Stop waiting, or you’ll get left behind in the wake of others, and end up spending a lot more to get where they are right now. Make sure you start your social media campaign today. Author: Maria Elena Duron, is managing editor of the Personal Branding Blog and is also the CEO (chief engagement officer) of buzz2bucks.com â€" a word of mouth marketing firm. She helps create connection, credibility, community and cha-ching through mobile marketing and social commerce around your brand. She is co-founder of #brandchat a weekly twitter chat focused on every aspect of branding.