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I think my last post succeeded in getting some people to at least think about starting a social media plan for their businesses!

The big question now is, Where do we start?

Some “experts” would have you believe that you have to saturate your message everywhere to be successful. They might be right. However, the free online encyclopedia Wikipedia lists dozens of sites from A to Z, ranging from music and gaming, to special interest groups, dating, photography, books, blogs, travel, and lots more.

Does your business really to connect with all that??

I think you have to consider the following:

  • The amount of time you can afford to invest in social media
  • Your level of comfort learning how to interact online
  • Your definition of “success”

If you’re looking to build your customer base or “get the word out” about your products or services, a social presence can be a big help. If you need a fast solution to declining sales, look elsewhere. Here’s why: You have to run a social media campaign for a while to see results.

Let’s take a look at three possible beginning spots:

  1. Facebook. Boasting more than 640,000,000 registered users, Facebook lets you set up a profile, then update your information, converse with others, post photos and videos, even wish others a Happy Birthday! Users swear by it for getting feedback and starting discussions, as well as driving traffic to your Website. Prepare to devote 2-4 hours a week to manage your account.
  2. Twitter. Started two years after Facebook, Twitter has 175,000,000+ registered users. Twitter offers micro-blogging (or “tweets”), a short stream of messages much like what a radio station does. People are listening — some even “retweet” messages they like — but you don’t necessarily know who. Still, the idea of posting something and having others re-post it and still others re-post that sounds like a good way to increase an audience, doesn’t it? Be sure to set aside at least two hours a week to manage your Twitter account.
  3. LinkedIn. This site was begun in 2003 and has approximately 120,000,000 users at present. LinkedIn targets professionals interested in networking; it also contains a section where users can ask questions and other users can respond to them. You can set up a resume-based profile, then link to others, ideally broadening your network of contacts.

Next time: Blogging

 

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