Unlike all those so-called “gurus” touting their newest product for earning riches using Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn – the ugly truth is that your role in social media is NOT to drive sales.

It’s to engage, form a relationship and
establish trust with your customers.

… and it’s the quality of your social media engagement that will reflect itself in sales …

Here are 5 Common Social Media Mistakes That Make You Look Bad: 

1. Sell, sell, sell:  Everybody likes to buy things – but nobody likes to be sold.  Check out the way Zappos engages customers with their products without  selling – http://www.facebook.com/zappos – they’re witty and engaging.  A great company to model your Facebook strategies.
2. I don’t care what you had for breakfast!  Nobody on social media wants to hear what you’re doing at every moment of the day so you can forget about telling me about your breakfast, what you’re doing right now or how silly your cat is … if it’s not entertaining, funny or pertains directly to me … spare me the details.
3. Stop ‘Shoulding’ All Over Yourself!  Did you like it when your parents told you what you ‘should’ do?  Most people don’t. Instead of forcing your message upon your listeners – ask them a question to see if they agree with the point, tell a quick story or provide a more gentle way of getting your message across without using the word ‘should’.
4. You’re not listening to me!  Engage, interact and establishing a relationship is the purpose of social media … but if you’re just ‘auto-posting’ to social media using a service like Hootsuite without occasionally checking-in, responding to questions and thanking people for their comments – you’re missing the point.  Talk, listen and respond.
5. Don’t Be Offensive  Yes, it’s okay to take a stance on something (like lowering taxes for small business owners) but countless CEOs have gotten in trouble for making offensive jokes or going on rants about customers or competitors.  Just be careful about tweeting or commenting about something which could be taken the wrong way … you’re busy enough, the last thing you want to deal with is a backlash from an ill-perceived comment.

If you want to be more effective in social media, don’t be afraid to ask questions, share relevant photos, be entertaining, provide motivational quotes or get your readers opinions.

It’s all part of what makes social media fun and work for small businesses.

For more tips on engaging your customers and creating a base of customers who want to see you succeed – consider joining us inside of the Predictable Profits Insiders’ Club – it’s for entrepreneurs and business owners who want to grow their business.