A few recent conversations with other small business owners raised questions on how to get started on using social media for branding the business and the business owner. First, let me note that personally I have found social media a great way to brand myself and my consulting business. It has enabled me to reach a greater audience, make business connections, secure consulting business and meet some really fantastic people whom I am happy to call “friends.”
Here are 5 simple ways to get started using social media.
- Start slowly. Choose which channel to focus on initially – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn. Don’t get overwhelmed, start slow at first so that you can get used to the idea of using social media if you do not already. I find the most success in LinkedIn; but also use Twitter and Facebook.
- Read some “how to’s.” Visit HubSpot’s blog (http://blog.hubspot.com/) for a great collection of articles and “how to’s” on how to use social media sites for business purposes.
- Be active. Before I started on Twitter, I had a few “tweets” ready to go. On LinkedIn, I’ve joined groups that are of interest and frequently contribute to discussions. Share information with others via social media channels. Build relationships through communicating with others, sharing their tweets (Twitter), commenting on their wall posts (Facebook) or participating in discussions group (LinkedIn) or answers questions in the “Answer” section (LinkedIn.)
- Promote your presence. Promote your Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook accounts on your website and in your email signature line. Ask people to connect with you in social media.
- Be yourself! People don’t just want to hear about your company or sales promotions, they want to get to know you. Share a bit of yourself.
Commit to be active on social media every day for just 10 minutes. You don’t have to commit hours on end to be successful and build relationships with others. Find individuals who have similar interests and connect with them to build your social media network. Help others when you can by sharing information or making connections to others. You’ll have lots of fun and brand yourself and your business in the meantime!
Feel free to get started by connecting with me and the company:
Gina Abudi
On Twitter: http://Twitter.com/ginaabudi
On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ginaabudi
On LinkedIn: http://www.Linkedin.com/in/ginaabudi
Abudi Consulting Group
On Twitter: http://Twitter.com/abudiconsulting
On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/abudiconsulting
Our company page on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/abudi-consulting-group-llc
Get started today! You’ll have a great time personally and will find that you build your network on a bigger level than you can imagine.
