Guest Blogger, Bob Martin

A few weeks ago, the Eastern Pennsylvania Business Journal published an article from an experienced marketing and communications professional, offering a contrarian view of the rush to incorporate social media into business communications. The gist of the argument seemed to be that incorporating these new techniques and channels into your business’s marketing efforts offers no obvious, tangible benefits over those delivered by a traditional mix of marketing communications activities and media.

I respectfully disagree – and not just because of the increasing power of younger, more social media-oriented individuals in the customer and consumer pools. As someone who’s worked in media and business communications for more than two decades, I see a compelling philosophical reason for embracing the new social media in our efforts to reach and serve our customers.

Since the beginning of mass media, business communicators have struggled to overcome the technical limitations of traditional communication channels, as we work to make our message connect more effectively with target audiences. Today’s new social media channels – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, blogs and the like – are game-changing advancements precisely because they’re breaking through those limitations, and creating a new, more effective business communications paradigm in the process.

Encouraging give and take during discussion, alternating the roles of messenger and receiver within the communication, adjusting your message on the fly based on the other party’s reactions – by enabling these actions, social media presents smart business communicators with something we’ve always wanted: a way to have an honest-to-goodness conversation with our audience.

Admittedly, this new conversation paradigm can be disorienting to traditional business communicators, because it adds a third dimension to our messaging – not brand to customer or customer to brand, but customer to customer ABOUT the brand, in which the communicator has to relinquish some measure of control over the message. For example, consumer products companies are realizing that relationships with influential bloggers can be excellent avenues to introduce new products, or emphasize features of existing ones, or just communicate their brand promise. But it comes at a cost: the power of the blogger can be directly related to their perceived independence from your influence, and you need that perception of independence to maximize the potential benefit of your relationship, so you accept the possibility of loss of some control over the message to the blogger and their audience.

Forward-thinking companies who can accept the social media conversation paradigm can use it to constantly adjust and update marketing strategies as they are executed. A social media audience is different than the total target audience, of course – but they’re different in ways that add to their value as “thought leaders”: they enter the conversation as generally knowledgeable about your company and its products, they are comfortable with the new conversation paradigm, and they relish the feeling that their opinion matters to what happens to “their brand” and so take that perceived responsibility very seriously.

To that point, a current ad campaign supporting the launch of Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating systems centers on PC users who offered feedback to Microsoft that ended up reflected in the new product – prompting each to claim that “Windows 7 was my idea.” The theme carries over to the product’s Facebook presence, which encourages groups of users to suggest, complain about or tout features of the product that others may find useful. It’s easy to see how these discussions could lead to adjustments in marketing strategy emphasis on particular features – which would in turn reinforce the umbrella theme of “Windows 7 is my idea.”

A final word of caution: by facilitating the continuation of a conversation, feedback through social media fundamentally changes the nature of any business communication effort. Establishing a presence in social media amounts to a commitment to your audience to continue that conversation. Fulfilling that commitment will cost time and money, but failing to live up to it will cost precious standing with key audiences that you won’t easily regain. Before embarking on a strategy that includes these new communications capabilities, make sure you’re prepared with the right resources and mindset to commit to a real conversation.

In terms of monetizing, one way to think of social media is as publicity for your product or service. Traditionally publicity is used to create awareness and then demonstrate to new listeners the specific, compelling reasons to purchase that product or service. Publicity is judged on media impressions delivered and publicists keep track of the viewer and reader numbers to conclude the number of media impressions. The impressions delivered in social media can be astronomical. But the time it takes to effectively spread a brand message on social media can also consume a disproportionate amount of your time and keep you from creating and delivering additional products and services—which is how you actually make money.

As a single employee company and an early adopter of Twitter and an avid Facebook fan page user and blogger, I have fallen into that time trap, too. But I’ve learned some nifty time saving strategies over the years that are helping me get back to creating income and spend fewer hours spreading the message.

Here are a few of my favorite time saving strategies in hopes that they can help you, too, get back to the business of your business.

1. Hootsuite is a great way to organizer for all of my Twitter accounts and my Facebook accounts. I can schedule tweets and posts there during a short morning session.
2. Friendfeed automatically sends my posts to a wide variety of social sites every time I post to my blog.
3. I love the Networked Blogs app on Facebook and use it to automatically pull my blog posts into my Fan page.
4. I use the Selective Tweets application on my Facebook Fan page to feed out my Facebook page posts to Twitter with a link back to my page.
5. On LinkedIn my blog posts are pulled in and posted to my profile automatically using the Bloglink application.
6. I use the Power Twitter application from Mozilla which works with my Firefox browser and puts a link shortener right above the posting space on my Twitter profile. This allows me to shorten links without having to go to another site to find a shortener.

There are many more and I’ll share those in the coming weeks. As you can see, my time saving strategies help me maximize the use of any content I create by helping me share everything I write with the widest possible audience. This helps me put that saved time back to work that actually creates income.

What are your favorite time saving strategies for using social media to create conversations about you or your brand? Let’s share them here. I’d love to compile a list of everyone’s best practices all in one place so we can all benefit from each other’s experience.

1. MEDIA: Traditional media, radio and television, features, op-eds, reviews, mentions, third party endorsements
2. ONLINE: Virtual and social media: video, audio, blog, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Slideshare, guest posts, internet radio, internet tv
3. LIVE EVENTS: appearances, workshops, keynotes
4. ADVERTISING: Targeted use of Adsense words, Facebook ads, paid press release placement, and other modestly priced visibility opportunities
5. STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS: product or business partners that imply endorsement and provide real or in kind value to campaigns
6. SEO: Search Engine Optimization is the glue the brings all of your brand outreach and marketing programs together to give you search engine ranking that helps people find you and buy your product. Without SEO, all of your various activities exists only by themselves and do not take advantage of their combined power to create massive brand awareness. SEO is the missing ingredient in many campaigns.

By identifying a succinct set of key message points and exploiting them over all of the platforms outlined in the MVP program, your brand will reach the consciousness of your intended end user, client or consumer faster, less expensively and in a more targeted fashion than if you were to employ any combination of these outreach strategies alone. I look forward to helping you create powerful brand awareness for your business, book or ideas this year.

In most houses that publicity machine has been downsized while the number of books needing publicity and promotion has stayed the same. What’s left is a hard-working group of thoughtful people who truly love books; who would spend all the time in the world to get the word out if it was humanly possible; and who need an author’s cooperation, participation and good-cheer now more than ever before. Remember that these overworked people want your book to succeed.

How does one get to be the author whose publicist tells others: “this author was great to work with,” “the author knew the right people and really helped me get the book into important hands” and I would walk through hot coals for my author?”

It’s essential that authors view themselves as a partner in the publishing process and that includes the marketing and publicity portions of the book publishing cycle. To that end, I’ve enlisted veteran book publicist John G. Ekizian to join me in creating this list of The Top Ten Things Book Publicists Want Authors to Know.

Before you turn over the responsibility for communicating your book’s message to the world, remember.

1. You are a brand.

2. Your book is your first product.

3. Your reputation is on the line and if your first product doesn’t succeed, launching new products or books will be much harder.

4. Therefore, you must be a full partner in promoting your book, finding and alerting potential readers and in general, creating conversations about YOU.

Here’s what can you do?

1. Mobilize your friends, family and fans. They really do want to help—but you have to tell them how they can be most helpful. Start with your immediate fan base, however small. Give them early copies of your book or galleys—or even a PDF of your manuscript. Ask them to read it and give you their feedback. Ask them to write a short review and to post it on Amazon.com, BN.com and Borders.com. Tell them not to gush, but to relate why the book moved or informed them. Ask them if you can post their review to your website. Ask them to give their opinion on your Facebook Fan Page, on Twitter and on LinkedIn. Start close to home and create buzz that can build.

2. Influence the influencers: Create a list of the top 25 people in your area of expertise or who write in the same field or genre as you do. Find, read and subscribe to their blogs. Comment whenever they write something that interests you. Become visible, let them know you’re a fan, offer them new content from you whenever appropriate, such as being a guest blogger. You should also consider finding and following them on Twitter and Facebook. Again, interact with them. Pass their blogs, tweets and posts on to others. In other words, hang out on line with people you admire and who you would love to have read your work. After establishing an online relationship, you may have an opportunity to offer them an early galley or ask them to give you a quote. But first you need to be a part of their community and genuinely engaged with them.

3. Find your natural audience: The biggest marketing mistake most people make in book promotion is to assume that everyone will be interested in their book. Books that sell usually begin selling to people who are really interested in the topic. Want to sell a cookbook? Go after the person who has a shelf full of them. Who really cares about your topic? Think about it this way. You were attracted enough to this topic to write a book. Where would you go to learn about you? Would you find the kind of information in your book on CNN? Then that’s your natural audience and you and your publicist should target CNN. Are you writing about romance and mystery? Then maybe CNN may not for you. Every author we’ve ever worked with believes their book is right for Oprah. Not all books are right for Oprah. Watch the shows, see what kinds of guests they book and then make sure your publicist knows which shows most often present the subject matter most similar to your book.

4. Facebook Fan Page: Please create a Facebook Fan Page for yourself. Every author needs one. Name it for yourself, the author. You might call it John G. Ekizian | Author, Speaker. Use your name, then the upward slash and a two to three word qualifier. Those keywords will be useful in identifying you to potential friends and fans and will be Google searchable. Then create a tab with the name of your book. You can add video interviews or author chats that you create yourself. You can use the Events application to invite fans to your personal appearances. You can post news and information about reviews as they come in. This is a wonderfully rich and free tool. Please don’t overlook it.

5. Advertising versus publicizing: Every author wishes that their publisher would place full page ads in the New York Times Book Review for their book. Realistically the more that $75,000 (conservatively) that these types of ads cost isn’t a good investment for your publisher in terms of return on investment. In other words, they’re not recoup $75,000 in books sales from that ad. Publicity is a better investment of marketing dollars because a television appearance, a national publication, a radio tour or other major media can reach far more people than a one-time advertisement in one publication.

6. Webinars and teleseminars: These are the new virtual author tour and can help you reach hundreds and perhaps thousands of potential readers without ever leaving home. A webinar allows participants to view your computer screen and hear you talk as you show either a slide presentation or demonstrate something online. Many webinar hosts also allow for the audience to see you at times during the presentation. Teleseminars are via phone and are audio only but listeners can ask questions via a type-in pod. Both can be very interactive and allow people who might otherwise have not been able to “meet” you, come and hear you talk about your book.

7. Your 30 second pitch: When your publicist meets with national television producers and editors at major publications, he or she has 30 seconds to sell you and your book as a potential story or segment. Help your publicist hone your message down to a short, potent sound byte. Does your book “save lives through new research that proves sound waves are harming children,” or does your book show us “a brand new way to lose weight while you sleep.” These are silly but you get the idea. Think in headlines.

8. Op-Eds: Writing original opinion page articles can be a very effective way to increase an author’s visibility and by association help promote your book. The piece cannot be about your book but must be an opinion about some current affairs topic in which you might be considered a thought leader. For example, if you’ve written a book on World War II, you might write an opinion page article on the lessons learned or overlooked from World War II as we escalate troops in Afghanistan. You’re by-line would include Author of, the title your book. You may not mention your book in the article but positioning yourself as an expert will help you publicist book more media for you. You are sharing your ideas and information because you’re an expert. This part of a visibility strategy.

9. Create Your A List: Pick 10 media targets that you feel are right for your book and learn everything you can about them. Watch the shows, read the magazines and newspapers. Write down the name of the reporter or host who most often seems to be reporting on topics that are similar to your book topic. Share this list with your publicist who rarely has time to watch this much TV. He or she can really use your research skills. This is an excellent way for you to partner with your publicist.

10. Radio: Please don’t forget radio. Both broadcast and internet radio are great ways to reach people who might like your book. Blog Talk Radio and other internet radio platforms are reaching large numbers of people, are archived and accessible on demand and live forever on the internet. Please do not turn down internet radio interview opportunities because you don’t think they are worthy of your time. In fact, while your publicist is working hard on connecting with traditional media, why not reach out via Twitter and Facebook and put together your own Blog Talk Radio tour. Just start talking about your book, offering yourself for interviews, searching and following anyone with a Blog Talk Radio show and engaging with them on your topic.

BONUS TIP: All placements are not equal. You need to get your idea across or the placement is pointless. Working with a talented publicist can help you hone your marketing message into several succinct sound bytes that will be picked up and repeated both online and off to increase your outreach and brand visibility.

Publicity creates conversations about YOU. Be a full partner in making that happen to give your book the best possible opportunity to reach an enthusiastic reading audience.

Teleseminars are live phone conferences where anywhere from a few to hundreds of readers can simultaneously dial into a number and hear an author speak, live, about his or her book. You might recall Oprah doing this with her on-air book club this year and she was able to bring the author to literally hundreds of thousands of people not only on her television show, but in a more in-depth and intimate way, via teleseminar.

You don’t need to be Oprah to accomplish something similar albeit on a smaller scale. Yet what publisher or author would be unhappy about sharing their book with 100-500 people at one time? Most would consider that a valuable use of the author’s time and energy.

During teleseminars, authors can give a talk about their book, a short reading or even discuss something relating to the topic of their book. Depending on the teleseminar platform you use, listeners can type questions into a chat box, real time, or submit questions ahead of time for the author to address. This could be ideal for book groups who might want to read an author’s work and then chat with that author at one of their gatherings.

There are many teleseminar platforms. One of my favorites is Instant Teleseminar. This platform, and many others offer the ability to record and archive your call. The recording can then be available on the author’s website for fans and readers who were unable to attend the call live. Authors and publishers might even consider offering access to the recording as an incentive to sign up for an author’s mailing list. That mailing list can be used to update fans about upcoming national media, local in-person appearances or new books.

Teleseminars accomplish several brand building goals at once. First, authors connect with readers and potential readers in person and establish an emotional connection with the highly motivated people who took the time to come and hear what you had to say. That means you are connecting with people who are already invested in you and your writing. Second, you’ve given those brand evangelizers or fans additional information; information not available in your book but only directly from you because they’ve had a virtual conversation with you via the teleseminar where you shared your passion for writing and for the topic of your book. Third, you’ve created a permanent link where new readers can come to hear what you said via the teleseminar recording and you now have something unique to offer as an incentive to sign up for an author newsletter or e-mail list.

Here are a couple of classic teleseminar styles that can be used effectively to promote books.

1. The Interview: Find someone with a large online following on Facebook, Twitter, e-mail lists and blogs to host you. In other words, they promote the interview with you, send out the invitations to their fans and followers and you provide the content in the way of being the expert or author. The host interviews you and you agree to share the recording link so you both are able to use it on your own websites after the event.
2. The solo: If the author or publisher already has a large list or way to reach a large potential audience, you can give a lecture style talk without a host and again, make sure you record the event for future use.
3. The Panel discussion: Gather 3 or more authors or experts and promote the talk to each authors friends and followers giving you a much wider base of potential attendees. Agree in advance on the order of presentations to avoid overlap and leave time at the end for questions and have the moderator address questions to specific authors for response.

Consider creating something special that you offer only to people who attend these virtual book club talks. This could be an original essay, a short story, or a discount on your book but it should be something that your potential readers would really want from you. Make that available on your website and if the special offer is instantly downloadable once the reader has signed in, all the better.

The goal here is to expose both author and book to a new, wider audience, excite them about the work, motivate them to want to stay in touch with the author and ultimately encourage them to purchase the book.

In future posts, we’ll discuss using the Events application in Facebook and LinkedIn to promote the teleseminar and adding Twitter as an additional broadcasting tool to get the word out. If you have any questions about virtual book tours, post them here and I’ll respond. Let’s create conversations about YOU and your book in 2010.

1. Watch the show, many times. What types of guests do you see on Oprah’s show? What topics are those guests discussing? Does your book fit into the wide range of interests you’ve seen discussed on the show? For many, many authors this is the hardest point to digest. Not every book is right for Ms. Winfrey’s show. You may have written a fantastic book and still not be right for her show.
2. Think like a producer. If you were in charge of booking guests for Oprah, would you be absolutely positive that the subject matter of your book is a perfect fit for Oprah’s audience? Would you stake your job on recommending your book to Oprah for a segment? Do you know the demographics of Oprah’s audience? They are women. Will your book appeal to women?
3. Are you an experienced television guest? Television is a big business and the cost of an hour-long show is enormous. Would you and the topic of your book be a good investment for Oprah and her team? Would you and your book be so interesting that ratings might increase because people truly desire the information you have to offer? Can you, personally, deliver that information in a telegenic way and by that I mean can you speak passionately, animatedly and engagingly on your area of expertise? Can you make the viewers “see” your topic?
4. Television is a visual medium. Standard talking head interviews are alright if you’re a celebrity. If you’re not, Oprah or any television show would be more interested if you had ideas for visually presenting your material. During one appearance on Oprah, Dr. Oz brought a human heart so that Oprah could see and feel what a damaged artery feels like. She was able to touch it and describe to the audience how stiff it felt. It was riveting TV. Do you have something amazing to show your ideas to her television audience?
5. Can you surprise and inspire a television audience with your information? Do you have something so interesting to say that Oprah will feel compelled to share it with the women who watch her show? Now every author thinks they have compelling material or they wouldn’t have written a book. But to make your book a candidate for Oprah’s show, it needs to appeal to Oprah first and then to her audience. A book about a World War II battle, however important, might not be the best fit for her audience unless, perhaps, it’s about the Navy nurses who are still today, visiting veterans and have banned together to raise money to send deserving young women to nursing school to help fill the nursing shortage. That’s inspiring, motivating and engaging for Oprah’s audience.

Here’s the last observation I’d like to share. No one can guarantee you and your book a spot on Oprah. I mean no one. Oprah and her producers receive hundreds of books and book pitches every week. Her producers comb through the pitches and bring forward those that promise to be the most compelling to Oprah’s audience. Even then, a book may not be slated for a show because books are not the only basis for Oprah’s shows. The team will create a schedule of shows and mix in authors, artists, celebrities and experts throughout any given season. Oprah could, in fact, love your book and still not invite you to be her guest. She is responsible for putting together a season of shows that appeals to her audience across a wide range of subjects. You and your book may or may not fit the needs of her show during a given season. That doesn’t reflect on you as a writer or your book.

So what can you do? Go through the questions above and ask yourself honestly “Is my book right for Oprah?” If you believe it is, submit your pitch. But if after honest reflection you see that it’s not, your time might be better spent connecting with your natural readership where they live.

Make a list of media you watch and listen to ~ after all, the topic of your book was interesting to you. Where would you find YOU in the media? That’s your sweet spot, the place where you’ll find readers who will be as passionate about your book’s subject as you are. Go there and speak to your audience.

As someone who is currently engaged in training with Mari Smith, http://www.marismith.com (someone who also cares deeply about ethical behavior online) and who will be part of the first class of certified social media professionals, I’m very interested in hearing about your concerns, issues and ideas for perhaps a “Golden Rules” of using social media for publicity and marketing. Let’s post our ideas here and start the conversation. If you post, please include your full Facebook, Twitter or Website URL including the http:// so that others can friend, follow and connect with you in just one click. You’re welcome to list all of your preferred connection options in that way. Let’s start a movement.

Your Facebook® profile and your Facebook® Fan Page are two key social media touch-points for connecting with potential clients. Creating your on-line funnels in a variety of social mediums helps people find you and clearly understand the service you provide. Now, the yellow pages will do the same thing but social mediums let customers engage with you first and then decide, based on your attitude, the comments they read from your friends and followers and the value you provide in your various postings, whether or not they want to take the next step and become your customer. They can literally shadow you while deciding. That’s why it’s so critical for you to take your social media image seriously.

The Key Ingredients to your Social Media Strategy

Because your potential customer might be exploring numerous social media sites, you’ll want to be on at least Twitter, Facebook, Linked In and I highly recommend that you have a blog. If you already have your own website that becomes your home base. If you don’t, you’re blog can serve that purpose.

Now the number one rule of any great marketing campaign is to make sure that every consumer touch-point is integrated with every other one. All of your social media sites should link to each other, carry a similar look and message all while speaking to the consumer in the voice most appropriate for that medium. For example, you’ll communicate in short 120 character* bits on Twitter, longer more detailed thoughts will be incorporated into your blog and your Facebook profile and fan pages might be more personal and intimate. Yet an integrated marketing strategy means that the core values and the key message points will be the same, albeit communicated differently.

Helping Customers Find, Follow and Friend You

If you were the owner of a Deli, you wouldn’t hide the checkout counter. You’d make it very easy to find. Shoppers would never have to guess where to find you, talk with you and pay you. It’s the same with social media sites. Be user friendly. Make it easy for someone who finds and follows you on one site to find and friend you on another.

I recently installed a “Follow me on Twitter” button on my Facebook Profile and my Facebook Fan Pages. This is a nice visual addition to your profile or page and there are a lot of designers and programmers out there offering free buttons. I happen to love http://twitbuttons.com for it’s user-friendly interface. You simply enter your Twitter name in the URL box at the top of the page and all the HTML code in every Twitter Button box is changed, automatically, to customize the button for your twitter page.

So here are the instructions for adding a “Follow me on Twitter” button to your Facebook Page.

1. Log onto your Facebook Page and go to the applications link on the bottom left hand side of your screen.
2. Click “Browse applications and the find ” “Extended info” application. Add that to your profile. Then click the edit settings link to the right of the app in the list of apps you’ve downloaded. Where it says “Tab” click “add.”
3. Then go to http://twitbuttons.com and pick out your favorite button. Be sure to enter your twitter name in the black space above the buttons. This will automatically enter your correct twitter name link to the code under each twitter button image.
4. Copy the code of the button you like and go back to Facebook to the Applications list (link on bottom left of page).
5. Open the Extended info application by clicking directly on that link. A window will pop up for you to paste your code.
6. Paste the code and click the “Add to Profile” button on the upper right of that page.
7. Then click the Save changes button below the code and return to your page. You can change the look of your button at anytime by returning to these instructions and choosing a new button from the website I mentioned or another you may find. You can design your own if you’re skilled with HTML too.

Transparency is Currency in Social Media

I recommend adding your “Follow Me” button or link to all of your social media sites and using the custom options on your Twitter background to provide the URL’s for your Facebook, Linked In and Blog to your Twitter followers. You get the picture. The name of the game is to be visible. For some inspiring examples of people who are doing this well, check out these social media pros. Each one of these people are helping potential clients find them and utilizing a slightly different style. Take a look and make a plan to help yourself stand out in the crowd.

• Mari Smith: http://www.facebook.com/marismith?ref=ts#/marismith?v=app_11007063052&viewas=1048779085
• Dr. Mehmet Oz: http://www.facebook.com/droz?ref=ts#/droz?v=app_4949752878&viewas=1048779085
• Gary Vaynerchuk http://www.facebook.com/gary?ref=ts#/gary?v=wall&viewas=1048779085 (Check out his “Friend Me Up” Tab!)
• Karmen Reed at KickOff Topic: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kickoff-Topic-Marketing-Solutions-Through-Online-Visibility/56494299508#/pages/Kickoff-Topic-Marketing-Solutions-Through-Online-Visibility/56494299508?v=wall&viewas=1048779085
• The Social Latte: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tempe-AZ/The-Social-Latte-Specializing-In-Social-Media-For-Small-Businesses/80841554499?ref=ts#/pages/Tempe-AZ/The-Social-Latte-Specializing-In-Social-Media-For-Small-Businesses/80841554499?v=app_7146470109&viewas=1048779085
• Angela Albright: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Angela-Albright-Social-Media-Entrepreneur/87674098294?ref=ts#/pages/Angela-Albright-Social-Media-Entrepreneur/87674098294?v=wall&viewas=1048779085

If You Liked What You Read Here, Please Join Me

• Friend me on Facebook: http://Facebook.com/CindyRatzlaff
• Connect with me on LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/CindyRatzlaff
• Follow Me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/BrandYou
• Subscribe to my Blog: http://CindyRatzlaff.wordpress.com

*Always try to keep your tweets to 120 characters so that people can Re-tweet your post. When they re-tweet, some of the character spaces are taken up with their Twitter name. At 120 characters you’ll be re-tweet-friendly.

Here’s a quick down and dirty checklist of sites I think are worth your attention as you stake your space in the social media world.

1. Facebook: More than 200 million users. Enough said. You need to be here. You can create a Facebook page and begin inviting people to join you as friends and if you’re using Facebook for your business you’ll want to create Facebook Fan Page. For a very informative video and written instructions, there’s no better coach than Mari Smith. I highly recommend her “How to Create and Promote Your Facebook Fan Page video and here’s the link. http://budurl.com/z53e. Your Facebook Fan page is indexed and is searchable inside and outside of Facebook. This means that when someone googles the topic or your name, bingo: You’ve achieved virtual visibility. If you do nothing else (and you will) create a Facebook Fan Page for your business.
2. Twitter: Six to eight million U.S. users, depending on whose stats you’re viewing. Come on. It’s 120 character microblogging. You can find the time. Note: Each tweet can be 140 characters but keep it to 120 so others can Retweet you and help your info go viral. Twitter can be addictive. It’s real time conversation with the entire world. You can easily lose your focus and participate for long periods of time with this cyber cocktail party. Set a time limit (and a kitchen timer if necessary). Start with 10 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes at another time during the day. Share your expertise and look for others who are interested in what you have to say. Ask others about themselves. Engage, share worthwhile information, link to your website for more detailed information and stop for the day.
3. LinkedIn: You simply must be on LinkedIn. It’s the yellow pages of business professionals. LinkedIn can be a “set it and forget it” site but there’s significant value in updating regularly because every update puts you into the stream of updates on all of your colleagues with whom you are linked. It reminds them that you’re out there, doing interesting things, and keeps you and your business top of mind.
4. WordPress or Blogspot: Content is King and a blog, be it wordpress (my favorite), blogspot or another program, it is a great avenue for communicating your passion and purpose. You need to have a homebase for posting interesting and useful information in more than 120/140 characters. You can link to your blog on Twitter and Facebook to drive additional interest in your content. You’re blog can live on your website or can serve as your website, depending on your goals and the needs of your business.
5. Friendfeed: Great resource for sharing your favorite blogs and posts with all your social media sites at once. I simply love this application. You can add “Share on Friendfeed” to your toolbar and with one click post interesting information you find on the web to all of your social media site instantly. Yum! Three cheers for time saving applications.
6. Twellow and/or WeFollow: These are like the Yellow Pages of Twitter. For a minimum investment of your time, you can list yourself, free of charge, and make it easier for other people to find you. You’ll enter a few “key words” to describe your business, your service and your interests. You can also search these site for like minded people that you’ll want to follow. These are excellent resources for finding folks to follow and worth a few minutes a day as part of your twitter-follower building strategy.
7. Tweetdeck or Twhirl: For filtering the stream of noise in Twitter and making sure you don’t miss really important tweets from your peeps. Free to download and easy to learn to use, these are time saving applications that will help you take a look at your Twitterverse quickly and efficiently.
8. HootSuite: You can pre-schedule your tweets, manage multiple twitter accounts and measure your success with this wonderful Twitter toolbox. This, again, is a free application but you can choose to give a donation to help them continue to add new features. The choice is yours. Either way this will help you disseminate content, say from your blog or website, during pre-scheduled time periods throughout the day on Twitter, automatically. This is a wonderful time saver and definitely a worthy Phase One strategy.
9. Google Profile: You can now set up a google profile, similar to what you’ve already done on LinkedIn. I’ve made mine slightly less corporate and with a little more personality because I have multiple businesses and I want to engage the reader more with my personality than with my professional resume. I’ve included those links on my google profile so that information is there too. This is free, easy and indexed by google. Be there or be square. This really does seem to be a “set it and forget it” tool. If I find that it is evolving to a more social tool, I’ll visit this on a new post.
10. Technorati: If you have a blog, “claim” it on Technorati to help others find your words. Once you’re blog has passed their review standards, you’ll be indexed, an essential step toward standing out in the online universe. Technorati is also a terrific resource for finding blogs you’ll want to read and perhaps share with your Twitter and Facebook friends. This application is easy to use, takes very little time to set up, is a solid resource for content and thus makes my top ten Phase One Social Media tools list.

Now bookmark this page, shut off your computer and go outside. Here’s my challenge to you. Do one of these a day for the next 10 days and let me know how it goes. You can do all of this one step at a time and reduce your anxiety level to zero. Let me know if you have questions or suggestions for future posts. I want to write about things you want to read about. Let me hear from you.

1. Write an advice article. This is a great way to promote your expertise and your business, while providing added value for local newspapers. A car dealer could write a feature titled “5 Ways to Conserve Gas even if You Don’t Own a Hybrid.” A flooring storeowner might educate readers about new, renewable options such as bamboo. The owner of a closet organizing company could discuss the growing trend in home wine cellars. Real Estate people could write “8 Essential Home Repairs to do Before You list your Home.” Remember that your knowledge is valuable to others. Share it and gain visability.
2. Run contests or sweepstakes. Here’s a way to bring in new customers, and the prizes don’t need to be expensive. Doctors might provide free cholesterol screenings during heart health month. A floral shop owner might consider a June Bridal Bouquet sweepstakes or giveaway. A personal consultation from a life coach or a resume coach is sure to attract attention now. A bakery might give away a dozen cookes a month for a year. You don’t have to give away a free meal on Oprah to create buzz for your business in your community. People hear about your business and sample your product through contests and giveaways. Winners can become your best brand evangelists, telling countless others about you.
3. Create a sale or promotion with a twist: The Ben & Jerry’s in Gainesville won a national award, and free publicity in local newspapers, for it’s “BJs in Your PJs” promotion: Every Sunday night for four hours they offered discounted ice cream sundaes and shakes to anyone who came in wearing pajamas. All those people standing outside their store in their PJs was a great attention-getter.
4. Sponsor events: Let a local charity use your business location for an event or offer your products or services as fund-raising prizes. Sponsor or host a walk, a race, a bake sale, a food and wine tasting, a lecture by a well-known speaker–all of these could garner press attention. Having your company name and logo front and center in community events will build awareness and engender positive feelings about you and your business.
5. Speak Out: Organizations ranging from the Rotary Club to local businesses, colleges, charities and professional men and women’s groups are looking for interesting speakers. Volunteer a few times and soon you could develop a reputation as the “go-to” person for entertaining talks on subjects such as “five things we can do right now to protect our environment,” (a great way to promote a lawn service company’s chemical-free care package) or “how to stage a house for a quick sale” (Realtors, you know these tips by heart) or “using social media to connect with customers” (on trend and invaluable to any customer-centric business).
6. Serve as an expert: The media is always looking for people who can speak knowledgably on issues. If you’re an expert in your field, let the radio stations and newspapers know. Write an opinion page (Op Ed) feature on a topic that can educate people and submit it to your local paper, magazine or website. Write letters to the editors when you have something to add to a conversation in the news. Tax preparers can talk about the tax benefits of installing solar equipment. A doctor can interpret the latest scientific study for the lay person. Make yourself known. Become a thought leader in your community.
7. Be prolific. The key to inexpensive publicity is to engage with your community. You can promote yourself and your business by being caring, knowledgeable and accessible. By sharing your expertise, you’ll develop a passionate base of customers who will refer you to their friends. After all, word-of-mouth is really the Holy Grail of publicity and promotion.

*I originally published the majority of this essay in The North Central Florida Business Report. Thanks to Kevin Ireland for permission to reissue here.