Social Media is great for building community but it isn’t great for selling products.  People just don’t buy straight from social media.

Of course, there are a few exceptions, but on the whole it just simply doesn’t happen. (I am going to add a caveat here, that since the explosion of live streaming there has been an increase in people making purchases from watching a live stream event.)

But, on the whole, people are not clicking on your link in Facebook and buying your $497 coaching program, or even your $97 course.

If people aren’t buying through social media, what should you be using it for?

Building Your List.

People that say email marketing is dead, are off their rockers.

Not starting to build their email list straight away is one of the biggest regrets of business owners.

You’ve probably heard it before – we don’t own our social media sites. We do, however, own our email subscriber list and no one can take it from us (if we have it backed up).

Social Media is a great resource for building your list.  You can show yourself as someone that knows what they are talking about and then people what to learn more from you.

So – where do you start with building your list?

You need to offer something people want – for free – that they are willing to part with their email address for.

I was always taught that you need to create this massive free offer that is so amazing that people would pay for it.  I created some of those – they took me weeks to put together. I can also tell you I have about 6 of them still sitting on my computer, never finished.

I no longer believe that your free offer has to be as big as a paid product. People barely finish products they pay for, let alone ones they get for free.

There's another problem with putting together a big product as your free offer – it is so overwhelming for the person starting out, that they never actually get started creating anything.

Years go by and they never build their list because, they didn’t know where to start.

I don’t want that to happen to you.

My new belief is: One problem – One Solution.

Your free offer shouldn’t be big enough to solve World Peace.  It should solve one problem that someone is having.

Ideally with your free offer you want the receiver to learn something, be able to implement it, and see a result with it.  That way people know you are someone that can help them get the results they want.

Here are a few examples of free offers I have:

The 3 Biggest Mistakes You Can Make on Twitter and How to Avoid Them

Problem: 3 of the biggest mistakes I see people make on Twitter.
Solution: 5 videos that show you what to do instead.

23 Ways to Use Twitter Lists

Problem: Too much noise in your Twitter Feed.
Solution: A list of ways to reduce the noise by using Twitter lists.

How to Create a Social Media Posting Schedule

Problem: No strategy for posting on Social Media.
Solution: 1 hour webinar taking you through how to create a posting strategy.

One Problem – One Solution

Have a think about one problem that people in your community are having, and what you can teach them that will solve their problem.

Still not sure what to offer? Start having a look at what other people in your niche are offering.  Of course, don’t steal exactly what they are doing, but you can use it to spark some other ideas.

For example – my free offer – The 3 Biggest Mistakes You Can Make On Twitter and How to Avoid Them.

This could be turned into:

The 3 Biggest Mistakes You Can Make When Training Your Dog and How to Avoid Them

The 3 Biggest Mistakes You Can Make When Decluttering Your House and How to Avoid Them

Spend some time thinking about a problem people in your community are having and the solution you could offer.

I would love to hear what you come up with in the comments below.
If you are stuck, let me know what you do and I will help you brainstorm something you could offer.

About the author 

Stacey Myers

Coaching entrepreneurial women who have decided that mediocrity is no longer an option. From ordinary to extraordinary.

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  1. Social media is great for a world of things. Creating relationships has been my biggest Plus whilst building a community, not just a page.

  2. Thanks! Your solution offers still seem to be pretty significant. Have you ever had any success with something like a checklist?

  3. I recently had someone ask me how I do social media for real estate agents. I wrote her a long email (she isn't in any of my niches) and realized I had just written a course and was going to use the entire email to do the free offer. After reading here, I'm thinking maybe I was going to be giving away too much. Thanks, Stacey!

    1. Becky, before I used to spend a lot of time creating these massive opt ins.  I then started looking at what other people were doing and what I was doing with what I opted in for.  The short, sweet and actionable ones won the day every time.

        1. I have a 7 day challenge which I am looking at rebranding as something else so that it all goes out at once.  I may even cut it up into more that one opt in. You have helped to me to confirm this is probably a good idea.

  4. This has been a struggle of mine. I love how you break it down here. I agree you've got to solve one problem at a time. I'm thinking about how my freebies stand up to this. I'll go through the exercise above and map it out and come back here and post for feedback:) 

  5. I love how you point out that social media is for list building. I hear so many people talk about how they want to make a post or two on Facebook and then they expect the sales to start pouring in.  It's naive at best to come from that point and I'm glad to see you're setting the record straight.  

  6. so many great ideas here. I agree that Social Media is about building our relationship- the first phase. Plus it can be fun. I have ‘met’ so many new business contacts and ultimately friends through Social Media.
    I love the One Problem. One Solution aspect. Simple and it should get better results

  7. I need to share this article with one of my clients who complains about not getting leads for his business. I adviced him that we should create offers that will attract people to give us their information in exchange for it. Thanks for sharing this.

  8. Great ideas Stacey. I have been building my list with 4 Ways to Develop your Clairvoyance, a PDF and the audio. I too have several projects that I either began to create or created and have yet to use them. I like your idea of simplicity.

  9. These are indeed great information.  People like freebies so it makes sense to have a free offer.  If people do not buy from you immediately, you can always gt back to them through the email you have collected. 

     

  10. Love these tips Stacey and you are right.. too many folks thing social media is.. get on and sell, but it's for building your list and creating and keeping the relationships.. for sure. 

    Loved the twitter tips too.. working on list building as well and wish there were better recipes on IFTTT, that had like two pieces.. like if this AND this, then that.. lmao

  11. Great points here. Trust is an important factor online and engagement helps establish that. Social media is a great tool but it’s really just the beginning. Love the idea of simplifying the free offer. Thank you!

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