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How Social Media Can Change How You Do Business
This post is sponsored by Comcast Small Business, but all opinions are my own. Please see additional disclosure at the bottom.
It’s amazing to think that the internet and social media hasn’t always been a part of our lives. I honestly can’t remember how we used to fill time when things like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc weren’t around. However, whether we were ready for the shift in how society communicates or not, it’s here and it’s here to stay. That’s why it’s important to constantly learn ways to keep up with social media for your brand or business. This is where awesome social media resources from Comcast Business come in.
I remember when I first joined Twitter, I like to call it wave 1 Twitter which was from 2006-2008ish… during that time it was a different place. Twitter still had to be explained and it was more for tech geeks, internet nerds or the pseudo political crowd. At that time, I was able to forge great relationships with brands and the way I used Twitter was definitely different than now. When Twitter became more popular and more readers started to join, I knew I had to make the shift in how I communicated and try to connect with you all. Twitter went from a business networking tool, for me, to a social networking tool and an extension of the Your Life After 25 brand.
For us, social media becoming a useful business and networking tool for connecting with readers was awesome. In the olden days of blogging, we used to have to rely on SEO and the whims of Google to hopefully be found by potential readers, lol. And what made it even harder was blogs weren’t common or understood, so the first step was explaining what a blog was and then asking people to check it out. In fact, I’m fairly certain I invented the term “Blogazine”. I always knew I wanted this brand to be in Blogazine format and I can also say I was one of the first bloggers to write tv show summaries/reviews for readers to catchup on what they had missed… that used to be a major source of traffic. But, now we have social media tools that can allow us to communicate in realtime and it’s awesome! I always look forward to live tweeting our favorite shows, doing Twitter parties/chats, or just hearing positive feedback from readers via social media.
In this day and age, it’s essential for businesses to have social media outlets. Social media has even changed how certain aspects of customer service work, many brands even have help pages setup just to solve inquiries. When I discuss branding with new bloggers or new businesses, I always say don’t pick a name for your business unless you can get the same url and social media usernames for brand consistency. Social media is such a major part of today’s world that consumers and readers expect that consistency and often find it frustrating when they can’t connect with their favorite brands. I know keeping up with social media can be daunting but if you’re able to, I suggest hiring interns or a VA to help keep up with the workload. And you can also check out the Comcast Business Community page to watch this recorded webinar pertaining to Social Media. The webinar gives great tips and advice on how to use social media to increase sales and much more. In fact, it’s probably just a great idea to keep up to date with all of the latest trends for small businesses on the Comcast Business Community page in general.
At the end of the day our world of technology is always evolving, in order to have a successful business you have to be flexible. I would rather stay on top or ahead of the trends that be left in the dust. There are so many customers, readers and more right at our fingertips with social media. It only makes sense to utilize the tools we have available to us to connect and improve our brands. I hope all of you have found this post helpful. I wish you the best in all your business ventures!
Comcast Business partnered with bloggers such as me for this program. As part of this program, I received compensation for my time. They did not tell me what to purchase or what to say about any product mentioned in these posts. Comcast Business believes that consumers and bloggers are free to form their own opinions and share them in their own words. Comcast Business’ policies align with WOMMA Ethics Code, FTC guidelines and social media engagement recommendations.
