Be Smart When Using Social Media for Your Business

With social media pretty much a necessity in the business world now, it's important for small business owners to understand how they can be part of the conversation without crossing the line into wasting time.

This article from The Commercial Appeal cautions that some small businesses jump on the social-media bandwagon mistakenly believing that "connecting online will cause sales dollars to roll in." In reality, they might not be spending their online time efficiently, and can be putting otherwise effective marketing strategies on the backburner to suffer.

The article advises that while small businesses should indeed set up social media profiles (they "may be a craze, but [aren't] a fad"), setting some ground rules is a good idea: "Get a Facebook page and use it, but don't live there. Acquire a Twitter [account] and do some following, but don't get sucked into the time drain."

For more tips on how to use social media app Twitter to benefit your small business, check out this article in the current issue of MyBusiness.