5 Ways to Engage Social Media Now

It’s the new year and time for new thinking. If you’ve been considering trying out some of the new Web tools to help promote your business, what better time to get started?

Below, I’ve outlined 5 ways to get started using Web PR strategies now.

1) Set up a business profile on Facebook — Facebook’s new business pages (officially called Facebook Pages) are pretty easy to set up. Then send out an email to everyone you can think of — friends, colleagues, customers — and invite them to become “fans” of your Facebook page. Use this avenue to spread the word about whatever you want: new products, news, discounts, upcoming events and more.

2) Get connected on LinkedIn — Networking is key to any business, so why not add online networking to your arsenal of tools?

3) Start a blog — Setting up a basic blog on Blogger.com (like mine) is fairly simple. Pick a topic that you’re knowledgeable about and then brainstorm a list of ideas for posts. Make yourself post an entry at LEAST once a week. Email everyone you know about your blog and invite them to subscribe to your feed.

4) Set up a Pay Per Click account on Google — You don’t have to do anything fancy here. Think about what words potential clients would search for online to find you and set up a monthly budget to bid on those key words.

5) Monitor your company online — What’s being set about you and your company? Set up Google Alerts (http://www.google.com/alerts) for yourself and your company name and start watching what’s being said. If you find anything incorrect, post a response. If you see something negative, take note (don’t engage the writer in a verbal battle) and see how you can counteract that with messages you are putting out to the public.

If you need help with these and any other strategies, my company, Step Ahead Web Strategies, would be happy to help you take these to the next level. But give it a go on your own first and see how you do.