Social Media - Options

What are some social media options that you can use to engage your clients and customers? Let's start off with the Big Three: Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

• Facebook is a place to connect with friends and family. It could be a useful tool for your consumable product and/or customer service. Suggested security level: high.
• LinkedIn is the professional version of Facebook where you can highlight your company as well as yourself. Suggested security level: low to medium.
• Twitter is a way to spread up-to-the-second information in 140 characters or less. Suggested security level: low.

After co-teaching a local "how to" social media seminar, the most frequent question had to do with what other people can see. In this digital age, information is readily available to anyone with an internet connection. If you're concerned about what others might learn about you, Google yourself. If you have a fairly common name, add your city after your name. What did you learn about yourself? Is that information you want others to see?

Email vs. Mail

Everyday we're inundated with hundreds of messages, from advertising to email to mail. In our current culture we expect to receive information instantly, so email is typically the most frequent form of communication that we use today. When you're trying to get in front of clients with a specific message, consider using good old fashion snail mail. Why? Think about the amount of mail you get compared with the amount of email receive. Snail mail competes with other snail mail less because of the lower amount that you receive. On the other hand, your email marketing will have a harder time grabbing your clients' attention because of the amount of competition.