Trying to figure out which Social Media site is best for your business? Obviously you can't use them all, or if you tried, you probably wouldn't have any time to actually work your business, since keeping up with 15 or 20 different Social Media sites could literally take ALL of your time.

The question is, should you be: Tweeting, Blogging, Friending, Linking In, Finding Your Space, or what?

I’ve sorted through the dozens of social media networks and summarized the top ones below, in no particular order of importance. I think these three are all important.

Twitter:

Best for: Establishing your reputation, finding new clients

Twitter is the  “micro-blogging” service that everyone is talking about, which means you send really short notes several times during the day to your network of “followers”. Followers are people who have chosen to follow your updates – they could be friends, or total strangers. When you send a message, it’s called a “tweet” and it can be seen by your followers and searched by the public. So, you can generate new clients by tweeting on relevant info in your niche or business. For many, searching twitter for info is just as common as searching Google.

LinkedIn:

Best for: Industry referrals

Think of LinkedIn (linked in) as a place to post your online resume. You start by creating your resume, entering your current and past jobs, education, etc. just as with a normal resume.

The next step is what makes LinkedIn so powerful: it can scan your email contacts and start linking you to everyone you know (although I have reservations personally about allowing any site or software to have access to my email address book). When you visit your connections’ pages, you can see who they know. This is what LinkedIn is all about: helping people harness the power of their business network to find new jobs, opportunities, or in your case, new clients!

Facebook:

Best for: Keeping in touch with past clients, referrals from clients/ friends

Facebook is a way to connect to your entire social sphere, family friends, and business contacts. You can post updates and photos of what’s happening in your life, and easily view the same from your friends. It’s a great way to stay top-of-mind with past clients. Facebook is a lot more casual than LinkedIn, so keep your tone casual and don’t be afraid to show people the real you (assuming the real you isn’t a shirtless couch-potato).

Madly signing up for a dozen social networks won’t help you – instead pick 2-3 and do them right.

Until next time…

(*Follow Me on Twitter*)

Ed