Do you tweet on Twitter? Or network on Ning?
A new and growing array of tongue-twisting tools and technologies is available to help people easily interact and share information online.
While it may be tempting to avoid these obscurely named technologies, there’s good reason for small businesses to learn what they are and how to use them: So-called social media can help small firms to better connect with and market themselves to consumers and others in their industries. And they’re often free.
Here are some tips to making social media work for your business:
Experiment
The best way to figure out what value social-media tools can have for your business is to try them out. You usually just go to a site and sign up for a free account. And most offer quick tutorials.
Experiment with a few to determine which site or technology helps you best connect with your customers or generate the most traffic. Analytics tools provided by the programs can show how many visitors you’re getting daily and where they’re coming from.
Twitter.com allows users to post on a profile page updates on their whereabouts or activities from either a computer or mobile phone. “Followers” then subscribe to your Twitter updates, or tweets, and even have them scroll across the bottom of their Web browser.