Over here at the Internet Consultancy I am always being asked about the best way to market a business online? Or what about Social Media? All of these are  buzzwords which are used constantly by us and now you.

So what is the deal with Social Media? It’s this simple, the newest models of social interaction are just that, newest models. Each comes with it’s own challenges and can do several things for your business – increase it or turn people off if not used correctly.

It will help  if I move forward in slightly different direction for a second.

Lets think about your ‘target market’, you know the ideal client for your business. The one’s that you would most like to be doing business with now, and in the future. I know for a fact that this causes immediate problems for most business owners, with cry’s of  “er! Not sure! Ideal Customers? Well everyone that can afford it!”. These stock replies will just keep you where you are.

Lets put an Airline Pilot analogy on top of that.

An Airline Pilot knows (I have used he but could be she, before you start a million emails).

Where he is going – a specific target
A direction  – which way (which methods)
How long it is likely to take based on averages ( Time Goals)
How much fuel is needed to get there – for businesses this would be the action/type of marketing plan.
A plan in B in case of weather or other crisis

Not complicated is it? Remove any one of these aspects and you increase the risk of failure dramatically, submit a flight plan without a target. Are you mad! Too many small businesses fly by the seat of their pants, marketing without a plan or strategy is not funny or clever  just a quick way to the poorhouse.

So back to Social Media – Twitter, once you have identified your target market and realised that your potential customers may indeed use twitter, or the use of twitter fits in with the rest of your strategy off you go. (Replace Twitter with any Social Media, Facebook, Bebo, whatever)

Twitter

Using Twitter for business

Easy  – account set up in 3 minutes or less

Cheap – Cost is very little,

Obtaining Content -Use your blog or website posts, or any other value adding source you can find.

Remember – this is social media – don’t’ apply a sales pitch anywhere.

Inform – try and be as informative as possible.

Using Twitter for Search Engine Optimisation.

Links – helps build links back your website.

Traffic – helps build traffic

Twitter Negatives

Negative Followers can build up quickly with links to Porn Sites and other less desirable followers. Now if Porn is your thing that’s great, but for many….

Limited Number of Characters – comment is reduced to 160 characters. Will make you think about what you write.

That’s it for now.

Richard Smith is the Internet Marketing Expert specialising in the Professional Services Sector

Independent Financial Advisers

Search Engine Optimisation