Social Media: What Are You Bringing to the Party?

"Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make, but about the
stories you tell."     Seth Godin

This month I was part of a panel presentation, “Selling Stories, Not Snake Oil” with Linda Gorham and Elizabeth Ellis at the National Storytelling Network’s conference in Cincinnati. Each of us had 20 minutes to speak on a specific subject. Linda’s topic was how to conduct our business in an ethical manner. Elizabeth shared how she successfully manages the different “hats” she wears to run her business.

My piece was on social media and why we should embrace it, or at least a part of it, to move our business forward. To be successful with social media we need to take the “me” out of the equation. This is a different business model than we have been used in the past; it isn’t about our time, it is about their (our clients) time. What can you offer them to add value to their work?

John Battelle, founder and CEO of a media publishing firm states, “Social Media marketing is about brands acting, well, social, which means they need to show up to the party with a nice bottle of wine, if that's what the party calls for. They need to come ready to have a dialog, and add value to the event.”

The question for all of us is, “What are you bringing to the party?” The resources below were part of the handout I offered to the attendees so they could begin to dip their toes in the deep waters of social media. I hope you will consider wading in as well.

5 Best Ways to Expand Your LinkedIn Network
http://socialmediatoday.com/daniel-levine/561801/5-best-ways-expand-your-linkedin-network

5 Little Known Reasons to Use Twitter for Business
http://www.selfemployedcafe.com/5-ways-twitter-business/

5 Ways to Advertise Your Website for Freehttp://www.businessknowhow.com/internet/promote-website.htm

7 Ways to Promote Yourself Without Bragging: To Attract Attention, You Have to Show Off 
http://www.businessknowhow.com/marketing/self-promotion.htm

10 Tweaks to Give Your Facebook Business Page Greater Impact
http://socialmediatoday.com/carole/507195/10-tweaks-give-your-facebook-business-page-greater-impact

26 Tips for Using Pinterest for Business
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/26-tips-for-using-pinterest-for-business/

30 Social Media Predications for 2012
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/30-social-media-predictions-for-2012-from-th

Great Ways to Use LinkedIn for Your Small Business
http://onpointbizbuzz.com/324/great-ways-to-use-linkedin-for-your-small-business

Grovo.com - an online training site and guide to the Internet where users can learn about everything from Amazon to using Facebook Timeline.
http://www.grovo.com/home/whatsnew

HootSuite - A social media dashboard to help you streamline your web activities on Facebook, FourSquare, LinkedIn, Mixi, MySpace, Ping.fm, Twitter, and Wordpress.
http://hootsuite.com/

How Google’s +1 Button Affects SEO
http://mashable.com/2012/02/21/google-plus-1-seo/

Is Pinterest the Right Choice for Your Business?
http://www.mymagneticblog.com/is-pinterest-the-right-choice-for-your-business/

Leverage Technology, Build Relationships - Useful and interesting podcast with acclaimed technology expert Terry Brock, hosted by Championship Communicator, Bill Lampton, Ph.D.
http://thecompletecommunicator.com/?p=1854

Reaching Success with Business Blogging and Hard Work
http://gilygily.com/reaching-success-with-business-blogging-and-hard-work.html

The Top 5 Social Media Managing Tools
http://socialmediatoday.com/jen-eisenberg/549608/top-5-social-media-managing-tools

Top 8 Pinterest Tips
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/02/09/top-ten-pinterest-tips_n_1265033.html

Top 15 Most Popular Social Networking Websites April 2011 http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/social-networking-websites

The Ultimate List: 40 Social Networking Sites Specifically for Small Business, Entrepreneurs, and Startups
http://smallbizbee.com/index/2010/02/02/ultimate-list-40-social-networking/

Which Social Sites Are Best for Which Marketing Outcomes?
http://mashable.com/2011/03/11/social-media-marketing-chart/

Why Your Small Business Should Check-Into Foursquare
http://onpointbizbuzz.com/332/why-your-small-business-should-check-into-foursquare

Bit.ly – If your small business uses a Twitter account you are only allowed 140 characters per tweet. If the URL you want to share has more you shrink your URL to a more tweet-friendly size. http://bit.ly/
                              
Tinyurl.com – This will also shorten a URL you may want to highlight in your blog posts or newsletters.
www.tinyurl.com

Marketing - It’s Not a Myth! – This link will take you to an article I wrote for the National Storytelling Network’s blog.
http://blog.storynet.org/marketing-not-a-myth

Karen Chace 2012 ©

This blog post was researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my blog via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I greatly appreciate your support and personal integrity.