I've been reading a lot about Social Media and how to use it effectively to market a product or service. I always think of Social Media as sites like MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn, but when you really look at it, there is much more to Social Media then just those sites. My definition of Social Media involves an on-line conversation or interaction between people that have a mutual interest. It is about sharing information or expertise with people to help them make informed choices.

There are two sides of Social Media. One involves existing sites where people interact. By looking at relevant sites in your industry you will find many opportunities to get into discussions with people that are interested in your product or service. LinkedIn is a great example of this. LinkedIn not only provides the opportunity to advertise your products or services on their site, but they also have groups that you can join to intact with other LinkedIn members. Last I looked, there are over 177,000 groups in LinkedIn. You can also start your own group within LinkedIn. Most news websites now give the opportunity for user comments. This is a great way to get into discussions with others about topics related to your business. If you do it correctly, your expertise in your industry will shine and people will seek you out for your advice. By becoming the "expert", your credibility will soar. Your sales will follow, because credibility is no longer a buying objection.

The second side of Social Media involves your web presence. Notice I said "web presence", not "web site". By writing relevant content on your site in the form of articles, Blogs, or discussion groups, you are turning your web site into a social networking site. Submitting those same articles to publishers, gives you the opportunity to advertise and get feedback from potential clients at the same time.

If you really sit down and think about it, this opens up numerous possibilities. The bottom line question is, "How does this help me grow my business?"

The answer to this can be somewhat complicated and dependent on the products or services that you are trying to sell. Let's look at an example to help illustrate the possibilities. Suppose you are a staffing company that provides temporary and permanent placements with companies in the Denver market.

There are two sides to the staffing business, 1) help companies find qualified candidates, 2) help applicants find a job. Given the current economy, you would think the applicant side would be easy, but the challenge is finding the right people for the jobs that are available. One approach would be to post job openings on your web site or a third party site like CareerBuilder.com and then weed through the resumes to find qualified candidates. In addition to doing this, you could interact with potential applicants so that you can clearly state the type of people that you are looking for and then invite them to apply. This could be done by joining relevant groups in LinkedIn and getting involved in the discussions. You also have the opportunity to educate people at the same time you are growing your base of qualified applicants. By writing and submitting articles to sites like Jobing.com you are advertising your staffing company to a targeted, relevant user base. Adding a Blog to your site covering topics related to finding a job in the Denver market would bring potential applicants to your site on a regular basis.

The other side of the staffing business is to find companies that are looking to hire. A similar approach could be taken as the applicant side, but with a focus on interacting with the hiring managers in the Denver market. Again LinkedIn could be used by joining the Human Resources group and interacting with HR professionals. If your expertise is financial placements you could join some of the 2,000 Financial Services groups listed in LinkedIn. By writing and submitting articles related to hiring practices, you are educating potential hiring managers, your target audience, on issues related to the staffing industry. In the process you are also advertising your staffing company and showing your expertise in the industry.

Now I know this sounds like a lot of work and it is. A different mind set is required. You need to change the way you think about using the Internet in your business. As I wrote in an earlier article, the days of the traditional website are numbered. You need to be interactive and visible to your target audience. You need to use video to enforce your messages. You need to look at all the tools available to you. You need to have multiple touchpoints with your target audience. You need to have a strategy of how you are going use Social Media to grow your business and then deliver on that strategy every day.