“Social media” may not be the most accurate way to describe LinkedIn. In contrast to Facebook and MySpace, LinkedIn is used primarily for business, not pleasure. You might not automatically think of LinkedIn when you’re trying to attract new customers, but in reality, it’s a great way to increase your visibility and build a reputation in your industry. If your company is a newcomer to the scene, you’ll find the site especially helpful.

Creating a LinkedIn profile is a bit like writing a resume. Just like a resume, your profile can (and should) continually be updated as you refine your professional image. But remember to follow the first rule of cybermarketing: take advantage of the word-of-mouth possibilities, but avoid aggressively pushing your products or services!

Once you’ve established your profile on LinkedIn, the site allows you to:

• share information with others in your field on the site’s “Answers” forum. Your answers to questions are rated by other users. High ratings establish you as an “expert” – which can open many doors!
• join professional groups, keep informed about conferences and trade shows, and stay up to date on the latest developments in your industry.
• exchange referrals and recommendations.
• organize your professional references for the benefit of potential customers or clients.
• research the individuals and companies with whom you do business.
• research your competitors and learn from their marketing techniques.
• increase traffic to your website and blog.
• boost your company’s visibility on search engines.

To get an idea of how people create their professional identities, do a search for other providers in your industry. When building your own profile, don’t forget to include details about your employment history, and mention any professional awards and accolades you or your company have received. You never know when opportunity will come knocking!

For more tips on using LinkedIn to develop your business, see this article from the site’s blog. And check out our video on LinkedIn!

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If you’re ready to start participating in social media — and want to know how to make the most of it — then join us for our webinar, Core Social Media Strategies, on December 4, 2009, from 1 to 2:30 p.m.

Our discussion will include:

• The dos and don’ts of using blogging and Twitter to help build your business.
• An introduction to search engine optimization, or SEO: the art of inserting key words and phrases into your online communication to help attract traffic to your website.
• A free key phrase list designed just for you, based on a phrase you provide us that describes your business.
• A question-and-answer session to address your company’s unique concerns.

Enrollment is limited to 20 participants on a first-come, first-served basis and we still have some spots left. Reserve your space now — and find out how to take advantage of social media’s power, while avoiding its pitfalls!

For reservations, please email Jordan@tcwebsite.com.

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While Facebook is clearly a personal tool it can also help your business.  The key is to share information, not push your product.  Facebook is an exclusive social network and gives people the ability to choose their friends.  Offering useful information, answering questions, and participating in general will open more channels for you.   Spamming or selling will close them.  If you have a business that benefits from ongoing conversations with clients Facebook is a clear asset.

Just as individuals on the site accumulate friends, businesses collect fans. When someone becomes a fan of your company, the news shows up on their friends’ pages. And so on. This creates a ripple effect similar to word-of-mouth advertising, but many times more powerful. And did we mention it was free?

Here are some ideas for getting the most out of this amazing tool.

• Even if you already have a personal Facebook profile its good to make a separate one for your business. If you’re unfamiliar with Facebook, the site offers easy instructions for creating a company profile.
• What information should go on your page?  An overview of your business.  Useful tips demonstrating your expertise. Testimonials from your customers. Links to your website and your blog, You can also open up a discussion by letting fans write on your Wall.
• Like any web page, your Facebook page must show activity, or it will languish. Update your page frequently so your fans have reason to keep coming back.
• For more ideas on setting up your page and which elements to include, visit other business pages (check out ours, for instance. And please feel free to fan us!) Here are some other examples of successful Facebook pages with lots of active fans.

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Does your website have a blog? Chances are, it doesn’t, especially if yours is a small business. You’ve been meaning to start a blog, but haven’t had time. Or maybe you’ve got one, but you don’t post on it very often.

Big mistake! A website without a healthy, active blog is like a retail store without a sign out front. People drive right by. Or if they do notice your business, they can’t tell if anyone’s home.

Blogs play a significant role in drawing traffic to your website and raising your search engine rankings. That’s because unlike the rest of your site, your blog is updated frequently. Fresh content encourages visitors to come back multiple times, instead of just clicking once and not returning. If your customers really enjoy your posts, they’ll share the link with their friends — and now those people are regularly visiting your site, too. Search engines love this kind of thing.

Still unconvinced? Check out this short video that shows how a blog post on a country inn’s website attracted precisely the kind of visitors the innkeepers were looking for.

Blogs also offer your customers a chance to comment, offer feedback on your products and services, and participate in a conversation. Remember those old general stores where people used to gather and trade ideas and opinions? A blog can create a similar community of loyal fans who come to you when they need expert help and advice.

If you’re new to blogging, here are a few keys to success:

• Commit to posting something at least once a week, if not more often. If you don’t keep things lively, people will forget to drop by.
• This may sound counterintuitive, but your blog is not a platform to advertise your products and services. Visitors can go elsewhere on your site for that. Instead, make your blog informative and fun to read. Give away a bit of your knowledge without expecting anything immediately in return.
• Keep a running list of ideas for posts. It helps to carry a little notebook and jot down topics whenever they pop into your head. Avoid deadline pressure by writing your posts a few days in advance. Even better, stay one or two posts ahead of the game in case you get busy and don’t have time to write.
• Don’t be afraid to give your blog some personality! Use your own experiences or those of your customers (with their permission, of course) to help illustrate your point. At the same time, stay on topic. People visit your site to read about your company’s activities, not to hear about your grandchildren.
• Allow people to subscribe to your blog through email alerts or an RSS feed. That way, they’ll be notified of new posts and won’t need to remember to check your site.
• If you don’t enjoy writing or are just too busy to keep up a blog, consider hiring someone to write for you on a regular basis. A good ghostwriter will brainstorm with you, gather your ideas, and bring them to life. Make sure to ask for a few samples of their work to see if you like their writing style.

For more ideas on running a business blog, check out this article. And don’t hesitate to contact us for help in setting up and maintaining your blog!

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If you’re unfamiliar with it, Twitter is a site where people post brief messages (maximum 140 characters) about whatever is on their minds. Others can find and read these messages, called “tweets,” either by doing a search on the subject matter, or by choosing to follow that person. When you follow someone, all their posts pop up on your screen when you’re logged in to Twitter.

What do users tweet about? All kinds of things. Comments on the political scene. Opinions about movies, music, and TV shows. And yes, what they had for lunch.

It may sound like silly entertainment, and indeed sometimes it is. But Twitter has also emerged as a powerful tool for business owners. It’s helping companies create “buzz” about their products, find loyal customers and keep them, and collect valuable data about their markets. Search engines also read and index Twitter posts, so tweeting about your company can improve your standings on Google and increase traffic for your website.

Best of all, Twitter is free. And in a competitive market, you can’t afford not to take advantage of it.

If the prospect of using Twitter seems overwhelming, fear not: it doesn’t have to be time-consuming, and it’s easy to get started. First, read Twitter’s quick overview for business users. Next, sign up to follow a few people and companies you like, so you can get a feeling for how the whole thing works. And then start tweeting.

Here are some ways you can use Twitter to boost your business.

• Offer coupons and exclusive sales to your followers.
• Position yourself as the go-to expert in your field by regularly posting helpful hints and tips.
• “Listen in” on people talking about your company. If you hear negative word-of-mouth, you can jump in and address it with good customer relations.
• Conduct informal polls and surveys to get customer feedback and find out which products they’re looking for.
• Let your customers know when hot new items come through your door.
• Notify customers about last-minute changes in your policies, schedules, or product availability.

Check out this article for even more ideas on how to use Twitter to connect with your customers.

If you’re just starting out, don’t feel obligated to spend all your time monitoring Twitter; checking and posting once a day is fine. One other thing: this is social media, so don’t just bang the drum for your company. Post links to other topics that interest you and your customers, such as news items and events in your community. The more useful information you share, the more followers you will attract! And remember, if you don’t have a Twitter strategy, you’re missing an opportunity that your competitor will take.

Feel free to contact us for support and inspiration for your online networking adventures! And feel free to follow us on Twitter!

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BeginnerTennis.Net is an affiliate marketing website built to sell, Amazon products and affiliate programs. It is a guide for new tennis players that serves up advertising as a revenue model.

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Yammer allows a team (located anywhere in the world) to share anything they have stumbled upon online, new business thought, question, or something humorous right now.

We use it daily and it brings our virtual office team 1 step closer. I have seen it solve problems on the fly without having to call, email or IM several people at a time.

It’s also the great water cooler, letting everyone post personal thoughts, vent, and share something hilarious.

I have found it is a very human way to communicate efficiently and would recommend it to any group wanting to connect more frequently.

BTW it’s free to start and it lives in your Firefox status-bar for easy access.

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Here’s what I think:

For an important contact it might make sense, but generally I don’t think it’s practical in our hyper-efficient-communicating work life. Although I am a huge fan of listening to podcasts while driving and creating video to make a point, I don’t like this medium inserted in my efficient-daily-email-communiques for the following reasons:

• The audio/video takes too long to record and upload (based on my experience)
• It takes longer for the receiver to view/listen to the message since they cannot scan text. Look at Google Voice, they actually translate voicemail to text and even send it to your phone as SMS for quick reading.
• This format does not work well on a mobile device. I would also rather use a text to voice application to listen to my emails in the car.
• And… it doesn’t scale well. If it’s great and everyone used it all the time, would we get sick of spending time listening to or watching our emails? I think so.

I would rather produce video content for my website, broadcast it on YouTube/Facebook, and then use the humble link to the videos in my email.

This is what I do today and it works great on all platforms. Ask me again in 10 years!

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• justtweetit.com
• wefollow.com
• twellow.com
• twitterholic.com

Twitter is a superb way to build a following, drive traffic to your website, and communicate instantly with your audience.

Did you know Twitter is used by the Red Cross for 1st response communication in a crisis (think Twitter on phones)? If you run a business that has ‘openings’ (massage, hotel, hair stylist) you can use Twitter to fill last minute slots… and Twitter has been successfully used as a ‘togo’ system for restaurants.

Want to find out more? Contact us to discuss Twitter.

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www.facebook.com/username

instead of what is currently www.facebook.com/people/Your-Name/585946540

Note usernames are up for grabs on a first come first served basis so go to www.facebook.com/username to lock your username in now before someone else does!

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