Tips for Beginners: #SocialMedia and Your #SmallBusiness #WorththeRead

Small Business and Social Media:

Finding a Social Media Strategy That Fits Your Small Business

I love reading interesting and informative posts and articles about business, social media, marketing and blogging. My Worth the Read posts are my way of sharing interesting or useful insights gained, giving you something to think about, and linking a few related posts or resources I think are worth taking the time to read. 

This week's theme is Social Media for Small Business. 

The transition for small businesses onto social media can be a tricky one. Being social requires a balance between engaging on a personal level and maintaining a professional brand image. Without some guidelines and a plan it's easy to make the mistake of being either too casual or automating everything resulting in existing and potential clients disengaging rather than engaging. 

Understand that there are expectations of immediate responses on social media. Be prepared for that and do it right from the beginning. 

It's one thing not to be on social media, it's another thing entirely to be there and not manage your engagement well. You will lose customers if they experience frustration about your social media accounts, and they will share this frustration VERY publicly. Figuring out a social media strategy that works within your available resources, budget and business vision may take some fidgeting to get just the right fit. It is better to take a bit more time and get it right then to lose existing and potential customers not because of your product but because of frustrating social media experiences. 

Social media engagement if not managed can easily become a time and productivity thief, and overwhelming. 

Start small and then add on if that becomes feasible and makes sense. First, do some research to figure out what social media platforms are out there, then narrow down your research to 2 or 3 platforms such as facebook, twitter or instagram that work best for your type of business. It's impossible to be on, and maintain every social media platform, nor should you try. Even if certain platforms are popular, it doesn't mean they're a good fit for you or offer a good return on invested time or money. 

In-House or Out-Source:

Remembering that existing and potential customers have social media expectations, and your bottom-line can be impacted by your social media engagement, do you have the expertise to manage this in-house? I'm a believer in doing what you're good at, and although managing your own social media, or delegating it to an intern may seem like a good cost cutting measure, in the long term it may be more cost effective to out-source it to someone or a team with social media expertise.   

Finding a social media person or team that's a good fit for your business: 

A good fit requires they understand and believe in your business' core values and are able to translate those values into consistent messaging on social media. Communicating those values in a way that generates conversations and inspires others to join in is a true art. For that reason some real thought should be given to what you want your business' social media presence to be, and who can best do that. Resist the urge to treat your social media as an after thought or punted off to inexperienced staff or interns. Instead have a look at my Worth the Read: The On-Line Community Manager, and Pam Moore's post about Hiring a Social Media Agency. 

Below are a few links and resources to get you started:

• A Beginner's Social Media Guide for Small Business via Megan Conley - Social Media Examiner
• 6 Uncomplicated Social SEO Tips for Small Business via Danielle Cormier - Constant Contact
• The Ultimate Guide to Using Social Media for Small Business via Alyssa Gregory - About.com
• 10 Small Business Social Media Marketing Tips via Ross Kimbarovsky - Mashable
• Social Media for Small Business: Choose Wisely, then Execute via Ian Lurie - Entrepreneur .com

Need some more Food for Thought? 

Social Media Best Practices for Small Business

Yep, just me Cathy thinking out loud about what's worth taking the time to read.

Note: I have not been compensated in any way for this post. All opinions are my own, and the purpose of this post is merely to share with my readers information and posts that I find interesting 

Content is King (or Queen) - Should be easy now that you know...Right?!

You will hear it everywhere, from all the top social media gurus. Content is King, Everyone needs, wants, and must have good, unique, original, top grade, content. I see and read posts about how this "content" will drive more traffic to your blog, and increase readers, and followers. People say write what you know or what you are passionate about, and focus on that. I know lots of things, and I am passionate about many things. I don't want to write about a single area, or topic. Am I doomed to be banished to the island of misfit bloggers? 

I agree with the "gurus" content is important, and I do not want to read posts that are a rehash of old stuff, or page after page of promotions and sales pitches. I want to read a post that gives me insight, teaches me something, makes me think about a subject in a different way, or think about it at all. I want to read something that makes me laugh, or cry, or surprises me, and ideally calls me to action in some way. I also want that content to look nice with graphics, pictures, font choices, and borders, all without being busy, or distracting. It is a pretty tall order. 

I am relatively new to blogging with no formal writing experience, or training in social media. I muddle along trying to get Blogger to do what I want it to do with varying degrees of success, depending on the given day. None the less, I want to give my readers all the things I want when reading a post. I want to write posts that make people smile, or think, or respond. Now that I know I need excellent content, and what I like to read, and what I want to write, it should be so easy..... NOT. 

I know what I like when I see it or read it, but I am not so clear on how to write it. I am passionate about, and know about many things, so I write about them, but that has a tendency to make my blog look busy and unfocused. I simply cannot help it, I am a multifaceted person, with a variety of life experiences. The lighter weight content threatens to bury the more important messages I have to share; but it can't be all work, otherwise Cathy will become a very dull blogger. My eye for design far outweighs my abilities to make that vision materialize on my blog. 

Then there are the questions that whirl around in my head like a merry-go-round, about citing images, quotes, posts, within posts. Not to mention what seems to be endless and ever changing rules that it not followed threaten my blog's very existence. I constantly worry about pressing publish only to find grammar and spelling mistakes. With all that who has time to write content, far less good content.  

On that note, without a proper transitioning sentence, I begin the conclusion to this light weight content piece. I always aim for well written posts that make the reader happy they took the minute or two to read it, and hopefully inspire them to read more my other posts. If my content is not "King" it is not for lack of trying. My writing, my blog, and myself are all a work in progress striving to be the very best we can be. I like to think of my blog as heir to the throne.

Yep, just me Cathy thinking out loud about content.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT FRIDAY FEATURE: WORTH THE READ JAN 10, 2014

I read cool informative posts and articles about business, social media, marketing, networking, and the like all the time. I'm a bit of a junkie when it comes to this type of thing. So I thought I would share one said post or article every Friday, and maybe send you into your weekend with some food for thought.

 NUMBER ONE MISTAKE EVERYONE MAKES ON TWITTER

Yep, just me Cathy thinking out loud about Friday Feature: Worth the Read.