Social Media and Your Small Business

Published on May 31, 2011 by adam@Castle · No Comments

For small businesses competing for their fame and fortune, social media has made the playground as close to level as it’s going to be. Social media developers, almost as a rule, are dedicated to making the sharing of information and ideas as inexpensive as possible, and the majority of the time, free. The only cost of the free sites is your time, which as a small business is a very valuable asset especially when you are getting started.

One of the easiest tools to get started with is Twitter. Just quickly in case you haven’t heard of it, Twitter is called a “micro-blogging” site, because the posts contained there must be 140 characters (spaces count) or less. Luckily, Twitter keeps a count for you right next to the text box, and it won’t send if you have too many characters. The posts you submit are called “Tweets”, and their version of a friend is when you have a “Follower”. For my main blog, Castle Ink, we use Twitter for a few purposes. First, for any news article, printer review, etc. we write, after its done we shorten the link via Bit.ly or Goo.gl, and then “Tweet” it. Second, we also use Twitter as a marketing tool. On the one hand, we try to pay attention when someone is having printer troubles and then help that individual troubleshoot their problems. We also make educated recommendations when it comes to printers based on reviews we have written or read. Those things have had a huge effect on our marketing. People really appreciate help and the advice. From a business perspective, we also look for ways to recommend our lower cost of ink and satisfaction guarantee. All in all, Twitter is one of best tools you can use to market yourself and your business.