I recently attended a Webinar hosted by Chris Brogan.

Learn Google+ For Business and Networking was an introduction to Google’s new social network, with thoughts and ideas on how it could be used for business. Having only recently received my invite for the platform I was eager to catch up and ensure I was up to speed. This Webinar offered the perfect opportunity to do just that.

But this post isn’t about the Webinar itself; it’s about the business opportunity. Chris earned $14,100 for 2 hours work minus any costs, in terms of time or the GoTo Meeting software he used to do the presentation.

Using Social Media you can do the same using these simple 5 steps.

1. Build Your Network

Whatever platform you decide to work with Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Google+ or a combination of them you need to build a network. Numbers alone are of no real use though; the network you build needs to have an interest in your area of speciality if you wish to use it to grow your business. Chris has a very large network across multiple platforms, largely due to the fact that those platforms, or more accurately, Social Media is his speciality.

2. Give Stuff Away For Free

What Chris does really well is give stuff away for free. His blog is a massive source of inspiration on how to use blogging and Social Media. You’ll find countless videos on YouTube with actionable insight. So that when Chris got together with Julien Smith to write his book Trust Agents it became a New York Times bestseller because people already trusted him. Give your network valuable information they can use, when the time comes they will happily pay you back.

3. Look For Opportunities

The great thing about Chris’s Webinar was that it was opportunistic. Not in a cheap sense, but in the fact that he saw a need in the marketplace, and based an offer around that need. Some experts in the field thought he, and others, were cashing in. I think he was fulfilling a need. If you keep your eye on new developments in your niche, can you turn these into training programs or information products?

4. Leverage Your Network

So you’ve built your targeted network, you’ve built trust by giving away stuff for free, you’ve found an opportunity. Now you can take this as an offer to your network. If you’ve done the other steps correctly you’ll find this step relatively simple. It won’t require a marketing budget; a blog post, YouTube video or even a Tweet or two should be enough to gain interest.

5. Offer Great Value

One final thing to remember is to offer value. If you build a strong enough network you will be able to leverage it time and again. You’ll only be able to do so though, if you ensure that the information you give lives up to expectation. Chris leveraged his network to sell 300 places at $47 each for a 1 hour presentation followed by an hours Q&A. That $47 saved me several hours of guess work, trial and error, time I just do not have in my day job.

Whatever your field of expertise you can use that knowledge, combined with Social Media to add extra value to your offer and revenue to your company.

What opportunities are on the horizon for your niche?