Social Media: What Is It and How Can It Help Me?

Social media. Two small words that have set off a whirlwind of conversation and activity.
It's everywhere, and it's being used by everyone, from businesses and individuals to teenagers and grandparents.

You might not think you know much about it, but in reality, you might know more than you think.
Directly or indirectly, you might even be participating already!

Heard of Facebook? Have a profile or a page for your business?
Heard Ellen, Oprah, and other celebrities talking about Twitter? Heard a local radio DJ asking you to follow them on Twitter?

These examples bring up some of the most popular social media sites right now. And even if you're not using them yourself, the social media community might already be talking about your company.

So, in it's base sense, what is social media?

Social media is information content created by people using highly accessible and scalable publishing technologies. At its most basic sense, social media is a shift in how people discover, read and share news, information and content. (Social media, as defined by Wikipedia.)

From a business perspective, social media is fundamentally about building brand awareness.  It consistently puts your brand in front of millions of users.  (Think of talking about your company one-on-one at a networking event or trade show; but multiply this by millions, and accomplish it in just a few minutes.)

Other key benefits of using social media, include:

• Generating leads
• Recruiting
• Empowering your customers to interact with each other and with you
• Empowering your customers to discuss your products/services (leading to new customers)

In short, social media puts the web to work for you in new ways.