Many — if not most — of us are caught up in the social media movement, and that’s a good thing . . . up to a point. While it’s an absolutely incredible way for staying in touch, the danger line is crossed if and when something like postings or tweets are habitually substituted for face-to-face interaction with clients, prospects, associates, vendors and others on whom we rely. If we generally avoid opportunities to “get out among ‘em,” we do so at our own peril. Sure, time is our most precious commodity, but an honest-to-goodness relationship is a terrible thing to click away.

Your centers of influence, i.e. friends and fellow group members, are a great source of referrals and direct business. Use (your choice) email marketing or surface mail to stay in touch with your core contacts, no less than once monthly. Try to build your message around news or other helpful information (occasionally, special offers are OK) rather than out-and-out selling pushes. This way, your missives are more likely to be welcomed rather than dreaded.

My friend Eden Sunshine, the business process guru, calls many of the “solutions” to which entrepreneurs are attracted, “bright and shiny things.”

Certainly the marketing moves that bid for our attention almost daily can fairly be said to fall in the same category. They look good – and attributes the media salesperson or online “wizard” ascribes to them are, indeed, enticing. But before plowing precious dollars into a tactic that seems to be a quick fix, cool off long enough to consider how it does – or doesn’t – complement your overall marketing strategy.

Sometimes that pig in a poke disguised as a “sure cure” is better left alone to burrow its way into somebody else’s well-conceived marketing plan.

To survive, let alone be a category leader, adequate numbers of prospects must be developed. This cannot be accomplished through time-and-energy-draining two-way communication, either face to face or on the phone. Publisher McGraw Hill has estimated that the average sales call requires approximately 45 minutes, and that an average of three calls is required to close a sale. That’s simply inefficient. Prospecting is what marketing – the one-way communication element of sales – is ideally suited for. Whether by e-mail, surface mail or online, your sales success likely be in direct proportion to your one-way outreach.

Huh, you say?

Well, it’s true. We all have a savings account of energy. Some days we may spend little beyond brushing our teeth and flipping on the TV, yet on other days we seem to have an energy surge.

Come nightfall, those low-energy days may leave us dissatisfied, while at the end of a high-energy day we look back with satisfaction. I can’t account variances in “brain wattage,” but I do believe the following:

The greatest energy producer is motivation, whether it’s a desire to produce, excel or merely survive. Determine that you are going to make this one of those more productive days. How about doing something especially for a friend, client or customer, and surprise them by sending it to them . . . TODAY.

Then, surprise me by telling me how that worked.

Really good e-mail marketing should inform, instruct or provide other types of relevant, useful information for recipients. Those that merely scream, “Buy this!” give e-mail marketing a bad name; you know, that nasty “s-word.” More people prefer to get their information by e-mail than any other way. But remember, what people really want is to be helped – not hustled!

In a word, yes.

It does take “guts” to solicit reviews, because some can be negative . . . some even unethically submitted by your competitors.

But because people put more faith in their peers then they do in advertising, reviews can be powerful inducements to business prospects. As long as the majority of reviews are positive, the negative ones can tend to make the good ones more credible.

Interestingly, studies have shown that sales increases are dramatic when the positive reviews dominate, even though there may also be negative ones. It’s important to remember that if you deserve the good buzz, the good buzz will follow.

Sometimes marketing decisions come down to just that.

Especially with all the choices out there, most of which profess to be “the perfect answer.” Of course, the proliferation of tempting online social media avenues and other promising trends has only exacerbated the situation.

While research would seem to be the logical answer, most of us have neither the time, nor the inclination to utilize it to any serious degree; especially considering the pressures thrust upon us by a hyper-competitive marketplace within an anemic (can you say, “sick”) economy.

Hopefully, we have come to possess enough native marketing insight – gained through experience and, often, expensive trial and error – to trust our instincts in making such choices. Alas, however, it takes a little more than guts to be able to trust our gut.

A bit of knowledge can come in handy, too.

99% of the time, words are ultimately what generates leads, motivates people to action and makes you money. The right words can produce an astonishingly better response. We all have the same words available for our use. It is how they are arranged that makes the critical difference.

Contact three of your favorite customers/clients and give them something they can use, i.e. an idea, a suggestion, a special offer, a hot tip, a sincere compliment, a congratulatory note, an invitation to lunch, etc. Use your imagination because you are in a unique position to “deliver the goods.” Put on your thinking cap. If you really set your mind to the task, the only problem you will have is trying to limit it to just three.