“Don’t get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless – like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle; You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.” Bruce Lee
Social Media Is A Teapot. Be Water, My Friend
Social media is a tool. That is all. It can be a tool that helps your business to great success if you can use it effectively.
When you join a social media network, whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, Google +, etc., you should set goals first that you would like to achieve. Determine how you can achieve those goals with that particular channel.
Each social network is at least a little different.
Twitter is much more open than Facebook so you can use it to actually find prospects much easier.
Google + is more of a community and a great place to build useful discussions.
LinkedIn is used primarily for business professionals for exactly those purposes.
Know Your Social Network Or You Will Crash, Not Flow
Whichever social media site you dive into, make sure you understand how it is used and how you can use it to achieve your particular goals.
If your goal is to find new customers, maybe Twitter is a better option for you. If you want to build a more personal connection and community around your brand, Facebook would likely be the way to go.
If you blindly flow into a social network without knowing how to use it, and use it with the right etiquette, your social media presence will crash and your business will get no benefit.
Use Your Website As Your Reservoir
No matter which social media site you go with or how many you use for your business, you should always, ALWAYS build your online presence around your website. Building a business presence on Facebook or Twitter or any other social network is like building your office on rented property. At any time, those companies can go under (remember MySpace?), change their policies or just decide to go in a different direction (Facebook Timeline). You have no control over these other sites and they owe you nothing.
How Do You Adjust For Your Social Media?
How many social media channels is your business working on? How do you change for each? Do you rely too much on a Facebook page over your own website? Leave your thoughts in the comments!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ijCSu87I9k#t=15s