One of the biggest challenges for a small business owner can be finding enough hours in the day to get everything done. And, when it comes to social media, this can mean the difference between using it well, or consigning it to the list of ‘nice to haves.’

But there is help at hand. With the development of more and more mobile applications, there are some really nifty tools available to make managing your social media accounts quick, easy, and enjoyable.

My personal favourite just has to be Hootsuite. Whilst there are other tools available, this one wins my vote due to it being web based, where others have to be downloaded. You can use it to manage multiple accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Foursquare, and the easy to use ‘tabs’ function allows you to sort feeds from these accounts into separate, quickly viewed streams. Which means you can see all your social media accounts in one place, and can easily home in on those important tweets and status updates, without hopping between browsers.

Hootsuite also allows you to schedule your updates in advance, using a simple calendar function. So, in just 5 minutes, you can have all your daily tweets scheduled and ready to go. Leaving you free to get on with other things!

Whichever way you like to access your social media, Hootsuite has a version to suit: you can run it directly from your desktop via Google Chrome; Fluid; Mozilla Prism; and Firefox. When you’re on the move, there are apps for iPhone, Blackberry and Android too. But the one I love the most just has to be their iPad app. It is truly awesome, making wonderful use of the touchscreen technology and features of the iPad.

So, if managing your social media is taking up too much of your time, give Hootsuite a go.

What other social media management tools have you tried? Have they made a difference?

This is a guest post by Liz Melville. You can find our more about Liz by visiting her website at www.lizmelville.co.uk

When I ask business owners if they use social media, the answer is quite often ‘yes’. They will then explain that they have a Twitter account; use Facebook; maybe even Linked In or You Tube. They may have amassed loads of followers and friends, or have even set up a blog. But are they really ‘using’ social media? Do they know what to do with those followers and friends? Are they maximising the potential of what each platform has to offer their business?

I read a great quote today, which I think may sum up where a lot of businesses are:

“Social media is like sex in high school. Everyone claims they are doing it, but very few are.”

So, where do you start?

First of all, think about exactly what you want to achieve with social media. It’s important to realise that just setting up a Facebook or Twitter account, gathering followers, and spending some time doing status updates and tweets, doesn’t mean you are using social media effectively. Nor should it be the first thing you do.

At the end of the day, social media will only work for your business if you have a clear idea of how you want to integrate it into your overall marketing strategy and business structure. Here are just some of the questions you should ask, before you set up those social media accounts:

• Who are your target customers?
• What age are they? What are their demographics?
• Where and how do they connect with people?
• What do you want to achieve with a social media campaign? Is it relationship management with customers? Enhancing brand loyalty? Website traffic?
• How will you measure your success?
• What is the competition doing?
• Which employees will you allow to use your social media accounts?

Once you have the answers to those questions, and have a clear social media marketing plan, you will be ready to choose which networks and accounts to set up. Each work in different ways, with different audiences, and it is important to consider this in reaching your target market.

At this point, it is also worth considering how much time you have available to spend on social media marketing. Effective use of the various accounts requires hard work, effort, and dedication – and results will usually only show over time.

So, before you jump into the world of social media – take a good look at your business first and think about what will work best for you.

We did a post recently about the basics of twitter and really this is just an extension of that post. Having now used Twitter for some months we thought we would share with you our Twitter Do’s and Dont’s as well as suggestion for some useful applications etc.

DO – Use a Twitter Client

You’ll very quickly realise that using the normal Twitter web interface is quite cumbersome and you’ll find it very difficult to keep up with people you are following. Thankfully there are a number of Twitter client available that really do improve the experience. Our favourite and the one we use is Tweetdeck which does seem very popular. It has many great features and we hope to be bringing you an article soon reviewing some of the best Twitter clients Another popular one is Twhirl and there are also a number of other clients available for things like the Iphone and the Blackberry etc.

DONT – Use Autofollow and Auto DM

People’s opinion vary on these two aspects but for me I think to get the best value out of Twitter you should only be following people who you find interesting to either yourself or your business. I dont buy that it’s a numbers game at all and dont really see why people need to follow 10,000+ people! I have the same opinion of Auto DM (Direct Messaging), I can see why some people set up a nice little welcome DM when you start to follow them but many Twitter users are now abusing the faciltiy to the extent that Auto DM’s now annoy people. Again bear in mind it’s only my opinion

DO – Fill in your Twitter Profile

I actually get quite annoyed when someone follows me and then when I go to check them out on Twitter to see if I want to follow them back their profile is blank! Personally speaking I wont follow anyone where their profile is blank. That profile is a chance to show people what you are all about and what they can get out of following you. Some people even put a link on this page to a whole page on their site that tells people more about their Twitter goals etc.

DONT – Retweet all and sundry!

The retweet in Twitter is used as a way of tweeting other peoples messages whilst still showing who the original message is from. It’s important that you only retweet things that you find interesting and that your followers will find interesting (you can mix it with a bit of humour as well ).

DO – Reciprocate

When people retweet your messages or pay you a compliment it’s always nice to fire off a little thank you. It’s little things like that that can go a long way to establishing relationships. Remember you have the potential of reaching massive amounts of people through the people that follow you. I’ve actually followed people purely as a result of someone else saying they are great people to follow.

Before I finish this post I wanted to also mention Nikki Pilkington’s Tweetmentor. I’ve not been asked to do this but her little course on how to get the best out of Twitter is really very good. You basically get an email every day for 100 days with lots of tips and tricks for Twitter. Please do check it out!

Come and share your Twitter Do’s and Dont’s with us.

Learning the basics of Twitter is critical to any business that wants to tap the power of online social media. In just a very short time, businesses large and small are finding ways to integrate Twitter into their marketing efforts. And when they do, they are finding that they can sell more products and services in ways they never imagined. From building brand awareness to raising funds for non-profits, Twitter has proven to be significant in meeting marketing objectives. That’s what makes learning the basics of Twitter so important.

Twitter Basics

The basics of Twitter begin with its purpose — to post short messages (“tweets” as they are called) of 140 characters or less for anyone and everyone to read. Sounds simple enough. And to most people it probably doesn’t sound particularly useful. But in a very short time, Twitter has become a tool that quickly spreads information around the corner or around the world in an instant, all the while building communities of individuals who share a common interest. As a result, Twitter is able to connect people with one another at deeper, more meaningful levels. This is why Twitter has quickly risen to the top of the heap in online social marketing.

Among the more basic usages of Twitter is to distribute short bursts of information about your business. It could be a brief blurb about a new product, or a link to a longer announcement about a special offer just for Twitter users who follow your company’s tweets. Some have used Twitter to conduct an online contest. There are many possibilities, thanks to Twitter’s tremendous flexibility and seemingly endless supply of people who like following tweets.

It’s all about relevance!

Perhaps the most important thing to remember when applying the basics of Twitter is relevance. Your Twitter program needs to be relevant to followers of your tweets; these are your customers or potential customers. Remember that they don’t want to be sold something. They want to engage in a conversation. This is critical. If you try too hard to do nothing but sell with your tweets you can quickly turn people off and they will stop following your Twitter posts. But if you plan carefully and use Twitter as a communications channel for connecting with customers and giving them the opportunity to be part of the discussion, you will go a long way to winning them over and eventually winning at the cash register.