One Entrepreneur On Social Networking: Arsene Hodali

This is part of a series called "The Entrepreneurs on Social Networking."  This interview is with Arsene Hodali.

What are your general thoughts on social networking (do you think it's highly important for today's business owner, a great way to build a web presence, a fad, exaggerated in importance, etc.)?

Social networking is by far the best answer to that age old question "How can we get my customers to LOVE our business?"  No matter how big a business is social media is the conduit to be able to connect with customers on a personal level – to make them feel and know that the company cares.  Over time, if you show them enough love, they’ll become life long fans.  It can be compared to your local small coffee store manager; you know, the one that knows your name and your favorite order by heart. Why do you think you visit it so often?! Because they took the time to know you as an individual; you aren't a number to them, and that means a lot.

Social networking thus is a great way to build a web presence. Once you've shown a few customers that you care about them (and not just about their money), they'll spread the word, building your web presence for you. They'll tell all their friends and colleagues just how amazing your business is and how great it was working with you.  And trust me, it's not a fad. Hugh MacLeod said it best when he said "Business is socializing with purpose."  To keep and attract customers, companies need to build a “tribe” of people that become “super fans”.  Take 37signals for example. They're a tech business, but they blog about their innovations and discoveries on a daily basis. Yes, even their competition has access to their information. But it doesn't matter. With this sort of openness, their customers will pick them over their competition every single time.

Of course some social media tactics are exaggerated, like "follower counts" on Twitter and Facebook.  A high follower count is useless if none of them are interacting with your business. I'd take a business with 500 followers that interacts with 400 of them, over one with 500,000 followers that interacts with 300 of them, any day of the week.

What have been your biggest challenges with social networking?

It takes an ENORMOUS amount of time before seeing any return on "investment". One day without realizing it, you have the best ROI in your industry because of all the time you put in, but sadly, few are willing to put in that much time.

What have been your keys to success when it comes to social networking?

Perseverance, passion, and heart.

You'll need perseverance for the long hard road you'll have in the beginning with no ROI.  You'll need passion when you're talking about your company/products because people will be able to sense when you really care about your products, and when you don't.  And you'll need heart when your talking with your customers. You're going to have to see things from their perspectives, and most businesses can't do this because their too busy thinking about their own profits, their own margins, their own costs, etc. etc.

Do you have any techniques or routines that help you succeed with social networking?

A dedicated one hour a day on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn (Twitter the most); mandatory. Nobody is going to listen to you if you show up once a month. You have to show up and talk with your customers/fans every single day. They're the ones supporting your business with their hard earned money. An hour a day helping them and answering their questions isn't too much to ask.

Any final thoughts on social networking?

Connecting with millions, if not billions, of people a day is pointless if you have nothing of value to offer them.  Build a great company. Build great products. Have great employees. And then focus on social networking.  If you focus on social networking without these things, people will tell that your blowing smoke and that you have nothing to offer… sand then they turn to your competition.

Arsene Hodali is, in few words, a social media addict. Self-taught, he is the social media manager at RemoteStylist.com (the global hub for home decor). He blogs daily and shares way too much information on his twitter account.