The first thing that you must understand about social media is what it means. Social media is primarily Internet and mobile based tools that allow people to share and discuss information across the world. It allows for someone to share articles or information that they find interesting with their group of friends. Where it becomes beneficial is when those friends share it with their friends and then it is repeated time after time again. This is the main benefit of social media.

Can one get referrals from social media?As with any platform, if it is worked correctly, you can get almost anything that you want. Where most people go wrong in social media is they talk at people and not to people. They attempt to control instead of allowing the consumers to personally get involved. Once you give the consumer a reason to get involved, then you are half way home. In fact, you have to resist the urge to sell. If you can do that, then you should be open to experimenting. Keeping the same old dull routine will make you boring.

I think one of the biggest things that people get wrong is social media marketing. Some consider this to be when you advertise on a social media network. That is so wrong that it is not even in the ballpark. People also think that it is about spamming their own stuff all over the Internet and get people to do the same because of friendship without confirming that the material is accurate. Social Media Marketing (SMM) is when there is collaboration between a group of people. It is the ability to participate with other people in sharing information that is useful and interesting. Ultimately, it is interacting and engaging with the consumer and adding value to them.

When you ultimately dissect social media marketing, you will find the idea that listening to the potential customers; people will understand what the consumer wants and values the most. This is the core that makes up social media marketing. For you to be able to gain a holistic view of your consumers, you must utilize social media marketing. This will help in understanding what your customer wants, their preferences, behaviors, and web ability. The last thing that you want to do is assume that your consumer has the computer skills that you do.

The last thing that I will tell you is that you need to have a social media marketing strategy. It is as important as anything else is. As I always say, either you are making a plan or planning to fail. It is your choice. I get asked a lot of times if you can just belong to one network. I answer it just like this. When you advertise, do you pour all your resources into one outlet or do you spread it around? So many times I see people that get caught up in one fad. That in itself can be detrimental to all that you are trying to accomplish. You do not have to spread yourself too thin, but at the same time, you should be able to manage several types of networking social medias.

In closing, social media and social media marketing can be your friend. I personally use it very extensively for all of my businesses as well as networking with friends, families, coworkers, and potential clients. Do not be afraid to jump in with both feet. The water is fine and as their are some sharks in these waters, you should be fine if you have a plan in tow with you.

Are You a Social Butterfly? is a post from: R & D Art

©2012 R & D Art. All Rights Reserved.

To this end I have been using the share this tool or button . Do not misunderstand, I think this is a great tool for sharing your posts across many different platforms. I have been using this as opposed to an RSS feed because not everything I write I want fed to every network or platform I belong to. The people who come to view one of my photo posts might not have any interest in my local restaurant review. For this reason I selectively share some but not all posts. So back to the share this tool.

I noticed something interesting the other day when I had used this tool to post to my Facebook wall. The way that Facebook has integrated the share this tool makes it appear that when your article, posted on your Facebook wall using the share this tool, is clicked the visitor is taken to you to your actual blog or the site where the article actually appears. This is not the case. As you can see from the four images below there is a definite and important difference. The first image utilized the share this tool and the second two images used a direct link.

In the direct link (see image below) that I posted on Facebook, when the reader clicks on the link they go to my post’s actual location. If they choose to comment on the post, they actually comment on the post and not on my Facebook wall. This important difference is a big deal because a visitor to my Facebook page who is interested in the article and clicks on it becomes a visitor to my website and is counted in my site’s statistics, otherwise my website’s stats might be kept artificially low. Another very important thing is that when a visitor comments on the post from the Facebook page it goes on your wall whereas a comment on the post’s actual location goes into the comment section of that post.

I am writing this post because I know a lot of people use the share this tool and in many applications it is a very good tool. I in fact intend to continue using it for many applications other than Facebook.

A Facebook Slight Of Hand is a post from: R & D Art

©2012 R & D Art. All Rights Reserved.

You can tweet via anything you like that are listed on the directory. Posting and Updating new status using cool applications like iPhone, iPad, Android, Twitter, Google and more. You do not need to have the device or applications on your own, you just need to allow your Twitter to access and you will be ready to go. Just type any status you want to post via and press the Tweet button, and you see the tweet updated on Twitter time line.

Twtter is a post from: R & D Art

©2012 R & D Art. All Rights Reserved.

Mission Statement is a post from: R & D Art

©2012 R & D Art. All Rights Reserved.