You are here because you heard about social media, you might have a Facebook page, or maybe your kids have one. More importantly, is it a tool you can use to promote your business? Find Business? So many large companies, news publications and other have really embraced social media. SM is on the tip of everyone’s tongue, especially after large purchases of sites like MySpace. EXAMPLE: http://www.blogsouthwest.com /
Wikipedia Definition: Social Media is a vast term that defines the many activities that integrate technology, social interaction and the collaboration of words, pictures and stories. My Definition: An Online Cocktail Party or Networking Reception. Types of Social Media we will cover: 1. Networking 2. Blogging & MicroBlogging 3. Story Submission 4. Collaborative Research 5. Video Sharing 6. Bookmarking 7. Photo Sharing 8. Music Sharing 9. Document Sharing 10. Content Creating 11. Wikis 12. RSS 13. Podcasts 14. Events
Blogs are - any bit of media wherein the subject expresses his opinion or simply talks about something. (WIKIPEDIA) A blog is most commonly written, but can also be in video form
Many sites are Free or Low cost to get started.
Twitter (and other Micro-Blogging sites) allow users to post small blog posts (under 140 characters). Originally started to keep friends and family updated as to what you were doing, Twitter and micro-blogging has exploded. As you can see, even our President has a Twitter account. Twitter has become the new way to reach customers. You can build a following, respond to other people’s posts or post breaking news. Whatever you post about, you have to give before you will receive. Most people on Twitter just go on and promote their business, that is not what Twitter is about. It is about a community. People have to trust you and know you before they will buy from (just because it is online it has not changed).
Photo sharing is the publishing or transfer of a user's digital photos online, thus enabling the user to share them with others (whether publicly or privately). This functionality is provided through both websites and applications that facilitate the upload and display of images. The term can also be loosely applied to the use of online photo galleries that are set up and managed by individual users, including photoblogs.
Podcasting is the automatic distribution of mp3s via RSS/XML files Users can talk about anything they desire, from business topics to teaching a foreign language. Podcasts are another vehicle to get your message to the world. Podcasts are great because they can be automatically downloaded into the users “podcatcher” and replayed on their MP3 player.
online communities of people who share interests and/or activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. Most social network services are web based and provide a variety of ways for users to interact, such as e-mail and instant messaging services.Social networking has encouraged new ways to communicate and share information. Social networking websites are being used regularly by millions of people.
Allows users to upload and share videos. Users can watch videos, comment on them, share then with other users and embed them on their own websites and blogs.
Collaborative website that allows users to contribute to and edit the content on the site.
On a site like ezinearticles.com you can submit your articles (blog posts, book chapters, etc) and have a profile that links back to your website. The article sites are ranked high on the search engines and can send a good amount of traffic to your site.