Social Media is the new SEO for Businesses.

Instead of people going to Google to find something, more and more people are asking their community sphere. This brings you quick and honest feedback to your questions.

So what does this have to do with your business?
If you run a business, odds are people are talking about the services or products you provide.  Imagine if they were talking about your product or service? It’s not that hard to imagine in today’s Web 2.0 world.

How do I get people to talk about me?
Seth Godin would tell you that you would need to do something exceptional to get people talking about you.  Other marketing guru’s would tell you that you should stick to traditional, consistent marketing so that you’re always on people’s mind.

I would suggest you pick a target market and engage them.  Be an engaged member of your community – volunteer and be an active participant.  Soon you will be a respected and recognized business in the community.

What social media should I join?
The 3 that I have seen most businesses have success with are Twitter, Facebook and Linked-In.  I would suggest you go with Twitter if your business sells to early adopters.  Facebook is good for mass market end user sales.  Linked-In is good for business to business sales.

How do I engage in that community?

• If you already have a WordPress blog then you can install the ping.fm plugin which will allow you to send notices to 30 Social Media sites.
• Hold  and attend events that are relevant for your community.
• Build things your target market wants and give it away.
• Look for opportunities to help people who are leaders in your community.
• Seek help by asking questions.
• Share who you are; do not be a robot.

This week’s project is to sit down and put a plan together to start using Social Media to improve your business sales.

If you get stuck let me know in the comments.