ONLY RESULTS MATTER, RIGHT?

How can you prove, Leslie, that social media is really working to deliver sales or save me money? I am hearing this question more and more from retailers and manufacturers as they begin to consider using social media-specifically Twitter-to engage and interact with online consumers.So, CAN I prove it? The answer is…YES, and, when money can be saved permanently (and, with social media deployment-we are only talking about a re-allocation of EXISTING advertising and marketing budgets) this means more cash flow is available to keep from having to lay off your valuable, well-trained employees-many of whom have become your close friends, too. And, for me, this is what it is all about-how can we use social media to save jobs and create extra cash flow to re-invest in the technologies that will allow you to have a sustainable business model now and for the future.

I know you may be thinking this right now (because I’ve heard it so much from you!) “When I view Twitter- it looks nonsensical. ” “It seems like a total waste of time.” It looked nonsensical to me, too, when I first started using it. However, the true value (in terms of understanding and seeing whether or not this tool is successful in creating sales and uncovering business opportunities) is in AGGREGATING the content through threading together the conversations so you can see what is really happening.

And, yes, I know it IS time consuming, but then, so are MOST activities associated with advertising and marketing - think of the time you are spending now on doing activities related to these two categories (or paying employees to do them for you). How much time are you (or all of you) spending per week on these activities (not to mention money) right now? Are they working for you as they once were to deliver sales and traffic into your stores? What about traffic to your websites? Are your marketing and advertising dollars that you are CURRENTLY SPENDING every month delivering traffic to your website? Can you measure the correlation? With social media, you can, exactly, right down to the second.

So, how can I prove that actual sales are being made from Twitter (the social media site of choice for saavy retailers like @thecenturyhouse in Madison, WI, @LaDiff in Richmond, VA , @CircleFurniture in Boston @ShopAshley , @thesilverbarn (Columbus, TX) @nfmtweets (as in Nebraska Furniture Mart) or @RaymourFlanigan (you know them, right?), saavy interior designers like @StarrMiller @WandaSHorton @tobifairley @vicentewolf, saavy manufacturers like @KathyIreland @maybellinete @shineeveryday (my client)@BKIND3 @HardenFurniture @NaturaWorld , saavy suppliers like my client @BiOH4ALLjk, @sweetsoaps, @imageglow @cococompany @BruceBarone and that consumers are actively engaging in conversations with these furniture retailers, manufacturers, designers, and suppliers?

Let me digress a second before I answer that question.

This week is the 7th annual Leadership Education conference sponsored by Women In The Home Industries Today - WITHIT. http://withit.org  WITHIT’s mission is the professional development of women in the home industries. (We also welcome men, too!) The purpose of this conference is for women (and men) in any part of the home industries to come together - without market pressures - to learn the latest information and leadership skills so they are ready, upon their return, to impact the bottom line of their respective companies in the most powerful way possible.

Along with Julia Rosien, Communications Director for bedding manufacturer, http://naturaworld.com, I am presenting at this week’s conference on Social Media Marketing Analysis. Julia will be sharing-from a manufacturing perspective-the return on investment numbers her company has gained from their use of social media conversational marketing.

What will I be presenting? A slide show that has taken me many hours to produce. Why did it take so much time? Because I have gone through hundreds of conversations on Twitter and, using screenshots- have threaded the conversations between consumers and furniture retailers, manufacturers, interior designers, suppliers and publishers together and have put these threaded conversations into side by side PP format so my audience can see that actual sales are being made and business opportunities solidified.

It is proof beyond a shadow of a doubt that Twitter is successful in producing sales and business opportunities for the retailers, manufacturers, designers and suppliers who are using it.

The women and men (like my friend, fellow WITHT member and presenter @jerry_cohen - well known furniture industry lawyer from NYC) who are attending the conference will be the first ones to have access to the slides that Julia and I present - which will allow them to bring back to their employers (or into their own businesses) the actual visual proof that social media does work to create real sales. (Hint: this is a good reason to join WITHIT - we aim to educate in order to provide information like this that can immediately create bottom line impacts for you. And, thank you for allowing me the short pitch for my favorite furniture industry non-profit org-http://withit.org. Without the mentoring of the women in WITHIT - well, I wouldn’t be writing.

I am now certain that I can say this: If you will embrace Twitter, spend a little time and money to understand it and develop the appropriate strategy, internal policies and training tools for it and then use it CONSISTENTLY to engage local consumers (or whichever group of potential buyers you want to reach) you will be able to drop so much money within a 6-month-timeframe (and maybe sooner, but I want to be conservative) to your bottom line that you will be able to save jobs and start re-investing the additional saved cash flow in other income producing activities.

If you still want more proof that social media works to create sales and business opportunities, please come to @WorldMarketCtr Las Vegas on Sept. 17 at 10am. On behalf of @WorldMarketCtr, I will be presenting on Social Media ROI: Case Studies. The presentation will take place in Bldg. B on the 16th floor in the World Market Forum Room.

And, the real reason you should be there? Because @KathyIreland has honored me by accepting my invitation to be my guest presenter and talk about how her company, Kathy Ireland Worldwide. The company has benefitted from using Twitter - an outcome she did not expect when she first joined the “Twitterverse.” She had an opportunity to be on CNBC on the same day, but understanding the importance of Twitter in saving jobs, she declined that opportunity and accepted mine! I still can’t believe it, but YOU will be the beneficiaries of her remarkable story re: her Twittter journey and she is doing it because it was the independent retailers of the world (and many of you are Moms, too) who first gave her lines a chance on their floors which has now led to her ability to be the CEO of a 1.3 billion dollar company.

Do I know Kathy? No. We have never met and she is not my client. BUT, we have met on Twitter, formed a relationship there, and we talk quite a bit…