The Starting Line

As a social media professional – the one thing I have continually struggled with is blogging. There does not seem to be enough hours in the day.  I cannot seem to get the words on the paper and it is not for lack of things to say ! 

I have come to the realization that one of the stumbling blocks of my blog might be its purpose. Social media is so big, has so many directions and changes daily. What to write about – where to start. The mission of Simmons Social Media is to help small businesses. I accomplish this in many ways – consulting, social media management, content creation and keeping myself and clients up on all the latest and greatest from social media. So I am narrowing down the purpose of my blog. I am going to start with the basics of social media and incorporate any and all relevant changes and of course fun – this blog will always be fun.

So let’s start navigating the social waters together and hope we do not fall in without a life jacket !

Where do you start? There are so many social media sites – where do you begin. You will want to be on the main social media sites – Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube and Google+ and then there are the niche social media sites. The niche social media sites are different for various businesses and it will not take you long to realize which sites work the best for you. For example, if you are a restaurant- you will want to be on Foursquare, Yelp, TripAdvisor to name a few travel and review sites.  I believe you should secure your business’s name on as many sites as you can. You do not need to engage on all these sites but it is a good idea to make sure you create an account and secure your business name before someone else does.

When setting up your accounts, you want to make sure all your information is consistent across the board and try to use the same pictures – profile and cover on all the sites. The actual setting up the accounts will seem time consuming but once you have created your accounts – it is time to have fun, start being social and engage with your audience.

Remember social media is just that – social – have fun !!  

Darcy