One of the first rules of marketing your business or any business, for that matter, is to have a cohesive marketing and branding strategy that sends out the same message, the same information and the same logos through all the forms of media that you use.
In this day and age, no marketing or branding strategy is complete unless it utilizes the wonderful social media sites that are at our fingertips like Facebook fan pages, blogging, Twitter and YouTube.
So, how do you as a small business or entreprenuer establish yourself online in the world of social media? How do you get your keep get your specific brand into the eyes and consciousness of America? Picking one platform like Facebook is not going to be enough to secure your niche, although it is an important first step.
You can buy advertising there, but it's not considered the most efficient use of your time or money.
You can also establish a business page and set out to get "fans" of your page.
This is a good idea.
But, you need to have a branding strategy in place.
* Have quality content on your fan page including contests, gossip, links to online customer service, and more.
The key is that there needs to be a perceived benefit from the reader to check out your page or read your posts.
* Post on a frequent basis, but not too frequent.
You don't want your "fans" to become annoyed and "unlike" you.
You don't want them to fail to see the value in your posts.
* Offer incentives in your posts or on your page.
Additionally, have links to your website, copies of your brands and quality information on your site.
As mentioned, Facebook is not the only game in town and you can get varied benefits from the other various sites.
YouTube is the second most used search engine around.
So, you need to have videos on YouTube that promote your product and company and you need to post them periodically on your fan pages of Facebook and your own company blog.
Everything should link back and forth to each other and to your company's website.