6 Things Really Productive People Do

By Kevin Daum

Have you noticed that some people just seem to accomplish tons and still appear happy and relaxed? Here are six tips for becoming more productive.
People often ask me, amazed, how I manage to do so many things. Aside from writing two columns every week, I speak regularly, travel, create videos, manage my business, write books, consult with five companies, network, socialize, cycle, run, read, cook, sleep six to seven hours a night and have dates with my wife. Oh yeah, I watch a lot of television while hanging out with my dog as well.
Okay, I know it sounds ridiculous. But accomplishing my preferred future requires this level of activity. I have the same 24 hours in a day that you do, but I have made specific choices that allow me to make the most of every day, and still feel happy and relaxed. Perhaps these tips will help you make the most of your time as well.
1. Pick Your Priorities
Make choices about the activities in your life. With most endeavors, you can either go deep or go wide.

Focus on spending time that for you is fun and productive. If you like big families, have them, but recognize up front that kids require time and you'll have to choose a lifestyle that supports quality time with them, for you to feel satisfied. I chose the life of a consultant because I like to work with companies, but don't want the life of a big company CEO. My choices are based on the lifestyle I want.
2. Go For Efficiency
You don't do everything well. The things you do well usually give you greater joy and require less time. Don't take on something with a steep learning curve if you don't have the available bandwidth. Design your life to meet your wants, and recognize when to say no to opportunities that are outside the scope of your desires. Live your life by design, not default.
3. Integrate Your Activities
Many people go crazy trying to figure out how to spend time with friends, family, work, play, etc.  Stop trying to balance time between them all. Find ways to enjoy them in a combined manner. Build your social life around people in your work environment. Find people in your company who share common interests and develop your career around the people and activities you love. If everything is out of synch to the point where you feel pulled and stressed, a change is likely imminent one way or another.
4. Actively Manage Time-wasters
Social media, family, friends, employees, co-workers and general whiners all under certain circumstances can suck precious time from you if you let them. Budget your time for necessary activities. Make a choice to limit non-supportive interactions that don't energize you. As for social media, it can easily be a black hole for time and productivity. Use it appropriately and sparingly as a tool to support your endeavors and social needs, but lay off the Farmville.
5. Be an Active Learner
You would think learning takes more time from you, but actually there are always new tools and new ways of doing things that can save you time on mundane tasks freeing you up for your priorities. Always be looking for a new way to gain back an hour here or there. Just try it and dump it quick if it starts to drag on.
6. Lighten Up
No need to beat yourself up if you can't do all the things you want because you are handling other stuff that needs attention. It happens. The world won't come to an endin most cases just because you left a few things undone. Celebrate progress and keep refining toward a happy productive existence. This is why making lists and crossing off items is a staple in any productivity handbook. Every completion is a small victory that adds up in a big way.

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Implementing A Small Business Social Media Strategy: Conclusion

Traditionally, marketing efforts have focused on finding customers through television, radio and print advertisements, direct mail, telemarketing, frequent email blasts and so forth. The idea was, “throw a big enough net and you’re sure to catch some fish.”

Today’s businesses can take a different approach. Rather than hunting down clients, businesses can now use social media to make it easier for their potential clients to find them. This approach is less intrusive than older marketing techniques, and because social media relies on people being, well, social, it can prove an effective way to spread your message across the Internet.

As with any business strategy, it is important to have an organized and thoughtful approach to marketing and social media is no different. Carolyn Porter, the Business Department Chair with Southwestern Community College emphasizes the importance of having a well-planned strategy, stating, “a good social media strategy can mean the difference between engaging with your audience and simply adding to the noise.”

Small businesses can employ social media strategies to connect with and engage existing and potential clients, providing intriguing content while spreading the word about their products and services. As more people rely on recommendations from friends and family to make purchase decisions, it is in the best interest of most small businesses to develop and maintain a vibrant and engaging social media presence.

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Implementing A Small Business Social Media Strategy: Hiring A Social Media Manager

As your online presence develops, you may find that you no longer have adequate time (or energy) to devote to social media. If you are fortunate enough to have created vibrant and active social media profiles for your business, maintaining them could become a full-time job. You may have to hire a manager if your social media activity is: 

• Taking up more than two to three hours of your work day
• Preventing you from performing your other duties
• A distraction that is affecting your productivity
• No longer fun 

Another reason to hire a social media manager is if your business has taken off to the point where your time is more valuable than the costs associated with hiring an employee or freelancer. If you decide it’s time to hire a social media manager, keep in mind that person can be hired on either a part-time or full-time basis in accordance with your needs.

A social media manager is responsible for supervising your day-to-day social media activities while managing your brand’s reputation and client relationships. Your manager’s duties will likely be very specific to your situation. A social media manager’s job might be to update accounts, add posts and images, respond to users’ comments, tweets and other interactions, respond to complaints, and collect data and analyze results to figure out where social media efforts should be concentrated to increase your return on investment. The job might also include spearheading a promotion or organizing a contest. The specific role your social manager takes will depend on your needs and may change as your business grows.

The ideal candidate is someone who is both knowledgeable and passionate about social media. In addition, a social media manager should have: 

• Strong writing and editing skills
• A background in customer service, sales and/or marketing
• The ability to problem-solve
• Excellent listening skills 

Finding a Social Media Manager
There are a number of online venues to find someone to manage your social media activities. Ironically, some of the best places to look are social media sites. You can post the job on LinkedIn, for example, by entering “social media manager” in the People search box. You will be able to sort the results by Relevance, Relationship, Relationship + Recommendations, Connections or Keywords. Similarly you can post the job on Twitter using hashtags like #socialmedia and #jobs. Other useful sites include Mashable, Mediabistro and elance.

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Implementing A Small Business Social Media Strategy: Maintain Your Profiles

Effective social media involves more than making regular posts. Although these are extremely important, there are a number of other tasks that small businesses should perform on a regular basis to keep your followers happy.

Check Social Media Profiles
As mentioned previously, social media is not a set it and forget it strategy. Even if your plan dictates that you will send two tweets each week, you still need to log on to your Twitter account each day to see what’s going on. Have you added followers? Have people retweeted your messages? Are there any comments? Keeping a close eye on your account activity allows you to respond immediately to any user interactions and helps you adapt to any changes. For example, you will know if your Twitter account is attracting an unusual amount of attention and can react accordingly.

Respond to Direct Interactions
It is vital that you respond to direct interactions from your followers. If someone has taken the time and effort to engage with you and your business, it is only polite (and good business) to respond quickly. Interactions might include Facebook messages, posts to your Facebook wall, Twitter direct messages (DMs) and Twitter @replies.

Even if you don’t want to respond to a post (for example, a bad product review), it is important that you show your appreciation for their initiative in reaching out to you. Responding to, rather than ignoring, negative posts also gives you the opportunity to demonstrate to the community your customer service skills and your willingness to learn from criticism.

Find New Followers
Small businesses can be proactive when it comes to finding new followers. One way to accomplish this is to find Twitter profiles of your industry’s authority figures. Follow that person’s followers and they may automatically follow you back, thereby increasing the number of followers you have.

Adding connections on LinkedIn is another way to find new followers. Review your existing connections to find other people (their connections) with whom you would like to connect. You might also consider joining and participating in LinkedIn Groups that are relevant to your business and target audience.

Search for Branded Terms
A brief search for your business’s branded phrases can help you find conversations between people that you are not yet connected with. This could involve someone leaving an unsolicited review or someone seeking clarification about one of your products or services. If you can find these mentions online, you can proactively respond to potential followers and potential clients.

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Implementing A Small Business Social Media Strategy: Build And Develop Your Social Media Presence

Once you have selected the social media platforms that are most appropriate for your business and have made decisions regarding the type and frequency of your content, it’s time to establish your social media presence. Keep in mind, more is not always better;  it is far better to use one or two sites than to have a user profile on every social media site, but never add content or interact with other users. It’s okay to pick just one or two to begin with and add more later, if you have the time and resources.

Build
You will need to create on effective online profile for each social media platform that you have decided to use. You may decide to have two user profiles for each platform – one for yourself and one for your business. While you can get a little personal to connect with existing and potential clients, it’s important to maintain a professional image and avoid giving too much information. Adding profile photos (or avatars) can make your profiles more interesting and personable, but be sure maintain a professional presence at all times.

Most social media sites allow you to include a short bio or summary. A well-written description here can mean the difference between someone wanting to find out more about you and your business and someone skipping past your profile. Keep your bio brief but compelling, keeping in mind those with whom you would like to connect. Be sure to include links to your Web site so that people can learn more about you and your small business. Although these links do not add any significant SEO value, they can generate traffic to your Web site.

Connect
Once you have your profiles set up, it is time to connect with the communities and your existing and potential clients. Keep in mind that once you’ve established a presence on a particular social media platform, the public will expect you to actively participate. Digital Producer Hannah Twigg explains, “small business owners should be aware that social media is not a set it and forget it strategy. Consistent participation is absolutely necessary for success and it takes time to build a loyal fan base and reputation.”

Engage
Social media is your opportunity to engage with people; rather than simply speaking to someone, you want to speak with them. Social media is a two-way street, and your presence will be enhanced by your active participation. Twigg recommends the 80/20 principle: 80% or your activity is “being friendly” through retweets, comments and other participation. The remaining 20% is your chance to add new content. In this way, you are an active participant, engaging your audience, rather than limiting your social media presence to your own promotion.

Most experts will remind you that social media should be less about you (and your company) and more about the user base. Providing content that is relevant and useful to your existing and potential clients – perhaps a topic that pertains to your industry rather than just you – may be better than making yet another post about how great your products are.

Engaging your audience also means asking them to take part in the conversation, whether by asking a specific question or by inviting people to submit photos of them using your product. People may be more likely to engage if they are invited.

Influence
Social media influences consumer decisions. When it comes time to make purchasing decisions, consumers increasingly consult with their friends and families through social media platforms. In fact, according to a study by digital marketing agency ODM Group, 74% of consumers depend on social networks to steer their purchase decisions. People are able to interact, learn, investigate and make purchases all online. Your followers, fans and connections have a lot of influence over their friends and families.

Your ability to influence depends on two factors: your credibility and your reach. A strong, professional and engaging social media presence adds to your credibility. Your reach can expand beyond the number of fans, followers and connections you have as they share your content, products and services within their circles. 

http://www.investopedia.com/university/implementing-small-business-social-media-strategy/build-and-develop-your-social-media-presence.asp

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Implementing A Small Business Social Media Strategy: Plan Your Content

As you develop your online presence, it is important to have a plan for the type of content that you will deliver to your existing and potential clients, and the frequency with which it will be delivered. You need to decide what you are going to post and when you are going to post it.

Content Categories and Types
The type of content that you deliver will be largely dependent upon your business and your goals for using social media and should be appropriate to both. Your content should be relevant and fresh, and focus on the clients rather than on your company. What do your existing and potential clients want to read about? What do they want to see? What do they want to learn? Social media is about sharing, not just advertising. Education-based marketing is usually more effective than a sales pitch. If you are viewed as an industry expert providing interesting content, you will be able to grow a loyal fan base.

Content categories are the topics that you will cover; the type of content refers to the format in which it will be delivered. For example, if you own a yoga business, your content categories might include yoga positions, yoga for health, yoga for beginners and yoga retreats. You could support these topics by using a variety of content types, including photos of yoga positions, educational articles relating to the health benefits of yoga, video announcements for upcoming events, coupons for classes and links to your Web site.

Posting Frequency
Along with establishing the categories and types of content that you want to deliver, you should determine your posting frequency. When deciding how often to post, remember that consistency is key. If your followers, fans and connections have grown to expect two educational articles each week, you don’t want to disappoint. Posting at random can make you appear unreliable and disorganized, and even the most loyal fans can lose interest. Posting on a regular schedule helps ensure that you stay on top of your social media strategy, while keeping your followers interested.

Editorial Calendar
To ensure that you cover all the topics that you intend to, and that you pay attention to all of your chosen social medial platforms, you might consider creating an editorial calendar. Writing down your schedule on an editorial calendar can help keep you organized and on track; when your goals are on paper, you are more likely to meet them.

Using a spreadsheet program such as Microsoft Excel, you can plan out your month, outlining what, when and where you will post each day. Once your editorial calendar is on paper (or on the computer screen), you will be able ensure you’re covering your content bases. Have you provided educational content? Have you included new product images? Have you engaged your audience with a thought-provoking essay to solicit responses? Have you paid attention to all of the social media platforms that you use? If you become more active, you may decide to make a weekly or even daily calendar.

http://www.investopedia.com/university/implementing-small-business-social-media-strategy/plan-your-content.asp

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Implementing A Small Business Social Media Strategy: Research The Platforms

There are dozens of social media platforms that you can use to connect with and engage your current and potential clients. While it may seem like a good idea to cover your bases and have a presence on all of them, it is better to focus your energy on several carefully-selected platforms that match both your goals and audience. Each social media platform has its own unique traits, and your content and audience may be appropriate for one platform and not another.

 For example, photos have good impact when posted on Facebook and Instagram, but are less effective on Twitter. Likewise, if your target demographic is men over 65 years old, Pinterest might be a bad choice because research shows that this platform is appealing to women under 50 years old. It is important to research and choose the platforms that are most appropriate for your goals and audience. An Internet search for “social media statistics” and a visit to the Pew Research Center’s Web site (www.pewinternet.org) can get you pointed in the right direction.

Three of the biggest social media platforms today are Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Facebook
According to the Pew study, 67% of all Internet users use Facebook. So while it’s not quite accurate to state that “everyone is on Facebook,” a lot of your potential clients likely hang out there. More than one billion people like and comment an average of 3.2 billion times every day on Facebook, making it the largest social media platform in the world. Facebook is used by businesses to connect with existing clients and to cultivate new relationships, and its “liking” system is a useful tool for generating buzz for products and/or services, enabling fans to help you spread the word.

Because so many businesses now have a Facebook page, many consumers will look for your Facebook profile before even looking for your Web site. In addition to business pages, small (and large) businesses can advertise within the Facebook platform. While these ads are expensive, they are targeted to specific Facebook users in various parts of the site.

LinkedIn
LinkedIn is generally perceived to be the place for business professionals to hang out, providing a platform for entrepreneurs and business people to connect, interact and network. Each LinkedIn profile is similar to a resume, listing your current employment, work history, education, skills, received recommendations and other relevant information. According to the Pew study, 20% of all Internet users use LinkedIn. 36% of users are college-educated, and 34% have an annual household income of at least $75,000.

Many small businesses use LinkedIn as a means of promoting a professional public image and establishing a business presence. You can create a profile for yourself and set up your business as a company profile to gain authority. On your company profile, you can list your services and products and a link to your Web site. Even though LinkedIn is geared toward connecting you with other industry professionals rather than with clients, the connections can prove beneficial and be a source of good business in the future.

Twitter
Twitter enables users to send and read text-based messages known as tweets; each tweet is limited to 140 characters. According to Pew research, 16% of Internet users use Twitter. The most dominant age group is 18 to 29 year olds (27% of users) with some college education (17%). As a small business, you can tweet your own messages, retweet interesting and relevant tweets and comment on others’ tweets. Other users can follow you, and your tweets will automatically be shown to them.

Not all of your Twitter efforts will be posting new content. In fact, the majority of your activity might be in the form of retweets and comments. You can tweet a message directly at an authority in the hopes that they retweet to their followers (in order for this to happen your content needs to be remarkable or something so interesting that the authority cannot help but retweet). People tend to follow both people and businesses, so you might consider both personal and business Twitter profiles.

Aside from the Big Three, other noteworthy social media platforms include:

Google+
Google+ (pronounced Google Plus) is a newer social media service launched in mid-2011. Google+ has a +1 button that is similar to Facebook’s “Like” button. The +1 button allows users to start conversations and publicly recommend pages across the web. Each day, Google’s +1 button is used over 2 billion times, meaning that your content could be spread across the Internet as users +1 you to their friends and families.

Aside from the benefits of having your content shares, Google+ is essential for search engine optimization (SEO). Every Google +1 is a stamp of approval for that content.  As your content receives more +1s, it can indirectly improve your page’s Google search rank, because Google uses data from social media signals to judge the quality of a web page or content.

Instagram
Instagram is an online photo-sharing service that enables users to filter photos and share them through Instagram and other social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr. Launched in late 2010, Instagram now has more than 90 million active users each month, and 40 million photos are shared each day. Pew research shows that 13% of all Internet users use Instagram, and that it is especially appealing to the 18 to 29 age group.

Instagram users can apply interesting filters to transform the look and feel of their photos, and the photos appear as squares instead of the 4:3 aspect ratio that is typical to most digital cameras. These features give Instagram photos a distinctive appearance. As a small business, you can post compelling images, including links to your Web site and content in the comment section so users can instantly connect with you.

Pinterest
Pinterest is a visual content sharing service where users “pin” images, videos and other objects to their pinboards. According to Pew research, 15% of Internet users use Pinterest, and it is especially popular among women who are between 18 and 49 years old. In addition to individual profiles, Pinterest supports boards for small businesses.

Users can pin things from your Web site by clicking on a “Pin it” button similar to Facebook’s Like and Google’s +1 buttons. Pinterest can be used to build brand awareness through visual content and to help drive Web site traffic.

YouTube
YouTube is a video sharing site. Every minute, 72 hours of videos are uploaded to YouTube, and over 4 billion hours of video are watched each month. While we would all like our videos to go viral with millions of views, this should not necessarily be the goal of small business videos on YouTube. Instead, you can use the platform to tell viewers about your products and services while conveying your brand to your audience.

Since most viewers have a limited attention span, it is best to keep videos brief and to the point, aiming for a length of about two to three minutes. Any longer than that and viewers either won’t finish the video or worse, they will skip it all together because it’s too much of a time commitment.

 

http://www.investopedia.com/university/implementing-small-business-social-media-strategy/research-platforms.asp

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Implementing A Small Business Social Media Strategy: Define Your Target Audience

Going hand in hand with establishing your social media goals is defining your target audience. Companies have traditionally relied on market research to figure out where to most effectively put their radio, print and television advertising dollars. Today, small businesses can look to research organizations that provide information on how consumers use social media. Knowing how your existing and potential customers use social media is an important part of developing an effective social media strategy.

Your target demographic is specific to your business and will depend on the goods and services that you offer. In order to understand your audience, you must determine which social media sites your existing and potential clients use – where are they online?

Research organizations publish valuable studies that can help you reach your audience. A late 2012 survey by the Pew Research Center, for example, entitled The Demographics of Social Media Users – 2012, shows that 67% of Internet users use Facebook and that it is especially appealing to women and young adults aged 18 to 29. The study also found that 15% of Internet users use Pinterest, and this social media platform is especially appealing to white adult women under age 50 and those with some college education.

Pew research shows other statistics, such as the percentage of Internet users that earn at least $50,000 that are on LinkedIn (24%) compared with the percent of users who earn less than $30,000 (7%), and the number of Internet users that are at least 50 years old who are using Facebook (57%). These statistics can help small businesses figure where their social media efforts are best served. Because social media is a dynamic environment, it is helpful to review current studies when determining where to focus your attention.

You can perform your own non-scientific research to find out if your target demographic is active on a particular social media platform. One way is to research your competitors’ sites; if they are engaging successfully with an audience on a particular social network, then you should be able to target your audience on the same platform. You can also search the various social media platforms for keywords that pertain to your business. For example, to find out if your audience is active on LinkedIn, you can enter your keywords into the People search box in the top menu bar.

Know Thy Audience
Digital Producer Hannah Twigg says that the most important consideration when planning a social media strategy is to know thy audience. She explains, “The same way a job candidate needs to know the company they are interviewing for, a business must have a clear understanding of who they are targeting, which social media channels they prefer and what they read, share and post.”

Twigg notes that social media is a two-way street and that timing is important: “Successful social media strategy is more about listening than talking.  The right message interjected at the right time at the right person can lead to bigger ROI.  Here is a perfect example: a well-known journalist was visiting Las Vegas and while checking into his hotel tweeted about the terrible wait time.  This tweet was seen by a competing hotel in the area and their response was quite simple and genius: ‘Las Vegas is happy to have you @ … We hope your time here improves quickly’.  This message resulted in the journalist switching hotels and then recommending his new accommodations to two other friends.”

Because of the viral nature of social media, one well-timed interaction with the right person can quickly spread across the Web. In addition to the Las Vegas hotel earning the journalist’s business, their well-timed tweet brought additional clients. Twigg explains, “This single tweet resulted in over 10k of new business for the hotel. The hotel targeted a high profile journalist, listened for the right moment to engage and delivered a simple message that wasn't a sales pitch, rather a friendly acknowledgment of their target audience's woes. Being 'likeable' and non-intrusive to your audience is key!”

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Implementing A Small Business Social Media Strategy: Define Your Goals

The first step in creating a social media strategy for your small business is to define your goals. What do you want to achieve through social media? How will you use social media to promote your business? For example, you may want to use social media: 

• or general branding purposes
• To interact with your audience
• To share coupons and offers
• To drive traffic to your Web site
• To market a new line of products 

Get SMART
When making your social media goals, it can be helpful to take an organized approach to ensure your goals are both concise and realistic. The “SMART” approach to goal setting, described in Paul J. Meyer’s 2003 book Attitude is Everything, can be applied to your small business social media activities. According to Meyer, SMART goals are:

Specific
Goals should be specific and state exactly what it is that you want to accomplish. It is difficult, if not impossible, to reach a goal that is not clearly defined. Specific goals address: 

• Who – who will be involved in reaching the goal?
• What – what is it that I want to accomplish?
• When – what is the timeframe for reaching the goal?
• Where – what is the venue for accomplishing the goal?
• Why – what reason or purpose do I have for accomplishing the goal?
• Which – any requirements and constraints 

Measurable
Goals should be measurable so that you know when you’ve met the goal. One measure of success in social media is the number of comments, followers, retweets, likes or Web visits you achieve during a specified period of time.

Attainable
Goals should be attainable and reasonable. While there is no sense setting a goal that is impossible to reach, it makes a lot of sense to set one that will make you work hard and provide a challenge. Even if you have huge plans for the future, it is important to set attainable goals now that act as stepping stones to your longer-term, larger goals.

Relevant
Goals should be relevant, consistent with other established goals and timely for your business. A goal that is relevant matches your other efforts, is worthwhile and is appropriate at this time. It is important to consider, “Does this goal matter?” If not, it may be a waste of time, effort and resources to try to accomplish the goal. Goals should matter and help you reach both intermediate and long-term plans.

Timely
A goal should be timely and include a “deadline” for reaching the goal. “I want to have 100,000 Twitter followers” is much less meaningful than “I want to have 100,000 Twitter followers by the end of the second quarter of 2013.” If you have all the time in the world (i.e., no deadline) to reach your goal, you will be under no pressure to reach the goal and, as a result, may not ever be able to cross that goal off your list. Set a date and do everything possible to reach your goal by then.

A good example of a SMART goal may sound like, “I want to add 300 new fans each month during the second quarter of 2013.” At the end of the Q2, you will be able to tell if you’ve met your goal or not. You will also be able to measure how you are progressing toward your goal at the end of each month.
Regardless of the methodology used to create goals, you will need to define what you want to accomplish with social media. Your goal should be something specific and measurable so that you will know the moment you’ve reached it.

http://www.investopedia.com/university/implementing-small-business-social-media-strategy/define-your-goals.asp

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Implementing A Small Business Social Media Strategy: Introduction

A hundred years ago, most businesses were local brick-and-mortars that relied on door-to-door marketing to engage the public. As technology evolved, motion pictures, radio and television opened up new avenues for business marketing, eventually expanding to include direct mail, telemarketing, print advertising, trade shows and e-mail blasts. While these practices have proven successful over the years, many of today’s consumers now view them as intrusive, and have consequently become quite savvy at ignoring traditional marketing attempts.

Enter social media – a Web-based inbound approach to marketing that helps small businesses get found online. The term “social media” refers to various Web sites where people connect, interact and share online. Today, 62% of adults worldwide use some form of social media via computers, smartphones, tablets, game consoles, Internet-enabled TVs, handheld music players and e-readers.

Consider these statistics:

• One billion people actively use Facebook every month
• 500,000 people use Twitter every month
• Google’s +1 button is used 2+ billion times each day
• 5 million photos are uploaded to Instagram every hour
• 3,600 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every hour   

While social media began as a way to connect friends and family, it has become the norm for all types of businesses – from mom and pop restaurants to high-tech firms – to have a social media presence. The Burson-Marstellar Fortune 100 Social Statistics Report for 2012 shows that: 

• There are more than 10 million social mentions each month of Fortune 100 companies
• 87% of Fortune 100 companies use social media (Twitter is the most popular)
• 75% of Fortune 100 companies are on Facebook
• 50% of Fortune 100 companies have a Google+ account
• 25% of Fortune 100 companies have a Pinterest account
• Each corporate YouTube channel averages 2 million views  

You don’t have to be a Fortune 100 company to take advantage of social media, but as the statistics demonstrate, today’s businesses are actively using social media. Coupled with the sheer number of people who actively participate in online social communities, it becomes difficult for small businesses to defend a stance against joining the social media movement.

As social media continues to change the way people communicate, it has become an increasingly important tool for small businesses. As Hannah Twigg, Digital Producer with The Program, explains, “Social media allows [small businesses] to have direct communication with their customers, with the potential to transform [the business] into a virtual sales team.” With so many people engaging in social media, it is difficult to ignore its potential to help businesses reach out to new and existing clients. Twigg affirms, “When it comes to recommendations for products and services, people trust other people they know far more than any sophisticated marketing campaign. The more ‘fans’ you create, the more ‘likes’ you motivate and the more ‘shares’ you inspire. As others in your customers’ circles observe what their friends and relatives promote, they will follow suit.”

Small businesses can implement social media strategies to reach and engage existing and potential clients, while spreading the word about their products and services. In today’s connected world, where customers research purchases online and seek recommendations from friends and family, it is in the best interest of most small businesses to have a vibrant and interactive social media presence. Here, we will review the various social media platforms, and explain how to implement a small business social media strategy.

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