What is Social Media?

• Social media is media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media uses Internet and web-based technologies to transform broadcast media monologues (one to many) into social media dialogues (many to many). It supports the democratization of knowledge and information, transforming people from content consumers into content producers. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media
• Software tools that allow groups to generate content and engage in peer-to-peer conversations and exchange of content (examples are YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, MySpace etc)
  www.bottlepr.co.uk/glossary.html
• Social Media is the collection of tools and online spaces available to help individuals and businesses to accelerate their information and communication needs. [Axel Schultze]
  communitymanagers.pbwiki.com/Glossary-and-Reference

What Are Some Social Media Websites?

Social media is a broad term but it essentially means sites that you can interact with a website and other visitors.

Here are some examples of social media websites:

• Social Bookmarking. (Del.icio.us, Blinklist, Simpy) Create a searchable list of your favorite  and browse sites bookmarked by other people.
• Social Networking. (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter,) Create profiles, add friends, engage in conversations, build relationships
• Social Photo and Video Sharing. (YouTube, Flickr) Share photos and videos and leave comments
• Wikis. (Wikipedia, Wikia) Add and edit informational content, such as technical documents, research, etc.

Twenty Tips for Generating Traffic from Twitter and Facebook

1. Set up a profile

• Use a picture that reinforces your brand (you) be professional but show your character
• Use a custom background.
• Write a bio that is clever, witty, sincere, and authentic. Be interesting but above all be yourself
• Add a URL to your blog, company, products, and services

1. Find your niche. Follow people with similar interests with you. Who is your ideal client?
2. Get into the conversation. Establish yourself as a subject matter expert by asking questions and answering them. Give people ideas or a unique perspective
3. Send Daily Updates. Find a consistent day and time to reach out to your followers or find new ones
4. Be a contributor. Post links to your blog but also send tweets without links. Use quotes or jokes as a way to just break the ice
5. Help others. Find at least 5 people a day to retweet and/or reply to. Participate in Follow Friday
6. No Spam! Your goal is to drive traffic but don’t inundate people with tweets. Don’t over do it with DM’s with links
7. Create relationships. Take the time to read people’s bios and visit their websites. If they own a blog leave comments. Show you’re interested in them
8. Integrate twitter with other networks. Add your twitter feed to your blog, Linkedin and Facebook to constantly keep your audience updated
9. Reach beyond twitter and facebook. Once relationship is established, ask for other modes of communication such as email, skype, and meet in person if possible.
10. Follow tweeters who you like and emulate them i.e @problogger @chrisvoss @sitsgirls @mommymillionaire @blogher. See who they are following and who follows them
11. Make sure you’re clear. Don’t use jargon, abbreviations, or slang
12. Don’t be a robot. Show you’re human by having a personal side. Don’t talk all business all of the time
13. Find social media management applications that work for you. Schedule tweets, filter followers, create lists, and follow back. i.e. hootsuite, refollow, twellowpages
14. Follow trends. Things are changing very quickly. Use sites such as twitip.com and mashable.com to stay educated
15. Manage your ratio. Make sure that there’s no more than a twenty percent difference between friends and followers
16. Learn to use direct messages. If you find you’re replying to a conversation more than three times, take it offline. Remember, your followers only see half of the conversation
17. Visit other people’s blogs and tweet them. People appreciate it when you show appreciation for what they have to say
18. Promote your twitter feed. Add your twitter and Facebook badges to your website, email signature, blog, and even your business cards. When networking ask for this information from others
19. People love the word FREE! Consider using contests and giveaways to promote interest in your site. Just make sure you’re not giving away the store

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