Step-By-Step Social Media for Smart Entrepreneurs

Here is a simple step-by-step social media plan you can use to make your presence known on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn and take advantage of the popularity of this game changing marketing strategy starting TODAY.

It isn't rocket science, but for a lot of service professionals, a simple step-by-step social media plan seems difficult to create. Yet, developing one takes all the intimidation and guess work out of using this popular tool for business marketing. If you've been holding off on using social media to market your services, then you'll be especially interested in today's article. Implement the following five steps and get ready to watch your business grow like never before.

Step One: Understand the Game

Social media is different from sales and other types of marketing. This isn't the place to do a hard-sell, "just for you, just today" kind of selling tactic. Successful entrepreneurs have quickly learned how to marry marketing and socializing on these types of sites and if you want to be effective, you need to do the same. Social media begins and ends with... being social! Let people get to know the real you -- let all the best aspects of your personality shine through. Make sure in each interaction that you are pleasant, informed and helpful. Know that you need to let a little bit of your "real life" shine through, but keep in mind, a little bit goes a long way.

Step Two: Complete a Full and Thorough Profile Page

Here is where you can add info about your business and your personal interests. Make sure for each profile you include contact information- at least in the form of a link to your website or blog. Facebook allows you to share links to just about anything you choose, so if you have content on YouTube or other sites, include it here. Join groups that express a little bit about both your professional and your personal interests, but stay middle of the road. When you are using social media for your business, it is best to avoid anything too political or too religious or you may alienate people, unless of course either one of these subjects is integral to your business. Fill out your profile information as completely as possible- this is one area where more is definitely more!

Step Three: Connect!

Start adding friends and followers. Look for people you already know as well as people you want to know. Add colleagues and leaders in your industry and those who are likely looking for your solutions. Ask your friends to recommend you to their friends. Send out an email to those in your network, sharing the links to your profiles. Be sure to add your profile links to your email signature block and to your website. Remember, your goal is to build a QUALITY list of connections. You're not just going for numbers here, you want to steadily build strong credibility and high quality relationships.

Step Four: Start Posting!

Now the fun begins. Start making a few posts about joining the social media site. Let people know you are new and are looking to connect with them. Share insightful tips - and make them good ones - that will be genuinely useful to your readers. Tell your audience how to save time, save money or ease stress in a way that incorporates your expertise, without asking for their business. Now, rinse and repeat. Mix up your posts with both useful information and fun trivia, inspirational quotes, personal information and links to other people's content. Link to respected people in your sphere of influence, people who's knowledge can be helpful to your followers. Link to websites and blogs you follow and other fun and helpful information.

Step Five: Work this into your daily routine

Spend a small amount of time on a regular basis - about 30 minutes a sitting - at least several times a week. Don't let yourself get sucked in to wasting hours of time, but schedule time to build your presence.

There you have it, a step-by-step social media plan to get you started on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Of course, you can use the same basic ideas for any social media site, but these three tend to be extremely popular for small business networking.