O.k. o.k. the real question is how do I get started letting the world know about my wares? Well today is your very lucky day because I am about to provide you a little bit of a nut shell explanation. Are you ready? Get set - go...........First off you need to setup an account (assuming you have not done so already). If you already have one, setup a brand new one on a different Social Media Marketing (SMM) website. Here is a list of a few well known sites - Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, Myspace, WordPress, hi5, Six Apart and Frienstar. Now mind you, these are just a few of the many SMM sites out there.

Now before you choose which one to grab on to and ride the whacky world of letting people know about your "clean" laundry - you first need to understand what it is you want to accomplish. Let's say you need to find a job. While all SMM sites can be utilized for your job hunt, there is one that stands head and shoulders above the rest. Linkedin is such an SMM site. It not only provides you job hunting capabilities, but it also allows you to build a Business Social Network (BSN) with existing contacts and helping you make new connections as well. Once you have your ever expanding BSN, Linkedin makes it easy to stay in touch with each of them. These connections could also be your "insider" eyes and hears to possible job opportunities. What if job hunting is not what you need – maybe you just need a place to “smartly express” yourself to your valued customers – then how about Twitter? Twitter allows you to quickly and easily touch everyone in your Customer Social Network (CSN) whenever you have a finger twitch. Tweet beware! You will need to hone your short Hand (typing) as you only have 140 spaces to get your message across. Seems crazy I know, but once you get the hang of it – it rolls off the tips of your fingers like butter on the side of a crazy hot metal house.

To help lead you in the right direction of choosing an SMM site - set goals on what you want to accomplish. What is it you want to drive? Is it lead generation, pure product information or customer loyalty? These are very important items to ponder about as they are the corner stone of you choosing the right SMM site to get started. Also, remember SMM is not easy to track and is more for communicating than driving fast to the bottom line. This does not mean your bottom line will not be positively impacted, but it will take time. Before our next get together spend some time with your thoughts and really think about your goals. Once you have them established setup the SMM site you believe will help you meet your goal/s.

On our next session we will cover resources needed to be successful.