There are several methods to promote your business online and, with the rising population of Internet users, the impact of your efforts can have a far wider reach than traditional methods of promotion. In this post we'll share some action steps; feel free to skip over ones you've already done, or choose the ones you feel will have the most impact to your business.

Before outlining our ideas to get started with online and social media promotion, we'd like to share a couple of videos that showcase the influence of social media and provide a visual description of social media.  Sayitvisually.com's video highlights that the key to social media is the 1:1 relationship -- emphasizing the conversations we have at a personal level.

Now that you are convinced that social media is the right way for you to promote your business, your first action step would be to set up accounts (profiles and pages) for you business on the major social networking sites that generate the most traffic:

1. http://www.facebook.com (set up a personal profile for yourself as well as a page and a group for your business)
2. http://www.youtube.com (create an account where you can showcase your business through videos)
3. http://www.twitter.com (set up a "handle" that you can use to "tweet" about specific topics and "mention" others)
4. http://www.linkedin.com (create a personal/professional profile and also a company profile tied to your personal one)
5. https://plus.google.com (add connections to "circles" and separate them based on their relationship to you)

Once you've set yourself up on the major social sites, you may want to explore other networking sites and create accounts at additional sites such as those listed here: http://www.focus.com/fyi/50-social-sites-every-business-needs-presence.

Also, keep an eye out for other new or less widely publicized social media sites that may help you develop key relationships that can help you expand your business. For example, we like:

1. http://www.mightybell.com (create and participate in "experiences" that are generated by other users, and "smile")
2. http://chime.in (find people with similar interests, join communities, and view "chimelines")
   
3. http://www.meetup.com (discover local groups with similar interests and participate in online and in-person "meetups")
4. http://www.quora.com (ask questions to a community of connected users, and follow specific topics relevant to you)

You can use other online tools to monitor, manage and grow your social media accounts. Resources include:

1. https://www.socialoomph.com (automate messages and follows on Twitter -- thanks to the free Twitter training at http://jeffknowles.socialmediaautomation.com for sharing this resource)
   
2. http://www.twiends.com (find Twitter users with similar interests as you, and exchange follows)
3. http://sproutsocial.com (monitor all your social media accounts in one place)
   
4. http://www.klout.com (gauge your level of influence based on your social media activity)
5. There are also applications and communities on Facebook that you can explore to expand your presence there.

Once you have all your accounts set up, you can use a number of techniques to engage your audience on the various sites (we'll discuss some of these techniques in another post). We also suggest that you consider placing ads online such through popular services like Google, Yahoo, and Facebook Ads. Often you can get free "ad credit" to test out these services. For example, American Express is offering small business owners $100 in free Facebook ad credit through their page, which is creating a buzz around the upcoming "Small Business Saturday" on November 26, 2011 (see details at http://www.facebook.com/SmallBusinessSaturday).

Finally, we want to remind you again that the key to social media is still the 1:1 relationship -- and the heart of your business is your relationships with your customers and partners. By building strong relationships, you will be able to establish a trusted presence online and those who know you will want to share their relationship with you with others who are in their networks.

Yes, according to one Facebook friend who tested this out. Also, if you are a business, having a Facebook Page is generally the best way to promote your business (better than a group or profile, since Facebook has been removing business personal profile pages and group activity is not visible to all of Facebook whereas a Page can be promoted and shared with everyone). For more details and instructions about converting a profile to a Page, go to http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=18918.

There are many resources available to help individuals and businesses set up Facebook pages that will attract "Likes" -- and also services that will help promote your social media presence so that you can grow your fan base with a targeted audience that is most likely to participate and be interested in what you have to offer.

One way to create an incentive for fans is to provide a download of some sort for liking your page (see free welcome templates and additional ideas at The Social Networking Academy, through the banner above). Also, you can participate in "Like" Ladders, Silent Tagging and other exchanges through Facebook and LinkedIn to grow your fan base (although these exchanges are less likely to get you in front of your specific audience). 

Other strategies for generating Facebook fans are provided here:
- http://www.allfacebook.com/facebook-page-strategy-2009-03
- http://www.toprankblog.com/2010/05/10-ways-engaging-facebook-page/
- http://thecustomercollective.com/inboundsales/48383/how-create-high-converting-facebook-fan-page

Good luck in building your Facebook Fan pages, and please also like ours here:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/INKwhy/119526094815247

(Please note, we haven't followed all the strategies and suggestions for beefing up our own Facebook page, but we're working on it!)