This is part 2 of a 2 part series on using social networking to promote your business. Read part 1 here.

Getting Started - The presenters all made the same point: the only way to get started in social networking is to jump in. If you haven’t already, start with a Facebook business account. If you already have a personal account, read these instructions.

If you are looking to update your website, a blog is a good way to get started with social networking (you are reading a blog). Use it as a “portal” for your entire website: portfolios, services offered, prices, and contact information combined with links to your RSS feeds, Twitter and Facebook accounts. After researching many types of blog software, I can recommend Wordpress.

Takeaway Points - As I sat through several presentations, I wrote down some common ideas that every presenter emphasized:

• Think “build community”, not “communicate with.”
• Social networking requires your most passionate people. It won’t work if you just give it to an employee as one more task to be completed on a daily basis.
• Avoid the “if you build it they will come” syndrome. Setting up a Facebook page is only the smallest first step. Plan to work with it every day or at least every other day for several months before you see real results.
• Measurement is hard. The number of “clicks” or “friends” or “eyeballs” you receive will not necessarily translate into sales. Instead, you have to trust that as social networking grows, the businesses that are part of it will grow too.
• People support organizations or businesses they love. The strength of social networking is that it allows you to develop these relationships.
• The technology is easy. The human empathy, passion, and commitment is hard.

Tags: facebook, marketing, social media, twitter

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