NOTE — This is the ninth post in a series on social network marketing. All the posts in the series can be found here.

Social network marketing is as much an art as a science. Making it work involves learning how to present your opportunity without coming on in a way that will turn off wary readers.

These days, nearly everyone on the Internet — from the solitary blogger to the big corporation — is seeking ways to “monetize” a web site or blog. They’re all finding out that it’s not an easy task.

photo credit: Photos8.com

The best method of converting readers to customers and potential business partners can be seen in a concept advocated by Lisa Sasevich, who teaches a method called “the invisible close.” Sasevich promotes tele-seminar marketing, but some of her principles clearly apply to social network marketing.

Sasevich urges business people to have an attitude where they are “committed but not attached.” The marketers should be committed to helping people make a decision that benefits them, but not attached to what decision they make.

In other words the person making presentation realizes that it’s their job to provide valuable information that will help the potential customer, but they can’t ultimately determine whether that potential is realized.

In social network marketing, this applies directly to the posts and interaction on your blog. You have to be committed to providing information that will help the person get connected to whether or not your product, service or opportunity is a fit for them.

You provide a place where they can find the clarity they need to make the decision that’s best for them. If you provide that place and if they decide to buy from you or become your partner, that relationship will be much stronger and more solid than it would be if you pressured them into making a decision.

Sasevich futher encourages marketers to be “credible but vulnerable” in their presentations. This, she says, lets people know you are an expert but also allows them to like and trust you.

When you write your posts or interact with people who frequent your blog, be confident in your knowledge. Freely share your expertise, but don’t be afraid to let them know about mistakes you made along the way.

In social network marketing, there are few, if any, precise formulas to duplicate. There are, however, principles that, if implemented, will mean almost certain success.

This is the greatest challenge but the greatest opportunity in doing business on the Internet. Instead of imitating those already having success you apply proven concepts to your business and its web presence.

This means that instead of telling someone how to succeed you need to show them what success looks like and openly reveal how it happens.

(NOTE — If you’d like to find out more about Lisa Sasevich, you can go to her web site. I am not affiliated with her organization.)

Steve DeVane