What Social Media Means To Your Small Biz

No small business had an easy time starting up. Apart from arduous effort and tight budget, there must be that activity called social media. It’s not something you could purchase or pay people to do. Sure, social media marketing and its management could be implemented by tools and software, or you could hire out an expert to do all the corresponding tasks. The thing is, you first have to know what social media does for a business.

Now, do you understand why you’re prodded to go active on social media? What really is the role of social media when it comes to marketing, customer support and all other aspects of your business? These two questions – and many more – could be answered by reading on. Definitely, you will soon learn the major role of social media in raking profits, earning loyal customers and managing your ads, marketing and sales.

So What Is Social Media?

It is in reference to the means of communication and interaction amongst people using of internet-based technologies, to include mobile platforms. It comes in many forms, but the most popular social media type would be social networking sites such as Facebook, weblogs or blogs, social blogs, microblogs such as Twitter, and content sharing communities like YouTube. For purposes of categorization, there are six different social media types. Adding to the ones mentioned would be virtual games and virtual social worlds, as well as joint endeavors which allow internet users to take part.

The good thing about most of these social media types is that they are now available in one integrated platforms. Thus, sharing of content, communicating and emails can be done in just one platform or social networking site.

What Help Does It Bring To A Small Biz?

Being a complex and yet highly viable investment, any business can gain big with mixing two or more types of social media. In one swift swoop, targets like customer support, branding and building online presence and business marketing can be achieved. But more so, any small biz would benefit from social media because it is the quickest, most effective way of communicating with customers. These days, more than ever, digital communications is something that’s in everyone’s palm. Think of what your business will gain if you’re active in the social media sphere!

Ever noticed how decades ago businesses would spend so much on trying to sell? Well, nowadays, it’s not hardcore selling anymore; not even about heavy ads that costs much or too laborious to plan and carry out. With social media, it’s all about making connections, be it with existing and potential clients, other businesses in the same industry, or the community. It’s all about genuine interaction while being able to subtly highlight marketing efforts. Hence, social media is a more personal, thus human and credible, approach to interacting with customers.

Another great thing about social media is that it doesn’t need big, costly campaigns to reach out. More like, it needs simple, small but powerful acts, such as sharing your thoughts or newest product online. Not only does this happen quickly, there’s that human element that is perceived lacking in many big time advertisements. See, social media makes small businesses and their owners just be themselves – get involved, express moods, reach out, ask for help… just be human!

Best of all, being in the social web makes any business available for everyone. Call it customer support, call it PR management or call it whatever you like. But no other time in the history of small businesses have mails, phones and walk-in queries become so quick and easy to do. All these can be done at one time with a social network site, a blog comment or a shared video!

So, do think about it and get your small biz active in the social media sphere soon!

Why Is Social Media Policy Important For Your Business



A lot of the things that happen nowadays, even in work hours are spent on social media networks. The usage of social media is getting more prevalent today. Some examples of these sites are Facebook, Twitter and MySpace which are used by millions of individuals all over the world in both their private and professional lives.

Consequently, many working people are spending more time connecting and communicating in the internet with the help of these sites that is why a lot of businesses now are creating their own social media policies to ensure that work periods are done properly and not used to connect to other people personally. A social media policy is a business or corporate code of conduct that gives employees the required guidelines for them to be able to post thoughts and content as well as interact on the internet either as a private individual or that it’s part of the job.

As businesses discover the benefits of having a social media presence, there also comes a big slice of risk of having very little control on what is shared about the company over the web. The main purpose of the social media policy is to provide and set the main points of the expectations for correct working behaviour and make sure that every employee’s social networking post will not let the company a legal target for company issues or simply from public embarrassment. Some of the policies include instructions as to how an employee should identify his position on a social networking site and may also include some restrictions as to how and what type of company information can be exposed. Any business secrets or anything that could potentially influence the rise and fall of the company’s earnings are almost always included in the company’s social media policy.

For business owners, having a social media policy is a very effective thing to assist employees on how to communicate with the clients and customers, clarify some marketing strategies and messages and help protect the business credibility. It will also serve as reminders for the employee to value the work and the company as they are otherwise ambassadors of the business. This makes social media policy so important and necessary for any businesses. By having this, the company will have gained control how the social media are being used by employees and content posted about the company can then be monitored.

Such a policy gives the company a certain level of protection if it is exposed in the event that social media usage is abused. Risks of being exposed to embarrassment and other legal problems can then be managed easily with the help of the policy. The risk of losing reputation, confidential material, business contacts, being discriminated and subject to harassment will be lessened, if not completely stopped.

For companies that are getting into social media, these kinds of policies should be considered as relevant as the strategic plans being implemented because it will also serve as a major foundation in the company’s overall growth and success. Without such policies, employees and other contacts will have no guideline and insight regarding what they are allowed to post online as well as what can get the company and themselves into big trouble. Employees should be mindful of the post they put online, if they are adding value to the company or just posting content for the sake of posting it.

Why Pinterest Is The Next Big Thing In Social Media

We’re pretty sure that a lot of Internet marketers and businesses are asking the question same question in the title. Frankly, Pinterest is shaping up to become a giant and live to its potentials. The growth of this obscure social media network into a giant that is today proves that it is not a flash in the pan and could even go for the home run.

Believe it or not, there is such a thing as Facebook and Twitter fatigue among social media users. The emergence of Pinterest helps ease the fatigue by providing a fresh new way of living and socializing in cyberspace. Like-minded people are drawn to see what other users with similar interest have in store on their pinboards. This makes Pinterest like an oasis in the middle of the desert since it offers a new way of looking at social media. The numbers don’t lie as the site has generated over 10 million visitors per month in the United States alone. Pinterest rose from obscurity so quick and it has a major player in the social media industry.

What makes Pinterest the new face of social media? Will it be able to dislodge the king of the hill that is Facebook? Will Pinterest become the new Facebook for the new decade? Let us find out from the facts why Pinterest has the potential to become bigger than big someday. Perhaps the biggest reason why Pinterest can become big is the way it is being used. Unlike Facebook and Twitter that is largely text-based, Pinterest uses pictures and videos to tell a story.

Pinterest basically fills a need that Facebook and Twitter cannot fulfill. Virtual scrapbooking has become big and this is where Pinterest comes in. Pinterest fills the gap where other social media falls short. Unlike Facebook, people can follow everyone that has the passion that you have. Unlike Twitter, there is a genuine reason why you are following someone on Pinterest because of, what else, your interests.

Businesses should care about the emergence of Pinterest as a valuable marketing and lead generation tool. There is no powerful customer magnet than posting pictures of your products and link it back to your own website. Pinteret works some sort of a virtual catalog if used this way.

A recent survey said that 21 percent of people actually bought something after seeing a picture on Pinterest. However, merely pinning your images will not give you much of a boost. It is important to become a dynamic pinner by contributing content from other users in order to gain attention from the public. Indeed, Pinterest drives the sharing of what we found rather than what we are doing or thinking. It drives social discovery in the most promising way, through pictures and video. Pinterest allows us to see what the world in general sees not just what our friends see. Pure social networking is approaching a supernova stage and time will come it will lose its luster and become a black hole. 

People want something else that is why they want

For certain Pinterest is having its moment with all the traffic it generates that the number of users it has. Until when will Pinterest have its moment under the digital world is a question that only time can answer. But, for now Pinterest should make hay while the sun shines and take as much benefit as it can until another social media will become the new beloved flavor of netizens.