LinkedIn is a valuable professional social media tool that small business should be leveraging in a number of ways.  Guy Kawasaki does a good job of listing ways small business uses LinkedIn.

Some great take-aways from the article that I’ve been preaching:

- Building your industry network
- Customer acquisition through recommendations
- Raise funding and VC
- Competitive intelligence and research

Today I was reading a quick article that says “MySpace generation happier to talk online than in real life“. That’s great news for businesses that already integrate many online solutions for their customers but bad news for slow adopters. We already know that the longer we take to get online, the more opportunities we miss out, and beyond that the harder it will be to break out online.

The younger generation is eager to talk, learn, and buy online so help the customer purchase through you by giving them what they want. When you create a website it is very important to keep that in mind, don’t make your customers call a number, give them the option to fill out a contact us form, give them an email address, they are quick and easy for the end user and allow them to become a buyer on terms they are comfortable with. Phone numbers will always get you calls too, but not using your email is effectively blocking off an entire generation of eager buyers.

Hugh MacLeod of Gaping Void sums up social media strategy. The key take-away here is not to figure out how you drive sales from social media, but rather, how do I increase buzz from social media (which could eventually lead to sales)….

1.Figure out what your gift is, and give it to them on a regular basis

2.Make sure it’s received as a real gift, not as an advertising message

3.Figure out exactly what it is that your trail of breadcrumbs leads back to

Gaping Void has an end goal in sight, sell more books or art prints – but he doesn’t come out and say “Buy my books!”.  He knows people will ‘follow the breadcrumbs’ back to his products for any number of reasons because he has been transparent with them from the beginning.

This sums up the way Social Media is changing business. As a small business, are you participating in the conversation? Social media is helping to forge a new era in business transparency and engagement, creating both new challenges and opportunities. Gone are the days when companies could rely on carefully crafted press releases or flashy ad campaigns to communicate with their customers, often in an attempt to convince people that their products are the best in the field. In the age of social media, the rules have changed radically, and people today demand a more honest and direct relationship with the companies with which they do business.

Companies now face a clear choice: wall themselves in and become increasingly controlled and hidden, or use social media and other means to reveal their human side, welcome transparency, and forge new relationships with their customers. The old game is undoubtedly over, and the question now is, “what can businesses do to transition and succeed in this new era?”

5 New Years Resolutions for the SMB

http://mashable.com/2009/09/22/social-media-business/

1. Reflect on Industry Trends

2. Set Social Media Goals

3. Go Local!

4. Use Twitter Lists

5. Experiment!

Top Mobile Productivity Tools for the Small Business

Mobile Tools & Tips to help with To-Do Lists, Note Taking, Calendaring & Mobile Office

What is Twitter?  Sixty nine percent (69%) of adults aren’t sure, either. Link Here

Wall Street Journal is creating a social networking site for business people, touted as the “LinkedIn Killer”. Link Here.

Youtube to make video data available to all visitors.  Link Here. This information is very powerful as users can now see where Youtube traffic and views are coming from.

Local TV station websites are the most popular local websites. Link Here.

Huggies launches a social media campaign.  Link Here.

One site gives advice to SMB’s with their pay per click marketing. Link Here.

How to rank in the Google Local Map 10-pack.  Link Here.

Facebook may be gearing up to go public.  Link Here.

Your question answered – How does Google put a business on the map if the business has no website or has not claimed their listing on the Local Business Center?

Answer – Link Here.  Included is a good visual describing where Google pulls the information.  Here are the sources:

Local Business Center

Yellow Pages

Enhanced Contend

User Generate Content

One blogger gives his opinion on SMB internet marketing and playing Google-opoly. Link Here. The jist:  companies need to acquire as many “properties” on the first page as possible, which is done by purchasing sponsored links, the Google 10-pack, organic websites and organic videos.

Wikipedia will have video soon.  Link Here

Microsoft is putting a heavy focus on growing Bing. Link Here. They might spend up to 10% of their operating budget on just search.

Nine reasons your website could have a high bounce rate. Link Here. Some are (which Berry Websites solve):

Web Design and Usability, Website Content, Website Navigation, Wrong Keyword Selection

5 ways negative reviews can be a good thing. Link Here. A couple: they help organic search, they create trust, and they provide an opportunity for improvement.

A timeline of how social media is playing a role in the current Iranian crisis.  Link Here.