I was watching one of those “monster hunting” shows where they never catch the monster but we all watch anyway because we convince ourselves that maybe Big Foot, The lochness Monster or that chupa lupa cabra thing actually exist.

In this one they were after this big ass shark the size of an aircraft carrier that supposedly ate some tourists in South Africa.

So first they  “chummed” the water. For those of you who don’t know, chumming is where you throw a bunch of fish guts, corn meal, leftovers from the fridge or whatever into the water, to attract whatever it is you’re trying to catch.

You end up attracting not just the fish you’re looking for, but also that fish’s friends, who tell their friends, and pretty soon everybody is gathered around your boat.

The problem is… there’s no hook.

The next step is to drop a hook in the water, spear them, shoot them, blow them up with dynamite or whatever it takes to get them in the boat.

If you didn’t pick up on the analogy because you’re too busy thinking about your customers floating in he ocean eating your leftovers, social media is the chumming part.  Selling is the other part.

At some point you have to let your fans know what you need them to buy and reel them into the boat. Or use the hook if you have to.

I know this flies in the face of social media etiquette, since we’re not supposed to be overtly selling, but otherwise isn’t social media really a waste of resources?

You need a good mix of chumming, hooking and spearing to be successful at getting fast, consistent results.

Otherwise, you’re just social networking, not social media marketing.