We all know things are tough at the minute.

Businesses are laying staff off or closing down altogether, contractors are finding less clients and people are finding it hard to make ends meet. And it’s probably going to get worse before it gets better.

So here’s an idea. A call to action, if you like.

If you’re a business owner that’s in the position to help, reach out to your community. Those contacts you build up every day of the week? Use them. Use their knowledge and expertise. Offer them contract work.

You don’t even have to worry about advertising costs. Use the tools that you’re using to make these connections in the first place.

• Put a call out on Twitter. If you see someone doing this, re-tweet it.
• Write a blog post about who you need and why (or have a Skills Needed page with your current requirements).
• Use your LinkedIn connections.

Yes, going local is always preferable and should be your first port of call. But that’s not always an option, which is where your community comes in.

We often count on our community for so many things. How about helping them out at the same time we count on them?

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This is a guest post from social media consultant Jacob Morgan.

The best way to get involved in social media can be summed up in one word – act. Spending 6 months researching and planning your social media campaign is not the best thing to do. Now I’m not saying don’t have a plan – I’m saying have a plan that you can put together and act on quickly and effectively and make it actionable sooner rather than later.

It’s always a good idea to start listening and getting a feel for your landscape and surroundings, I consider this a part of acting as it involves engaging in the social media space. Every day you spend “planning” is a day where you are potentially missing hundreds or thousands of conversations/relationships that you could be engaging in.

You have to remember that social media is very dynamic.

• New tools emerge daily
• Your competition isn’t going to sit still
• Brand/company sentiments can change rapidly
• You are going to miss out on the conversations that are going on now if you wait
• Part of succeeding in social media is about trying new things, it won’t be “perfect”
• There is no formula for success

Your plan is most likely going to change once you actually engage in social media and begin interacting with your users and customers. In fact, your users and customers SHOULD dictate some of your plan; they will tell you what they want, how to build it, who they want to talk to, and what they expect (among other things).

The best thing to do is start small (even while you are still formulating and constructing your plan) because at least you can begin engaging in conversations and building relationships. For example, you may want to create a Twitter account for a customer service representative that can monitor conversations and engage in them. Maybe you want to create a customer facing blog that the company can use to provide some unique company or industry information.

While these conversations and relationships are building you can think of larger more strategic ways to engage with your users, i.e. building microsites, creating your own social network, promoting products/services via social media channels, etc.

Creating a plan is good – acting is better.

• Jacob Morgan is a social media marketing consultant and runs a team of Technical SEO’s. Jacob has founded a start-up in the social media space and has worked with brands such as Adobe, Conde Nast, Sandisk and Salesforce. He is an avid and passionate blogger on all things social media and marketing related. He also loves meeting and building relationships with people so say hello and let him know if he can help you! You can connect with Jacob on:
  Twitter
  Facebook
  LinkedIn

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This is a guest post from my wife Jacki. I thought it’d be interesting to get the views of someone who has no real interest in social media and let them explain why. And one thing I love about Jacki is her no-nonsense approach to everything. To learn more or connect with Jacki, please visit her blog Just Kickin’ It.

I was recently asked my views on social media and all the glorious tools therein. Truthfully, my mind went blank. I couldn’t tell you the difference between Twitter and Stumbleupon.

I understand Google as a search engine, so when someone says “She found me on Google” – well, that makes sense. But what the heck does “She sent me a tweet” mean?

This is a hypothetical question, don’t answer it – I don’t care and will likely forget what it means anyways. If I need to find something I Google it. If I’ve read something I liked and am able to comment I will, if not, well my opinion doesn’t mean a whole lot anyways. I’m not overly devastated if I don’t get to share it.

I recently started a new blog. I still don’t fully understand what that even means. What I do is I write a virtual journal, I rant about the latest current affairs, I discuss in great detail all of the things that irritate me and what the world could do to improve. Mostly it’s social etiquette and common sense.

When I’m bored and feeling creative, I might tell a story or two, involving a little bit of research on my part. I assume since it’s on the Web, anyone can read it. Great, go for it. I just learned what it meant to “tag”, something which makes sense, but I still don’t know how to do it. So if you can’t find me, well I guess that’s my fault too.

For this I use Blogger. I tried to post a couple of pictures on my recent blog and what a pain that was. I think I’ll stick to journal format from now on in. It’s a personal blog, not professional. It doesn’t have any business purpose, so I’m not trying to draw in any clientele.

My other blog, I run with a couple of other ladies. This is a virtual book club. It’s a bit different than the regular book clubs but it suits its purpose. We use WordPress for this. I can honestly say that after playing with it a bit, it’s far more user-friendly than Blogger. And I’ve mastered the art of adding pictures. I think that deserves a pat on the back right there.

Facebook is a given. But someone listed a bunch of other nonsense:

• Twitter
• Stumbleupon
• Digg
• Friendfeed
• LinkedIn
• Delicious
• Reddit
• Google Alerts
• Google Reader
• Monitter
• Technorati

What is all of this? It’s a foreign language to me. If you want me to read something, send me a link. I really couldn’t care less what you use to spread the word, or what format you put things in. I’m glad it works for you, really I am. But are all these things really necessary?

Take Stumbleupon for example. There was probably about a month where my husband went nuts with sending me a bunch of things he stumbled upon. One day I watched him send out an email. He had to cut here, paste there, click a few buttons and voila! Seems simple, right? Why the heck couldn’t he just paste the link in a normal email and send that out? Why go through Stumbleupon at all?

And Twitter? This one I can’t get over because it’s all the new rage amongst Social Media Experts and PR Gurus. I guess I don’t understand the Internet world, and what is the point of learning it when it changes on a daily basis?

I use Blogger, WordPress and Facebook. But really, if I want to write something and share it, is there any difference if I use Microsoft Word or Notepad? Couldn’t I just use that and send it off to whomever I want to read it?

If I want it to go public, then using some domain might be an idea, but does it really matter one way or the other what the heck I put it in? Can you tell the difference between Blogger and WordPress, as a reader? Maybe one is more appealing to the eye than the other but it’s more of the same.

So go on and speak your language. But in plain English, you could just tell me, “Here… read”.

Thanks for listening.

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Fact – because of this mindset, too many businesses are potentially missing out on extra business that could mean the difference between staying afloat and going under. So why the problem?

One of the main reasons is that businesses – whether it’s the CEO, top-tier management or otherwise – are looking at social media as another campaign, much like PR or marketing.

This is where the cracks start to appear. Because social media ROI can’t be measured in the way that an advertising or marketing campaign can be, results are looked at in the wrong way.

Social media is all about the relationships, the content and the reaching out and connecting with your audience, as opposed to just selling them something. Sure, you’re still selling your brand or product – but this time, it’s in an “encouraging to ask questions” approach instead of “this is us and you’ll like it” one.

Accepting that social media needs to be approached as a strategy rather than a campaign, then, is the first step businesses need to take. After that, the job gets a little bit easier.

Define Your Audience

Just like any market or product, social media is made up of different audiences. As a business owner, you wouldn’t launch a new product onto a more traditional marketplace without some in-depth market research first – don’t ignore this on social media.

Knowing your audience is key to succeeding in business social media. You need to know if your audience are participants or promoters. Why the need to differentiate? Simple -

• Participants are social media users that may use numerous social media sites and applications, but don’t really “take part” in the medium. They’re like the visitors to your business website that may purchase something and then interact with you no further. There’s nothing wrong with this – but as a method of expanding your brand, you may need to look elsewhere.

• Promoters are the users that like to share information – whether it’s recommending something via Twitter or their blog, if they come across something they like they will pass that information on. This is where your use of social media will build your name – if a social media user with a large following blogs or Tweets about it, you’ll almost immediately enjoy a traffic surge. Just remember that social media works both ways. Don’t try and cheat the system – give back just as much (more, even) as you receive.

Have a Clear and Defined Goal

Another area where businesses are failing to adapt social media to their needs is that they don’t have a clear goal on what they want to achieve. Many hear the phrase “social media” and immediately feel they need to be a part of this buzz, jump straight in without any forward thinking, and are then disappointed with the (lack of) results.

Ask yourself who you want to connect with and why, and then research the areas of social media that are most relevant to your needs. Want to connect with a younger audience? Facebook and MySpace both enjoy high users from this demographic.

Looking to connect with like-minded business owners to build mutually beneficial bridges? Look at LinkedIn or Twitter – in particular, you’d be surprised at how many professional connections Twitter offers.

Again, though, don’t try and play the system – cheaters will soon be found out, and your brand can suffer irreparable damage if seen as merely a self-promotional company on social media.

Tools of the Trade

Once you have your audience and your goal set out, you need to use the tools that will help you the most. There are numerous available, and this is where building your social media connections can help, by advising what ones they use and what results they achieve.

Some of the best examples of business tools include Monitter (which allows you a view on Twitter discussions of keywords); Google Alerts (giving you insight into what’s being said about you); and BackType (letting you read blog comments and enabling you to react almost instantly to any negative talk about your business).

Getting into social media shouldn’t be a hard decision for businesses to make. All that’s needed is a different mindset than traditional business approaches. Social media is a long-term strategy, not  a short-term fire sale. Understand that, and you understand social media. The rest is up to you – but use it properly and there will always be someone to help you along the way.

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