Everywhere you go in business you hear the constant drone of  social media talk. You’ve got to get on LinkedIn, got to blog, got to spiff up your website. Have you tweeted today? What about your Facebook page, is it full of value added relevant content? Do you use Hootsuite, or Zapier, or Buffer? Is your IMDB up to date? Have you started a Wikipedia Page? What about a Youtube Channel, and don’t forget Pinterest, and Instagram? Are you daring enough to Snapchat? Many of us have been subjected to these admonishments and questions in the course of the last year and all we can do is shake our heads in frustration. Then there’s the ROI and metrics talk. How do you measure the ROI of participation in the social media world? Is social media participation best for sales, lead generation or building customer loyalty? What sites drive traffic? How much of your content should be gated to collect data and leads? Is your IT person working to optimize your SEO to better support your SEM efforts to improve your PPC? Does any of this even sound like English to you? Should you have a “social presence?” If you are in business any business, absolutely. Why? Because as consumers Americans rely on the recommendations and opinions of people, we respect. It doesn’t matter if we’re buying services, or buying goods we are in the habit of seeking out validation for our choices. Today that validation comes not only from trusted confidants but from our expectation that we can go online and form our own opinion by “checking out,” the recommendation. What does it tell someone when you don’t have a social presence or when your website is out of date or looks like it was built on a tight budget? You tell me. How do you feel when you go to check out a business or service provider who has been recommended to you and encounter these obstacles? Is your first impression of them impacted? Come on, be honest, you know it is. The social world is daunting, time consuming and exhilarating all rolled into one huge cacophony of noise. How do you cut through the noise and figure out what direction to turn  both to keep your sanity and move your personal and professional brand forward? Yes, I used the B word. Here’s the answer…there isn’t a one-size fit all answer. Where you have that presence, how often you update it and the best ways to do so have an enormous amount to do with the business you are in, and your tolerance level for spending time in the black void of social media. The more you post, the more places you can be found, the more potential clients, current clients and advocates can form a connection with you and an educated opinion about whether or not you are someone they want to work with. Think of your social presence and the time it takes to maintain it as the cheapest form of marketing known to man. All you have to do is fill out a few forms on LinkedIn, Facebook, and maybe a tool that lets you manage updating with the push of a button like Hootsuite. Then, friend/follow/connect with some business associates and pundits you respect. After that it’s easy. Half an hour twice a week go on your page(s), read through what others have posted, find something you like, add a line or two of comments and hit repost. One-two-three, you’re alive in the social world. Telling your story without having to sweat the details. if you want to do more you could blog, post original content, tweet on a regular basis, pin,,,,but that’s a story for another day and a whole lot more patience. And, of course there are people and services you can hire to help you out with all of this. All you have to do is ask them to,  “make me social,” and viola’ you are the talk of the town. To Sign Up For Future Blogs Click Here http://eepurl.com/blYGAP http://eepurl.com/blYGAP