Building Fans, Increasing Followers, Getting to 1Million Viewers -- Why is it taking soooo long?!

Social media success doesn't happen over night.

We are not a patient species. We may have been at one time, but then McDonald's spoiled us with the drive through window, the internet dumped dial-up connections, and Apple started creating leaner, meaner, faster cell phones. No one waits for anything anymore, so it's only fitting, that I remind all of you one more time, social media success doesn't happen over night.

Some things still take time. Even with short cuts and insights, there is only so much cheating that Father Time will allow. When you bake a cake, if you rush it, you will be eating soggy cake (personally, I find chocolate in any state delightful, but soggy cake and sloppy social media are two different things).

Here is what I suggest for those that want social media success to happen for you right now:

• Reread the bolded sentence above.
• Create a plan for your social media efforts. What social sites will you use and how will you use them? What do you want to share on each? (Remember, social media isn't about you telling people stuff. It's also about you listening. And actually, the less you try to tell them, and the more you listen instead, the better it will work.)
• Set some time aside each week to develop your social media efforts. You can't write one tweet and call it good. It's ongoing. Like any good relationship, it takes work.
• Think of social media like dating. You have to court the girl for a while before you bring her home to meet the family. Then you spend more time getting to know each other before you pop the question. You can expand your business and increase sales with social media, but you have to take the time to "court" your customers. 
• Be patient. With persistance and dedication, it will happen.

I enjoyed a recent post by the Social Media Examiner on using social media for customer research. They shared some great ideas for finding customers that are talking about things relevant to your business. Find these conversations and join them. Don't try to seal the deal immediately--court the customer and develop the relationship first. First comes like, then comes love, and then comes marriage.