Social Media Optimization It's About the Traffic!

You may have heard on the national television media recently about the wide spread coverage of the race to 1 million Twitter followers between Ashton Kutcher and CNN. Even more recently talk show hosts like Oprah and Ellen DeGeneres have begun to see the value of using Social Media. One could easily take away from all of this national press coverage that Social Media is only about the numbers and that you have to be a "celebrity' to get in on it. But in my opinion, it's no. There are very good reasons for Small Business Owners to spend the time, energy and money to get involved on Social Media web sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter and YouTube. For a Small Business Owner using Social Media should be about enhancing your marketing by taking it to the next level and helping you sell more by driving "qualified" visitor traffic back to your website.

In the midst of all of the national media frenzy over "quantity" of connections or followers, I find myself starting to think that Twitter and Social Media in general may be starting to lose the essence of what made it cool to use; a way to connect in an online social setting with people that you have an affinity with, to expand your reach and influence beyond your local markets using the Internet. Don't get me wrong, I think it is great that people are connecting with each other and using Social Media tools because that is what it is all about. However, I feel strongly that it's not a good idea for people to start chasing followers just to have followers or start to use Twitter or any other Social Media website just because it is the "IN" thing to do. I believe that by doing so they may start to lose that sense of individual and group connectivity or "quality" that attracted everyone to Social Media in the first place.

So, in the midst of all of this media frenzy you may have heard or gleaned that you should establish a Social Media marketing strategy. What you may not be hearing is why? I know that what I'm not hearing is that an effective Social Media Optimization (SMO)* strategy should be all about increasing your website visitor traffic and helping you sell more. Why else would a Small Business Owner invest all of that time, energy and money? Right? But, you have to be subtle about it and you should be a giver, not a taker.

Marriage of Internet and Business

The first time you got online, you probably felt a little lost. There are a lot of things to do, but back when it was new to most people, email, games, and finding web sites for laughs were the top things that people did. Today, Internet and business go hand in hand, and there is so much more to your simple stroll through the inter-webs, as some call them. You can play and look for information, but you can bet someone, somewhere is looking for your business and is trying to draw you in.

That sounds like a bad thing, but it really isn't. Though there are some that use the Internet and business connection to make money off of your without your consent. When you give a web site your personal information, they may sell it to someone else. This can be scary, but for the most part, they are not giving up information that identifies you as a person. Your name and address are usually safe. Most information that is sold is stuff like your age, where you go online, and other things that help advertisers know where to target you for ads. If this bothers you, read privacy policies on any web site or application before you sign up. You can always go on to something else.

Don't assume that everyone is going to sell your information out from you, but you should check in. On the other hand, you have to understand that shopping online is a great way to find what you want and to get it for a better price. This is the best part of the marriage of Internet and business. Not only can you find things that you can not find anywhere else, you can usually find better deals, even when you factor in shipping. In fact, many web sites will throw shipping in for free if you spend enough money. For some, spend as little as fifty dollars and shipping is on them.