Let's Talk about *Rules on Social Media

* Rules or Guidelines really

As you are probably aware; social media has taken over! 

In the past 10 years; most businesses have a Facebook page, a blog, a Twitter account as well as presences on Instgram, Pinterest, photo sharing sites, have listed their companies on LinkedIn, have designed tabs, have mobile Apps, are in social networks and have inserted  social share buttons on all their marketing collateral.

While I don't really like using the word Rules; I have noticed that some corporations have just jumped into social media without preparing a policy, or a content strategy or have not trained their employees on how to respond to people on social media or how to handle customer service enquiries (or fails).

I also believe that we all have to tick the box to agree to each site's terms and conditions; but some of the terms and conditions are often ignored and leave a company/business without access to their account or having to deal with issues on various social networks.

So here's a list of Guidelines I use to train my clients on how to use social media wisely:

1. Set up a social media policy - here are many examples - http://socialmediatoday.com/davefleet/151761/57-social-media-policy-examples-and-resources - use these to adjust a policy for your specific workplace

2. Discuss and set up social media guidelines for your employees - http://www.bluewiremedia.com.au/free-social-media-guidelines-template

3. Use a social media crisis plan and train your staff on how to handle a mishap - http://socialmediatoday.com/chrissyme/298509/five-social-media-must-haves-crisis

4. Decide why you are using social media in the first place - this will help with your strategy and your content - then set up a marketing/content strategy which suits your employees and workplace

5. Read each site's terms and conditions and adhere to their rules.

6. Choose your accounts - use the ones that your clients/customers/ industries are using such as Twitter, Facebook, a blog platform, Pinterest, Google+, YouTube but also look at using other sites such as photo sharing sites such as Pinterest, Flickr, Instgram  (Google for information about thousands of other sites you can use for your business)

7. Remember to start small! Each account has to be active and attended to (on a daily basis)

8. Who is going to be attending to each account? What is his/her responsibility?

9. The community manager (or person responsible) HAS to check each account at least twice a day (early mornings and evenings) to ensure that questions are answered, customer service enquiries have been attended to, inappropriate content (such as people posting pictures or spam comments) is removed AND ensure that you are engaging - i.e. thanking people for shares/ReTweets, liking a comment (on Facebook), sharing your pins, commenting or liking on Instagram or simply showing that you are present and listening to people.

10. Who makes executive decisions? If a manager/supervisor needs to confirm an action - a discussion has to take place around what to do if they are unavailable. You CANNOT leave something inappropriate on your social media account/s which could harm your brand.

11. Monitoring the account/s also has to take place over the weekends - who is responsible for weekend and after hours monitoring?

Now let's talk content:

1. Use your company site/blog to promote, share and spread user generated content directly from your brand.

2. Are you going to hire a copywriter or is there someone in-house who is prepared to write blog posts, updates, Tweets and source images, videos etc.?

3. Are you finding content from elsewhere and using it as inspiration? If yes, you HAVE to source links back to the original content.

4. Are you using images with your content (which is highly recommended)? Ensure that you link back to the original source or name the source (e.g source:CarrotCreative)

5. Prior to sharing any information online, check the link (on a laptop preferably to ensure that all the other content on the site itself is trustworthy)

6. Only share, link to and use links which are from trusted sources. Ensure that there is no inappropriate subject matter or adverts on the links you are sharing - generally when people click to open a link, they may view other content on the site - so check, check, check!

7. When ReTweeting information on Twitter - check the bio/profile, the Tweets, the name of the person whose links, quotes or information you're sharing with your followers BEFORE driving content. I cannot stress how vital it is to check, check, check! (The same goes for Pinterest AND Instagram)

8. Check that the sites/videos/images are secure and safe - I use Wot - http://www.mywot.com/ to check user ratings as well as Norton 360 and McAfee secure search for this purpose. 

9. Build trust with your followers/fans/peers when using, finding, promoting, sharing or driving content - the content you use is affiliated with your brand (So I repeat check, check, check!) The only way to build trust is by being active on social media accounts and building relationships with people.

10. Seek advice. Ask for help.
Enquire about training - this will benefit yourself, your brand and your employees. (We are all learning here, even me!)

And finally social media etiquette:

1. Google before you Tweet, post, blog or share. Check your resources and try to find the original source of any content you use - this will help you build trust with your peers.

2. Be nice - and if you can't than go for a walk, grab a cup of coffee, drink a glass of water - rather than responding inappropriately.

3. If you do not agree with something and you really want to Tweet, post or blog your viewpoint - think very carefully - is it necessary? Will it change anything? If you believe it will than disagree respectfully without launching a personal attack.

4. Be diplomatic. You don't have to agree with everything, like everything, choose to share everything - but build diplomatic relationships with others anyway.

5. Try not to constantly ask others to follow you, like you, ReTweet you, share your content - build a relationship and trust with your peers/fans/followers to build an organic sharing relationship instead (which takes time and effort)

6. Shout out, compliment, acknowledge good practices you see online and share people's pages, accounts and boards with others (if they provide value to you; they will provide value to your fans and followers as well!) - I am a huge fan of social good and this type of behaviour will make your day so much nicer!

7. Try not to constantly talk about your brand/business on your Facebook business page or Twitter account - use those sites to engage with others and exchange information. People love resources, tools, tips, case studies, guides etc. - share yours with them!

8. Use your business blog to inform, educate and talk about your business. Try to respond to comments and find other blogs in your industry to build relationship with other Bloggers. And attend a Blogging event (or any type of networking event) - they're fun and you will learn a lot!

9. Be kind. Answer queries, respond to comments, find answers and share information. When you see an opportunity to help someone else - take the chance!

10. Read everything you can; blog posts, news, updates, Tweets, case studies, surveys, white papers, eBooks, newsletters, manuals - the more you read - the more inspiration you will have to generate your own content.Here are some tips to finding content for your business - http://socialnetworkingandmarketing.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/content-content-content.html
11. Make use of visual content. Pinterest boards are a great way to access infographics, blog posts, tools and tips you can share across your social media profiles (just remember to check the links) and Instagram is also a great way to build a more personal connection with your clients (customers) - check EVERYTHING very carefully on Instagram.
12. Before you select a hashtag - check the hashtag carefully (by clicking on it and see where it leads) - make use of www.tagboard.com for hashtag search.

And lastly - Make your Own Path!

Because social media is global and embraces each unique individual; you can decide how you are going to use social media to represent yourself/your brand. You can be formal, chatty, a curator of information, a helpful sharer, a promoter of social media good, a brilliant sales person, a quiet observer, an industrious entrepreneur - there is no better set of tools to finding your own path as long as you are learning and having a bit of fun along the way.

 “Be authentic and organic. It can’t be forced or it won’t work. And most importantly, have fun.” - Richard Branson on social media

It is called social media - because it is encouraging people to embrace integrating business practices socially.

Where else really can you chat with your fans/followers, share ideas, information and resources while 'meeting' hundreds of people? (If someone knows the answer to this - feel free to tell me!)

However I am going to go back to the Rules and Guidelines - by adhering to each site/platform's rules and conditions you will build an online presence but more importantly you will build trust among your peers.

Each site should have a list of guidelines, terms and conditions or policies on a page - have a read through all of them!

source: http://thetechnologycoach.blogspot.com.au/2011/05/do-you-have-social-media-policy.html

Social Media Optimisation

SMO is using links, fantastic content and sharing on different accounts to drive visitors to your blog/website.

Now don't get confused between SMO and engagement. SMO is making sure that your content is seen, by using tags, labels and keywords, writing excellent headlines, sharing on other accounts, linking to other accounts and communicating online.

Engagement is sharing with your fans and followers and building an online community. The more interaction you have with a community (whether it's comments on the blogs, likes and shares on Facebook, ReTweets and chats on Twitter) the more likely that your SMO will naturally increase.

One of the keys to understanding how SMO works for you is listening to your audience. You can ascertain when people are liking/commenting/sharing/asking questions. Once you have viewed Google Analytics, Blogger stats, statcounter.com and other social media listening tools online - here are a few which will explain how and when to listen - http://janetfouts.com/listen/ - you will know your audience, which posts they are clicking on and what kind of content they are responding to.

 - Here are the Rules of SMO: http://increaserss.com/the-rules-of-social-media-optimization/

 - The Strategies of SMO: http://increaserss.com/best-social-media-optimization-strategies/

 - And the Techniques of SMO: http://increaserss.com/social-media-optimization-techniques/

 - Engagement vs SMO: http://mashable.com/2011/11/13/smo-vs-engagement/

Now SEO - Search Engine Optimisation is sightly different from SMO. SEO works on backlinks, incoming links and ensuring that your website is found on searches. One way to do this is to find and work with relevant links, list your website in online directories and get other websites to link back to you. The more links you have the higher you will rank in searches. And if the links are trusted links (leading to sites which people trust, recommend and refer) the better this is for your website. Don't worry - the SEO superhero SEOman explains this is a really basic way - http://www.redevolution.com/seo-explained/

According to Active Warrior in an online discussion - here are the differences you should be concentrating on:

Link Building:

SEO – Inbound links are a large determining factor in rankings.
SMO – Links are a result of success, which means that SEO benefits from good SMO.

Page Elements:
SEO – Title tags, headers, image title, bold text and use of keywords are all influential on search engine rankings.
SMO – Coding and tags are not so important, while visual attention grabbers make a bigger impact.

Titles:
SEO – The title tag of a page tells the search engines what a page is about and carries a lot of weight in the rankings.
SMO – Titles and headlines are extremely important for grabbing attention and getting users to click-through.

Speak to an SEO consultant - he/she will know the best way to implement SEO.

  

Here are 15 steps you can take to increase your SMO:

1) Use share buttons

2) Enable YouTube videos - to be embedded or mobile so people can share them

3) Enable your blogs to be mobile; so they are easy to read and share when you're out and about

4) Tweet this, Pin This, Facebook like, Google1 - these buttons are gold, place them prominently on your site and blog

5) Use links, share links with others, put a link list on your blog

6) List your blog and website in free online directories

7) Answer questions on LinkedIn or Quora

8) Join online discussions

9) Comment on blogs - with a link back to your blog or website 

10) Take part in community activities online (MeetUps, chats, discussions, blogging events etc)

11) Communicate; update, post , Tweet everyday if you can and concentrate on fresh, unique blog posts

12) Mix and Match your content - use videos, quotes, eBooks, resources, guides, images, tips, tools, questions etc - enlighten and entertain your audience and focus on your brand

13) Share sites, resources, ideas, posts, Tweets, updates, videos,  etc.

14) Listen to your fans and followers; answer questions, provide social service and monitor all your accounts

15) Be genuine, don't focus on SMO as a rule; concentrate on engaging with others, building a community, enjoying social media and the clicks should come!

source: http://www.webmarketingagency.com.au/what-is-social-media-optimisation/

5 Social Media Headlines which Grabbed My Attention

Social Media evolves and changes constantly. It's so hard to keep up to date on the latest trends and happenings world wide on social media.


So here's the latest information which grabbed my attention:

1. Twitter will be rolling out ads for small businesses -in USA http://blog.twitter.com/2012/02/coming-soon-twitter-advertising-for.html

2. Facebook is going to be releasing timeline for Facebook business pages - http://adage.com/article/digital/facebook-release-timeline-brands-month/232760/

3. Men are from Foursquare and women are from Facebook!
The research covers users in the UK, France,Germany, Spain, Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands -http://www.slideshare.net/PNLondon/men-are-from-foursquare-women-are-from-facebook

4.  Social Media Studies, mainly looking at US brands - http://mygoodbuzz.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/coca-cola-is-hosting-hangout-on-google.html

5. Australia's top Facebook pages - http://wearesocial.com.au/blog/2012/02/09/facebook-brands-australia-infographic/ 

For more up to date info, lessons, case studies, changes and trends read:

 - Social Media Examiner - http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/

 - Mashable - http://mashable.com/

source: http://chelseanewton.blogspot.com.au/2011/05/thursday-news-day-social-media.html

Google+ just launched pages for business

Google+ has just announced that users can start creating pages for businesses, providing users with information on how to set up pages.

CNET's article will give you a basic idea of what Google+ pages entails and Google themselves  have set up a Google+ for business page -  with information on how to share, promote and measure.

Here's my page -  I cannot wait to see how it will assist businesses with building a brand, connecting with customers/clients and marketing their brands.

What is your influence?

Klout, Social Mention and all those monitoring your influence sites gives others an idea of what kind of topics you share and what you are influential about. It also acts as a referral/recommendation service and helps people to find you (or your business) online.

Measuring (and knowing) your online influence can be vital for brands. Generating, monitoring and engaging brands is ultimately what social media is all about.

'Understanding how your company interacts with its online community, and knowing which tools are effective in the ultra-specific world of the Internet, is crucial for driving your brand's overall success' Dave Smith - How to Measure Your Brand's Online Influence

Remember the more effort you put into the social media marketing, whether you are an entrepreneur, or you work from home, or run a small business,  or work for a non profit or work for a huge company - there are resources, content, blogs, guides, eBooks, marketing tips, tools and ideas to help you use social media daily and incorporate social media with traditional media, marketing and advertising.

How about a fun exercise, find out what you Facebook or Tweet about the most and then share?

Find what words you use the most, what do you like the most and what do you share the most - you'd be surprised,  I certainly was - I use the words like and love the most!

Here's mine! Social Status 

8 easy ways to invest in social media

Social Media is an investment. And it is a long term investment.

"Don’t treat it as a stand alone function, but as an asset, and you’ll be glad you invested in it."  - Sean Clark.

Most small businesses and non profit organisations are not going to see quick results. And they are probably not going to see ROI. Social Media requires time, energy, effort and often this is very hard to measure by ROI alone.

Larger corporations and companies who make use of email marketing, social media campaigns and a campaign or video going viral will probably see instantaneous results - but this can fade and it is up to a marketing team (or agency) to plan and invest in social media on a regular basis.

Over the past few years, we have experienced changes in the online world. We are learning to plant fish where people are actually logging in and looking for fish and most people are using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. Thanks to Chris Brogan's eBook, Fish Where The Fish Are, he encourages the use of social and traditional marketing which will explain to you how to use sales and marketing tools to reach your audience online.

Once Google+ enables business profiles, there will be another platform to drive traffic and marketing.

Here are 8 simple ways you have to invest in social media over the long term:

1. Post often - at least once every working day. Whether it's a video, written content, an announcement, news, a launch or photos, blogs drive traffic to and from your website and to other social media accounts. Business blogs aid businesses, drives traffic and provides a communication tool. Every company no matter how big or small should have a blog.

2. Update often  - several times a week on Facebook. Make sure you respond to queries and build a relationship with people who have liked your page.

3. Tweet often - There is a limit of 250 times a day. Depending on the nature of your business, your style and voice, you can Tweet between 7- 100 times a day to help you drive your brand and business. Twitter acts as a global newspaper and often content gets lost. Try to use Twitter for sharing knowledge and for interacting with others; without constant marketing and promotion. Have a look at companies and brands you resonate with and follow their suit on Twitter.

5. Have a marketing strategy - plan for 3 - 6 months so you can plan campaigns, content, prizes, and giveaways. Keep adjusting the strategy every few months according to changes and needs. Have monthly meetings with the social media team (customer service or marketing team) to discuss changes online and new resources/ideas. Social Media is constantly changing.

6. Listen to your clients and customers -  monitor their responses, clicks and shares. Listen to what they want, answer their questions and plan or implement strategies to satisfy your advocates. Use surveys, questions, focus groups, emails, campaigns and email marketing to reach clients and customers.

7. Invest in training - Training provides the tools to assist with social learning, interaction and finding resources which fit the business, encourage social media in workplaces. Individuals (yourself, staff or team) will learn from each other and interact with each other. Social Media and Social Learning go hand in hand, it increases productivity, aids curiosity and understanding. Individuals who work in an environment which encourages social learning; find that they are more invested in the company or business. Talk to your staff; they are dealing with clients and customers in a myriad of ways from the receptionist, to customer service teams to the marketing team themselves. Your workplace will be able to understand clients/customers wants and needs via their emails and interaction with your business.

8. Engage  - thank people, answer people who reply or like or comment. They have made the effort to be in contact with your business and whether they are in need of assistance, customer service or advice; the more you interact; the more likely they will return.

Here are some basic best practices for social media success.

I would like to emphasise that social media is long term. People are seeking information online and are building long term relationships with brands.

These 8 basic steps will enable you and your business/company to invest in social media for the long haul. Most of these steps have to be taken everyday with regular meetings, reviews on a monthly (6 weeks, or bi monthly) basis. 

Whether you work for yourself or for a giant corporation, by making a long term investment in social media; these 8 steps will give you results.

Your time is limited

Your time is limited ,so don't waste it living someone else's life - Steve Jobs

Social Media has changed the way we do business and the way we connect to the world. In the past 9/10 years there has been a revolutionary growth of sites, blogs, programs, platforms, tools, products, and means to connect online.

Today Steve Jobs who was an exceptional innovator and leader passed away. Through his work at Apple, we are able to embrace and use technology on the run and essentially it's a social online revolution.

Technology has grown so rapidly and has extended so far.

I'm Generation X, I never had a mobile, never played video games as a child, had TV which switched off at midnight, did not have telephone messages and wrote letters and postcards. We sent faxes, wrote letters and make telephone enquiries in my early years of work. The World Wide Web and emails were exciting, then online chat, then mobiles and texting, then blogs and then/now web 2.0 and all the gadgets.

We got into trouble for passing notes at schools and some people will never understand the connection between a pencil and a cassette tape.

In fact some people will never see a cassette tape, apart from all the retro phone covers!

I have been watching technology grow so much that now children are blogging at schools, building websites, learning about animations and drawings and becoming computer, iPhone and iPad savvy. They are using words like Google, Photoshop and text speak naturally in sentences which amazes me.

There are careers now that were not in existence 10 years ago. 

People are website savvy, they are blogging, making videos, selling eBooks and have job titles that I'd never heard of until recently; Brand Ambassador, Director of Analytics, Director of eMarketing, Interactive Specialist, PPC Consultant, SEM/SEO Engineer, Social Media Analyst, Web Project Manager, New Media Coordinator, Director of Integrated Media, Content Strategist, Social Media Specialist, Communications Associate ... to name a few.

All these roles combine, PR, marketing, technology, engineering, innovation, ideas, building, searching, analysing, communications, customer service, media, advertising and client services.

For young adults and children, this means that they can embrace a wide range of study skills and their careers will combine so many industries that are radically changing the future of workplaces, entrepreneurs, CEOs and work on a day to day basis.

My nieces and nephew will probably be employed in a role with a job title, which has not been developed yet!

Steve Jobs, learnt, taught, did and embraced a huge combination of skills. He inspired and encouraged people (at and beyond Apple) to think and speculate what people may need and listened to what people wanted and then set about improving technology for us, to make it easier for us to use.

With changes in computer and online technology, everything is becoming so user friendly that it has having a huge impact on how we connect and how we can improve our work and productivity.

With social learning in the workplaces and encouraging people to learn at work; my clients are making an impact on their individual roles. Training has become and is the most important tool I have at hand, I love watching people learn. Social Media has had the most positive effect for them at work.

I use my iPhone and apps, to work productively while on the move and in between training clients, I check emails, monitor accounts, answer queries and find resources, news and info and this has helped me become a better trainer.

Steve Jobs said that ," I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love."

Farewell to Steve Jobs who lived a full life.

Using videos for marketing

I've just started using Go Animate to make videos, discussing social media, training and etiquette, a fun way of trying out video and deciding how to use videos professionally.

What I enjoy the most making about making videos on this platform, is that you can export them to YouTube, share on social media and embed on websites or blogs, so  the developers and designers are welll aware that people search for video content and 1 in 4 people in the US are watching/accessing videos daily.

Videos are the fastest growing out of all social media tools, they're often easy to make and YouTube has just made it incredibly easy to edit videos making it easy for you to search for and view anything you like.

Have a look at the Online Video Rankings and consider video marketing. 

You can do guerilla ads, montages, how tos, training sessions, guides, words, launches, festivals, glimpses, sneak peaks, vlogging ... you name it.

As you can tell from the rankings above Google Sites, driven primarily by video viewing at YouTube.com, ranked as the top online video content property in May with 147.2 million unique viewers.

So if you choose to use animations or stick figures like me (to start) or a hire/use a professional team with access to excellent music, voice and sound - which ever way you to go, export to YouTube or use YouTube, make use of tags and labels and set up your channel.

Here's my latest animated videos  - http://www.youtube.com/user/ebbyeryan

Make use of videos for social media, people like to view content and share/send to friends.

Keep learning

Thanks Jo, who is doing the New Skills Festival this September for today's post regarding social media and my basic guide.

As a trainer, I have to learn something new every day. Social Media is constantly evolving, even Blogger has just changed its entire interface and set up some basic mobile messaging blog options.

The people I teach, learn the value of social learning, social skills, social etiquette and social communication - I encourage you all to keep learning, to find information and to read as much as you can about your industry, your clients, your customers in order to really communicate and engage with them.

Although I do encourage you to do general searches, I'd like you to dig deeper. 

Attend free webinars (if time and money is a problem) - webinars will give you helpful insights, guidance, an introduction to something new and how tos.

If you can take a course, from 12 weeks, to a weekend, part time or full time for a few years, workplaces generally encourage their staff to further their skills and increase their training. Speak to your employers about improving your skills - if you're an entrepreneur - there are some great evening courses, weekend options and I recently found a 12 minute marketing course which I love the sound of.

Take advantage of slideshare, people are constantly uploading informative slides. slideshare is an excellent place to put up your slides (regarding your thoughts, business practices) where you can view and share information while finding excellent content.  

Search blogs, they are often personal accounts or journals and can give you great insight into any subject. 

People who blog are experts themselves, they are sharing their day to day knowledge, thoughts and experiences with you. People are renovating, building houses, starting businesses, studying,  travelling, dreaming, having babies, recovering from illnesses and business blogs (often) keep you very informed.

Keep searching Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn,YouTube for advice, questions, reviews, data, statistics, information, answers ... anything which will help you learn.

Have a look at all the conferences, or webinars, Tweetups, mashups available (the easiest way to find them are on Twitter), they are often after hours and this is a great way to meet people offline.

Social Media has changed how we interact. We are no longer working standard business hours, 5 days a week. We have to schedule Tweets/Updates/Posts, monitor accounts on weekends and be online when our clients and customers are online ... you need to work out when best suits you and how.

Never stop learning. It's one of the most important things I have learnt on my social media journey.

Ban social media?!

There are hundreds of articles this morning about banning social media - or monitoring certain accounts and shutting them down as a result of the riots throughout London this week.


The London riots have been a news item all week. On social media, people (or *looters) are posting photos of the goods they have stolen and being arrested for it.


And on Twitter by following the #Londonriots hashtag, it has been streaming up to date information while police men and journalists have been confirming or denying rumours and keeping locals informed. Twitter is a site where all information is shared publicly and the information can be used both positively and negatively.


While people were Tweeting about the riots and asking questions, others were embracing #Londoncleanup #OperationCupofTea and #riotcleanup to assist with the clean up and to show the world that people use social media for good  and that Twitter and Facebook were a way of reaching locals and encouraging them to clean up the streets and aid and assist people who had been affected by the riots.

Let's get real with social media - how to find content - so you can update often!

We don't always have the time to find information and spend hours writing and editing our own content.

Social Media needs at least an hour a day of work.

Whether it's checking/ monitoring accounts, checking feeds, responding to comments or queries, social media is becoming a part of the other work you need to do daily.

So here is a link which helps you find ways ways to stay updated, to find and use content, to share relevant links via Twitter, the blog and the Facebook page and a way for you to find any info, to update, to link, to respond to, to share, and keep your accounts active.

While writing unique content is important on social media, so is sharing, linking to and acknowledging other relevant content as well as building a like minded community.

You can write/ schedule a unique blog post every few weeks or so ( I will be blogging about why you should blog often, some people blog daily some blog once a week- it depends on content and business practices), but find resources and have information at hand, so you can share/ update ( on Facebook or Twitter) every few days to keep your accounts active and build a community and engagement online.

Don't forget to read updates on your timeline on Twitter and Facebook and comment and respond to people as wel l- this will make you sound like an interested person and depending on what you say or answer, you may find yourself building a very interesting community of followers.

Take 15 minutes a day to find and put aside content, links, blog posts, pictures, that you can use when you have a bit of downtime- save all of it in a folder on your desktops or on a dropbox free app (download on computer, link to your smartphone) and use that saved content to share, comment upon, and use ( for an inspirational blog post perhaps or a marketing idea)

http://www.momeomagazine.com/business-101-feeding-the-content-monster-10-ways-to-stay-active-in-social-media-without-rewriting-the-yellow-pages/ - thanks to Iggy Pintado on Twitter - who shared this, this morning:

Feeding the Content Monster - 10 Ways to Stay Active in Social Media by @AndreaVahl - http://ow.ly/5Pcft RT @CarlaYoung

Social Media is an active part of marketing, it will only work and benefit by your doing, by your engagement and incentive to drive the accounts.
Set aside time each day and if you need help with planning and using techniques wisely, please just contact me.

Connect

Social media is not just about marketing, promoting, business, feeds, ROI and all the other marketing terms I am sure you have heard of, read and used yourself.



Social media is about connecting and this has been especially apparent on Twitter and Facebook. People use social media to reach out to each other and connect with each other.


There is an incredible amount of sharing on social media sites. People write about everything and share so much about their lives and themselves. It truly helps us to connect, to embrace, to have empathy, to show compassion and you can see this by how many people reply or comment on updates or blog posts or statuses and send or share links with others.


It shows me, that people in the world can learn from each other and mourn for other peoples' losses, deaths and tragedies and support each other and communicate with each other in a way we never could before.


We can also celebrate with people, congratulate people on their accomplishments and achievements and be happy for someone who has witnessed, seen or done something.


On the 3 May 2011, Derek K Miller died of cancer at 41 and wrote a last post to say goodbye to his family. His post reached hundreds of his followers and his friends, who said goodbye to him in their own way and cried tears for him. It also reached out to hundreds of strangers, to people who have or have had cancer and did what I believe social media does best, makes us closer to each other, helps us learn about others and really reaches us, wherever we are in the world, no matter our own individual circumstances.


In the same way, Jenny writes a diary for her son Cooper who has leukaemia and shares her love for her son and again, blogs like these teach us about Jenny, her love for Cooper and both their experiences of cancer.


And a 5 year old boy, whose sister sold his artwork which paid off his cancer treatment, again shows us how we can connect, can reach out to each other, can reach out somehow in ways we never could.


I cannot express how beneficial social media is. Not only for business, for marketing, from building a brand, from putting a business online, from a making money point of view, from building a community - which are some of the reasons that individuals, businesses and corporations are using social media for.


Businesses, entrepreneurs, small businesses and corporations have seen how they can benefit, how we can all benefit by communicating with each other, by connecting with each other in a number of ways.


We no longer just look at websites. We watch YouTube videos, we use Facebook, we communicate on Twitter, we read blogs, use discussion forums, click on likes, share links, we make business connections on LinkedIn. We use email marketing, surveys - we are truly being more socially active online.


And the benefits are astounding. We can connect and make contact with people who love the same things we do. We can find people in our industries. We can find jobs, resources and ideas. We are truly sharing.


We can respond to queries, clients and customers in a hundred different ways. The work we do is different. We look for, find, research and use information which is immediate on the Internet and we can benefit by reading, observing and listening to each other.


But the essential most crucial part of all the social media, is that I as a stranger can mourn the loss of a man who loved his children, I can learn, read about and understand about illness and family life.


We can teach each other and learn from each other. And we get a glimpse of love. We see empathy and compassion. We can wish each other well, help each other, give and receive advice.


I truly love social media but it goes further than that for me. I love learning from people. I love the way I can get information, any kind of advice, assistance, tips, hints which helps me with my business, with marketing and deciding how to teach my clients. I love the way I can find information and news and stay so up to date about anything that is happening in the world.


But when social media shows us that we simply can connect with each other and get a glimpse of love -  then we watch and see how people respond, full of empathy and compassion for each other; that's when I truly get a glimpse that we all just really want to hear each other and be heard. (It's quick, people make thousands of Tweets a minute and hundreds of Facebook updates - so you cannot possibly read everything)


Sure, we want immediacy, we want businesses to respond quickly when there is an issue or a crisis. We want to have our say, have the freedom to express (whatever, TV shows, cooking skills, business meetings, funny things that happened through the day, complaints, news, and opinions)


But social media really is about communicating. Not just communicating, but learning about each other. And being very, very grateful that we can.

Read and learn

The one thing I recommend to people who want to understand social media and use it for their business, is that they MUST read.

Find blogs, technology information, articles and people in your industry and read what people are doing and saying online.

This will give you inspiration and can teach you how to use social media for yourself.

Follow your instincts. Remember you will be writing about, talking about, writing blog posts and updates about your own business - so read up and then decide upon the best social media practices for your self.

Here are a few articles which have caught my eye and should be of help to you:

Brief thoughts about social media for business -

http://www.socialmediadelivered.com/2010/05/11/brief-thoughts-about-social-media-for-small-businesses/

7 effective marketing tips for Twitter - http://www.twitip.com/7-tips-for-effective-marketing-with-twitter/

What is social media and how to use it for your business - http://ezinearticles.com/?What-Is-Social-Media-and-How-to-Use-It-for-Your-Online-Business?&id=5597819

Social media isn't (just) a popularity contest - http://socialmediatoday.com/thepaulsutton/249962/social-media-isnt-just-popularity-contest?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Social+Media+Today+(all+posts)

Common keywords are community, learn, monitor, build online and engage.

Find people in business who have common interests. Build your business and brand by really engaging with others.

And read as much as you can about online marketing, online marketing tools and the latest technology because I agree it's not just having random conversations with random people online, social media can show revenue, growth and community.