Social media: probably here to stay…

Recently I attended a WKS presentation about social media for marketing professionals; the presentation by Ed Wohlfahrt was interesting for a number of reasons. Ed’s examples of dos and don’ts of social media very much fell in line with our own company policy at TWCA: of harnessing the power of social media to expand our business and those of our clients.
One thing that struck me again and again was that we put ourselves in the “online” limelight so much these days; how do we know when it becomes too much?
Who hasn’t got a Xing account, a Facebook account, at least 3 email accounts, a company blog, a personal blog and a Flickr photo gallery and you can insert the name of any online community here – the list is endless.

My business is online. I have accounts with all of the social media platforms stated above; I utilize them for business but I am also wary of the fact that I am totally and utterly “exposed” online.

I have business contacts and private contacts in a joint Facebook account and I am very aware that people can look at my online profile very closely before they choose to do business with me. But hey, the key phrase here is do business with me.

If done correctly, and that was very much a key point of Ed’s presentation, you can do vast amounts of business online.

The grey area of keeping personal things private and having an online business which means having a public and visible online presence for me blurred a long time ago; and it should do for you too.


Here is my view of the private vs. business dilemma surrounding social media:
If you have a Facebook account: create different friends lists – one for personal friends and one for business associates. That way you can keep things private that are personal and go public with all the things you want to go public with.
If you use Xing: remember it is more of a business platform, than a social community network. Be aware that becoming chairman of the “let’s get hammered every weekend” group might not show you in the best light to potential clients and business partners.
If you have a corporate blog: remember to keep it real. I blog once a month, if at all, and I try to blog about things that really matter to me and my business. The days of just adding vast amounts of copy for the Search Engine are over. If you do not produce quality blog entries that really have something to say it’s best to leave it altogether, I am sure you can make better use of your time.
Twitter: is micro blogging, it’s a blog that comes in tiny doses (just 140 characters) – a much quicker way of sharing information and lending someone an online ear. Remember that telling the online world about what you had for lunch will really not do much for your business – unless you are a Michelin award winning chef.
I cannot twitter 24 hours a day because I have a job to do: I run a business. Yes an online focused business, but still I run a business.
I cannot blog every single day, as much as I would love to do that, for exactly the same reason: I have a business to run.
But I check all these accounts probably once a day; they keep me posted, inform me about what’s going on and let me share information. I find likeminded people, employees, business contacts and associates online and they also find me and my business.
So, if you keep it real, if you have something valuable to say and if you understand that once you place information online you are visible to the www (whole wide world),social media networks are a great way of generating more online business.