There are different opinions on how much time you should spend on each aspect of social media.  Anywhere from half your time reading and listening to even more than that.

If you take the time to plan up front, strategize what your objective is and work towards that goal. With automation tools available there are a lot of time saving techniques to get your message out and then allow you to check in when you have the time.

For a larger company, there may be an opportunity to develop one strategy and then share the responsibility among many people to get it accomplished.

What are your favorite time planning methods for handling social media?

There are many ways to utilize facebook. Creating a fan page is a must for a business, though a personal profile is going to be visited more and is much more dynamic. There are events, groups, discussion boards and more available on Facebook, as well as the ability to import your blog feed, Tweets from Twitter, Videos from YouTube and more.

Again, you must think about your objective with the site. What do you hope to do, or accomplish? Who do you want to meet? Are you reinforcing the relationship that you already have with people. When you determine the WHY, you can determine HOW best to reach and interact with your audience.

Facebook Tip #1

Use a good profile picture. Do not use one of your kids, your dog, you in a group, or a sunset. If you are using Facebook for business, you need to make it easy for people to recognize you. The purpose is creating relationships with people, and we don’t form relationships with stuff, we form them with people. So many people I have seen use a half of their face, or something meant to be cutesy. Do you want cutesy or do you want something that will benefit you long term?

Taking artistic license to what Tom Harris (xn Marketing) has previously said, “Heaven forbid that someone should find you (and recognize you) on Facebook, because they might be reminded why they needed to call or email and do business with you, and what a hassle that would be.”

How is your profile picture representing you?

Yes!

Visit Facebook ads and pages application and do some targeting to see what you can find. If you put in your network, and ask for a count of how many users in your area fit a certain age demographic, I am sure you will be surprised.

As an example a quick target search shows that of all the Facebook users,

5,461,580 people use Facebook

Now, what audience can we help you find?

Each of us has our favorite social media site, or method to connect. Some users love Facebook. Some prefer Twitter. Still others find the research and connection function of LinkedIn to be more to their liking. Whichever platform or site you use, is fine. With automation strategies you can reach your audience, wherever they are, while still enjoying what you like best.

There is news out about a Twitter and LinkedIn information sharing partnership. Read more here.

What do you think? Does this mean you will use Twitter and LinkedIn more? Do you like it?

Any way you look at it, the more places we can connect with people where they are, the more conversation we can have. Where did you first see this post? Via FB, Twitter, or perhaps in the Blog Link on LinkedIn? Where’s your favorite social media playground?

What are your best tips and hints for someone who is just getting started? We are compiling some of the best and brightest strategies for upcoming classes. Please share what you know!

Today I participated in a presentation and panel discussion of the benefits of using social online media for business. Thanks to David Haslam, Daninelle Zhu, and Brenda Meller for putting together a great presentation that was featured at the TLI Meeting @ U of M, Dearborn Campus today. Danielle talked about using Twitter, Brenda educated on Linked-In, and I got one of my favorite topics, Facebook!

I would not have had the opportunity to speak on the subject today in front of a new audience, if it weren't for the connections that I have been able to create through networking, both off and online.
I also connected with a woman today featured in Gary Vaynerchuck's (Wine Expert, Video Blogger) keynote speech that I watched last week. I somehow found her twitter account, clicked follow, and got a direct message back about her 100,000 worldwide hugs campaign that I had read about last week. The world is getting smaller, and we are getting more connected. This technology is here to stay.

Can you please help us spread the message that there is a way to connect locally (when I say locally, I would include southeastern lower Michigan) through our InSights Group website? Take a quick moment to email someone you know, the instructions are to visit www.InSights-Group.com and Click Connect to create a free profile. Who do you know that may benefit from making connections with our amazing community here in Livingston County? We'd love to get every local business profiled on our website, and continue to create awesome connections, great opportunities, and more positive energy flowing through! The online community is free, and it opens doors like you can't imagine!

As an aside, I am teaching the next web training @ InSights on Monday, 1/26 from 1:30 pm - 3:30 pm. The cost is $20, or free if you have your golden ticket from our anniversary celebration.

My final request for today, please share your networking stories? Who have you met, or who have you connected with through both on and offline networking? I'd love to hear, and perhaps incorporate your stories into some of my teaching opportunities.