Also – thanks to Sam for alerting to me to this video.

Facebook is by far the most popular Social Networking website, approximately 8 million Australians are part of the almost 500 Million Wordwide Facebook users. I’ve decided to share some tips for business owners that are starting out with Facebook Pages.

Facebook Pages can be setup for just about anything: Businesses, Brands, Products, Organisations, Artists or Public Figures.  Facebook Pages work much like normal Facebook profiles so you can add status updates, add photos and other Facebook users can write on your ‘wall’.  The main difference is Facebook Pages don’t have ‘friends’ they have fans that ‘like’ the page.

I recommend most of our clients setup a Facebook Page for their business because it’s a great free way for businesses to quickly, easily and directly engage with their customers.

My top 5 tips for starting out with Facebook Pages for your business:

1. Choose your page name carefully

Facebook page names can not be changed so choose wisely! I recommend including a keyword or two in your page name if possible as this can help optimise your business in the Facebook Search Results.

2. Be strategic about when you time your updates

According to Facebook the average Facebook user has over 130 friends so they may miss your status update among all of their friends status updates. One of our clients that run a chain of retail store post facebook page status updates on Thursday and Friday nights mentioning specials, new stock and that they are open late on those nights. Another one of our clients that manages a popular restaurant posts updates on Sunday mornings such as “Hangover? Hungry? why not drop in for a Big Brekkie??”.

3. Include photos in your updates 

In my opinion status updates that include photos will help your update stand out in your ‘fans’ news feed and encourage users to engage with your business. A few of our clients use their mobile phones to take photos of new products as they arrive in store and they upload these photos to Facebook within minutes.

4. Promote your Facebook Page

There are a few quick an easy ways to promote your businesses Facebook Fan page: Add a button to your website, add a link to your email signature, send out an email newsletter, promote it at your place of business or you can even pay to advertise your Facebook page on Facebook.

5. Maintain your Facebook Page

I recommend that you review to your Facebook page at least once a week to see your page ‘insights’ (a.k.a stats) and to review comments posted on your page. I recommend you ensure that your contact details (website address, email, business address and phone numbers) are up to date and easy to find!

To setup a Facebook Page for your business visit:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php

Feel free to leave a link to your Facebook Page in the comments & checkout Eleven Media on Facebook.

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What is Twitter ?

Twitter – Is a ‘Social Networking’ web site that can be used to share short messages on known as ‘Tweets’.  A Tweet can contain up to 140 Characters to share links, news, thoughts, ideas, comments, videos and photos with other Twitter users.

Each Twitter user has a unique profile which typically contains a real photo of the user, a short bio & a link to their website. Twitter users can choose to “follow” other Twitter users & comment on each others Tweets.

Twitter : It’s growing seriously FAST !

In 12 months (Feb 08 – Feb 09) Twitter has apparently grown by 1382% to over 8 Million active worldwide users ! ( Although it still has quite a bit of catching up to do on Facebook -  the worlds most popular Social Networking web site which is believed to have over 200 million active users worldwide. )

Twitter : It’s mobile.

There are numerous ways users can ‘Tweet’ including updates via smart phones such as the Apple iPhone. It’s also possible to ‘Tweet’ via SMS in some countries.

How can Twitter be used to help my Australian business ?

1)  Customer Service:

Use twitter to provide a higher level of customer service – including technical support, addressing customer complaints & enquiries.

2) Promotion / Branding:

Use Twitter to promote your business, products or services by providing your followers (and potential customers) with news, success stories, specials & links.

3) Industry contribution:

Use Twitter to get involved with your industry – follow the leaders in your industry. Share links to blogs, videos, photos, news articles and web sites that others in your Industry may find useful.

4) Networking:

Use Twitter to network with others in your industry as well as other business owners and potential customers.

To sign up for your business :

Visit: http://twitter.com/signup

Follow the Eleven Media team on Twitter:

Aaron : EM_Aaron
Blaz: EM_Blaz

LinkedIn the “Social Networking tool for Professionals”.
I’ve put together a quick guide to joining LinkedIn:

Step 1 ) Setting up a profile:

LinkedIn allows you to register and create a profile for yourself (at no charge),
You can register by visiting: https://www.linkedin.com/secure/register

At a minimum I believe your profile should contain:

• Your current position of employment / job title / specialties
• A summary of your education & employment history
• A photo of yourself & links to your business / personal web site(s)

Step 2) Getting ‘Connected’

Once you have setup a profile you can ‘connect’ with other professionals / business owners that you know – these people are then known as your ‘Connections’. You can search for connections by your current or past places of employment, university class and also via email addresses.

Step 3) Recommendations

Now you have a profile you can recommend & provide testimonials for your connections. I suggest you encourage your connections to provide recommendations and testimonials for your services. I believe this is a great part of LinkedIn as it can build trust and confidence between your connections and potential connections.

Step 4) Network, Explore, Promote & Update

Now you have a complete profile you can explore the LinkedIn community,
You have the opportunity to :

• Network – Ask your connections to introduce you to some of their connections
• Join groups & participate in discussion relevant to your industry or experience
• Notify your connections with news or status updates
• Promote that you have a linked in profile & encourage others to ‘connect’

In Summary:

If your are a business owner or provide professional services I recommend you consider joining LinkedIn. It takes very little time to setup and can take under 10 minutes a week to maintain.

You can connect with Aaron from Eleven Media on LinkedIn:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronrutley

More information:

A great post about ‘Getting work through LinkedIn”
Visit theOfficial Linked in web site for more information.