The new decade is here, and a chance to make a fresh new start, especially with regard to your business. As we like to emphasize at Practical Social Media, there are many cost effective and even zero cost options to marketing your small business in social media. Some of them are called Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, and Flickr.
It would seem that time is your enemy, but social media account maintenance isn’t as hard as you think it is. Even a half hour a day would make a difference. Maybe there would be things that you need to compromise to make time for it, like that TV show you just can’t miss, or reading the paper in the morning. You can even choose to multi-task and attend to your social media tasks while you accomplish other essential duties. To get you jump-started, here is an essential Social Media to-do list for 2010:
1. Sign up for a Twitter Account. All you need is an email address and it literally takes 5 minutes. Practical Social Media provides many resources that will guide you in the best way to maximize Twitter for your business.
2. Sign up for a Twitter Account Management client. The web is a goldmine of tools to make tweeting more effective, not to mention more fun! Some great Twitter applications are Tweetdeck, Hootsuite and Seismic Desktop.
3. Create a Facebook Page for your business. Facebook’s web traffic grows steadily month after month because it so easy to use. It is a very intuitive social networking site, and once you’ve gotten started, we guarantee you won’t get lost. The Practical Social Media magazine offers resources to help you along.
4. Set aside ‘social media time’ for each day. This might be as little as 3 days a week, this might be everyday. Remember, the more time you put in, the faster and better results you’re most likely to get. Remember the 70:30 rule. Invest 70% of your time in the activities that create the most bang for your business.
5. Sign up for a Flickr account. Signing up for Flickr account is quick and easy. Be ready to upload pictures that are related to the service or product that you offer, and write your titles and descriptions with a focus on popular keywords related to your business.
6. Get a durable, affordable video cam. There are many affordable video cams in the market, even small flip cams you can fit in your pocket. And there are a ton of point-and-shoot digital cameras with great video capabilities.
7. Start making homemade videos that tell your target market more about your small business. The more you do it, the more you’ll be comfortable talking to a camera (and eventually, your customers) about what you small business can do for them!
8. Setup a Youtube account. Upload one video in January and aim to upload more on a consistent basis. The hard thing is to get started, then push through and follow up.
9. Start listening to social media. There are many free listening tools online. Some of them are Social mention, Google Blogsearch, Omgili and Twitteranalyzer. Punch in the keywords that are relevant to your small business and keep abreast of the related conversations in social media.
10. Get acquainted with the Google Keyword Tool. Find out what people are searching for in Google, and pattern your social media copywriting after these keywords.
So are you ready for 2010? Get social media ready!
