Are you still getting bombarded every day on LinkedIn with 'follow/subscribe' to my newsletter?

Reading everyone's newsletter, or listening to their podcast would be a full time job.

At times it's exhausting having to say no - unless it's from someone in your network who you recognise provides really good value on their post, blogs, articles. 

If your internet footprint is miniscule in comparison to some of those big name retailers, how on earth could you ever hope to grow and compete? 

All sizeable online 'Marketplaces' have been a must for the smaller guy or girl to gain access to much bigger numbers of customers than they could garner on their own. So it's a logical assumption that the mighty 'Amazon, eBay' and others are an attractive place to get your product/service in front of millions of people that will spend, spend, spend and help to grow your business. 

For many brands choosing to list on 'Amazon' has definitely proven to be a way to drive those sales, but not necessarily a relationship with its customer.

This is because your building your business on someone else's platform - in simple terms those 'customers' belong to Amazon and not you, and if you fall foul of their algorithm your business can be penalised with not only a significant loss in revenues, but also no further access to those paying customers!

If you've ever been to LinkedIn jail you will know what I mean.

Today's digitally savvy entrepreneur and business leader knows that the way to grow your customer base is to consistently turn up and be seen on social media. 

Those that look to entertain, inform, and educate are statistically more likely to stand a better chance than those that don't of unlocking future prospects and turning them into customers/clients.

However.......

Just like being on Amazon how do you build a direct relationship with the end customer and cultivate thousands of new prospects on all those social media channels you leverage?

The best companies focus on imaginative CTA's (call to action) to encourage people to not just 'like' social media post, they obsess around what I call a value exchange. 

They do this by thinking about what's in it for that prospect and not just for the company so they actively encourage sign ups to a newsletter - which of course requires an email address!

So despite what the social selling gurus would have you think about e-mail being a crap medium we all need to remember that all social platforms are indeed the best place to 'warm up' and cultivate your lurkers, prospects, and yes even your existing customers.

Creating an email database mitigates the risk associated with your account being blocked for some unknown algo reason - this is your business continuity insurance and if put together in the right way will help you move your lurkers through to becoming customers who are happy to part with their cash with you rather than your competitor.

All in all, there are many pro's and con's to being on a Marketplace, but if your entire business revenues are reliant on a third party then you're business is operating in extremely turbulent waters.