I'm always all sorts of calls and emails about social media, many of which sound something like this: “I know I’m supposed to be using (Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, etc.) but I just don’t get it.”

Not to get too philosophical, but I believe greater understanding should lead to greater simplicity, not greater complexity. What that means is, the real art of understanding these new developments is recognizing the simplicity in them. And it comes down to this: you’ve been doing social media your whole life - you just have a new platform to do it with. And in terms of your marketing, all the basics are still applicable - if anything they are more vital:

•  Creating a great product
•  Building strong customer relationships (and the corollary, not doing things that totally annoy your customers)
•  Generating positive word of mouth by engaging with your customers on a personal level
•  Paying attention to the buzz around your business, the good, the bad and the ugly

 
The velocity of the discussion is faster, with trends, ideas, and even companies rocketing through boom-to-bust cycles in days or hours instead of years. But the fundamental dynamics underlying this process haven’t changed as much as you might think.

So, like I said, you actually know more about social media than you think - it's a natural evolution of what you're already doing to share and disseminate things that interest you - but faster, more measurable, and potentially more effective in reaching a big audience, if you take the time to learn how to do it correctly. Add value to the discussions you participate in, both online and off, and keep communicating, and your influence will grow.

I’ll be doing a series of articles over the next few months that focus on key concepts in social media, and also highlight practical “do it now” tools you can use to start flexing your web 2.0 muscles. Like anything, this gets easier with practice, and as your comfort level rises, you’ll reach out further and create more successes.

BUT...I NEED YOUR INPUT!!
Please feel free to comment on any particular areas of interest you may have, so I can address them in the coming months.

I'm looking forward to talking more with all of you!