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If you are a small business owner, you don’t have time to sit in front of a computer for six to eight hours at a time working on your product marketing. What about the time you could spend sitting in front of your computer actually selling something? It’s time to get out there, meet new people and connect with potential customers. That’s the world of Inbound Marketing, the online equivalent of making small talk. The two can go hand in hand.

Here are a few tips and tricks for doing Inbound Marketing, the first step in what can be a long journey.

1. Create a Social List of Followers

This step is simple and makes it much easier to market, plus it allows you to evaluate and measure your success. Start by creating a social list of people who are familiar with your brand and who you can find on social media platforms. For example, if you are a used book store, look for people who love old books and live near you. If you work for a landscaping company, find people who are heavy landscapers and live near you. Once you have your list, keep it updated with new people as they are mentioned in media articles and online posts. This will give you the opportunity to create brand awareness and reputation online as well as make the connection with customers.

2. Research Social Media Sites

Research social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram and the like. Find the ones where your target audience already exists. Most social media sites allow users to follow people they admire, create groups to share ideas and build credibility, such as the Harvard Business Review. In addition, your followers will give you the opportunity to learn more about the people and industries in which you are targeting. This should help get your brand up to speed with other social media sites you may be interested in launching your business in. This is also a great way to evaluate your relevancy and understand the competitive landscape of your industry.

3. Set Social Media Goals

Once you have built a following on certain social media sites, you have two options. You can set a goal for yourself to grow your following to a certain level, or your business can set a target goal for itself. Find out what your business’s audience wants to read about and how to reach them. In the first step of marketing, you must build your brand. Next, you must set goals to make sure your brand is thriving.

4. Start Listening

Now it’s time to listen. Listen carefully to the conversations happening on your social media platform. Some of them will be about your business. Who is talking about your business? What topics do they like? When can they be found? A healthy dose of customer engagement is essential in building your brand.

5. Leverage Customer Insights

While you’re listening, you might be getting great insights and learnings. For example, discover which of your customers want a new job, want to know if they have money for a vacation or a new car, or need help changing their TV cable service.

6. Leverage Thought Leadership

If your company has some notable thought leadership, as well as opinions on important business issues, let them be known. This is the least-ideal way to talk about your business, but by adding thought leadership as a part of your marketing plan, you open the door to other people who may want to advertise or do business with you.

7. Collaborate

There is nothing worse than when one firm acts alone when marketing its product. Enter a marketing alliance with other companies to bring more visibility to your business. Your business can be featured in a banner ad on one of their websites or highlighted in a brochure distributed to prospects.

8. Seek Out Influencers

Get your company in front of others through social media influencers. If you are the owner of a local business, reach out to people whose views you respect who are also in the media. You never know who they may be connecting with, and you can leverage those connections to build your own brand. You may discover a new client who you never would have thought would be receptive to your business. Also, listen to influencers, and they will be sharing their thoughts and recommendations as they go.