Social media has changed the entire landscape of the small business marketing online. It allows the little companies to compete with the big boys and reach a large geographic market.
The whole idea behind social media is being able to connect and build relationships with others. It s an advantage because unlike large businesses, you can actually bring a more personal side to the situation. This allows you to advertise and marketing for inexpensive prices, all while having the opportunity to make a substantial income.
Navigation and Setup There are many things you can do online, but if you want something easy we recommend a blog. If you go somewhere like Wordpress you can get a standard setup at no cost to you. Now, if you have a cpanel, it s probably best that you utilize something like Fantastico.
Broadcasting One of the best things to blogging is being able to broadcast anything you have to say to the social media world. You can do this by using Twitter Plug ins, Twitterfeed, and even Ping Fm. Some individuals even submit their content to RSS feed aggregators or places like Technorati.
Personal Branding Building an online presence has to be one of the biggest parts to being successful on the Internet today. Showing that you re an expert in your field and can offer advice, analysis and product reviews gives you instant credibility. If you have a blog you give people the opportunity to get to know you, follow, and let you be the one to help them make informed decisions.
Test for Nothing! A lot of people use Twitter as a testing area for marketing messages. When you write offline messages this can be extremely useful. You know things like postcards and headlines? There are places like SocialOomph that can be very useful in these situations. It helps you build the following on Twitter, as well as organize the scheduling of your tweets.
Tools are Mostly Free! Yes, you will find that the majority of the tools on social media syndication don t cost a dime. Whether you re using Wordpress, Twitter or Facebook they are all helpful. Even domains can be free if you utilize a sub domain on an existing account.
Fan Following Giving away intriguing offerings are very helpful when you re trying to build a relationship with your followers. It doesn t matter what you re giving out for free, as long as it pertains to your niche and is helpful to the individual.
Interacting w/Customers If you really want to help build those relationships you can create groups, engage with customer comments, add polls, opinions, and a long line of other useful tools. If you can do this and kill off objections you will be able to build grow based on their feedback.
Have FUN! Yes, there is nothing like utilizing these tools to make money online. Plus, when you take the route of a blog you are able to say what you want to say and have a more personable feel to the subject.
In the end, if you want to maximize your efforts you can do so by utilizing SEO, social media, and email marketing all at the same time.
Author Resource:
Amarjit Kapur is an online marketing consultant and has helped many small and medium businesses in maximizing their online potential. Get your free report on how to dominate your local market through http://www.hitbullseye.co.uk or visit http://internetmarketinglondonblog.com