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Social Media Involvement

Guest post by: Michael Delpierre

Article Overview: More small businesses are asking what they can do to get more involved in social media. I commend them for realizing how important it is for their brand as well as for understanding what consumers are saying about them or their product/service. The first thing I tell a customer about social media is that “you get out what you put in”, meaning, the more time you spend engaging people the more benefit you will get out of social media on a Personal, Educational, and Business level.

Social Media Involvement

More small businesses are asking what they can do to get more involved in social media. I commend them for realizing how important it is for their brand as well as for understanding what consumers are saying about them or their product/service. The first thing I tell a customer about social media is that “you get out what you put in”, meaning, the more time you spend engaging people the more benefit you will get out of social media on a Personal, Educational, and Business level.

Personal level

Most married people talk about their kids while most single people talk about where they are going for the evening. These are all personal social media communication traits. Most Businesses unfortunately talk about how great they are. Businesses don’t understand that no one (or business for that matter) wants to hear how great someone (or something) is. The rule of thumb for businesses engaging in social media, you only talk about your business 25% of the time. The other time spent on social business is not about you. its about the community. Say something productive, value oriented, and unbiased. Become a productive member of your social media network. Talk about what is going on in your community, schools, government. Share pictures of yourself, family, and friends. Be active in your social network.

Educational

To me, this is the best aspect of social media. I personally love how people post articles that they have read and have re-tweated or posted that article’s URL in their status update on Linked-In or on Facebook. I spend half of my day reading and learning about the topics that matter most to me and my clients. I am able to stay ahead of the proverbial “curve”, and look as things unfold in the online marketing world. I stay active in this community because I see the benefit it is having on other people. I get responses like “thanks for sharing”, “how do you feel about that article”, “I learned something new today”, and many others. I am involved in the educational aspect of social media and I see the benefits it provides not only myself in my knowledge growth but also my friends, colleagues, and clients.

Business

Because of my personal and educational involvement in social media, my business has flourished. I am connecting with people and companies that need my services. We are having open discussions about which online marketing strategies work and which ones don’t work. I am landing new clients in a time where most people are losing clients. I am meeting new strategic partners and am aligning myself with talented creative and marketing consultants who want to work with me and my clients. I know that at the end of the day, I will get out of social media what I put into it. So what are you doing with social media?

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Article Tags: small business, social media



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Re: Kevin needs "social glue" ideas - [quote="WebBizIdeas.com":gvtxsu7g]Hi, I like the idea of "10 items that could act as "social glue" because I am an internet marketer. But I agree with the rest that the 10 recent post is nice. Maybe we should open up a new section in the forums on Social Media...or Social Media Marketing. I will tell you that the world is about 1 1/2 behind when it comes to understanding social media. Building a section now will put EvanCarmichael.com is a great position a year down the road when people realize Social Media can produce more traffic than SEO. Jeff[/quote:gvtxsu7g] Hi Jeff, Thanks for the suggestion. Why don't you start a new post (with a poll) to see if there's enough interest in your idea for a social media section?
Re: UPDATES: New Campaign! New Layout! New Ideas! - GT - thanks for the FYI - I'm not sure if we'll put a link back. Something to consider though! Trent - the new category is "Social Network and Media" which was put in to compliment the Online Businesses category that currently exists. Overall the new categories are: - Looking For, Networking and Events - Review My... - Social Network and Media - Brags and Rants These came as a result of Ringo doing research on other forums and thinking about what could be improved on ours to give a better experience for everyone. I hope you enjoy them! David, I'm looking forward to reading your Brag / Rant!
Re: Marketing 2.0 - What Are Your Thoughts - Hi Shri, Thanks for posting this. I also read it and I believe Social Media is here to stay, until the next best thing comes up. Social media proved to be useful for me many times and I think everyone should use it for their business.
Re: Social Media Marketing Ignorance - [quote="vbn411":7qciluxl]Social Media is space that you have to be in to succeed in our current climate. People are going to be discussing your brand / product whether you like it or not, so you might as well join the conversation and add value. [/quote:7qciluxl] I think that's probably one of the most realistic way to think about it. There's no real textbook way of understanding Social Media, it's the networks of people and their interactions that will exist with or without your input. As for Jennifer, You can always have 2 Facebook pages. Many people do. There is also LinkedIn, which is like a professional networking version of Facebook. The only way to know is to try it.


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