Using Social Media for Small Business

The growing social media scene has given small business owners yet another way to promote their businesses online for relatively little investment. In fact, time is the most significant cost when it comes to social media.

Since most small business owners are busy running all aspects of their businesses, they do not have much extra time to spend on social media. This is why it is so important to create a marketing plan, set goals for your social media activity, and learn as much as you can about each network you plan to participate in so you can reduce the learning curve and avoid wasting time.

This collection of articles provides an overview of social media for small business, as well as tips and advice for using specific networks as effectively as possible in your business.

7 Tips for Getting Started With Social Media

Business people working on social media

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Social media can be overwhelming to small business owners who are brand new on the scene because there are so many social networks and so many ways to use them to promote your business. There is also a vast amount of resources available on using social media in your business. This can be helpful, or it can cause even more confusion. The basic getting-started tips in this article apply to any network and will help you get started on the right foot.

7 Things to Avoid When You're Growing Your Social Media Presence

While it's important to have a list of things you should do when you're getting started in social media, it can also be helpful to have a list of things you should avoid in order to grow your community and use your social media presence to form relationships. This article outlines seven things you should NOT do when using social media for business.

Use Social Media for Customer Service

One of the biggest reasons small business owners get involved in social media is to get to know their customers and potential customers and begin to form relationships that can lead to new opportunities.

In many cases, this translates into providing customer service and support via social media. Small business owners who are open to this level of interaction with their customer base often find that it can be a powerful way to promote their business and strengthen their brand.

A Guide to Using Facebook for Business

Now that you have a handle on a few general tips and best practices for using social media in your small business, it's time to dig into specific social networks. Facebook is, by far, the most popular network and since many people are already familiar with it from their personal use, it often makes a great starting point for business use, too. This collection of articles provides practical tips, advice, and resources for using Facebook in your small business.

9 Tips for Getting Started With Twitter in Your Small Business

Up next is Twitter. Twitter is a microblogging platform, which means updates are short blasts, 140 characters or less. It works nothing like Facebook in terms of interaction, engagement, ​and promotion, but it can be a very effective tool for many small businesses. The most important part of getting started with Twitter is understanding the platform and figuring out how you can use it effectively in your small business. This article will help you get started.

7 Ways to Use Pinterest in Your Small Business

The newest network on the social media scene, Pinterest adds a brand new focus to social networking -- images. Users "pin" photos, images and other graphics they find online or create themselves in order to share, promote, and inspire. On the surface, it may seem that Pinterest is primarily for small businesses that sell visual products or services, but there are actually a number of other ways any small business can use Pinterest. This article provides seven ideas to get you thinking.

12 Tips for Making Your Business Blog a Success

You may not instantly think of blogs when you think of social media, but they are, in fact, a key part of social media. Not only does a blog allow you to provide useful, relevant and engaging content to your target audience, but it also gives your readers a chance to interact with you from within the blog comments and by sharing your content on other networks. This social aspect elevates a blog from a static website into a platform with great potential. This article provides 12 essential tips for making your small business blog a success.