Social Media Marketing for the Small Business Owner (B2B side)

With so many applications and websites to choose from where does the small business owner begin? Well, to get you started here's a quick breakdown of all of the various types of "Social Media" tools we have available at our disposal.

Blogs
Blogs are perhaps, the most obvious type of social media. Blogs, like this one, are simply a regular entry of commentary, done by an individual or a company. They can be written on any topic under the sun. Why should your small business have one? I can give you 3 good reasons: 1)It presents you as an authority in your industry to your clients & customers 2)It is a great way to get your website noticed by search engines (Who can't use help w/their SEO?) 3)If you don't, you can believe your competition is already doing it. Bottom Line: You need a blog these days to help market your business online and it doesn't hurt to share what you've learned w/others. I guarantee they'll thank you for it.

Podcasts
Podcasts, are very similar to blogs, in that they contain commentary on any topic imaginable,but they are not the same. Simply put, podcasts are an audio or video file that can be downloaded, heard or watched on the Internet. They are particularly great for small businesses that need to explain or show specific techniques or share musical insight.

Social Networking Sites
Sure there's MySpace & Facebook, almost everyone has heard of them. But now there are many more niche sites that can be a great help to small businesses. LinkedIn & Plaxo Pulse are great alternative networking sites that are tailored for businesses. By becoming a member you have access to other members, their expertise and its a great resource to generate leads for your business. Additionally, its a great way to create relationships, which, after all, is what social networking is all about.

Wikis
Wika What? No, it is not a sound you make as you're scratching a record. Wikis are basically a collaboration web site. It allows you to post documents, notes, etc in one location that can then be edited by others in your organization at any time. Wikis are especially great for businesses that are process oriented or have high turnover ratios. It allows you to create an online repository for all of your documents, so even when employees leave, you still have the work stored in one central location. Still don't get, just take a trip over to www.wikipedia.com

Media Sharing Sites
This is a huge area, that we could spend all day on, but lucky for you, I've only got 175 words. Basically this bucket includes everything from YouTube, Flickr & Digg to iLike.com & Justin.tv. Each has various uses, but they center around video, photos, social bookmarking, Internet TV and music. These sites offer users the ability to upload & share all different types of media. However, its not just about sharing, its also about creating an online dialogue & connection around the media.

Aggregators & Activity Feeds
As if the above wasn't enough to learn, you have Aggregators & Activity feeds to think about. But these guys are actually your friend. Applications like FriendFeed and Tumblr help to create a real time resume of all of your social media activity. So instead of going to each individual web site to participate in social media, sites like these create a profile w/all of your links in one place.

Micromedia
This is one of the newest phenomena to hit the web. This category includes sites like Twitter & Pownce. What's Twitter? It's essentially an application that allows you create mini-blogs known as "Tweets" that can be sent to people in your network. Despite the ease of use, you can only use up to 140 characters, so you've got to keep it brief. Real Estate & Financial business have found it exceptionally helpful to "Tweet" new home listings or stock tips out to their network.

So that's the rundown of Social Media Tools. Is your head still spinning? Don't worry, once you become more comfortable with the terms & actually immerse yourself into the "Social Media World" it'll be a breeze. Next week, we'll go in depth into using blogs to build your business. If you have any specific questions, please feel free to send it my way, and I'll be glad to answer.

Yours truly,
B.Croom
Social Media Stepchild