You have heard it before: if you are not on Social Media, you are missing out on a prime opportunity to build relationships.

My latest guest is Jessica Campos, the founder of Marketing for Greatness, and who many of you may already know as “The Social Media Guru.” She took some time out of her busy schedule as an entrepreneur, wife, and mom of four to discuss how she broke into this business and how she uses what she has learned about the social landscape to transform her clients’ marketing efforts.

When Life Hands You Lemons

Jessica Campos is not one of those entrepreneurs who grew up around money and power and success. Her story, instead, is one of resilience and determination to break free from the cycle of poverty that had plagued her family to become a successful woman all on her own.

Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Campos decided to pursue first a career as an accountant and then as a lawyer.

And a successful career she did indeed have; that is until the recession hit.

Having focused on real estate law up until then, Campos was not left with much once her business took a hit from the recession. This is what she refers to as the “breakdown.” This is the point when you are met with a challenge and are then forced to either let it wash over and take you down or to take charge and work on transforming yourself so you can move on.

With a drive to win, Campos set out on a new path to have a better life, more freedom, and one that would enable her to have a family while also enjoying a successful career. This is how she came to found Marketing for Greatness, a full-service marketing firm that enables her to mentor other entrepreneurs on how to build their dream businesses.

.@jessicamcampos shares how to be successful with #marketing and #socialmedia.
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Learning How to Market for Greatness

There’s a lot that can be learned from Campos story. For anyone who has had to struggle and has suffered breakdowns of their own, this is where you need to pay attention.

If I have to start from zero again, what are the skills I have? This is a crucial question to ask yourself whether you are about to embark on a new career or are forced to change positions after a major disruptor. Campos took a close look at her life and decided that it was her ability never to give up and her drive to win that were her greatest skills, and so she set out to monetize them in the hopes of finding success again.

Having now generated over $4 million in sales, I think it is fair to say that is exactly what she has done.

Now, in talking with Campos, there was one thing I found particularly interesting about her story as it is something many entrepreneurs shy away from. Nine years ago, she walked away from her legal career and decided to make a mark in the marketing and social media space, in which she had no prior experience before making the leap.

Here are some of the tips she kindly shared with me on how entrepreneurs should approach social media to find success:

• Spend some money to learn more about how social media and marketing work.
• Don’t copy what others in your industry do. You do not know what their underlying strategy was, so you will never be able to replicate it. Plus, it reeks of inauthenticity.
• Go after the conversations that actually matter.
• Look at social media as a place to network and build relationships, the same as you would with real friends.
• Be confident. People can smell desperation, and it will lead you to all the wrong people.
• Use social media to supplement the real world: if you meet someone offline, connect with them online; and if you meet someone online, find a way to connect with them offline.

Her trick for succeeding in an entirely new field? She invested in herself. She went to a marketing academy and learned as much as she could about the industry and the work involved. It took years for her to be successful in this space, but it worked. Today she is known as The Social Media Guru and for good reason.

For the whole interview, click play below.

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