Social Media Marketing Takes You To New Levels Of Success

     Social Media Marketing is the wave of the future. And when you combine your SMM efforts with your traditional PR avenues, you can create a publicity campaign that gets you noticed by prospects, clients, and key decision makers. The sooner you put SMM to work for you, the more profitable your business will be.

     To ensure that SMM works for you in a positive way, you need to employ some keys to success. This week, Promotional Consultant Today is offering four guidelines to get you started on the path to successful social media marketing. Yesterday we looked at Finding The Right Sites. Today we'll examine Understanding Different Sites.

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"We cannot hold a torch to light another's path without brightening our own.

Ben Sweetland, American author

Understand The Purpose Of Each Site

     Just as you want to post to the right Social Media Marketing site, you also want to know the goal or focus of each of the various sites. Most people, even those who are new to SMM, have likely heard of the big three sites: LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. These are the most common sites available.

     LinkedIn is the leading business networking site -- think of it like a corporate boardroom setting. Facebook is for keeping tabs on personal and business contacts -- if you use it for business, think of it like entertaining clients in your living room. Twitter is for short updates -- think of it as your company's billboard message.

     A couple of others also are useful for business: Naymz and Plaxo.

     Naymz is a reputation site. By registering, you are essentially doing a background check on yourself and posting it to the internet. It's a well-respected site among corporate decision makers, who often use Naymz to check people out. If you are well respected on Naymz, it goes a long way for the C-level people.

     Plaxo is a hub site. It allows you to link and connect multiple internet resources in a single place. People can go there and find their way to everything about you, if you choose to allow that. It was one of the two sites that almost knocked LinkedIn out of the top slot last year.

     For business purposes, you may want to stay away from MySpace, as MySpace often leaves a bad taste in the mouth of corporate America. Why? Because there have been more internal corporate scandals and sexual harassment suits in the past year over things that have been posted on MySpace than any other single social networking site. If you currently do have a MySpace page, my suggestion is to hide it.

     Source: Pam Lontos is president of PR/PR, a public relations firm based in Orlando, Florida. She is author of I See Your Name Everywhere." PR/PR works with established businesses as well as entrepreneurs who are just launching their company, and has placed clients in publications such as USA Today, Entrepreneur, Time, Reader's Digest and Cosmopolitan.

     NOTE: If you want to learn how to harness the power of SMM through comprehensive instruction and real-world application register to PPAI's five-part webinar series that starts at 10 am, (CST) TODAY! PPAI Social Media Launchpad! covers the ins, outs and how-tos of the web's most popular and influential social media platforms. The webinar is led by Carrie Kerpen, from the Kbuzz, a leading word of mouth marketing firm.