Finding your way in social media can often create as many problems as not being involved in the first place. Yet one thing that can’t be argued is that you should be looking at a social media presence. In this guest post from Jacob Morgan, he asks whether you should take your time or jump straight in.

Twitter is one of the most effective tools on social media at the moment with a variety of uses. Personal, business, branding, communication – all these and more can be found using the micro-blogging site. So why does it continue to be such a hard sell to businesses? Can it be simplified?

For bloggers, paid or sponsored blogging is becoming more widespread as brands recognize the value of major league bloggers and their audience. Get the right review and it could mean a spike in sales. Yet does paid or sponsored blogging take away the authority of the blogger in question? Or can a blog post still be transparent and honest even if it’s paid for?

Social media is many things to many people. For some it’s simply a way of connecting and making new friends online. For others, it’s an essential tool in their strategy of online brand building. With this in mind, I offer a series of interviews where different people share their views with me on how they use social media. Sharing his thoughts this time around is Amani Channel, Senior Producer at Visual Eye Media, a full-services video production company.

There are times when things get a little bit out of our control and we lose sight of people that matter. It’s not that it’s what we want to happen – it just seems to be the way. That’s not to say that we can’t do something about it – we can still show we care, right?

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed in 1948. 60 years ago. It was meant to be a unilateral message of hope and agreement that countries worldwide would respect the individual and allow freedom of thought and speech. So why are so many businesses turning a blind eye?

Social media has the power to effect change when used properly. The 12 for 12,000 Challenge in 2009 aims to make use of that power. With the goal of supporting 12 charities throughout the year and raising $12,000 per charity every month, it’s a tough challenge. But the tools and the people are there. Are you ready to step up?

There’s so much talk at the moment about how social media can be integrated by businesses to expand their brand. From marketing to PR and beyond, social media is being promoted as the next great business tool and deservedly so. Yet it can also be used as a medium for effecting proper world change – so why are these sites not getting as much recognition?

Many businesses are failing to use the benefits that social media offers. Whether it’s misunderstanding how to use social media effectively to not seeing any immediate monetary return, brands are unwilling to step inside. Yet there are companies that are showing how it can and should be done – so why aren’t more?

Social media is many things to many people. For some it’s simply a way of connecting and making new friends online. For others, it’s an essential tool in their strategy of online brand building. With this in mind, I offer a series of interviews where different people share their views with me on how they use social media. Sharing his thoughts this time around is David Leonhardt, President of The Happy Guy Marketing, offering multilingual SEO and online marketing services, as well as a variety of ghostwriting services.