Blogs as Social Media Tools

It seems like as of late, “social media” is where it’s at nowadays. The trouble is, everybody gets talked into it but doesn’t have any idea how to use it properly! Many novice users jump in, start “communicating” and then either lose interest right away or get addicted and end up “wasting” productive time during their typical workday.

Believe it or not, blogs are social media too. What I love about blogs is that I believe it is a medium that is here to stay. All other social media will come and go like a “yo yo.”

In my seminars I tell everyone that there is a movement from traditional websites to blogs in the hundreds of thousands. Very complicated websites that took webmakers weeks or even months to make, will take one or two days with a blog. Blogs sit on top of a very easy to use platform that makes it possible to implement changes in code, to be able to add video, pictures and sound within a matter of seconds. What does that mean to the typical webmaster? Well, many of them either went out of business for lack of business or they jumped into making blog websites for their customers!

Don’t get me wrong, social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, and so many others have a place in helping drive customers to your business, but there can be challenges with them. Did you know that ultimately, you don’t have any control over your information entered in your profile? Yes, just think back recently about the Facebook privacy breach that made the news a short while ago. It makes us all realize that the privacy policies, if you read them, can change at a moment’s notice and your information, which you thought would stay private is now either “sold” to list brokers shared with your competitors, or worst yet, shared with the government!

With a blog, you have total and full control over any and all information presented. You can even make your own privacy policy yourself for your blog.

In any case, use social media and the tools carefully and use it only to complement your business marketing efforts. You will reap the rewards down the road!