Social networking for business purposes gives a business a multitude of options that they would not have in traditional advertising mediums. First, any content generated for social networking purposes can be recycled into another format. In fact, the smartest businesses do this often. This allows the business greater flexibility than businesses who do solo shots of content in one format. Why not do the work once and then reuse the product or article in another format?

Social networking can drive traffic straight from the platform. This is how most people use social networking and usually the only way they use the web sites. This can be a good strategy especially when a business has a cause driving its existence or the business has a known enemy. This business can also have a strong opinion about a subject. This opinion can be used to generate traffic and followers. What is important is developing an affinity with a community of users on the market. This affinity is what will allow a business to drive traffic and make sales from the social media platform.

Social media is also a wealth of marketing information. This is one of the most important functions that social media is best for in marketing or sales. This medium is a source of truthful reviews of products and services. This is also the place where people will directly tell you what products and services they would like to see developed. A business would only have to develop those products and services to get those sales. They also have a market of people to sell because they know how to access those buyers immediately.

Social networking posts can also tell a business what topics are hot and may generate news coverage. Anything that trends on the social networking system is a strong indication that it is a hot news item that can be piggybacked on and easily used for press release generation. The fact about generating successful press releases is that it is a numbers game. It is best to find a hot topic and keep making press releases until a business gets the coverage they desire. If a business keeps making press releases then it is a matter of time before they get coverage instead of being a matter of odds.

In conclusion, social media is a platform that every business needs to be involved in today. The businesses that do not have a social networking presence will be left behind by those businesses that do have a presence on the social media systems. A business on the social media platforms has the advantage of seeing trends and developing press releases and content about those trends. These trends are far more likely to have readership because they are hot topics that everyone wants to read about, and as a corollary, news reporters want to report about in their newscasts or stories. This will generate buzz about a company and let reports find out that a business and the business owner is a resource on a topic. This means that the reporter will be far more likely to call the business owner when they need an expert about that subject. All this can be generated by listening to the social networks and generating content about what they want to hear.

Scott Buendia consults for Bizbuilt.com. All the views and tactics in this article are tactics and ideas of the author; they do not necessarily represent the ideals, beliefs, or trademarks of Bizbuilt.com. Visit his card on Bizbuilt here, https://www.bizbuilt.com/socialmediaprivacy.

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The success for any type of social media networking is active participation. Yes, technology allows us to become automated in just about every aspect of postings through cyberspace. The convenience of scheduling blog posts to Twitter, then to Facebook, then to LinkedIn is a great time save, but we must set a daily reminder to become engaged personally in our social networking.

I admit with a red face I've been guilty of allowing my automation take over and have become absent as a live person via my social networking. I have given myself the good old slap upside the head and no longer will I allow myself to become the absentee marketer.

As of late, I've downloaded the Twitter application (app) to my Droid phone, providing me the opportunity while waiting for my daughter to come out of basketball practice or religion to engage with fellow Tweeters. This is proven to be a successful way of engaging for me and have connected with current and new colleagues, potential clients in the children's publishing industry, and for those seeking out assistance with their social media campaigns. Twitter works perfectly on the Droid phone because of the rolling screen of Tweets. Thanks Twitter, for keeping tweets to 140 characters!

Luckily my family gave me an iPad several years ago and I've downloaded the Facebook and Twitter apps to further engage with others. I personally like the Facebook app on the iPad since it's a much larger screen than my Droid phone.

Mind you, I do try to keep my personal social interaction down to 30 minutes per day so I'm not spending the majority of my time away from my valuable writing, editing, Author PR Services time, and of course my family.

Key attributes in becoming an active social media networker:

Share relevant information to followers, friends, and colleagues (whatever the specific social media network calls them). If you are a children's book author share... the latest publishing industry news you've read about, your latest magazine article publication or book release, children's book fair events, children's book conferences (such as SCBWI by region), your experience in conducting school visits, etc. The list is endless. Important to note, don't make it all about you. Shout out the successes of your colleagues.

Engage in online chats through social media networks. For example, on Facebook search groups you are interested in joining... such as, teachers, librarians, parents, schools. Participation is imperative, so I strongly suggest you do not join more than 1-2 groups per social media network you are a member of.

Offer tips and assistance from your expert standpoint. When a particular topic is being discussed and you have experience in said topic, join in the conversation and engage. You will be pleased and amazed on how much people appreciate your feedback and they will remember that in the future. You will eventually be known as the go to person in your field of expertise, which often times leads to much more than you ever provided.

Don't fall into the "it's all about me attitude." This is a sure fire way to turn people off. Don't chat about your specific book or product unless the conversation specifically lends to it.

Once you join a group on most of the social media networks you are able to set an email option to be reminded of the latest discussions in the group so you remember to participate. You can also set a reminder through your To Do/Tasks option in your email. I utilize Outlook for my email and I'm constantly updating and checking off my To Do/Tasks list, which by the way gives me great satisfaction in checking off the latest item. Yep, I'm a list person and love to see the list of checked off tasks! I tell my girls all the time, if it's not on my list it won't get done.

Happy networking and remember don't overload yourself!

Until next time...

Donna M. McDine

Publicist & Award-winning Children's Author

Donna McDine as a multiple award-winning children's author and Social Media maven who can free up your valuable time so you can concentrate on your freelance writing career ~ http://www.donnamcdine.com/ / http://www.authorprservices.com/

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