Here are a few of the best and worse social media practices reviewed in 2011. I would love to hear a few best practices that you have had the chance to experience, so make sure to leave a comment below.

Here we go with the Best Practices:

1) Make sure that your are social media plan involves educating, and solid information, not sales tactics.

2) Tell the truth while on social media. Don’t have different agendas that you are hiding from your audience. Remember people become loyal clients because they trust you, and because others they are close to trust you.

3) Two Sided Conversations! Social media is based on involving and engaging people in conversation. You can’t be the only one talking, you have to also listen and participate in the conversation going on around you. (answer questions, offer valuable customer service, thank people for RTing you or mentioning you & listen to concerns and take them seriously)

4) Listen to constructive feedback, and sometimes even ask your audience for their feedback. Remember what your company offers is based on the needs of your clients, not on your own needs. If simple changes are addressed let them know that you hear them!

Now for the Worst Practices:

1) Using social media for hidden agendas. Not being real is a true problem. Don’t offer things that aren’t possible. Don’t use social media as a curtain to hide behind.

2) Not keeping your eyes opened on your social media platforms listening to those following you. Remember social media is a two way street, and you shouldn’t always be the one speaking, its just as important to be the one listening.

3) Using social media strictly for the Sales. As I have said time and time before, social media is a place of engagement in a educational manner, not sales driven. People are following you to get to know you, the real you, and being propositioned for sales after sales is not what they are interested in.

Reach Out

Social media gives us the opportunity to reach out and meet people that we may never have had the chance to connect with, and that should not be taken advantage of. I have been so lucky to meet some of the most educated individuals in the social media world, and continue to learn and grow from each of them on a daily basis.

John Paul Narowski

I’ve been hacking at various business ideas since I was 16. I’m a full stack developer and love crafting user experiences. I’ve been nose deep in code since I put the legos down, and built several successful businesses in the process. I’ve lost some hair, gained some experience and throughly enjoyed the journey.

http://www.jpnarowski.com

A blogs is a must have tool if you are considering any sort of online presence. 

While a static website can be a great foundation for your Internet marketing campaign, having a blog that is updated regularly will pay you huge benefits through higher search engine rankings and easy customer engagement.

So, what’s the best way to get your blog online?

There are two main ways to get a blog up and running; host it yourself or use a blog service to host it.  Both come with their pros and cons that can have a huge effect on your online marketing campaign.  Let’s explore:

Host a Blog Yourself

A self-hosted blog is the most common way to get your content up on the web.  You don’t have to own a server yourself, but rather go through a hosting company that will rent you space on their servers.

Pros:

• Low Cost:  Using a hosting service will cost you around $6 a month for a basic plan.  If you have huge amounts of traffic, you might have to buy a larger plan with more server space.
• Flexible Software:  Hosting accounts come with programs, like cPanel, that help you administer all aspects of your blog.  You can import domains, install blogging software like WordPress, set up email accounts and a lot more.
• Content Control:  When you host your own blog, you have the final word on what you post, discuss, link to etc.  It’s your space, you can do what you want.

Cons:

• Sharing Space:  While you’re renting space from a server, you’re not the only site using that space.  It’s more like renting an apartment than a house.  This means you will be on the same server as other sites and might see some negative effects from this.  For example, your site may have slower load times if another site on the same server sees an explosion in traffic.
• Requires Some Technical Knowledge:  While the hosting programs make it as easy as possible to set up a blog, there is still some technical knowledge needed to get things up and running

Hosting Service

If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to get something up and running now, then you might want to consider a blog hosting service like Blogger or WordPress.  These platforms let you set up free sites that can literally be up in a few minutes.  You can use a domain they assign you or use your own if that works better for you.

Pros:

• Quick and Easy:  Blogger, WordPress and other sites make setting up a blog fast and easy.  By simply filling out some basic information and choosing a couple of options, you’ll have a clean looking and functional blog live in minutes.
• Completely Free:  These services don’t cost you a thing.  No hosting fees, no premium themes, no expensive plugins… nothing.

Cons:

• Ownership:  While you put all the work into creating a blog on one of these services, you don’t have ownership over them in any way.  If you would like to have the option of selling your web business one day, you’ll be at a disadvantage with one of these blogs.
• Content Control:  WordPress and Blogger have strict rules about what they allow in the way of content.  They can pull your blog at any time they see fit because you link to the wrong sites, have content they don’t allow or for a variety of other reasons.

So What is Better?

While it depends on your business and preferences, the smartest way to host your blog is through a hosting service.  You actually own the web property, control it as you see fit and have the most flexibility.

Both options work, but if you’re looking to build a long term business and don’t want to risk someone else arbitrarily deciding your fate, self-hosting is the way to go.

John Paul Narowski

I’ve been hacking at various business ideas since I was 16. I’m a full stack developer and love crafting user experiences. I’ve been nose deep in code since I put the legos down, and built several successful businesses in the process. I’ve lost some hair, gained some experience and throughly enjoyed the journey.

http://www.jpnarowski.com

Sun Tzu’s guide to military strategy, leadership and governance, The Art of War, might have been written in the 5^th century B.C., but its teachings hold true to this day in a wide range of categories.

Business owners, sales people and managers will all find priceless information in this work.  Understanding and implementing this timeless knowledge will help you achieve your business goals, no matter what industry you work in.

Ignoring them will only lead to your downfall!

If you don’t have the time or desire to read through this ancient work, here are a couple of key lessons you should be aware of:

Dealing With Competition

In regards to plotting a strategy, Sun Tzu says about your opponent:

“Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.”

If you’re competition is entrenched in a market, why attack them head on?  Instead of trying to fight an insurmountable force, find where your competition is weak.

Does their key product lack some features?  Is their product line focused more on one segment than another?  Does their customer service need improvement?

Research the dominate players in your market and tailor your product and pitch to exploit their deficits.  Become the “go-to” person in an area that no one else is focusing on.

Motivation

In one of Sun Tzu’s most famous military examples he teaches us to “burn the boats” and give yourself no retreat.

“Throw your soldiers into positions whence there is no escape, and they will prefer death to flight.  If they will face death, there is nothing they may not achieve.”

While it’s impossible to simulate such dire straits as facing death in the modern workplace, you can let yourself, your employees and coworkers know that repeated failure is not an option.  If the sales team fails, the company will eventually fail and everybody will be looking for a job.

Make sure that fate doesn’t befall you by working as though you have no other options.  With this motivation pushing you along, you will find creative solutions to problems that you may have previously abandoned.

Analysis

Sun Tzu says:

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.  If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer defeat.  If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”

While in depth analysis of your actions, your company’s results, your competition and the market isn’t always most exciting thing, it is vital to your success.  You have to know where you stand, where your competition stands and what you can do to improve things.

Take a long look at your daily activities.  Are you making yourself busy or are you being productive?  Have you applied the 80/20 Rule to your clients, schedule and overall outlook?

Understand your own weaknesses and strengths, know where your competition is weak and strike accordingly.

John Paul Narowski

I’ve been hacking at various business ideas since I was 16. I’m a full stack developer and love crafting user experiences. I’ve been nose deep in code since I put the legos down, and built several successful businesses in the process. I’ve lost some hair, gained some experience and throughly enjoyed the journey.

http://www.jpnarowski.com

Hey you, are you listening? Are you paying attention to your online audience as if they were standing right in front of you? I hope that you are. Understanding their needs and wants online is just as important as them calling your business over the phone to have a question answered, or walking in the front door of your corporate office wanting to learn more about you. Knowing your customers and listening to them is one of the most important ways to grow your business.

Many people say that social media is just hype and that it will go away soon. Well I’ve got news for you; it isn’t going anywhere, anytime soon. Social media is another way for your customer, or potential client to reach out to you, ask you more questions, and they are getting to know you, just as you are getting to know them.

Below is a great way to listen and engage your audience, so that you know what is  most important to them and  you can answer the questions that are on their mind, or better yet, talk to them about what they want to hear, not just what you want to say.

Online Surveys

Online surveys are a great way to listen to your audience so that you can engage them in meaningful conversation, on their terms.

Whether you ask 1 poll question a day or a 5 minute survey once a month, either way is fine as long as it is created for their benefit and not yours as a sales tactic.

For your longer surveys there are sites out there that can help you create the perfect survey tailored to your audience, one of the best ones that I have found out there is Survey Monkey. They allow you to create 10 questions for free and you are able to create the survey in multiple styles, colors and layouts,

Even the little things that you can do to create your survey are important factors to keep in mind. Who is your audience? What is their daily business? Do they have time to answer a survey where they have to write their own answers or is it a better use of time for them to be able to click on a multiple choice answer? These are all very important things to think about, and is just another way that you are paying attention to them!

If you are asking a poll of the day question on Twitter make sure that they can answer it in 140 characters, and if you are asking the question on Facebook make sure that the question is formatted in a way that they can offer you a quick answer.

Why Is Knowing Your Audience Important

I know what most of you are thinking at this exact moment, after reading the title above, common sense, right? I will agree with you because that is the first thing that comes to my mind, unfortunately, many people venturing out into the online world don’t understand that this is just as important as if your customer was standing face to face with you.

How do you know what your audience wants to learn about unless you ask. This isn’t just another quick way or platform to use to sell your product, program or service, but it is a way that you can educate them on the functions, processes, and other meaningful information if in fact that is what they want to hear.

A quick example of this; We at KarmaCRM have a product that was created with many small businesses in mind, but we also understand small businesses, why, because we are one, so we have a lot more useful information to share with our audience besides our product. Our survey’s might have questions in regards to learning about ethical ways to use Twitter or how to create a engaging Facebook Fan Page or how to provide stellar customer service, anything that may help small business owners on their path to success.

Don’t Miss The Mark

Remember when it comes to learning about your audience you must keep your eyes and ears open so that you don’t miss whats most important to the people that are reaching out to you. By missing this mark you could lose the attention of many of your followers and fans, which could tarnish your brand both online and off.

John Paul Narowski

I’ve been hacking at various business ideas since I was 16. I’m a full stack developer and love crafting user experiences. I’ve been nose deep in code since I put the legos down, and built several successful businesses in the process. I’ve lost some hair, gained some experience and throughly enjoyed the journey.

http://www.jpnarowski.com

Chances are your customers use at least one of the most popular social media outlets like Twitter or Facebook, so your business needs to as well.

If not, you risk losing customers to competitors that embraced this powerful branch of your marketing before you did.

A lot of businesses who start marketing in the social media space find a whole host of frustrations they didn’t expect. Like we all learned during the Internet Boom of the 1990’s, the technology is just a tool which is completely useless if you don’t have a solid business and marketing plan behind it.

Running a proper social media marketing campaign means keeping content fresh, responding to and engaging with your potential customers across several platforms. This has turned a lot of people off to the idea of social media marketing, but don’t despair!

Here are some easy tips to simplify your social media marketing.

Plot Your Course

It’s hard to figure out how you’re going to get somewhere if you don’t know where you’re going. If you ever did any sort of traditional marketing, chances are you didn’t just start throwing money at it and hope it all worked out.

Do your homework and find out what social media platforms your clients are using. By knowing where your potential customers are, or at least narrowing down the options, you can avoid the shotgun approach and focus in like a laser to get the best results.

Know Thy Enemy

With a little harmless reconnaissance, you’ll be able to see what is working well, what’s a waste of time and where you can define yourself in the market compared to your competitors. By going in with this information, you can avoid wasting time and resources.

Are your competitors’ brands entrenched on Facebook already? Is one firm the master of Twitter when it comes to your market? Research all of this first and you’ll spend a whole less time banging your head against the wall wondering why you’re not seeing the results you’re after.

Put it All Under One Roof

Why waste time logging into several different accounts just to say the same thing in different places, when you can use one of the latest social media tools to bring it all together on one platform? Web based programs like Hootsuite, Posterous and Netvibes are very popular amongst the super stars of social media efficiency these days, and for good reason.

By logging into one website, you can read, respond to and schedule messages on a wide variety of social media sites. Most come with apps for iPhone, iPad, Black Berry and other devices so you can do it all on the go.

Outsource

Even with the latest and greatest sites out there, you’re still going to have to brainstorm posts, research them, write them, gather links and so on. Unless social media is your business, you have better things to do than burn time on these tasks.

That’s where our trusty friend, outsourcing, comes into play. You can find experienced social media help on freelance/outsourcing sites like Elance or oDesk for really reasonable rates. If that doesn’t work for you, look around at the next family gathering and pick one of your relations that has that blank stare kids get when they text for too long at one time.

As long as you help craft the uniform marketing message, have someone else do the grunt work.

John Paul Narowski

I’ve been hacking at various business ideas since I was 16. I’m a full stack developer and love crafting user experiences. I’ve been nose deep in code since I put the legos down, and built several successful businesses in the process. I’ve lost some hair, gained some experience and throughly enjoyed the journey.

http://www.jpnarowski.com