Social media is here to stay – at least that’s how it looks for now. As a business owner, you probably realize that you have to be able to adapt to change very quickly. Otherwise, you’d be left behind by your competitors. You may not be that comfortable with the idea of using social media for your business but give it a try and you’ll see just how beneficial it can be. How do you get it right?
Think about social media as a way to get feedback. Feedback is a very important part of any business. You may think that you are giving your customers what they want and need but you never really know until you hear from them. With everyone practically using these networks today, you should be able to use them to get into the minds of your customers. Of course, you have to do something with that feedback.
Use social media as a tool to brand yourself (or your business) as an authority in your field. The goal is to make your presence felt and make that presence an authoritative one. What you want is for people to automatically think of you when they think of your line of business. How do you do this? Write articles and publish them. Publish tweets that add to your reputation (realistic and honest tweets, of course). Bottom line: provide information that will help build up your reputation as an expert in the field.
Associate with the right people. Social media is a great way to connect with everyone. However, you have to make sure that you are reaching the right people – the customers that you want to keep or attract. Do not randomly interact with anyone; instead, focus your energies on those that matter.
Originally posted on January 31, 2010 @ 12:55 pm