Are you a small business owner looking for ways to grow your business? Are you looking to attract more leads to your business, or have heard about Social Media Marketing, Here’s all you need to know as a small business owner to begin increasing revenues using social media.

1. How to Grow
Your Small Business
Using Social Media

2. ARE YOU A SMALL BUSINESS OWNER
LOOKING FOR WAYS TO GROW YOUR
BUSINESS? ARE YOU LOOKING TO ATTRACT
MORE LEADS TO YOUR BUSINESS, OR HAVE
HEARD ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING,
AND NOW WANT TO TRY IT?
As a small business owner you face many challenges
- limited capital, minimal support staff and having too
much to do in what seems like very little time. So,
how do you grow your small business without heavy
investment in marketing and advertising? Answer -
through the use of technology. Web 2.0 provides you
with various tools and techniques that help you to
generate leads and increase the exposure of your
home-based business. Social media is one such
tool. Here's all you need to know as a small business
owner to begin increasing revenues using social
media.
WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA?
Social Media is a category of online media where
people are talking, participating, sharing, networking,
and bookmarking online. Examples of social media
sites include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube,
GooglePlus, and MySpace.
WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING?
Social media marketing is using social media
platforms to reach a new audience of consumers
and create product brand awareness. By spreading
word of a product from user to user, Social Media
Marketing strives to gain greater legitimacy for a
message because it is shared between trusted
"friends."
WHICH SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS ARE MOST
POPULAR?
Studies show that Facebook & Twitter are most
popular social media channels followed closely by
YouTube, LinkedIn & GooglePlus.
WHY SHOULD SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
INTEREST ME?
If you think Social Media Marketing is not for you,
think again. Social Media offers a large bundle of
benefits to small business owners. Here are some
reasons why you should consider using Social Media
for your business.
Exposure
As a small business owner you rely largely on
network marketing to channel leads to your business
- which, in turn relies on your interaction with people.
This is the core notion of what Social Media is! But
Social Media offers virtually unlimited opportunities to
interact with people - millions of them! With, Social
Media Marketing your business is no longer limited to
local leads; you will find leads coming in from a
diversified geographic market!
Zero-cost
While other marketing media would be expensive,
Social Media Marketing is relatively free, or requires
negligible monetary investment. It's a great low-cost
way to get your message out.
Improved web presence
Being on popular social media platforms strengthens
your web presence. The more people talk about you
on Facebook or Twitter, the greater are the chances
of your business being found on relevant web
searches such as Google, Yahoo!, or Bing.
Direct contact with prospects
Social Media platforms put you in touch with your
How to Grow Your Small Business
Using Social Media
2403 Sidney Street, Suite 150 Pittsburgh, PA 15203, Phone: 412.381.0230, Fax: 412.774.1992, Email: sales@mindmatrix.net, www.mindmatrix.net

3. customers directly. You can have one-on-one
contact with them and know what they really want.
Go viral
Social Media offers you the opportunity to go viral
with your marketing. Think about this. You put up a
video about your business on YouTube. 10 people
like it, and five of them share it with their friends, who
in-turn share it with 20 more people. This is known as
"viral marketing," and it can be a very effective
method to increase your lead generation.
WHAT IS A SOCIAL MEDIA "GAME PLAN"?
A social media game plan is a process consisting of
a few simple steps that can help you achieve your
social media marketing objectives. A typical social
media game plan for your business should consist of
these four steps
 Build your network
 Propagate your presence
 Stay connected
 Monitor
Step 1 - Build your network
The first step is to search for and add those users to
your network whom you think fall into your target
audience segment. When placing a request to add
users to your network, it is always better to
accompany such requests with a personalized
message. You can also look for and join groups that
relate to your line of business. For example, if you are
a business selling health drinks and other
health-related products, you could join groups where
topics such as nutrition, diet or health are discussed.
Such groups provide you an audience for the
products you have to offer. Once you have joined a
group, however, do remember to add value. Answer
questions where you have knowledge, actively
participate in discussions, be subtle and never
aggressively "push" your products.
Step 2 - Propagate
The next step is to announce your Social Media
presence. You can do this by adding links to your
social media pages on your website, e-mail signature
line or newsletter, if you have one. You are out there
with your business—announce it!
Step 3 - Stay connected
The third step is to stay connected with your fans
and group members. A social media marketing
initiative is easy to start, but it requires effort to
maintain. And like many networking efforts, results
are usually not immediate. Acquire permission from
group members and others on your network to send
e-mails. You can then email relevant content to
people on your network. The key here is to send
relevant, value-adding content—not an
advertisement of your products/ services. If you are a
health-drink selling company who is also a part of the
diet and nutrition group, you can send links such as
'10 Best Anti-Oxidant Rich Fruits' and then perhaps
add an image and some information about your
product, encouraging people to get in touch with you
if they're interested. This approach will be better
received than just sending an email flyer totally
dedicated to your product.
SOCIAL MEDIA DO'S AND DON'TS
While social networking is all about human
interaction and cannot be straitjacketed, there are
some tips that will come in handy.
WHAT YOU SHOULD DO!
While social networking is all about human
interaction and can
Add value to your contacts
Always add value to your social media contacts.
Always! Provide them useful information, tips and
other interesting facts that they can use. For
example, Jane, a home-based business owner sells
health drinks and weight loss products. So, it makes
sense for her to provide her audience with interesting
articles on the topic of weight loss.
Be consistent in your online participation
Social media is not a one-time effort. It is about
building a relationship…and relationships take time.
Be consistent in your social media communication.
Have an interesting tweet/post/update at least every
day. In some few cases, multiple postings a day are
even better—but don't forget rule#1—add value.
Your posts shouldn't sound like pointless ramblings
or advertisements of your product/service.
2403 Sidney Street, Suite 150 Pittsburgh, PA 15203, Phone: 412.381.0230, Fax: 412.774.1992, Email: sales@mindmatrix.net, www.mindmatrix.net

4. 2403 Sidney Street, Suite 150 Pittsburgh, PA 15203, Phone: 412.381.0230, Fax: 412.774.1992, Email: sales@mindmatrix.net, www.mindmatrix.net
Pay attention to what's being discussed
If you have joined a forum or a group, actively
participate in relevant discussions. Use your specific,
professional knowledge to help others. Contribute to
add depth and dimension to a discussion.
Conversation is key
As mentioned before, social media marketing thrives on
relationships. To build a strong relationship with your
prospects, you need to engage in a conversation with
them. Maintain a 2-way communication between you
and your audience. Take genuine interest in what they
have to say and follow up on comments or
observations that are made.
Thoroughly know the subject
Position yourself as an expert, but be sure that you
know what you're talking about. Do research if you
aren't sure of something. Mistakes on social media
spread quickly and damage the reputation of your
business.
Personalize your interaction
It's advisable to personalize your interaction with your
audience on social media. Inquire about an event or
occasion posted on a Wall, such as a recent trip, or
"like" their vacation pictures on Facebook.
Portray your individuality
The biggest advantage small business owners have
over large corporations is the fact that they are much
smaller and haven't lost that real-person feel. Let your
social media audience know the person behind the
business. Make sure your interactions include a
personal side!
Respond to your customers' grievances ASAP
Did you know that 88% of customers say unanswered
complaints on social media sites deter them from doing
repeat business? And deleting customer complaints is
even worse! So make sure you resolve customer's
complaints on social media platforms immediately.
Even if you can't resolve them, at least respond so that
they know they're being heard. Acknowledge
everything.
Mention your Social Media presence
Advertise your social media profiles. Always provide
links to your social media profile on your website, blog,
e-mails and even print materials. For websites and
blogs, it's best to add Facebook and twitter widgets
which provide a live feed of what's happening on your
Facebook/Twitter page. Provide incentives or value
adding information such as whitepapers or articles in
order to encourage people to follow you on social
media sites!
Monitor & moderate
Monitor your social media presence. Find out where
your name's coming up online and in what context it
has been used. A Google alert is the simplest way to do
this, though there are many free tools available online to
monitor your web presence. Also stay in-control of your
social media pages. Read what others are putting up
on your page and respond promptly.
Syndicate your Social Media content
Content creation takes time. So why not make the
most of the content you have? Post your content on all
popular social media sites and don't hesitate to re-use
them. Turn a blog post into a link and put it on
Facebook. Convert it into a video and add to YouTube
and Facebook or turn it into a presentation and put it up
on SlideShare. The aim is to get maximum exposure for
your content.
WHAT YOU SHOULD NOT DO?
DON'T overtly push your products/services
Social media is a networking platform to build
relationships and to create value. It's NOT an
advertising venue. Your audience will shun you if all you
talk about is the stuff you sell. Think about it, would you
talk to your family and friends about the products you
sell all the time? Of course not! Then don't treat your
social media audience any differently.
DON'T spam your contacts with pointless
updates
OK, so now you added two new products to your
line-up. While it's great to share the news, don't spam
your contacts with ads. Put up a link to the new range
of products. Monitor who is interested and share
information on a need-to-know basis.

5. 2403 Sidney Street, Suite 150 Pittsburgh, PA 15203, Phone: 412.381.0230, Fax: 412.774.1992, Email: sales@mindmatrix.net, www.mindmatrix.net
DON'T have grammar and spelling errors in
your posts
You are a small business out to create an impression.
Don't spoil it through spelling and grammatical errors.
Use spelling/grammar checking tools, but never rely
solely on them. Proofread your posts before putting
them up online. If spelling or grammar is not your strong
suit, have someone else check your work before it goes
out.
DON'T fail to respond to requests for help in
your area of expertise
If you are a part of a group or forum, seize every
opportunity to display your expertise. Don't be a
wallflower—actively participate in discussions.
DON'T let your profile get stale
Make sure your profile is frequently updated and that
you offer something new. One mistake many small
business owners make is creating social media profiles
and then forgetting about them. Your social media
efforts have to be on-going to yield results.
DON'T get distracted
There's a lot of distraction available online—especially
on social media channels that can make you lose track
of your productive hours online. Games, quizzes,
forums and live-chats—while these can be interesting
tools to attract prospect interest, focus on your goals.
Otherwise you'll find yourself investing too much time
and energy into activities that offer no returns to your
business.