As a small business owner, it’s imperative that you work at building your prospect and customer lists. And it’s OK to have separate contact lists. We all do. Some customers like to be reached via email, some through social media and some still through the mail!

This post gives you a few new ways to get your customers to help you build those lists by using their social media streams. One way to do this is to add social media icons that encourage your customers or followers to talk about you to their networks. Like that great Faberge Organics commercial where the spokeswoman kept telling two friends (I may have just dated myself!).

One way to easily do this is to try out a free sharing tool called “AddThis.” It’s a code you put on your website that allows your users to share your content and pages to their social networks with just one click. It also gives you analytics as to how many times your page is shared. As an example, see our VR Button Builder page below. AddThis enabled us put the sharing icons on our pages in just minutes.

If someone clicks Tweet, for instance, this page will come up:

The post will go out to your Twitter followers if you tweet it. Pretty cool.

So here are 3 pages to place your new social media share code and enable your customers to get the message out to their followers!

1. Your Confirmation Page – After a customer orders from you online, give them an opportunity to tell their friends that they just got the latest and greatest from you!

2. Newsletter Landing Page – When someone signs up for your newsletter, present them with a page that says, “I just signed up for the Widgets Newsletter! You should too!” Then give them a link to your opt-in form.

3. Your Registration Process – If you require your customers to sign up and have an “account” with you, give them an opportunity to easily share their registration with their friends and followers. Include a link directing their networks to a page where they can register, too.

Bonus! Don’t forget to add these icons into your email marketing campaigns. This enables your recipients to share your messages with their networks. Your recipients social networks can even re-tweet or share, too. VerticalResponse and many other ESPs enable you to easily do this with social sharing features. You don’t need any special code, it’s built right in the email.

Happy Sharing!

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