They have always used more traditional advertising methods such as CraigsList and other yellow pages based methods, and wanted Social Media to accomplish the same thing. They wanted us to create a series of social networking pages (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc.) that would just attract business.

Unfortunately, it was not going work the way they wanted.

Social Media is a dynamic exchange of information with the rest of the online world that increases your visibility and network of available resources. Social Media is NOT a passive form of advertising.

The success of Social Media is directly tied with the activity of the user. If you want Social Media to not require work, then it won’t work for you or your business.

Does that mean that Social Media has no value in business? Of course not! It has tremendous value, some of which has yet to be figured out! But it does require a commitment to make it work. It requires a particular business to decide to make Social Media work for them, and to dedicate the necessary resources needed to make it successful. That said, there are ways to reduce your workload, and find easy things to tweet, update or blog about. Much like optimizing a process within your business, there are ways to optimize your Social Media time to much less than it may originally seem.

Commit to making it work, and it will. If not, don’t bother.

This particular client seemed to understand what I was explaining, and has decided to make Social Media work for them. They recognize that it is not passive, and while it will require additional effort, they see the value and future value and want to grow. Good for them.

Introduction

Twitter is the single fastest growing social media outlet on the Internet. From April ‘08 to April ‘09, Twitter has gone from 1.22 million users to 17.1 million users (Time magazine).

More importantly, Twitter is a fantastic tool to increase your network. Unlike other social media tools such as Facebook or LinkedIn where the primary network is people you already know, Twitter goes far beyond that network putting you in touch with a world beyond the one you already have access to.

General Tips

1. Coordination with Blogs
2. Don’t be a afraid
3. Search is your friend
4. Pre-write your tweets
5. Pre-date your tweets
6. Use Twitter software
7. Find Your Voice
8. Re-Tweet With Confidence
9. Consistency

Coordination with Blogs
Blogs and Twitter are like peas and carrots. Many of the same benefits of blogging apply to Twitter. Additionally, you can use Twitter to draw additional traffic to your blog, which in turn improves your search engine optimization.

Don’t be afraid
A potential downside of Twitter is that it carries a slightly steeper learning curve with it. It isn’t more difficult to use or do per se, but because it is such a new platform it is difficult to wrap your head around it. Don’t be afraid, within a short while you’ll be tweeting like a pro.

Search is your friend
One of the finest ways to use Twitter, develop followers and make it work for you is to use search effectively.

Pre-write your tweets
I recommend to all of my clients to pre-write a number of tweets at once. This way, if you are stuck and can’t think of something relevant to write, you have a go to tweet that will work.

Pre-date your tweets
Tools such as HootSuite.com allow you to send your Tweets at a pre-arranged time. Works in conjunction with Pre-writing your tweets.

Use Twitter software
Twitter.com’s interface is limited. Using desktop software to be more productive with your Twitter time. We use TweetDeck, but there are a number of other alternatives out there.

Find Your Voice
Twitter allows you to let people in on the little stuff. The little stuff is interesting.

Re-Tweet With Confidence
Re-Tweeting gives Twitter its viral growth and expands the communication spectrum.

Consistency
Frequent and consistent tweeting is critical. I suggest at least 3 a day.

Overall benefits

1. Direct Communications
2. Brand Building
3. Competitive Differentiation
4. Positions Your Business as “Cutting Edge”
5. Relational Marketing
6. Exploit the Niches
7. Build Community
8. Media & Public Relations
9. Position You as an Expert
10. Coordinate With Your Blog
11. Reputation Management
12. Low cost

Direct Communications
Twitter provide a way for you to speak directly, openly and honestly with your customer.

Brand Building
Twitter serve as another channel on which to promote your brand and company.

Competitive Differentiation
Because Twitter give you the opportunity to tell your story over and over, they help set you apart from the competition.

Positions Your Business as “Cutting Edge”
By embracing new technology, you establish yourself as a pioneer, rather than a follower.

Exploit the Niches
Twitter help you fill your particular industry niche.

Build Community
Business Twitter provide your small business with a chance to share your expertise and knowledge with a larger audience. An opportunity to connect with a wider audience and build a community is a strong benefit for consultants and knowledge workers.

Media & Public Relations
Twitter are excellent PR tools. The media calls you, not your competition.

Position You as an Expert
Twitter enable you to articulate your viewpoints, knowledge and expertise on matters pertaining to your industry.

Coordinate With Your Blog
Twitter gives you an opportunity to drive traffic to your blog.

Reputation Management
Twitter helps you manage your online reputation.

Low Cost
Twitter is inexpensive to set up, operate and maintain.

Final Thoughts

Don’t Miss Out
Twitter is here. it is popular. Position yourself to best take advantage of this fantastic new communication tool.

Have Patience!
You will not see immediate gains from Twitter. How Twitter will affect business is still evolving, but it is better to be in a situation by participation, then deciding when it is too late.

Ancillary Benefits of Blogging

1. Blogging makes you a better thinker
2. Blogging makes you a better listener
3. Blogging makes you a better writer
4. Blogging makes you a better salesperson
5. Blogging keeps you focused on learning
6. Blogging makes you a better networker

Blogging makes you a better thinker
In an effort to create content for a blog that is succinct, it can reveal new ways to look at common things, or apply simple solutions to seemingly complex problems.

Blogging makes you a better listener
By listening with a writer’s ear, you will find yourself coming up with blog ideas simply by listening to others discuss unrelated subjects.

Blogging makes you a better writer
By writing every day, you will naturally become a better writer. In addition to practice, writing publicly also allows for community reaction to help you get better faster.

Blogging makes you a better salesperson
By clearly stating idea pitches in writing, you will find that it has improved your ability to quickly articulate them in selling. It’s like you build up this reserve bank of preprogrammed discussion points.

Blogging keeps you focused on learning
The discipline required to create even somewhat interesting content, requires that you stay on top of current trends, what’s being said and what’s not being said in order to find ways to apply it to the world of small business.

Blogging makes you a better networker
By blogging on a regular basis, your regular readership will grow over time, growing your network beyond where it currently is.

Final Thoughts

It takes time.
You will not see immediate gains from your blog. Blogs are not a magic bullet to the top of the engines. They require working hard and smart – especially smart. However the payoff can be significant.

Be responsive.
The blogosphere is all about two-way communication — a blog is not simply an outlet for your message, but a tool for engaging in a conversation. Readers want to see that the person or people who are writing the blog are actually invested in its content and willing to read and respond to comments. The goal is to make your organization’s or corporation’s voice heard as part of ongoing conversation about policy issues.

Have a well-thought-through plan.
Too often a blog gets started amid a great deal of hype and publicity, but then quickly loses wind as posts become more and more sporadic. A lack of fresh content and infrequent updates will make it clear to readers that the company isn’t really taking its blog seriously. It is better not to create a blog at all than to launch one with only a halfhearted effort.

Read part one

Read part two

How to be successful with your Blog

1. Make it personal
2. Share your knowledge
3. Don’t over analyze your posts for more than errors and readability
4. Consistency
5. Read and Comment on great blogs
6. Longevity in posting
7. Be controversial, but not rude
8. Be relevent

Make it personal
While it is a corporate blog, don’t be afraid to show some humanity. Despite its label, a “corporate” blog has to have a real personality as its primary voice.

Share Your Knowledge
You know a great deal about your business. Share your successes and failures. Encourage those who are looking learn about your business topic by providing them with insights that would have helped you when you were first starting out. Don’t be concerned with “giving away your secrets” and helping to the competition. Blogging is in it’s infancy. Those of you who are positioning yourselves as experts in your field will reap the rewards as customers look for the experts in Google and see your name pop up. Additionally, you can enjoy the benefits of expert status offline. Further, giving away something of value for nothing has always been great PR.

Don’t over analyze your posts for more than errors and readability
If you second guess all your posts you’ll never release anything of value. Just write it, read it and post it. Don’t spend a week on one post. While you may spend a week on research (or more), a week to write a post on a regular basis is not practical for a business blogger.

Consistency
Frequent and consistent posting is almost as good as quality posting. Give them a reason to subscribe and a reason to keep coming back to the site. Frequently updated sites get more traffic.

Read and Comment on Great Blogs
Find some great blogs and digest everything they have to say. Learn from those who now are where you want to be soon. Look to the great business bloggers to understand what they are doing (note their content, their discussions off their blog, their passion and their wit).

Longevity in posting
What you write today, while it pushes off your front page rather quickly, doesn’t disappear. It will be available in the search engines’ archives forever. Make sure it represents you and your company well and is a topic that will be popularly searched for a long time.

Be controversial, but not rude
It is good to have an opinion and a strong point of view. You should be willing to throw down a gauntlet, but don’t do it all the time.

Be relevant
You want to plan a blog that caters to the specific target audience on which your business focuses.

Read part one

Read part three

Overall benefits of Corporate Blogging

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
2. Direct Communications
3. Brand Building
4. Competitive Differentiation
5. Relational Marketing
6. Exploit the Niches
7. Build Community
8. Media & Public Relations
9. Position You as an Expert
10. Reputation Management
11. Low cost

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Blogs provide many of the things that search engines covet: relevant refreshed content and more pages of it.

Direct Communications
Blogs provide a way for you to speak directly, openly and honestly with your customer.

Brand Building
Blogs serve as another channel on which to promote your brand and company.

Competitive Differentiation
Because blogs give you the opportunity to tell your story over and over, they help set you apart from the competition.

Relational Marketing
Blogs allow you to build personal, long-lasting relationships with your customers that foster trust.

Exploit the Niches
Blogs help you fill your particular industry niche.

Build Community
Business blogs provide your small business with a chance to share your expertise and knowledge with a larger audience. An opportunity to connect with a wider audience and build a community is a strong benefit for consultants and knowledge workers.

Media & Public Relations
Blogs are excellent PR tools. The media calls you, not your competition.

Position You as an Expert
Blogs enable you to articulate your viewpoints, knowledge and expertise on matters pertaining to your industry.

Reputation Management
Blogs help you manage your online reputation.

Low Cost
Blogs are inexpensive to set up, operate and maintain.

Read part two

Read part three