If we follow the present scenario, social networking sites can be considered as a mass communicating tool of 22^nd century, as it helps us to connect with our dear ones who are away from us and those who are not in touch with us daily i.e. with whom we are not able communicate face to face.  With these social networking sites one can be in touch with each other and know what activities others are performing.  Social networking sites are doing a good business all over the world.  In fact many companies have started using these social networking sites, which have helped them to boost their business.  With the help of these social networking sites companies can directly see product responsiveness and brand recognition.  This will help them increase the traffic to both their social site and their website, creating a vast awareness of their product and services.  Companies can also get to know more about how a product is viewed by different users and then take appropriate actions to fix an issue.  If a company launches its product on social networking sites it will make it easier to know exactly what their customers want.

In some cases, if employees of a company are connected with each other and if one of them is unable to come to to work due to some problem he/she can guide the information through social networking sites also.  The social site can basically serve as a social network between co-workers.

However, as we all know every coin has two sides.  Social Networking Sites also have pros and cons.  The cons of social networking site are that it has reduced face to face communication which has resulted at the cost of personal interaction.  Some companies also have problems with employees surfing the web for hours and hours on these social networking sites and not doing their job properly.  Instead of doing company work on the social site many are busy playing games, chatting or uploading pictures.  These things have affected the work output of the employees at many companies.  Another problem with social networking sites has to do with unknown users being added as friends.  These unknown users added to your friend list or any of friends can misuse your personal details you have made visible.  It is often very difficult to change or update the privacy features on many social networking sites.  This is one of the major cons of social networking sites.  However, many of the sites have come up with solutions for this but still it’s not completely reliable.

We can conclude that social networking is boon but at end of the day it all depends on the user.  If you use this proficient tool in an effective manner, at the right time, at the right place, benefiting your organization or company without affecting its work, then Social Networking is definitely an asset.  With the continued growth of social networking sites it is possible for any organization or company to achieve benefits from them quite easily.

Many still believe social media is just for friends and chatting online. If done correctly, social media can reap huge rewards for your business. So, here are the top 10 reasons to use social media.

•             Social media allows any business to get in touch with extremely precise subsets of individuals based on their personal preferences and profiles. You can create social media tactics based on individual interests or even make unique social media profiles to target your potential clients. It’s an awesome example of niche marketing.

•             Social media has helped campaigns ‘go viral’. If you post something that is unique and interesting there’s a chance it can get into the heads of millions.

•             Social media also helps building a database. Posting regular updates relating to your business or products can remind your friends of the nature of your business and they can then recommend friends and family. This can help to build a new database as well as grow an existing client base.

•             Using social networking sites also makes it possible to connect directly with B2B decision makers without interference from gatekeepers.

•             It is the best tool that can be used to educate and inform customers about the latest updates and happenings in the current market and your specific business.

•             Social media allows you to post interesting links about other items that can build a following, i.e. a “quote of the day” or “interesting fact of the day”.

•             Having a social media existence permits you to recognize what existing and potential customers are saying about your product or services. Through active social media observing, you have the chance to deal with negative comments and correct them in real time.

•             Having regular updates on sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn with posts and status messages can generate extra traffic to your website. Social media bookmarking tools will also help to create extra traffic to your site if you make regular articles and blog posts.

•             Social media accounts normally rank high with main search engines. Using your business names and keywords in your accounts will help you to create traffic for your social media websites and company’s website.

•             A presence on social networking sites will help you to get expert status for you, your company or your brand. Suggestions and comments are the most important way for any business to grow because it will help to make you aware of any bottlenecks.

YouTube is not just for posting silly videos, as many know it as, but it can also be used as a highly effective business tool. You can use it to show off your knowledge, share information, market your products and connect with prospects, customers and colleagues.

Your aim should be turning your prospects, who may stop by to see your videos, into buyers. Of course, to get that kind of loyalty, you will have to deliver a better-quality product. YouTube can help you make a virtual community that keeps your business top of mind for your customers and help to engage new prospective customers.

YouTube is not just a video sharing website; it is also a social network. You can add friends, join groups, create your group, send messages and use the bulletin board to interact with your groups. Just uploading some videos to YouTube is not enough. You have to promote them and write an article or blog about your video.

In order to be an efficient means of social media marketing, you must provide new information all the time in your video. As nowadays many are spending hours online, it makes sense to be an expert in your business. The actual results will come when you are strategic about your social media marketing. If you are ready to take advantage of it, so will your clients. Then just watch your company grow!

By creating a fan page, group, or events through Facebook you’re not guaranteed an increase in sales or traffic to your website. Facebook marketing needs lots of persistence and strategic planning. Here are some suggestions that you should follow when creating your company’s Facebook marketing campaign:

•           Before entering into Facebook marketing you need to understand that Facebook users are not always interested in your products or services. Using hard selling techniques won’t work. Passive information can secure new business. Users want to interact with real people and have discussions about things they like. Find a way to shape your product into these conversations to attract a Facebook user’s attention.

•           Another important point you need to follow is to be real. A lot of companies create automated posts and responses on Facebook but when users come to know that you’re not being real, they will immediately leave your page, group, or event. And trust me, this is the best way to lose your targeted leads.

•           Always let your users and fans interact with you. Enable comments and discussions on your fan page to allow and incentivize visitors to communicate. Get them to communicate and offer them a motive to come back to your page in the near future.

A “fan page” is a something that every business has to have when marketing on Facebook. Fan pages will permit you to interact with users who are you potential customers, convert visitors into leads, and increase traffic to your website.

•           You can also insert email sign up forms and actual buy buttons right into Facebook. This way you can allowing your visitors to stay within Facebook while also purchasing your products and services.

•           Create a custom “landing page” for your all new visitors to your fan page. The majority of companies don’t even realize you can do this, but Facebook allows you to create a “Marketing” page right in your fan page. You can use this page to provide coupons, encourage visitors to become fans, interact with the community, and even buy your products. Without a custom landing page, you will be fighting an uphill battle on Facebook

Many businesses are already using this awesome tool so make sure you enter into this exciting game of internet marketing and social networking.

For example, if you’re interesting in public relations (any aspect) there is a perfect chat for you called #pr20chat that is a discussion for where PR is heading. It happens on Tuesdays from 7-8pm CST and is moderated by @bethharte @JGoldsborough @prtini. They talk each week and generally have a theme that refers to public relations and those working in it. It’s incredible helpful as a career development tool, and it connects you with hundreds of people that you could learn from or share your knowledge.

There’s another one called @prstudchat that connects PR professionals and students. If you’re a professional, this can be just a mentor situation. These students are learning the newest and best ways to get to an audience faster and more effectively – so while they may learn a thing or two from your experience, you may learn a thing or two from their fresh perspective.

Twitter.com is a great place to check a profile but it is not exactly the best place to go to actually use twitter to its full extent. The best places to go are Tweetdeck, Hootsuite, Echofon, Seismic, Brizzly, etc. They allow much more functionality for the average users.

However, for a chat, the best options to follow a live chat, are tweetchat.com or tweetgrid.com. They allow for real time results and all the same functionality. Chats can go by extremely fast, so using these system takes a little bit of practice and communication savvy.

Good luck!

If you’re using Facebook professionally, however, it can all be really confusing. In the last 6 months Facebook has had yet another makeover and now includes Community Pages as well as Business pages (formerly Fan Pages). Both are used differently and mean different things.

What is the difference?
Business Pages – These are the pages that everyone goes around the internet liking. When you “Like” a brand either on Facebook or on the Internet it goes back to their page from your personal profile. It will now show up in your newsfeed with updates, contests, links, and whatever else they decide to post for their fans to see.

Community Pages – are a bit new and unusual. When you had previously set up your Facebook profile, you could enter in various forms of your interests such as Hobbies, Music, TV, Books, and Movies. What this now did was take all of those and enter them into communal pages. So if you “Like” the activity “Hiking” it will now be added to your profile in your Activities section and you can check the “Hiking” page to see who else is talking about Hiking. Or your favorite tv show, author, or movie, etc. This automatically happened if you had anything in your profile when the changed happened. Now, anyone can see the things you enjoy, unless you delete it from your profile and make your profile private.

So there is a very big difference if you are a business. You will want a business fan page and to keep that up. Do not confuse either of these with groups, which are made by various individuals and do not show up on your newsfeed. They serve more of a discussion and interest section of facebook.

Enjoy!

There are hundreds of ways for your word to get out there. And once that word is out there if its juicy enough it spreads like wildfire. The role of a good publicist is to make sure that all press – be it good or bad – is monitored. They try to make sure that word gets to where it has to go, and tries to keep it out of where it shouldn’t be.

When it comes to interviews there are a few tips to make sure that you don’t have any career ending quotes.

If you’re giving an interview, practice, practice, practice. A publicist will give a few good questions to the interviewer, and it’ll be up to you to practice the stories you’re be sharing.

And speaking of being prepared – don’t take interviews on the fly. Make sure that they are planned well in advance so you have the ability to practice. Nothing good comes from off the cuff.

When you have planned interviews, you are also now able to create a “no fly” list where you list the topics that are off limits. Sometimes there are just stories and situations that you just do not want to discuss. And that is A-Ok.

One of the last things to consider and this goes without saying – Think before you speak! All of the hairbrained things that go sent spiraling around the internet are things said off the cuff and without thinking.

So by using these tips – you’ll be limiting the amount of work a publicist has to do. And hopefully limiting the amount of monitoring that needs to happen to keep your brand in tip top shape!

BP, which is commonly known as British Petroleum before they rebranded in the 90s, is now officially BP, Inc., and has fallen into a pit of despair as far as their PR and public image is concerned.

They have taken steps to clean up their act as well, but is it enough? Were they the right steps?

By taking a look at their website, it is full of press releases, media statements, pictures that make them seem they are doing everything in their power to stop this tragedy.

Perhaps one of the worst things to come out recently was that BP has bought keywords on Google and Yahoo search engines. This came off as the company attempting to hide news, and well, that doesn’t go over well with the public.

On Twitter, an account was created called “BPGlobalPR” in order to spoof the fact that BP seemed to be doing nothing in the beginning to help it’s PR efforts or speak to the American public about what is going on. BP begged Twitter to have this account taken down only to have the response, “And we beg you to stop the oil spilling into the gulf.” Twitter ultimately made them change their description in the bio to state they were indeed not acting on the accord of BP officially, but they have every right to have said account.

It seems that everything BP does now is too little, too late. And with every day that this oil spill continues everyone loses.

What could BP have done in your opinion to make this better from the beginning? You know, ASIDE from fixing the problem?

2 Billion videos a day? That’s a rather large untapped market.

People get inundated with things to read every day. There are so many things that cause sensory overload – like television, newspapers, magazines, the internet, books, and e-readers that are just everywhere. Sometimes at the end of a day, reading is the absolute last thing anyone wants to get done. This is where You Tube comes into play.

You Tube allows people to upload videos on any topic. If you’re a business and want to use this to your advantage it’s a perfect place for you to film vlogs (or Video Web Logs) about your company, your clients, your products, or your services. Create a channel on You Tube that is branded to your business. Add in logos, colors, bios, that all match what your marketing team probably has already created.

Once you start to create these vlogs, you can now start to advertise them elsewhere. Put the direct links right into your blog posts, your online press releases, your twitter/facebook postings, and email it out in your monthly or quarterly newsletter. Watch the number of viewings increase with every place that you put it on line. Even if it is just a simple press release, people sometimes just like to watch videos instead of needing to go out and read a newspaper. And you’re only reaching another part of your market you might not have gotten in other ways.

Well lets start with the basics. Of course it matters! More and more customers are spending their on their computers versus traditional outlets. You must go where your target demographic is and interact with them now to gain their attention and their loyalty.

Is there a difference between writing a traditional press release to be sent out versus a social media press release? The answer is a plain and simple, unequivocal – yes. Social Media strives on keywords. With the searching capabilities of Twitter, Facebook, & Google Primarily, people are imputting specific keywords to find things they want and companies must somehow know these keywords and use them to their advantage.

How do you do it?
As with any case of good journalism or press – the headline is everything. It must be short and sweet and have the exact keywords you’re hoping to have searched.

When you start to write the press release, keep in mind that absolutely no one has time to read a full page, single spaced article about whatever it is that you are doing. Today, people have more options than ever before and less time to choose. Get your point across succinctly and quickly.

You want to market these releases to bloggers who can disseminate your information to their networks and other interested parties. The trick here to remember, is don’t just use boring text in your body. Create hyperlinks to enrich and fulfill your press release that tie into your product, or create ways for people to get in touch with your company more easily.

Formatting is key. Use bullet points somewhere in the middle that will draw the eyes directly to the most important factors. Have headings, bold fonts, italics. Make your story pop out and scream, “Read me!”

These suggestions take minutes to do and will yield amazing results. Otherwise, your press release won’t get any snap, crackle, or pop and you’ll be left behind the competition.