Bella Katz on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn

I promise, I don’t intend for every post to be about social media, especially since I consider myself a bit of a classic marketer and try not to buy into new media hype without thinking about its benefits in the overall scheme - the communication relevance to me and to clients.

www.nitrolicious.com

However…  As this is now week three in my active use of Twitter, it feels like I’m progressing in dog years and all the online stuff is coming together, making a lot of sense. It’s as though everything I thought about in isolation (blogs, Facebook, SEO, Twitter) actually comes together neatly and for the same purpose: finding your ideal group of people and talking with them.  I’m not even going to use the word ‘customer’ in this context. Yes for business there is an underlying goal to make money from products or services, but lasting sales come from great conversations and we’re all savvy to whether a conversation is working for us or not. Especially when we’re on the receiving end and being sold to.

As of today (remember, dog years, it can all change tomorrow) it goes a little something like this for me: 

1. The Facebook personal profile is for my friends. It’s my own private community where I am me and not Behar Katz international marketing. I’m not selling anything. I’m not trying to crank up my friend numbers. I’m just talking to my friends and sharing photos.
2. The Facebook business page is still me, but it’s the work me and it’s two weeks old. As a small business owner the work me and private me are pretty damn close and can both be found with a laptop or blackberry at all times. (Is that sad?) As of today I have - wait for it -12 fans and I’d like to have many, many more. I’m using it as a cross between my Twitter and Blog, I update it with articles of interest, events, questions, ideas. If it becomes as interactive as my private profile then that’s great, if not, at least I’m giving it a go.
3. The Twitter account is in my name rather than the company name, but I see it as work-related conversation. There’s a lot of interesting dialogue going on all over Twitter and that’s the level I appreciate it for. I see the value in creating a large base of followers and sharing business ideas, directing them to my blog, and if eventually a business opportunity comes from it - brilliant. I’m not in a rush, good things take time and I’m enjoying the business feedback from people all over the world.
4. The blog is my soliloquy. It’s me reflecting on marketing things in a more lengthy, indulgent format (if I so desire). I’m writing it for an audience, which is why I publish it online and not in a secret diary. I’m hoping somewhere down the track a particular post strikes a chord with someone and compells them to get in touch and say “Hey, we have a project we’re working on and we’d really like you to be involved.”
5. I’m also on LinkedIn. I’ve been on it for a few years now and for me it’s a passive involvement. It didn’t take long to put up my business profile and I don’t need to do anything to update it. To be honest I’m there in spirit only and am not sure whether it leads anywhere at all. From my own anecdotal evidence via conversations with friends and colleagues, people are on LinkedIn to be on LinkedIn. Perhaps others are having enormous professional success through it? Brilliant if you are.
6. Naymz. I keep being invited to this. I think I joined. Is anyone on it? It hasn’t sparked a lot of interest for me (any in fact) and I can’t be bothered inviting friends to join because it might be rubbish. Although I did notice when I Googled my name yesterday the Naymz thing came up first. They have been busy, obviously trying to become relevant and carve out a piece of the social media pie. (They could be the number one social site in three months.)

This may all sound very similar to what you’re doing. If you’re a business and not doing any of this - why not? It’s not the fleeting fad you may think (or hope) and as you know in business, the more connections you have the greater the likelihood of developing that valuable handful of really, really good ones.