Get found in social media… (25 easy ideas)

What is Social Media?

We have all heard about “it”, and we all know we need to be doing “it”. The only problem is most people don’t even know what it (social media) IS! Consider this your 5 minute primer. To get started let’s take the Internet definition from Wikipedia, which defines social media as, “Internet-based tools for sharing and discussing information among human beings.” I find that definition a little dry and prefer to think social media is simply about people connecting, interacting, and sharing online.

Why should I care about Social Media?

The answer is basically the same as why you should care about Google – social media is a great way to reach and engage potential customers. It’s a way to reach past the traditional forms of marketing and advertising and touch customers directly where they are, on their terms. If done right, can you can foster deep and loyal connections with your target audience. At the end of the day, don’t you want to be “hanging out” where your customers are?

The Big Kahunas of Social Media

While there are hundreds, if not thousands of options available in the social media universe, there are a select few that will give you the most “bang for your buck”. Starting with these important social media hubs is a sure way to find your customers where they spend time online. Here’s a brief list of the most important sites:

• Facebook.com – the largest and most active social network in the world
• LinkedIn.com – the business professional’s social network of the web
• Twitter.com – fast growing micro-blogging platform
• Youtube.com – the largest and most visited social video site online
• StumbleUpon.com – the social discovery site for finding and sharing great sites
• Digg.com – online user-edited news aggregation
• And many others…

25 Easy Ideas to Get Started Today:

1. Create a Facebook.com personal profile… just GO DO IT
2. Create a Facebook business page (known as a fan page)
3. Create an easy to remember URL for your fan page
4. On your next event use Facebook events to invite people and get RSVP’s
5. Look for your existing business contacts and invite them on Facebook
6. Connect your blog to your Facebook business page (easy way to update)
7. Create a LinkedIn user account and profile
8. Make sure your LinkedIn profile is 100% complete
9. Link your LinkedIn profile to your business site and your blog
10. Use the group search feature and join the biggest groups in your industry
11. If you can’t find a group, create your own group
12. Find most relevant LinkedIn Answers categories and subscribe
13. Reserve your company name on twitter as your user-name
    
14. Create a complete profile including bio on Twitter
15. Find the twitter experts for your industry and follow them
16. Connect Twitter to your facebook so you don’t need to update often
17. Create an account for yourself on Digg (don’t use business name)
18. Subscribe to the most relevant category to your business on Digg
    
19. Befriend people who post relevant and interesting articles
20. Start submitting articles you think are exceptional
21. Create a StumbleUpon user account and download the toolbar
22. Select the categories most relevant to your business
23. Start “stumbling” and voting on sites you like and dislike
24. When you find interesting sites give them a thumbs up
25. Build your friend list with people who submit relevant sites