Perry has the right idea. When you try to “make money with social marketing”, your initiative is to look for an opportunity to make a sales pitch. Consider what you would do if a new face at a barbeque introduces themselves this way:

“Hi. I’m Matt, and I sell siding. Your house looks great, but I want to make it look better. Wanna buy some siding?”

It’s not the right setting. Perhaps, at some point, you might want to talk to him later about siding, but you’re barbequing right now. You’re not thinking about siding. The best way for “Matt” to edge his way into a sale is to just be there and create a relationship with the guests. Matt shouldn’t even talk about what he does unless someone asks. Even then, he should do what I like to call “teaser-casting”, giving them short bits  of information, a little at a time, kind of like teasing a fish to the surface.

Tina: “What do you do?”

Matt: “I’m in siding. What do you do?”

(A little bit later)

Tina: “So, you said you were in siding? Who do you work for.”

Matt: “Oh, I work for Devine Siding. It’s a great company.  I’ve worked for them for a long time and they keep me pretty busy. But I do like camping on my off time. Name a camp site. I bet I’ve been there…”

(A little later)

Tina: “Well it was nice meeting you, Matt.”

Matt: “You too, Tina. Very nice talking to you. Here’s my card; it has my blog’s address on it. Keep in touch, okay?”

No sales pitch, no obvious professional come-on. You talk shop when they want you to, but make sure you remind them who you are in small ways. Especially for small business owners, the new economy ties professional lives to personal lives in subtle but effective ways. Seeds are planted that may not spring up for a while, but when that flower blooms it could be several different buds, not just the one you gave the card to.