3 Things You Can Do Right Now to Make Social Media Work For You

Here is some actionable advice you can implement immediately in order to begin achieving better results from the time you're spending on social media in your business.

1. Create dedicated accounts in which you only address topics related to your business expertise. Whether you're focusing on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn or any other network, don't mix business with pleasure.
2. Give, give, give. It seems counter-intuitive and almost downright Communist at first, but social media is all about community. Community thrives on gifts. Give gifts and watch the results pile up. Giving looks different for every business, but figure out what your gifts are and give them. Share useful information. Connect people with resources. Give and give and give some more. Trusting as you give can be hard. But once you experience the clear benefits that accrue from consistent giving, you'll be a convert and your giving will grow to know no bounds.
3. Practice extreme discipline. Limit the time you spend on social media. Only engage in productive conversations. Don't feel like you need to keep up with everybody else. Be a producer of value, not a consumer of value. Social Media can easily take over your workday if you let it. Get in, provide some value and get out. Your family and friends will thank you, and your business will be better off thanks to your intense focus.

If you follow those simple pieces of advice, you'll be very pleased with the impact your social media efforts can have on your business.

The world of social media is exciting and dizzying at the same time-exciting because so much is possible with so many people connecting in so many new ways, but dizzying because there's just so much to learn in order to get solid results from all the available possibilities.

However, if you stick to some very simple principles, you'll keep your mistakes small and your benefits big. Go ahead and stick these three key tenets of social media in front of your desk, and get busy giving in support of the conversation!

To learn more, click here [http://www.vecgmarketing.com].

Matt Coffman is Senior Technical Fellow at [http://www.vecgmarketing.com], a Nashville-based marketing firm that helps businesses succeed off- and online.