5 Top Social Media Tricks for Business

By Wes Thompson / September 13, 2009

If you are like me, you are always looking for quick ways around the social media labyrinth. With every new feature added to Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn there is a bit a complexity added to my ability to effectively execute a social media plan for my business. I need shortcuts! I feel sort of like I did when I was a youngster hungry for the next Doom cheat.

Here is a list of resources I have located to help business professionals cut through the clutter.

• 17 Invisible LinkedIn Tricks Revealed - If you’re like lots of people, you’re on LinkedIn.
  And you probably know all the typical things to do like:
  • Fill out your profile completely
  • Answer some questions
  • Ask some questions
  • Join some Groups
  
  But what else can you do to maximize your use of LinkedIn?
  There’s got to be more to it than this , right?
  
  Well, there is!
  Buried within the deep caves of LinkedIn are some pretty neat “tricks.” After years of regularly using LinkedIn to keep my network alive, I thought I’d round up some of my favorite tips and share them with you.
  
   
• 32 Ways to Use Facebook for Business - Facebook’s not just for keeping tabs on friends and filling out quizzes — it can also be used as a highly effective business tool. It’s great for marketing your products, landing gigs and connecting with your customers. Here are 32 ways to use Facebook in your business.
   
• Twitter for Business 101 - Every day, millions of people use Twitter to create, discover and share ideas with others. Now, people are turning to Twitter as an effective way to reach out to businesses, too. From local stores to big brands, and from brick-and-mortar to internet-based or service sector, people are finding great value in the connections they make with businesses on Twitter.
   
• What a Blog Can Do For Your Small Business -  The blogging movement is picking up speed as businesses begin to realize the benefits of blogging. Discover what a business blog can do for you.
  
  What is a Blog?
  
  According to Pyra Labs Blogger, "A blog is a web page made up of usually short, frequently updated posts that are arranged chronologically—like a what's new page or a journal." The term is actually weblogs coined by Jorn Barger in 1997.
   
• 5 Videos that went Viral – Why do they work? - I love watching videos on line, long and short clips, funny sad or serious, interesting or just outrageous there’s a video to cater to everyone.  Of course, once in a while a video comes along that you simply have to talk about because of its ingenuity, humour, engagement or message.
  
  Here are 5 of my favourite viral videos and some thoughts on why they worked so well (you can watch any of the videos by clicking the titles or the bit that says “watch the video”…obviously).