I Sold A Franchise To A Unicorn
as Posted on Frandeavor Blog April 29th, 2009

I sold a franchise to a Unicorn. Yep, last week I closed a lead that was generated from a blog posting: AKA: Social Media. We’ve all heard stories of mythical leads generated by “free” postings on blogs and social sites, but until last week I hadn’t actually seen one.

If you are like me, you’ve got your twitter account, Facebook fan page, linkedin profile, but how do you convert these medias into active live leads?

1. Make sure your website is rock solid. All social media efforts point in one direction, straight back to your website. As a result, your franchise offering needs to be clear, easy to navigate, and compelling. Don’t waste one dime or one minute on social media until your website is powerful enough to convert any traffic into a lead.

2. Social Media is not free. You need a staff member and a brand champion to lead your social media efforts. This person needs to be a skilled writer, fluent in the language of social media, and they need to be an authentic FAN of your brand. You need to pay for their dedicated time in executing your social media plan. Don’t assign your social media efforts to the intern or the receptionist; assign it to a key member of your team.

3. Know your target franchisee. You’ve got to know everything about your target franchisee. By identifying where your target prospect shops, listens to music, and gets their news and hobbies, you can easily target the right blogs and social sites to engage in conversation.

4. Finally, be authentic. The great thing about social media is that it’s the people’s media. It’s not sponsored by Coke, or littered with pop ups. Social Media is like-minded people sharing ideas on a given topic. As a result, if you post a sales pitch or canned response readers will see right through it. Be passionate, be relevant, and you’ll become a member of the community.