In this paper we offer an introduction to the new Internet phenomena – Social Media Marketing explaining:

1. Why it’s important for small businesses to understand it2. What to do, and how to go about it. (all the site names are links)3. Where to go to start building a web presence.

Why you need to be marketing via Social Media

Do you need to get into Social Media Marketing (SMM) – Almost certainly YES because a) the other approaches don’t work so well anymore, and b) because it offers a much wider reach, to a more closely targeted audience. And it’s free.

a) Other approaches don’t work any more:

* Cold calling on the street – when was the last time anybody got invited in to make their pitch?* Cold calling on the phone – talking to voice mail isn’t fun anymore.* Print and other broadcast media – far too expensive and unproductive.* Email – authorized sender lists and other filters send these to Trash.* SEO your marketing site – Google ranks advertisers first and content (in blogs) next.* Adwords – cost per click is driven up by big brand budgets and only Google makes money.

On top of these is the resistance we all have to intrusive advertising. Our brains, our Firefox or our Tivo, allows us to filter it out.
Social Media platforms aren’t intended for marketing, but do help us get messages out there, to people interested in the subject. The creators built these systems so communities could interact, on the Internet.

Social Media Marketing is:

1. More effective2. Wider reach to people who are interested3. Free!

The Seven Secrets to Being Welcome

Getting started with SMM can appear intimidating. All of these places seem full of experts who use their own special languages. We have to write and publish stuff in ways people want to read. Most of all it seems to take up so much time.

But actually it’s easy, provided we stick to the fundamental principles:

* Avoid Internet Marketing Experts like the plague. Sites are dominated by these characters trying to drive readers to their blogs, in the hope they’ll click an Ad. They know less about SMM than we do, or they wouldn’t act the way they do.

* Write blog posts on stuff you really understand. Make these posts short, to the point, and offer genuine expertise. The objective here is not winning a Pulitzer Prize – it’s sharing your expertise. Don’t pretend to know something. Frauds are exposed in a heartbeat.

* Don’t make promises you can’t keep. Bad news about a product or service will be around the world in a nano second and consign the perpetrator to oblivion.

* DO NOT SELL. There are plenty of fools who do, but they’re noticed as Spammers. There’s no need to sell. When we know what we’re talking about, people in the market will want to buy.

Anybody following these rules will be welcome on discussion forums and other meeting places.

Easy Steps to Global Presence

We need to think of the Internet as a spinning plate. We can stand in the middle and not move while it goes on around us, but we know there’s stuff going on out there. The perimeter is moving much faster then the center. It’s all a blur.

In B2B, the good news is we don’t have to get to the extremes of what the gurus are dreaming up. Our audience, being more focused on business than redefining the world, congregates in places where it’s easier to play a part. Not that far from the center. Further out there will be opportunities in the future so we should stake out a place, but we probably aren’t going to do business there – yet.

At implu.com find up to the minute details of 167,000 company officers, create a personal profile and share your “stories” about corporate America. There’ll be blogs and a forum coming soon.

Not many people know but you can set up a business profile on Facebook go to Mari Smith for a guide.

Next go to to Linked In. Here we find 25+ million professionals, like us, wanting to connect for business: reconnect with past colleagues, receive job offers, get help from their peers. Linked In has 1,000s of special interest groups and posts questions and answers in 100s of categories.

Get a Google account. Post content in your Blogspot blog, publish it in Google Sites pages, make videos and publish on You Tube.

Microblogging and What We Can Do With It

At the extreme edge of our plate we come to microblogging with Twitter, Pownce, Yammer, Plurk and a few more – on the face of it the most meaningless service imaginable, with broadcast publishing limited to 140 characters and a host of complimentary software/services adding value to it. The number of people joining Twitter is growing at a blinding rate, because the members are creating purpose for it as they go along. With Twitter the lunatics really have taken control of the asylum.

Microblogging started with simple status updates – what I’m doing now – between friends. Then it exploded with users and innovation.

Now news services monitor Twitter posts to find out what’s happening. Journalists monitor them to find out what people are thinking. Politicians are doing the same, and engaging a new public with their own ideas. Software companies are publishing service notices to their users. Brands don’t need customer surveys anymore, they just monitor Twitter.

With Twitter we can find new friends and colleagues anywhere in the world. We can learn of a new opportunity, evaluate and decide within just a few minutes.

We can be so much more productive, because we’ve got access to so much more information and support. It’s the ultimate question and answer service.

What’s Next ?

Beats me! We just need to keep up with pace.

Recommend Social Media Site’s:

MyWolfbook.com – Make friends online, Meet friends online – Meet Sexy girls online – What’s Different? Express Yourself with custom profiles, music and more. Find friends and meet friends online easy and fast. Free Dating, Watch Videos, Upload Music, Photos and more.