Are you spending lots of time on FacebookTwitterLinkedIn but not really sure why?? Or, perhaps you know you should be on FacebookTwitterLinkedIn or some combination thereof, but you aren’t really clear on how exactly they all work?? You are not alone!! But it’s not really your job, is it, to figure it all out and then do something about it? Well, yes, so sorry. It is your job. But you don’t have to slog and slosh your way through it by yourself, sweetie. Girl Friday is here to make it all right. There now…feel better?

Here’s the truth: you need to figure out which social media tool works best for you, for your business, and for the staff and resources you have on hand to manage that social media. Not all businesses need a Facebook account, nor should certain businesses even have a presence on Facebook…and certainly not everyone should Twitter. And LinkedIn has its own special purpose that may not fit in with your business model or way of working.

It’s to your advantage to look at the different social media tools available and then ask yourself a few questions:

1. Is my target audience even ON Facebook or Twitter?? If you are a financial planner whose clients are all retired, chances are they are not on Twitter – they don’t even know what that is! If you are trying to gather a younger clientele for your business, however, you may want to be on Facebook and reach the adult children of your older clients. They may be on Facebook for social reasons, and can get to know you in that online community. Let’s say you are a new restaurant‚ you’ll want to reach people in the surrounding neighborhood who are on Facebook, where they and their friends talk about or suggest places to go out to eat…by all means, gather as many of those Friends as you can! ON the other hand, if you are a business coach offering services to corporate clients. LinkedIn may make better sense as a social/business networking tool for you. You become a resource on LinkedIn, where other businesses search for your unique skills or services. If you believe your target market is heavily involved in a particular social media, you’ll want to be utilizing that social media tool, and it’s community, to keep your online presence fresh and engaged.
2. Do I have the time, or the staff, to consistently engage in the social media conversation? If you can’t devote time on a consistent basis, whether daily, weekly, bi-weekly, etc. honey, you are just a wastin’ time and who has time to waste? Not Girl Friday!! and I’m sure you don’t either! So I’m going to save you a ton o’ time and tell you that you need to make sure you can consistently maintain whichever social medial tool you choose to participate in. If you start and then allow your Profile or Twitter account to remain outdated, it looks to visitors as though you don’t even visit your own sites…so why should they? Social media is of the moment; be present, be there now, be a part of the conversation that is happening today. So stay up to date, cupcake!
3. Should I perhaps just choose ONE social media tool, stick with it, be consistent, and give that a try?? Well, um…in a word: yes!!  See if you can manage just one social media tool, OR, a blog if you have one. Be very consistent…if Twitter is all you can manage time-wise, then do Twitter. But do it well. If you feel really comfortable in Facebook, and you can manage your Profile or Fan Page in a way that promotes you and your business in a personable yet professional way…then go for it. Better to do just one social media tool, and do it well, than try to manage three or four different accounts where nothing of value or relevance is posted, or it is inconsistent. You can always add on more social media once you master one.

Don’t feel guilty that you’ve neglected your poor Tweets, have not responded to all those Facebook emails, or updated your contacts at LinkedIn. Take a deep breath. None of this stuff is going away. Conserve your energy…plan carefully….then do it!!

Your website is the single most important tool you have to promote your business online. Start smart…it’s easy to avoid these common mistakes, plan ahead, and save yourself a lot of money and time:

1. DO know what the goal, or the purpose is, of your site. Without a clear goal, you can’t come up with a clear plan, and without a clear plan, the resulting site will be a wasted opportunity to get your message out there.

2. DON’T plan your site around a DESIGN concept and then fill the design with CONTENT. You must know what that CONTENT is first, then plan the DESIGN around that CONTENT. This is critical to clarifying your website’s goal or message.

3. DON’T use a non-professional to build your site in order to save money. Trust me, honey. I get tons of clients who’ve given their website budget to their brother-nephew-teenager-neighbor and now are frantic ’cause nothing works!! You will eventually have to hire a professional to fix the problems that WILL occur, costing you more money in the long run than if you had hired a professional to begin with.

4. DON’T hire a website designer who doesn’t understand how to optimize the site for Search EnginesA general class of programs, used to specifically describe systems like Google, Yahoo! and Bing that enable users to search for websites, articles, products or people on the World Wide Web.. You’ll wind up with a site…and no visitors.

5. DON’T begin the build process until you have the previous four suggestions worked out, and you have your art, content, and plan IN HAND. If you start without your materials ready to go, you will encounter countless delays. It should not take six months to build your site.

Girl Friday Virtual Marketing  is an actual professional…she doesn’t just play one on TV! Ask me a question, dearie! Email Girl Friday at info@e-girlfriday.com today!

Dear Facebook,

[Edit: August 2011:  Dear loyal readers: in re-reading this post I decided to edit it and delete the crazy-mixed-up-rantings of a thoroughly frustrated Facebook user...yours truly! And, a year and a half after posting this original thread I realize that nothing has changed at Facebook! They continue to launch changes and updates and new "tools" willy-nilly and it still drives me NUTS!  I'll spare you, dear Reader, the details of my research into getting around the tweaks, leaks, cracks and chasms I've fallen victim to on an almost daily basis dealing with Facebook for myself and for my clients. Ah well, onward!!...the rest of this blog post is the original text....]

• The Moral of This Story: In a way, I think this is a Good Thing…the fact that Facebook has just really messed up your online mojo. Why? Because Girl Friday thinks there is enough irrelevant nonsense on the internet, and in Facebook and Twitter and on and on. If you’re going to write something….make it Entertaining, Communicative, Collaborative, Educational. Give something meaningful to the world. Facebook wants to filter out the boring, irrelevant stuff, and their attempts to do so are just annoying. Why not just provide some quality here, so that the geniuses at Facebook don’t have to spend their time trying to read our minds. Let’s make our Minds BETTER!!! Better as in: Write something edifying, post a beautiful photo or incredible video, or uplifting song, or quote from JesusBuddahMohammedOprah…whatever you are passionate about. If you do that consistently, Facebook may have to lay off some of their workers, which will be unfortunate, but they may then go out and start serving Curry Without Worry and making the world a better place in a new and different way and they will all get away from their computers which is what Girl Friday is going to do right now.PS: you can learn this stuff if you really want to. Girl Friday teaches workshops, barn dances, and cow-tipping…no, not really. She teaches her clients how to use Online Marketing. Send her an email and ask about it:  info@e-girlfriday.com