photo found here.

Marketing and customer interaction have long been areas of focus and deliberate action for large and small businesses alike.  The larger companies having bigger budgets, tend to dominate and take advantage of the bigger mediums – television, radio, national magazines, etc.  However, the landscape is changing and has been changing for the past several years.  The small business has been given a very powerful tool that levels the playing field and gives them opportunities to reach new clients and form new partnerships that they never could have hoped for ten years ago.  Hell, even five years go!  We call this thing Social Media, and it’s no big mystery that those who are able to use it well, are seeing huge profit margins in their businesses.  The web is “all-a-twitter” with social media tips, guides, and strategies.  Everywhere you look it seems to be smacking you in the face.  In fact, to be ignorant of this cultural phenomenon would mean you’ve probably been in a coma the last 5 years.  Which is why most businesses KNOW they SHOULD be using social media to their advantage…but many of them are not.  Particularly in the small business and startup world where the benefits are most notable…

Why?

Well, a few reasons come to mind:

1) Return On Investment. Everyone wants to know - where is my return on investment?  I’m a small business owner and it’s just me and myself here…how do I have time for this stuff?! Answer: first you earn trust dollars, then you earn real dollars. It’s worth it to make time. And it’s worth it to read brian solis’ Trust Economy blog post to understand why.  And to check out Gary Vaynerchuck’s site and book Crush It! to see how he used social media to take his family’s local liquor store and turn it into a $60 Million wine business.

2) I don’t understand it.  And that’s valid.  Technology and the way we communicate is changing so drastically, it can be difficult to keep up.  Especially when you’re neck deep into turning your passion into a business!  Which is why if you fall into this category you’re going to want to click on the highlighted blue letters above reading “tips, guides, and strategies” – for a start.  You’ve got some more reading ahead!  Please stay tuned to this series as well

3) Where do I start? The third, final, and lamest excuse reason I often hear is, I get it, I can do it, but with so many social outlets online, it can be daunting just to begin! So the question many are getting hung up on is simply…where do I start?

Well, I’m glad you asked!  Because over the next couple of weeks I’ll be posting what I think are 5 compelling reasons your business should be using at least one, if not all, of the three most popular B2B and B2C social platforms…as well as some useful examples and resources on each.

This week, I’d like to take some time to talk about what might be the MOST popular way for businesses to connect with their customers and other businesses:

5 Compelling Reasons Your Business Should be on Facebook:

1) 350 Million users to connect with

2) A built-in ad system that allows you to do very effective, targeted marketing

3) Powerful features that lend themselves to TONS of free promotion

4) An easy way to monitor the way customers and other businesses are reacting to your brand

5) A simple way to communicate with customers and put a face to your business

“Examples please!” you say?

A few quick keys to Ikea’s success using facebook:

1) Clever use of existing features

2) Customer interaction with real employees

3) Free stuff!

And that does it for this post!  If you found this article helpful, most likely others will too.  Feel free to pass it on via the share links below.  And if you have any comments I’d love to hear your feedback!  And now, to sign off, I leave you with some useful facebook resources to get you started.  Happy friending!

The Roles of Facebook and Twitter in Social Media Marketing

The Socialization of Small Business

HOW TO: Create and Distribute Online Coupons

NEXT WEEK: TWITTER

1. DuctTapeMarketing.com – Founded by John Jantsch, Duct Tape Marketing delivers an extensive weekly marketing newsletter choc-full of small business marketing tips, strategies, and resources.

2. WebsiteGrader.com – “A free seo tool that measures the marketing effectiveness of a website.” This is a pretty straight-forward tool:  You type in your website, your competitors’ websites, and your email address, and then it sends you a report.  You’re then able to view your report, see where you need improvement, and start making changes.

3. HubSpot.com – Host to a number of different “grader” services (including the above).  Their paid software focuses on maximizing SEO, Blogging, and Social Media to drive traffic to your website and then uses analytics to improve sales.

4. WebMarketing123.com – Among other services they provide quality webinars with leading thinkers in the online marketing community.

5. Seth’s Blog – When you don’t want or need a new system, new software, or new tool – but rather a daily dose of sage advice – Seth Godin’s blog might be just what you’re looking for. Oh, and it’s free…

If you have access to our Plan Library, then you’ll get the chance to import or view all of our sample business plans.  The business plan library is currently available to users who have a ‘Professional’ or ‘+Funding’ account.

Each time you create a new plan, you’ll be given the option to import one of our sample plans from the Plan Library or start with a blank template.  A lot of people choose to import a sample plan that is closely related to the business that they’re creating (ex. Restaurant Business Plan).  Then, make changes to the plan to customize it to fit their exact business.  Ultimately, this is a super easy way to quickly write a plan.

Once you’ve already started a plan, you’ll no longer be able to import one of the sample plans.  At this point, you’ll still be able to view the sample plans in the Plan Library….you just can’t import one.  You can only import a plan when you first create each new plan.  We made it this way so that you don’t accidentally write over your existing business plan.  Don’t worry, you can still copy and paste anything you like from the sample plans.

We’re constantly adding more plans to the Plan Library.  So, let us know if there is an industry or specific type of plan that you’d like to see in there.