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The 10 tips below for getting the most of our social networks for business was provided by a REAL small business who successfully uses social media to add value to her business. Read her story here=> social media success story

10 Tips for getting the most of out social networks for business

1. Tweet/Facebook every day – at least once a day on Facebook, a few times a day on Twitter. Don’t overdo it on Facebook – people will ‘unike’ you or hide you!
2. Don’t sell sell sell. Instead chat, interact, respond, RT, ask questions, and always be relevant.
3. Follow back on Twitter – don’t be seen to be too important to follow back (just like in our everyday ‘offline’ world, people do not like being ignored and like to be noticed)
4. Always thank your followers if they RT one of your tweets, always!
5. Use a good application for tweeting, eg: Tweetdeck, Hootsuite, so you can set up relevant columns, to make it easier to not miss what you deem to be important tweets, like when someone ‘mentions’ you, DM’s you – do your very best to never miss these and always respond – always
6. It’s ok to ‘sell’ yourself, every now and then, but not straight away, build a good list of followers first, build that rapport and trust – ask questions, answer questions and when the time is right, or if the subject comes up – sell, but do it ‘gently’ and in a friendly way
7. If you blog, tweet your blog post, facebook your blog post, don’t miss the opportunity to spread the word
8. If you have a Facebook page make sure you change the default setting from ‘Just Your Biz Facebook Page’ to ‘Your Biz Facebook Page & Others’ – there is nothing worse for somebody ‘Liking’ a new Facebook page only to be greeted by nothing other than what the page owner has pushed (and that’s what it looks like – being pushy) – ‘Likers’ want to feel part of a community, and see what they have said, what others have said, and then what you’ve said! They also want to see you responding to Likers questions & comments. Oh actually, there is something worse than seeing ‘Just Your Biz Facebook Page’, and that is when you click to ‘Your Biz Facebook Page & Others’ and see absolutely no interaction, posts or replies from the owner of the Facebook page – to me this is complete and utter ignorance – what goes through my mind is “they don’t get it”.
9. Learn about FourSquare and start using it, and understanding how it can help your business.
10. Finally, be patient (and don’t worry about the numbers, it’s about quality, not quantity) – it takes a while to build your network – at least 3 months to start getting traction, and put in the time, it’s worth it.

Read her story here=> social media success story