8 Tips for Socializing Your Business

It feels like yesterday when I was just asking a couple of high school-aged daughters of our friends if they were actually putting their lives out there on MySpace and Facebook. Fast forward six years and Facebook has changed the way people do business! Many people ask their Facebook friends first for a recommendation when researching a purchase or a service. As business owners we know we need to be "social" whether we are on the social network or not. Social media is free to join...but not free to maintain - this stuff takes time and brain power. So this begs the question, where do you start? And once we have started, how do we stay alive and successful on the social network?

Here are eight tips to help you get your business started in social media. These are not new but sometimes we need to hear things more than once and in different ways before the time is right for us to make that move.

1. Commit to social media. If you are going to use social media for your business, Nike (a.k.a. Just Do It!). Yes, just do it. Do not go halfway. Do not start off strong and peter out later. Commit and go. Without commitment, your reputation will suffer.

2. Define your goals.  Know your "why".  Do you want to... increase brand exposure? ...increase leads? ...reach a new audience of potential customers?  These goals are IMPORTANT. They drive your strategy...your plan (see #4).

3. Know your audience. Who is your client? Who are your potential clients? Who are you speaking to? Where can you find them on the social network/what social media tools are they using?

4. Have a plan. Set your expectations up front for what this journey will look like. I do not recommend creating accounts with Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Vine and others and start sharing statuses and photos as quickly as you can. You could approach it this way but a well-defined plan that is executed over time will bring the best results.

5. Develop an online marketing calendar. What is your business doing that is worth sharing? Optimally, share different statuses across social media tools...mix it up. Keep it interesting. Share statuses from others that are value-added.

6. Plan your content. Content curation. Learn about it. Become an expert at it.

7. Focus on engagement. This goes back to #3. If your audience is not interacting, figure out what they want and adjust. Otherwise, this is all a waste of time. Watch what your competitors are doing.

8. Measure, report and adjust. Enough said.

Seem overwhelming? Take a deep breath. You can do this. I will break down each of these 8 tips in my next  blog entries.