Last night I had dinner with money savings guru, Jasmine Birtles whose website, Moneymagpie.com, is helping people manage their money in these difficult times, and for the longterm.
As a journalist, writer and public speaker Jasmine has no problem with communicating effectively. She appears regularly on TV, chairs and contributes to conferences and seminars and is a prolific networker.
She’s in her element talking to people and explaining complex issues but, when it comes to promoting her own business, she freely admits that Social Media is the new PR.
Twitter, YouTube, Google Plus, LinkedIn and the ubiquitous Facebook are all brilliant ways of getting your product, service or organisation out there and if you don’t understand how they work, make 2012 the year you learn.
Beware, however, of getting lost in the cyber wilderness of meaningless drivel, or saying something you’ll regret later – anti-social comments, or competitor comparisons, can damage your reputation just as easily as bad press or poor service. You’ve got to stand out from the crowd – but you’ve also got to keep them on board.
People have killed over a lover’s change of status on Facebook – and I have lost the will to live reading about ‘how crowded Bluewater was on Saturday’, or ‘what a shame it is that they don’t do those twizzly things for your hair anymore’.
Anyone who’s watched ‘The Social Network’ will know that social media is not always sociable, but when it comes to marketing your business it really must be. Setting clear parameters for tweets, blogs and posts is crucial and consistency is just as important in social media circles as it is in print or on websites.
Good luck with your social media forays this week. I’m off to swap cup cake recipes on Facebook.
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