Social Media

The first in a series of columns on Social Media was published by the Elmira Star-Gazette in their "Twin Tiers Business" publication. A special thanks to Peter Wallin for giving me the lead that got this particular ball rolling.

Here are a few highlights from the article:

In the first wave of the Internet, companies created and promoted simple websites to drive people to their business. Today, businesses use tools to drive people to increasingly complex and informative websites. The days of creating a website and hoping people find it amidst the overwhelming number of similar sites are over.

As audiences move away from traditional media outlets, they are increasingly moving towards social media as a means of gathering new information and informing themselves.

As a result, your competition is probably already using social media in some form. Your customers definitely are. Facebook is part of the social fabric. Sites such as vimeo and YouTube allow individuals and businesses to distribute video to customers for free. If you haven’t heard of “twitter”(a site where people share brief updates about what they’re doing with lists of online friends), your kids definitely have.

Smart businesses embrace these tools as low-cost or free alternatives to paid searches, expensive and difficult-to-manage search engine optimization, and slow-moving forms of information distribution that often reach the wrong audience with a “shotgun” approach.

If you don't get the Twin Tiers Business publication, drop me a line and I'll be happy to send you a copy. You can also call the Star-Gazette at (607) 734-5151 and get added to the distribution list for this free publication.