Social Media Smarts: Tips for Entrepreneurs

For just about any type of business in today's world, social media marketing and networking is crucial to getting the exposure you need to succeed. I only began my journey with Yours Truly about 8 months ago and I've learned that it can all be very exciting. However, without the right approach, tools and planning, you won't really get too far, especially starting a brand new business. I am constantly brainstorming new ways to promote myself online through social media. Here are some ways that I utilize social media.

1. Follow or subscribe to blogs and publications. You need to know what's out there in your industry. What are the trends? What are other people blogging about and why? What posts are people commenting on the most? Most importantly, read the comments and leave comments of your own with a link to your blog or website. Also, check out the bloggers links or what I call daily reads, to find blogs that they enjoy reading. It's essential that you educate yourself in this area.

2. Start a blog and/or website. You don't have be a good writer to be a blogger. Most blogs I read are casual and very personal but they still have a good reader-base. It also helps to be excited about what you're doing! If you don't have a website yet like me but have purchased a domain name such as www.yourstrulypaper.com, you can set-up forwarding to another site such as your blog. So you don't have to use a blogspot address on your fancy business cards.

3. Link your blog to your Facebook page, Twitter account, Linked In and other social media that you use. And be efficient with these marketing channels. I recently found a study that identifies the days and hours users are most active on the Facebook. Utilizing Facebook and your blog at the right time can help your posts perform better.

4. Sell your products or services online. Do you make handmade goodies? Try Etsy.com. I use the site to sell my custom address stamps. If you sell a service, share the outcome of that service on your blog, Facebook page or tweet about it. Check out this Biz Ladies post: How to sell your products on your blog for more advice on this. I highly recommend Biz Ladies, an online resource from Design Sponge that covers a variety of topics to help you run a successful business.

5. Use bookmarking sites. Collect inspiration, products, resources and share it with others. Popular bookmarking sites include Pinterest (my personal favorite), Delicious, Digg, Stumble Upon and Reddit.

6. Utilize video and image sharing sites. I use You Tube, Flickr and Picasa.

These are just the basics but I hope it will help anyone who is starting a new business of their own. What are some creative ways that you use social media?