From Santiago to St. John's, social media can make the world all a-twitter for you!

Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, blogging, and other social media are grabbing headlines and building businesses.

Feel like you're missing out on something? You very well may be. Social media — blogging, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and yes, hundreds of other online networks — are being used successfully by companies large and small to build relationships, care for clients, and bring in new business. Whether based just in St. John's or Corner Brook or operating offices around the world, virtually any person or organization can profit immensely from social media... and can lose countless opportunities if they're not. Unfortunately, most companies are busy enough running day-to-day operations that they're still asking, "What are social media, SEO, and blogging, anyway?"

Yes, any company — including yours — can quickly and easily establish a basic presence in social media, for virtually no cost whatsoever. However, once you've claimed your Twitter name, set up your Facebook page, optimized your Linkedin account, built your Plaxo presence, created your YouTube channel, signed into your Amplify profile, and hit whatever other platforms you want to hit, how do you build relationships? How do you make things happen, without spending hundreds of hours figuring things out? The reality is it's exceptionally easy to be there, but disappointingly difficult to be effective there.

How do you make social media work for your business?

A strategic approach and the abilty to commit the right talents and resources are vital ingredients in social media, just as they are in any area of business and marketing. To get the most from your efforts, you should be sure you:

• Understand your markets and the social media channels they're using.
• Understand the intricacies of those channels, including what is considered correct behavior for growing your contacts. Activity that is completely appropriate on Twitter may be frowned upon on Facebook and get you banned on LinkedIn.
• Know how to track mentions of your company, product, competitors, or areas of interest on each channel, and know what your responses will be.
• Know the activities that will generate the greatest rewards. It's easy to spend hours on Facebook or Twitter and get caught up in whatever the latest buzz might be, but being there certainly does not automatically build meaningful relationships.
• Have appropriate resources available to maintain and grow your presence. While it's possible to meet lots of great people almost instantly online, the key in social media is building relationships. The hard-sell approach is not welcomed in almost any social media channel, and will only work against you as you try to establish your place. Yes, your reach is virtually unlimited, but it still takes time to nurture your relationships and build trust. Spending time in your networks on a consistent basis, or having a resource with the right skills there for you, is a necessity.

Recent research has shown that companies starting from scratch typically take two years before they get the "feel" of social media and figure out how to make it work for them. That's a long time to keep investing your time and resources before you start seeing a return. Having someone to guide you who has already established themselves in social media and grown vital business relationships can significantly speed your growth, and increase your returns.

Why should you trust us to help?

At Lorne Pike & Associates, we have built impressive foundations on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+, and other social media platforms for our clients as well as our own company. Our established social medial contacts worldwide number over 25,000, but far more important is the core of meaningful relationships we've been privileged to build. From our start in blogging over 10 years ago to our presence in social media since 2006, we have created one of Atlantic Canada's deepest and broadest social media resources. We understand what works and what doesn't, and how to establish a social media presence for your company.

If you recognize your need to move forward in social media, you may be just a few clicks away from finally seeing things start to happen. Call Lorne now at 888-747-7453, send an email, or request a quote. Opportunities are standing by.