By Carole Hayward
The start-up of a small business social media network requires attention to a great many details, and with today’s complex choices, I had a hard time deciding where to begin. I started Clear Message Media™ to help small associations and businesses customize their communications for their particular audience. I have many years of experience doing that, but starting everything from scratch presents its own challenges.
So if you’re a small business owner trying to manage all of this yourself, I salute you. We can travel that road together. If you’ve decided that you need someone to help you with all of that, let’s talk.
This blog will cover tips and advice designed to help those trying to navigate the rapidly flowing streams and channels of social media. I’ll also share success stories and challenges.
My advice for starting your small business social media network is to pick one. Try not to let the big picture of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube and Google+ overwhelm you into a paralysis of indecision. Just pick one. I started with LinkedIn because it made sense to me to start by connecting to the people that I know in the business that I’m in. Read up on your choice and sign up. Experiment. Click on everything. Learn from doing. Keep in mind why you are doing this. If the feature, channel, or choice you’re contemplating helps you do that, great. If not, maybe this is one you can set aside for now.
Take the time to celebrate the little victories along the way. I set myself a goal of how many connections I wanted to reach by the time my business officially launched. Never underestimate the giddy feeling of empowerment from reaching a goal, even a little one. That alone would often give me the lift I needed to tackle the next goal.
