If you are looking for a true HOW TO book, then you’ll do well to get a copy of Inbound Marketing: Getting Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs by Brian Halligan & Dharmesh Shah. [This article was originally published in my blog How to do Social Media by the Book.]We are indeed living in a revolution, and it’s no longer just the big companies with big budgets that attract attention and customers. We’re using the Web . . .
And here are 19 ways to get found there, according to the authors:
1. If you’ve somehow managed to resist signing up for Facebook, despite requests from your friends and family, go ahead and do it.
2. Create a Facebook Business Page.
3. Configure a sub-domain that redirects to your Facebook page (e.g., http://facebook.yourcompany.com) This will make it easy for you to communicate the URL of your page.
4. The next time you host a business event (conference, webinar, training session, etc.), use Facebook events to invite people and get RSVPs.
5. Look for your existing business contacts on Facebook. Invite them to connect with you.
6. Make sure your LinkedIn profile is 100 percent complete. Link your profile to your business web site and blog.
7. Create a LinkedIn user account and profile. And if you have one, make certain it is current.
8. Within the profile, add a link to your company’s web site. Change the default “web site” or “my blog” to the actual name of your company or blog.
9. Use the group search feature to find the biggest groups in your industry. Join these groups and start participating in the discussion.
10. If you don’t find the LinkedIn group you are looking for, create it.
11. Find the most relevant categories for your business and subscribe to the LinkedIn Answers RSS feed for them, so you can provide some answers.
12. Make sure to reserve your company name for a Twitter account.
13. Ensure that you complete your online Twitter profile including a brief bio, your location, and a link to your web site. Many people on Twitter are looking for interesting people to follow. Make sure they can find you.
14. Use tools like Twitter Search and the search feature on Twitter Grader (http://twitter.grader.com) to find influential Twitter users in your industry. Begin forging connections early.
15. Create an account for yourself on Digg. Come up with a catchy and memorable user name. Although, it is usually suggested to maintain consistent usernames, Digg does not like commercial-sounding names.
16. On Digg, subscribe to the RSS feed for whichever category is most relevant to you (likely the business/finance category). This way you can see popular articles.
17. When you see an article on Digg that you like and that’s relevant to your business, befriend the person who submitted it. If the article is very relevant, review some of the other users who have dug the article and befriend them as well.
18. Subscribe to the RSS feed of your friends’ submissions. This way you can track what they are submitting. Digg those articles from your friends that you like and comment on one article a day.
19. Create a StumbleUpon user account, download the toolbar, and follow the same suggestions made for using Digg.
FURTHER READING:
Inbound Marketing Builds Authentic Relationships for Mutual Gain – includes review of book