This is what ZAC has to say.

First of all: NOTHING. LISTEN FIRST.

I learned that lesson real quick. I used to go in there, guns blazing, ideas coming out of my mouth like a machine gun dribble of pure creativity and social marketing genius. We can do this, we can do that, we’ll have a bit of this, and a sprinkling of that, yes, also we absolutely cannot NOT have this. Oh and this pretty shiny new thing, we must have that too. Nope, doesn’t work. First things first, let the client speak. Let them tell you why they asked for your help. Let them tell you about themselves, their business, their goals and ambitions.

(Continuation . . .)

What Happens When You Let The Client Speak First?
Almost immediately, they will tell you their frustrations and fears. Businesses are on edge about social media. They know it is here to stay, they know there are opportunities to embrace and implement social media; but they just don’t know how. They are also worried about costs. They are also worried about what traditional PR and branding agencies are either telling or selling them. They want to do more of their marketing on their own, as a way to learn, but also as a way to control costs.

And they need to tell you this. Something happens when you let someone articulate their fears and worries about something you can help them with.

Let a client tell you this first, before you say a word, and you’ll find them less on edge, less defensive. They won’t be checking their watches wondering how they could make such a huge mistake bringing a schmuck (or schmuckette, as the case may be) in to waste their time, confuse them and generally set them back even further.

So What Do You Say Once You’ve Listened?
I don’t know yet actually. I am still learning. But since the beginning of this year, I’ve learned to tone down, like REALLY tone down my pitch. Everyone talks about Facebook first. It’s what they know because almost everyone uses it personally. Twitter? They don’t like it. They haven’t used it, but they don’t like. They either hate the name, the service (or what they think is the service) they hate what they’ve heard about, but even if they don’t hate Twitter, they’re afraid that it will take up too much time.

Currently, I am advising new clients and potentials to slow down. To not try to do everything at once. My first piece of advice is to pick 1 or 2 platforms, learn them over a period of time, do a lot of listening and some light engagement. Most of all I am encouraging them to find ways to incorporate social media into their lives. Don’t read blogs? Here are a few to check out. What’s Foursquare? I’ll whip out my phone and show you mine. Never seen what Twitter looks like? I show them Tweetdeck on my laptop and they almost instantly get it.

“You mean I can organize my friends and followers into columns and lists?”

Yep, you can do that. This is all set up by listening first. By letting their air their frustrations and concerns. I’ve also learned to be incredibly flexible about time and money. Isn’t it worth training someone new for a month for a discount? I think it is, particularly if it means I get to work with a new client, a new business. At the very least, I’ll make a new friend and still break even financially.

And if you are good at what you do, after that first month I don’t know a single client who hasn’t signed up for months two and three.