Internet Marketing For Writers & Businesses: Mashable’s Social Media Guide for Small Businesses

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Mashable’s Social Media Guide for Small Businesses

Over the past year, Mashable has written extensively on the value of social media to small businesses. We have also contributed regularly on this topic to the American Express Open Forum.
From the fundamentals of Twitter branding, to the importance of blogging, to getting work done with some great online tools, small businesses face many challenges when trying to understand how to use social media. However, taking the time to learn how to leverage social media and technology to benefit your business will pay big dividends in the long run.
Whether you’re just signing up, or primed for some advanced social marketing, the posts below have all the tips, tricks, and wisdom you’ll need to take your brand to the next level.

Social Media 101

Start here for the basics on how and why your business should be implementing a social media campaign.
Sign up, stay on message, and utilize some leading sites and apps that can give your business a social edge.
These posts have real-world advice and examples of how businesses have succeeded on social networks. From Facebook to Twitter to LinkedIn and beyond, here are the resources you’ll need to get started.

- Social Media 101: How to Avoid Alienating Your Customers
- Why Should Traditional Businesses Care about Social Media?
- 10 of the Best Social Media Tools for Entrepreneurs
- Putting Social Media in Real Life Context for SMBs
- Why Your Business Needs to Be on Facebook
- Making Social Media a Tool, Not a Distraction
- How to Use Twitter Hashtags for Business
- 5 Mistakes to Never Make on Twitter
- How SMBs Can Capitalize on the Twitter Woes of the Fortune 100
- 5 Small Businesses Successfully Using Social Media
- How to Build Your Company’s Profile on LinkedIn
- 3 Great Social Media Policies to Steal From
- 5 Secrets From Social Media Insiders
- Social Media: What’s Next