In this section: Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Followbase Social Media Monitoring Need Help? Feeling overwhelmed by the choice of Social Networks and need some guidance? On a tread-mill with incoming messages and the need to new create content?  Looking for ways to generate leads and see a return on your investment of time, if not money? For an independent Social Media Review and Action-Plan why not email me or check out our services.

Social Media There is a real clamour for your attention and time from Social Media. I guess you are at least interested since you are reading this.  There are many benefits to be gained from active participation in at least one, where it aligns with your personal, professional and business goals.  But finding the right network and tools can be a nightmare, time sink and distraction from your business objectives. Or maybe you are experiencing fatigue, needing to take stock, or kick-start yourself beyond the social and personal to the point where you are seeing a positive return for your time. The information below should help you get to the next level. Social Media Networks - how to find the right one(s)  There are now over a hundred applications, or networks, that sit in the Social Media category and associated sharing apps. Choosing which one(s) to participate in is quite a challenge, particularly given the learning curve, time to establish a presence, time to create content, read content and converse to get dialoges going, and then start achieving some beneficial results. Participating in Social Media helps to improve the 'Know Me, Like Me, Trust Me' aspects and helps to establish and re-inforce your reputation as a specialist. The more active you are the more visible you become, which helps you engage with others more quickly. It can also help with 'Find Me', as it can improve Search Engine results. Social media can also be a means to generate traffic for your Blog or Website.  Major social media applications and communities like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are reviewed on separate pages in this section. Others are outlined below. Social Media - Entry Level Register with say 5-10 social media networks is a good start. This will enable you to take a look around them while you set up your basic account and link to your website. It also allows you to secure your name, or something close to it, before someone else does. Registration is Free so it will just cost you say half an hour per network. Having a decent picture and a block of text you can use consistently will speed your progress.  For Professional and business purposes take a look at:     Linkedin - the defacto business and professional network and growing rapidy     Twitter - all things to all people - quick and simple, real people and alter-egos     ecademy - the 'entrepreneurs' network - great for promoting your business     Naymz - a professionals network for building your personal brand + reputation     Plaxo - an international address book system     Jigsaw - a commercial network that might harvest your address book      Xing - a network that grew initially in central europe     Ryze - a network that grew initially in the USA and the Far east     WeCanDo.Biz - a business network for entrepreneurs with Social CRM option.     Meetup - find business networking groups in your area, among the obscure      Meet n Link - business and social networking which rewards participation     ZoomInfo - a database that encourages you to enrole other people you know     BusinessZone - a content based network with discussion groups     YouTube - you might want to set up your own video channel      Skype - so you're there and people can find you   Did you identify any that would be useful to sign up to?  Are you on five of them yet? Social Media - Intermediate level Moving up from entry level can mean several things. On the basis of make money, save money and save time there are several options worth considering. Make money - this is about turning a casual participation into a focused network building, lead generation or referral activity to support your personal and business aims. You may want to start pro-actively canvassing individuals or groups or segments of your contacts with messages that subtly or directly promote you and your business, and the pain relief that you offer It might mean that you start advertising on the network. Save money - since a lot of Social Media is free this might be around you saving money in other activities that you are currently paying for, by shifting the emphasis onto Social Media to achieve as much or more than you are currently paying for. It might be that you can reduce paid advertising elsewhere. Or that you can reduce the number of meetings you have trying to find and make contact with 'the right person' if you can be SMARTer through your detective work online. Save time - this is where the inter-linking of various Social Media elements can pay off, allowing you to write once and publish many times for example, to publish in one place and have that content replicated or pulled through elsewhere, for example having your Blog and Twitter feeds visible on your LinkedIn profile page. You may also be able to reduce the elapse time by bringing things forward through good connection in Social Media. If you can move through the 'Know, Like and Trust' activities quickly then you may have a more productive first meeting. Finding out what works for you and your business does take time, but if you try 10 new promotional activities and a couple pay off handsomely then you're away. Social Media - Advanced level  Most business networks have premium levels where you pay a monthly membership fee and gain access to additional facilities and features. This is also an indication to other people in the network that you are someone who is seriously committed to that community. Together with your experience this makes you part of the inner circle which I believe can open many doors. For example, the ecademy Black Star group has regular meetings where serious networking is done face to face. If you find a network has worked well for you for a year or so then it may be a good investment to upgrade for the additional benefits. Additional comments about Social Media  My focus here is from the perspective of the entrepreneur, owner manager, SME, or Marketing and Sales professional, and to highlight ways that Social Media can be used to support marketing and sales activity. Social Media has the potential to make a major contribution in the areas of brand building (for you and your business), lead generation, customer service and other business centric activities. However, traditional broadcast advertising may not sit comfortably in social media, so new techniques need to be devised, deployed and monitored. It also provides a mechanism for customers to communicate on a peer to peer basis on a scale and reach that has not been possible up to now. Delighted customers can also provide public feedback via reviews and comments, if they are suitably motivated. However agrieved customers now have a much bigger soap box from which to make their views knows.   Prospects and customers can also congregate in new places, which creates new opportunities for organisations to 'go to where their customers are'. Whereas previously the media choices might have been TV, Press, Radio etc. the choices now also include YouTube, Facebook, ebay and so on. It's an unfortunate fact but with this choice it does increase the number of places you should be at in order to be found by some potential prospects of yours. Social Media scenarios  1. Person to Person - I was tempted to say consumer to consumer but these dialogues are primarily for social interactions. My teenage children typify the usage as they communicate endlessly with their peer group about the things that are of interest to them. 2. Business to Consumer - in the same way as a website allowed a small business to punch above it's weight, so social media also allows entrepreneurial and innovative smaller companies to execute creative campaigns at a very low cost. The Snacks Van proprietor who used Twitter to update people in the businesses he visited about his expected arrival time and 'specials' is one of many examples. 3. Business to Business - professional or business networks are expanding their reach, with LinkedIn and ecademy at the forefront but Facebook, Naymz, Ryze, and many others catering to and supporting the needs of the business community. Social Media and Business Without wishing to get on a soap-box, one concept that I feel is important is how a network or media blends people and commerce. Much of the Internet/web is free or very low cost to the individual. The value of data captured about peoples behaviour is perhaps the unseen 'price' we pay for this. Data about us can be used for more effecive marketing, and this has enormous potential value.  If a network becomes established for social purposes, Facebook for example, the introduction of business and commerce needs to be handled sensitively. If a network is established for commercial purposes, Amazon or ebay for example, it has the opportunity to add a social element to enhance the user experience while also serving its commercial aims. At the end of the day all businesses, from the self-employed through to major corporations, need to make a judgement about whether it is beneficial to use, or (perhaps more accurately) to participate in, social media as part of their marketing and sales activity. I think it's fair to say that Social Media is here to stay. However it is still in it's infancy, especially in a business or commercial context. Join the party now, in order to position yourself to benefit in the short, medium and long-term.