This is the second in my series of my First Week on Twitter posts.

Today I’m going to look at how to set up a Twitter account from scratch. Read the rest of this entry »

This is the first of three parts to my First Week on Twitter series aimed at small business owners who are ready to spread their wings on the popular social media site.

You’ve probably heard or read lots if conflicting information about Twitter, so I hope my three articles this week will help give you an easy-to-follow guide.

Keep reading to learn more about step 1: setting your strategy. Read the rest of this entry »

Could Your Time Be Better Spent Elsewhere?

A question I’m often asked by small business owners is “can you show me how to use Twitter?”

My reply is “yes, but why do you want to use it?”

In this post I’ll look at some of the real reasons small business owners use Twitter and why they’re wasting their time.

Don’t get me wrong, Twitter can be a very useful tool. Since I started this blog in October 2010 it’s been my second biggest source of traffic and helped me raise my profile in the blogging community.

But is it really something all small business owners should be doing? Read the rest of this entry »

Target Your Market in the Social Space

If you’ve never heard of Facebook Ads before, it works in a similar way to Google Adwords.

However, there are some key differences in these two methods of online paid advertising. Keep reading to learn more about Facebook Ads for beginners. Read the rest of this entry »

The Pros and Cons of Offering Huge Discounts

If you’re not familiar with social coupon sites such as Groupon and Livingsocial, here’s the basic idea.

As a business you offer a large discount on your product or service to entice new customers in. It’s free to set up and your offer will be emailed to the thousands of subscribers in your town or city with the coupon company taking a cut off what you generate.

So what are the main pros and cons of going social with your discounts? Read the rest of this entry »

Which is Better for Your Business?

Thanks to Gary Dunstan at Q&A for suggesting this topic.

The gloves are off. Facebook and Twitter – the two giants of social media are engaged in an epic fight for social media supremacy.

Enough hype – in this article, I’ll look at one basic question; as a small business owner should you focus on Facebook or be tenacious on Twitter? Read the rest of this entry »

3 Ways to Avoid Online Distractions

While social media sites such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn undoubtedly have their benefits, being active on all of them can take up too much of your time.

Don’t feel under pressure to participate in every single social media platform – it can become addictive and before you know it, you’ll be doing little else!

Below are three ways you can avoid social media meltdown and spend more time on what really matters – running your business. Read the rest of this entry »

Save Time & Money by Putting the Web to Work

Recruiting for your small business can be a real headache or you can take a more hands-on approach and use social media to find your new employees.

If you do decide to go down this route, make sure you comply with all the relevant legislation that applies to offline recruitment advertising.

Below are four benefits of using social media sites such as Twitter to look for suitable candidates for your company. Read the rest of this entry »

3 Good Reasons to Ask & Answer Questions

Despite having millions of members worldwide, LinkedIn is still not universally adopted by small business owners as a way to market their companies.

The article below explores three of the main reason to get interactive on LinkedIn by asking and answering questions. Read the rest of this entry »

Worthwhile or a Flash in the Pan?

If you haven’t heard of Quora before, it’s a new site that lets people ask and answer questions on a wide variety of topics.

In this article I’ll look at the credentials of this social media ‘new kid on the block’ and explore the benefits of small businesses signing up to Quora. Read the rest of this entry »