Taming the Social Media Task

Both small and large business owners continuously search for new ways to market their business, including freelancers who promote their writing skills continuously. If the thought of handling your own social media marketing feels overwhelming to you, don’t let it. You can do this type of marketing on your own; without any help from anyone. Starting your own business is a wonderful dream come true and now you have the responsibility to keep that business going with cost effective techniques that will reach more people. Social media can increase the benefits of running a small business.

What You Need to Know About the Social Media Web

The good news about social media web is that you don’t have a lot to do in order to get started. You have the job of creating a unique article or product review that will increase your exposure and then submitting it on a site that will expose and promote you. Once you submit an article you will need to promote it on all the social media sites like FaceBook, Twitter, Digg, Blogger, Myspace, and Linkedin. These are the most popular social media sites however, there is an endless list of more sites to promote your product on. It used to be that you would need to post individually to each site in order to promote anything but today, you can click on one site and promote it in others as well.

How Useful is Twitter?

Twitter is very beneficial to the small business in several ways. A portion of business today is conducted on a small device such as a mobile phone, wireless connections, digital devices, and PDA’s. Twitter is helpful because you can access Twitter through any of those devices.

Twitter allows you to write something with a maximum of 140 characters or you can use URL’s in order to direct people to the product or service you are offering. You will need to build up a network on Twitter in order to see the benefits of this site. However, once you are established, you will find that a lot of people are starting to Tweet you or follow you. This gives you a free way of advertisement. You can say a lot in 140 characters or less and the end result is an unlimited income.

How well does FaceBook work?

FaceBook gives you the opportunity to target others who are in the same niche as you are. I find that FaceBook can increase my business marketing, I can get involved in social gaming, and have access to tons of non-profit organizational information as well as anything else I think may increase my business. I can literally reach thousands of people in my industry alone when I make a post or if I access it from another social media site.

FaceBook does take a lot of work. You must interact with others continuously on your FaceBook otherwise, people will think that you are spamming and they will remove you from the list. You can interact with friends and followers by posting quotes, telling funny jokes, or playing one of the fun virtual games that they offer on FaceBook. Get involved.

How Do You Get Quality Followers and Readers?

Well, you can’t expect it to happen overnight or even in a week. However, the more you work on it, the more you can increase your followers and readers. While on your Twitter or even your FaceBook, you want to type in keywords that will sum up or describe your product or service. Then you will get a list of users who have typed in the same words that are looking for that product or service that you have to offer. Next, you want to add them. Invite them to be your friend. When you notify them to be friends, you want to take a moment to explain to them why you want to add them and most of the time, you will be accepted and you have a follower who is interested in what you have to offer.

Of course, this doesn’t always work and some people will decline or not respond at all in fear of being spammed or harassed. In order to spot a potential customer here are a few things to keep in mind.

1. Look for a user that has displayed their interest in the products or services that you have to offer.
2. Look for a user that is active and has made recent posts.
3. Look for a user that has as many people following them as they are following.

Granted, this method is not going to work unless you put in a little bit of time however, you can do this from anywhere in the world and at any time. Consider the social media sites like shortcut to marketing your business. The more time and thought you put into it, the more followers you have.

About the Author:
Joy Lynskey is a freelance writer, work at home mom and small business owner. Her blog is located at http://www.jrlsolutions-wp.com/

OK….
I’m not going to name names, but my friend (Dana) thinks that by getting to work at home…..
::rolls eyes::
I have it…“easy”!

No….I am not mad at my friend (Dana) – because she’s a school teacher.
A SCHOOL TEACHER.
Now I could….go on and on about how she gets summers off, holidays off, short work days, benefits….blah blah blah.
BUT – if I do that….I bet I’d get hate mail from lots of school teachers that profess to me the long hours, snippy parents, absent parents, bratty kids, snotty sick kids, late hours grading papers and planning, volunteering to
run after school programs and activities, school events…..and on and on and on.

I get it.
I do. I get it.
My kids, of course – perfect.
They never cause their teachers issues….so I don’t contribute to their woes.

But just like moms that work outside the home – working at home is TOUGH. I’m not crying in my 5th cup of coffee here – I’m just being honest. And after 9 years of doing this – I think I can make a comment. I think I can offer up some insight. (Whether you want it or not!) And you’d think my friend (Dana), would have listened to all my bitching over the years to conclude that working at home is NOT easy. Pick your ears instead of your nose Dana! I say that with LOVE. Really….I do. I will stand in front of your house in Iowa with a boom box over my head that plays, “In Your Eyes” and yell…“I love you Dana!!” if you need me to!

Working at home comes with a special array of issues and frustrations. First of all….you’ve got friends that don’t believe you’re “really” working. They think you’re playing office or some weird crap. Like we used to play cash register girl when we were little! I don’t sit here with post-it notes, a calculator and a phone  pretending to work.
Hell no.
I am WORKING.
I’m not playing online mahjong, I’m not staring at Facebook playing Farmville or taking quizzes, I’m not Twittering that I’m on Facebook playing Farmville, I’m not making cutsie little web cam videos, I’m not talking on the phone with girlfriends, my husband or my Mom.
I am W O R K I N G.
I am writing, researching, dealing with advertisers, studying SEO, implementing SEO, maintaining and updating nine websites, bookkeeping….blah blah blah….
On top of that…for years I had kids under my feet while I was doing it. While I was trying to learn HTML, SEO, and everything else. You have no idea the HELL that this is. You are torn, tired and teary.
But once your kids get in school….it almost gets worse. For one….you’re older….and you’re more tired. You’re dealing with your body and face not being so “perky” anymore. You can lose days of work just pondering how much older you’re going to look and how fast that is happening. DAYS!!!

Then there’s all the activities that school age kids are in. School events, homework, sports, dance, girl scouts, boy scouts….you find yourself in the car A LOT. The car has become my sanctuary at times. I read when I’m waiting. It’s the only time I really get to read something that I want to read. I poop at the speed of light…so bathroom reading time….ummm….not really a perk for me. I’m a “poop and run” person.

You also still have laundry, cleaning, cooking, pets, doctor visits…and all that other good stuff that all moms have to do.

Working at home means….never having a real solid block of time to get anything done. You multi-task EVERYTHING. You don’t get to “go to work” and focus on “work”. That just doesn’t happen. I don’t remember when I worked full time in radio anyone ever needing me to change their diaper or crying because someone
hit them in the face with a toy. Yes….we had our fair share of weirdos there….but really…no one crapped their
pants and asked for help. At least….they never asked me….because I would have gone on the air and told everyone about it.

Working at home has it’s pitfalls. Just like any other job. And I don’t get health insuarance or 401K. I don’t get PAID holidays….I don’t get summer’s off like SOME jobs. I do get the perk of flexibilty, not paying daycare and being here if my kids need me. That might just be worth more than health insurance or 401K. Yes…I think it is worth it – at least to me. (My kids will support me in my old age, right??)

It’s tit for tat.
It’s just not easy being a working mom. But thank God it’s women doing the working and momming for the most part. We are fabulous multi-taskers.

But it’s never easy. Not for any of us.
Well…..except for school teachers.

Just teasing (Dana).