By Tina Hilton of Clerical Advantage

According to a recent global survey 58% of people don’t know what social media is. Coincidentally this statistic tied right into an incident that I found mildly frustrating this week. As a virtual assistant one of the benefits I provide is giving an ‘outsider’ view of your business. As such, I can often see things that aren’t being done or can be done differently and one of the things I most often recommend is the creation and maintenance of a blog. A few months ago, I created a question and answer type of blog for a client. Readers were encouraged to leave questions regarding Maine real estate and my client would answer them. The first few months I maintained the blog, posting a series of questions and answers provided to me by my client. I was very excited as I watched the traffic increase and as we started to receive more questions. I surfed by the blog yesterday to find that it hadn’t been updated since the last time I had done so. Apparently my client had turned their attention to ‘real’ marketing. In other words, they didn’t feel that the social media marketing of a blog was real marketing.

This led me to wonder; of the 42% of people who knew what social media was, how many really get it? This client clearly knows what it is, yet fails to see it as a credible marketing tool. How many other like them are included in that 42%. As a VA, I’m wondering just how to reach both the 58% who aren’t aware of social media and those that know but aren’t convinced of its worth. Is it possible for me, and other virtual assistants to show them just how valuable it is? Can we show them that the return on investment is much higher than their ‘traditional’ marketing methods. Is it possible to open their eyes to how valuable it is to build relationships with their target markets through social media and show them that it will gain them more clients and loyalty than any newspaper ad ever could?

So help me out, I would like to find the best way to reach the masses with the social media message. Tell me what led you to social media. What made you sit up and notice the possibilities? You can leave a comment here, or if you’re the shy type, you can e-mail me directly at thilton@clericaladvantage.com

If you have questions concerning virtual assistance or have an interest in working with a virtual assistant you can contact Tina Hilton or visit her business website for Clerical Advantage.