about us - social media

joining the conversation

Joining Reddit or StumbleUpon or Digg to surf is one thing. Joining because you're trying to acquire business intelligence is a good step up. But to truly reap the rewards of accessing such social media, participation is key. To benefit your business or organization, join one ( or more? ) of these sites with a non-personal account, one created under your business's name. They are free, by the way. Set up filters or search for articles relevant to your business, post them in your account area, and discuss them; leave comments in the article trace, and discuss what you find on the site, on your site, and your blog. Being part of the discussion is part of being an expert. If you're a surfer, you're just taking up time. If you're discussing the relevant topics of your business, and can point to this discussion, your status rises. Paul Chaney at Practical eCommerce puts it very well:

"A basic rule of thumb in social media marketing is that, in order to gain influence, you must actively participate in the communities of which you are a member. That means commenting on blogs, participating in forums and message boards, joining fan groups at major social networks like MySpace or Facebook, and dialoging via online chat on sites like Twitter."

Mr. Chaney brings up a very good point... beyond the social bookmarking sites such as Reddit and Digg, there is ample opportunity for the same participation on the more general social network sites such as MySpace and Facebook.

June 6, 2008

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