Small Business and Social Media. Part 1

This is the first part, out of a yet-to-be defined number, in a series of posts on introducing small business to social networking and how it can be beneficial for business growth. Stay tuned and it will hopefully be useful and on the verge of entertaining.

Social Media has become somewhat of a buzzword lately, or "buzzphrase," if I may, but has yet to fully infiltrate the ranks of the small business folk's vernacular in a truly substantial way. In an even less notable way, social media  has been found void in the marketing and advertising expenditures for a multitude of small businesses. With a quasi-shaky economy and the proverbial tightening of belts around the waists of marketing budgets, it's a totally logical step that "marketing professionals," (yes, I do realize that I, myself, fall into the category "marketing professionals," which I apologetically admit is laden with a young-gun, snooty and condescending undertone) are beginning to rethink the largely outdated models of yesteryear. So, the fact that social media has become a phrase that is buzzin' around  many of the communities in the business world, and perking many folk's ears, doesn't mean social media is brand-spankin' new. It just so happens that social media has been in place for a good while. But those who have continued to utilize the defunct marketing model have recently paid more attention as they look for a relatively free marketing option because of those tightened budgets. As a side note Beth Harte and Geoff Livingston co-authored a good, and funny, post about new social media "experts," called Top 25 Ways to Tell if Your Social Media Expert is a Carpetbagger

But what does this mean for the small business owner? Well, before I begin to address the benefit of Social Media Networking for small businesses, I want to define Social Media Networking as "communication online." Pretty simple, huh? Well, sort of . . . For so many small businesses in the U.S. today the only online presence utilized is a mediocre, static-website and little-to-no user interactivity. I understand this dilemma, websites that are more creative in nature and more exciting to visit can get very expensive, which is not easy to fit into the budget for a small business owner. Social media networking/marketing offers small businesses a stepping stone towards overcoming the small business web-dilemma. 

In the days and weeks to come I will be introducing a variety of social media networking outlets for small businesses, demonstrate the multitude of ways social media can be beneficial to your business and brand, and a primer discussion on how to effectively participate in the social media networking community.

Get excited to shift gears!