Starting Fresh With Social Media for Business in 2011

Here you are and 2011 is literally right around the corner. You reflect on all of the ways in which you used social media throughout the year to build strong and substantial relationships and in which to increase business.

Now, in the New Year, you will want to make even greater strides for your business with social media. As you are formulating a business strategy for 2011, you will need some goals. Your first goal, of course, is that you will earn a certain amount of increased revenue from your business. Your next goal should be that you establish new relationships and strengthen the relationships that you already have. Connected to your relationship goal is a resolution to do as much networking (both online and in person) for your business as possible.

There are several things that you should include in your strategy to increase business in 2011. First of all, you need to make sure that your web presence is fresh and current. You should add as much fresh content to your website as possible on a regular and consistent basis so that you are constantly enticing your readers with your knowledge and expertise. It is important to have a concrete list of contacts from your social media communities with whom you communicate on a regular basis. You will grow your lists over time and you should make sure that the lists are made up of high-quality connections and that those relationships will last over time. It is important to be very discriminating when it comes to choosing your social media channels. You should choose those from which you and your business will benefit the most.

Your web presence

There are a myriad of possible ways to express your web presence but as long as you have a strong and effective one, you will certainly be able to increase your business success and offerings by interacting with people whom find you credible, knowledgeable, and interesting. Always remember that content is still your most important attribute. If you are consistent with the information that you offer to other people, they will become loyal to you and your business and will remain loyal for a very long time. Regarding your ranking in the search engines, it is a great idea to make sure that your website is not so heavily loaded so that it takes very little time to load. Depending on the type of business that you own, elements of your web presence may be different than someone else’s. For example, if you own a small, local business, you would want to get involved with local technologies, such as Facebook Places or Google Local. The information that you will be sharing will be relevant to people who are connected to local businesses in some way.

Your list

Your list of contacts is your best way to keep all of the people with whom you share a relationship online organized and categorized. It will be much easier for your online business relationships if you have everything at your fingertips. You can have several lists of contacts from your various social media communities. There will be times when you have overlap on your lists. This is certainly not an issue. Lists are one of the important tools that you have in your online business armamentarium.

Your social media

Your social media channels and online connections are truly at the heart of your business’s success through social media. All of the other elements come together here to strengthen your business. You network through social media. You interact through social media. You share ideas and valuable information through social media. There are so many different ways to use social media for your business that will contribute in a positive way.

Endurance

Once you have done everything possible to strengthen your business in 2011, you will need to take measures to ensure that you sustain your business over the long term. Once you have established important relationships with people, you need to make sure that those relationships continue to grow and to flourish. There are so many ways in which to accomplish that, including giving your customers the feeling that their money is well spent on your products and services. Make sure that everyone with whom you are connected understands that you are with them for the long haul.

Conclusion

You completed phase 1 of your social media strategy in 2010. You are now about to launch phase 2 of your strategy. Phase 2 involves streamlining what you already have in place and making your online business relationships even stronger and more important. 2011 will be a fabulous year for you and your business as you get more and more embroiled in social media and all that it has to offer.

We are pleased to provide you with the insightful comments contained herein. Please contact us at CompuKol Communications for further discussion on how we might be able to assist you and your team and don’t forget to “like” our Facebook page.